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Weekend Viewing at Area 51 in Big Cypress National Preserve
May 20 ~ 22, 2004
Jeffrey Kramer
I was at Area 51 on Friday night with my Meade 8" LX200GPS. I
observed for about 6 hours (from 8:30PM to 2:30AM). The night was clear
and the transparency was good. The seeing was good, about a 7. Attendees
included Fred with his 14" LX200GPS, Charles with his 8" Orion Atlas
Newtonian, and Dave Lord with his binoculars. As it was getting dark, I took
a look at Venus and the thin, crescent moon. Venus and the moon had almost
exactly the same thin crescent. I took a peek at Saturn and it didn't look
too bad considering it was very low in the western sky. Lastly, I took a
look at Jupiter and the Great Red spot was about 1/3 of the way across the
SEB. There was also a very large swirl in the NEB and nice detail in the
bands. I split the following double stars tonight: Castor, Mizar, Antares
(barely), and Alpha Centauri.
Now that it was fully dark, I turned to viewing many deep sky objects, starting
with Comet Neat. It looked pretty good and was barely a naked eye object.
It looked about the same as last week, maybe a tad bit dimmer. The nucleus
was bright in my scope and a faint tail could be seen extending through
the eyepiece. I viewed the following Messier Objects during the night: M3,
M4, M5, M6 (Butterfly Cluster), M7, M8, M13, M16, M17 (Swan Nebula), M20,
M22, M27, M35, M44, M51, M56, M57, M65, M66 (and NGC3628), M81, M82, M92,
M95, M96, M104 (Sombrero), and M105. I could see hints of the spiral arms
in M51 and the Swan Nebula looked spectacular. I viewed quite a few
Caldwell Objects including the following: C21 (Galaxy), C26 (Galaxy), C29
(Galaxy), C36 (Galaxy), C38 (NGC4565 - Needle Galaxy), C40 (galaxy), C53
(Spindle Galaxy), C69 (Bug Nebula), C75 (Open Cluster), C76 (Open Cluster),
C77 (Centaurus A Galaxy), C78 (Globular Cluster), C80 (Omega Centauri), C81
Globular Cluster), C82 (Open Cluster), C83 (Galaxy), C84 (Globular Cluster),
C86 (Globular Cluster), and C94 (The Jewel Box in Crux).
As it got later into the night, the Summer Milky Way was seen rising in
the east and was nearly overhead by the time we left. It was a beautiful
sight with structure and dark rifts seen throughout.
Fred Lehman
I attended all three nights, and I had a great time each night. The
weather was unbelievably pleasant, and it looks like it will stay that way
for several more days to come. The temperature was mild and the humidity
was very low. For three long nights, we were visited by only one solitary
cloud, which obscured any given patch of sky for about five minutes as it
passed over our heads. In spite of a complete absence of wind, there were
almost no mosquitoes. Since it was their mating season, there were many
alligators walking the shoreline of the creek, but they were all quite well
behaved and none ventured up the steep banks leading to the road and the
viewing area.
I borrowed my nephew's car for the entire weekend, so I was back in
business with my camera. The stability of the atmosphere was as good as
it gets, so I used long focal ratios the first night and I selected very
dim objects the next night, each of which requires long exposure times.
This strategy results in a lesser number of pictures, but it's more
rewarding to capture the tougher shots anyhow. The third night I just
wanted to relax and enjoy myself, so I used a fast ratio focal reducer
and captured deep exposures revealing a wealth of detail in the targeted
objects.
| Thursday Night Photos [14" LX200GPS @ f/10] |
NGC3627 - M66
in Leo
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NGC4736 - M94
in Canes Venatici
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NGC5055 - M63
Sunflower Galaxy
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| Friday Night Photos [14" LX200GPS @ f/5.0] |
NGCs 3193, 3190, & 3187
Hickson 44
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NGCs 4175, 74, 73, & 69
Box Galaxies
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NGCs 4302 and 4298
in Virgo
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NGC4517
in Virgo
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| Saturday Night Photos [14" LX200GPS @ f/3.3] |
NGC5272 - M3
in Canes Venatici
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NGC5457 - M101
Whirlpool Galaxy
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NGC6960
Bridal Veil Nebula
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