A new dark sky site near Carter CavesEquipment: Obsession 20" dob with Orion 80mm Short tube and telrad as finders Eyepieces: Nagler 22mm type 4, Nagler 12mm type 4, Nagler 7mm type 1, Nagler 31mm type 5, Meade Superwide 18mm, University Optics 16mm Konig, Meade 10mm series 4000 plossl. Orion "VISTA" 7x50mm binos on a tripod via a "L" mount.
Atlas: Bright Star Atlas 2000 Site: a farm off of 182 in Carter County, Ky near Carter Caves State Park Conditions: Dark. Limiting magnitude was 6.2-6.5 range prior to the moon’s rising. Transparency: very good. Seeing: fair. temp: progressed from shirt sleeves to sweatshirt as night progressed. time: 9 PM-4:30AM Don had been telling us about a new site on a farm owned by some very nice people. The conditions here were excellent last night so when I got Don’s e-mail I was a fired up and ready to go in hopes of another great night but from a dark sky site rather than home. I was itching to go out all evening. So, after a day at Camden Park with the kids, I loaded up the Highlander and headed west. I arrived at our meeting place – the lodge at Carter Caves State Park in KY. (This is my favorite KY SP and it’s only 1 hour from home! 4(+) caves, 4 stone arches, great facilities - take this link to learn about Carter Caves State Park .) I arrived before Don, got a pop and settled down to read about other KY state parks. Don arrived. He chatted with some friends of his who work at the park. Then we settled down to wait for John K. Unknown to us John hadn’t been there in many years, took a wrong turn and was on a safari of his own. We waited until 8:20PM (Meeting time was 7-7:45), left Don’s cell phone number with the people at the lodge desk and headed out. This was a new site and we wanted to get there before darkness fell. When we arrived there was no one outside. But there were 4 friendly dogs (one Dalmation) and 2 goats. One of the goats was standing on the roof of one of the trucks parked in front of the barn. Previously I (as a city boy) was unaware of the climbing abilities of goats. We talked with the family who owned the farm. The son told us where to go … ‘through the gate and go right "… "bear left" … "stop at the abandoned grader "… etc. "The goats may cause some trouble, I hope they don’t follow you" … "Don’t worry, we’ll close the fence gate" … "Do you think that the goats can’t get through the fence?" … finally the lady of the farm had the men put the goats in the barn to the relief of the astronomical crowd. About this time John checked it by cell phone. We, and 4 dogs, and 2 goats walked down to the road to "wave him in" (well it was a new site and he hadn’t been there). Soon we were being followed (on the other side of the fence of course) by 4 horses. I think our arrival was the most interesting thing that the farm animals had seen that day. We drove out past the gate on a narrow track that opens out into a field with horses. We headed along the edge of the field to a narrower track where the pricker bushes brushed against the sides of the vehicles. Then we enter a clearing with brush that is 4’ high. We pushed on along the fence line. Finally after going up a small rise and we find the clearing at the top of the hill. There were Two towers are in the far distance, but no roads of houses or other man made structures were seen . Great horizons except to the West where it is good. We pick a spot and set up. I racked the mirror on the Obsession all the way up so that I can focus the 22 and 31mm Naglers. Collimation takes a while, even with Don’s EZ collimator . I aligned the finder and the Orion (which is under mounted) and it’s time to get started. Don set up the 10" Cave on it’s EQ mount. John had his 6" INTES Mak on a tripod. He won the set up race and was surfing the sky with bino’s while Don and I were still setting up. Don laughed at my "simple" set up.
Observing: Mars was a disappointment so I left it. I discarded the 200 best and brightest list that I’d made with sky tools once I see how low we can see in Scorpius and decide to Visit the Stinger area after John spots "a beautiful open cluster" with his bino’s. It is M7 a Tr type I 3 open cluster of mag 3.3. Noted by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD; it is a naked eye object in the 21 st century. Had nice views through the Orion 80mm ST and the central area was well seen through the 22mm Nagler with the 20". Nearby is NGC 6453 a class IV GC of m9.8. I was quite visible in the 20". Also nearby was NGC 6441 a class 3 GC on m7.2. The best views were with the 10mm and 12mm EP (about 250x and 220x). A nearby star hampered the view some. No stars resolved. A nice GC. I "played" with this object looking at it with a variety of EP. It was nice to use the chair and not the ladder. Some where in here Tim called from the road. Don went to guide him in but got "lost" in the 4’ high weeds. He was looking for a 7’ wide gap in the trees and brush with out success. John and I went down with flash lights to try and help. He circled the field several times before finding the exit opening from the field.. He returned with Tim who set up his 10" dob. Then I moved on to the "bug nebulae" NGC 6302 a mag 9.6 PN (type 6). Small object so I changed to the 12mm Nagler. The view improved (better contrast with the UHC filter. Averted vision also helped. The extensions were well seen. I’d seen this as a Hubble Photo. This was my first time to see it with the 20". I still prefer the view with the Hubble. Alas. NGC 6231 is a pretty OC in the tail of the scorpion. (Tr type I 3 p, mag 2.6) This made a nice view in the 20 with the 22mm Nagler. The wider cluster Collinder 316 and Trumpler 24 (OC m 8.6. Tr type IV 2 p) were better seen in the Short Tube 80. Here the view in the UTA finder complemented the view in the EP of the 20". NGC 6144 (mag 9, clas XI GC) was a faint haze with some resolved peripheral stars. Nearby was M4 a clas IX mag 5.8 GC. This was bright and huge after 6144. I decided to check out some objects in the big dipper. M108 the edge on G in UM leapt out of the EP after I positioned with the telrad. I then moved over to the owl. The guys were surprised at it’s size even in the 22mm EP. I then moved to M81 and M82. I enjoy the view of the bright more linear of thetwo 2 galaxies (I think m82), Detail was seen near its core (no jet though). After we looked at this one, it was onto M51. We were enjoying views if its spiral arms when we heard scratching behind us. … A dog, no … looks like a cat … it has a large fluffy upturned white tail – SKUNK! We retreated away from the 20". For a while a small skunk scrounged for grubs, and after spending about 20 min withing 6-10’ of my telescope he decided to move on. Ah, such are the trials of observing in skunk country. I grabbed my binos (on a photo tripod) and ran away from the skunk. The Double cluster and NCG 6231 with Collinder 316 and Trumpler 24 were viewed. I panned the milky way Near Sagittarius. I looked at Pegasus to see the comet. I scanned arround Casseopea. The skunk left so… I turned the ‘scope 180 degrees so as to keep it between me and our friend Mr. Skunk in case he should decide to return. So I settled into Cygnus. Placing the OIII filter in first the 22mm and then the 31mm Nagler We viewed the NGC 6960, 6979, 6992 components of the veil. We all took several turns up and down the ladder. We began with the western segment 6960. Detail was seen above and below the star (52 cygni). Brighter above and wider and dimmer below. The 6979 component was much dimmer but responded to placing a black cloth over the EP and head) – tres chic. The Eastern segment or 6992 was much brighter with no annoying bright stars. The detail was more then I’d ever seen. Tonight was my best view of the veil ever. I Lent Tim my UHC and he used that to look at the veil 6960 and the North American Nebulae NGC 7000. Using the 31mm Nagler I swept the NA nebula. Because of FOV considerations and less detail the view is less pleasing then the veil. Best (most interesting) views were of central America region. Alas, the moon rose and the conditions deteriorated. While still in Cygnus I searched for the blinking planetary, NGC 6826 a mag 8.8 PN. The blinking effect is easier to see in the 10" then the 20". About this time John wanted to go So I placed the Dumbbell in my scope compared it to the 10" view and packed him out to his car parked by the gate. I returned, looked at M11 and the Swan Nebulae. Then I burned my Eyes on the moon and began to pack up. The drive out was uneventful. We had found a tree to mark the approach to the exit of the field. As we went through the first narrow area and I saw how Tim’s van pushed the brush apart as we traversed the Forrest, visions of Jurassic park or a national geographic expedition in the unknown wilds came to mind. But the only animals seen were horses and dogs. Good site, good conditions, good scopes, good company. What more could you want? We all wondered what type of clouds Jeff B was looking at up at Spruce Knob.
|