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Saturday Night Viewing at Area 51 in Big Cypress National Preserve
February 21, 2004
Jeffrey Kramer
I was at Area 51 tonight with my Meade 8" LX200GPS. I
observed for about 6½ hours (from 7:00PM to 1:30AM). Tonight was clear and
the transparency was good. Also, the seeing was only average, about a 5. It
was mild with the temperatures in the mid 60s. There were 5 of us there
tonight: Attendees included Ron with his 18" Starmaster, Jim with his 12.5"
Starmaster, Paul with his 8" LX200, and George with a 10" Dob. The Milky Way
was easily visible throughout the night.
While it was still getting dark, I took a look at the 1 ½ day old moon,
Venus which was showing about a 60% of full phase, and then Saturn. I then
split Rigel and went to M42. What a glorious sight from the dark site.
Virtually, the entire FOV was filled with nebulosity. I viewed Orion at 49x
(41MM Panoptic) and 100x (20MM Nagler) as well as 125x (16MM Nagler). I was
also able to see all 6-stars in the Trapezium as well as M43.
Next, I looked at M41 and then M31, M32, and M110. I could fit all three of
the galaxies in the FOV at 49x (41MM Panoptic). I tired to see NGC206, a
deep sky object in at the edge of one of the bands of M31, but I could not.
I could see it in Jim's 12.5" Starmaster as well as as Ron's 18" Starmaster
as a fuzzy patch. I the viewed C10 (NGC663) an open cluster in Cassiopea as
well as C13 (NGC457) which looks like a Dragonfly. In Gemini I viewed, M35
& NGC2158. I love seeing the tight open cluster NGC near the edge of M35. I
then viewed the following open clusters in Gemini NGC2129, NGC2157, NGC2266,
NGC2304, NGC2331, NGC2355, NGC2395, and NGC2420. I also viewed C39
(NGC2392), the Eskimo Nebula. In Canis Major, I viewed M41, as well as
the following NGC objects: NGC2204 (OC), NGC2207 (Galaxy) - barely, NGC2165
(Planetary Nebula), NGC2217 (G), NGC2243 (OC), NGC2345 (OC), NGC2354 (OC),
C58 (NGC2360) (OC), NGC2359, C64 (NGC2362) (OC), NGC2367
(OC), NGC2374 (OC), NGC2383 (OC), and could barely see NGC2384 (OC). In
Auriga I observed M36, M37, and M38. Of the three, M37 is my favorite at the
dark site. I also viewed NGC2126 (OC) in Auriga. In Camelopardis, I viewed
NGC1501 (PN), NGC1502 (OC), C7 (NGC2403) (G), NGC1961 (G), NGC2655 (G),
and NGC2732 (G) - barely.
In addition, I also viewed M1 (Crab Nebula), M3, M13 (rising in the east at
the end of the night), M40, M44, (Beehive), M46, M47, M78, M81, M82, and
M92. I also was able to see NGC2438, a planetary nebula at the edge of M46
in Puppis. Also in Puppis, I viewed NGC2440 (PN) and C71 (NGC2477). The
Double Cluster was a beautiful sight in my 41MM Panoptic at 49x, which
framed both clusters nicely in the FOV of the eyepiece. In Leo, I framed
M65, M66, and NGC3628 in the FOV of my 41MM Panoptic. A very pretty sight
to see three galaxies in the same FOV. I was also able to nicely frame M81
and M82 in the same eyepiece. I took a quick look at Jupiter but there was
not that much detail due to the only average seeing. I could see about 4
bands and a large oval in one of the equatorial belts. I spent some time
viewing M51 (Spiral Galaxy) as well as its companion galaxy. I could see
its round shape as well as some hints of the spiral arms. I was able to
see the spiral arms in M51 in Ron's 18" Starmaster. We had to wait until
pretty late for M51 to rise high in the sky for good views of this tough
object. Lastly, I ended the night with C80 NGC5139 (Omega Centauri). Even
though it was still very low in the Southern sky at 1AM. I was still able
to see it fairly decently. I could see its large size as well as resolve
it. I cannot wait until next month and the month after for some spectacular
views of this amazing globular. Everyone packed up around 1:30 after
enjoying a perfectly clear night the entire time we were there.
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