Where the DSOs and Dinosaurs Roam
| Observer: | Jason Newquist |
| Location: | Dinosaur Point |
| Date: | April 21, 2001 |
| Transparency: | Mostly good. |
| Seeing: | Fair |
| Weather: | Cool, but good. Somewhat windy. |
| Moon: | None. |
| Equipment: | TV101 |
| Session Objectives: | Messier survey. |
My first trip to Dinosaur Point, off Highway 152/Pacheco Pass. Huge crowd of telescopes, with lots of good people. I added a new eyepiece to the chest for this session, a 12mm Nagler which I bought primarily to fill a hole in the magnification and FOV range for a new telescope I have on order - a 10 inch Discovery, which I expect to arrive sometime in May.
I opened with views of Jupiter and Saturn in the twilight sky which might be called unremarkable, except these objects are never unremarkable.
I also caught my final glimpse of M42 for a while. Sitting very low in the sky, it was washed out, but still a pleasure to see.
M44: The Beehive Cluster. First object of the evening. Nicely framed in 35 Pan. Easy to grab once it was dark.
M67: Interesting. I tried switching eyes when viewing. I think I saw more detail in my left eye, which is the one I rarely use. Nice in 12 Nagler. Stars seemed to present a "witch head profile".
Iota Cancri: Close but distinct in 35 Pan. Gorgeous and wide in 12 Nagler. Clue was easy, and orange-yellow was obvious.
Mizar: Easily split with lots of black space. Mizar seems blue while its companion seems yellowish.
Polaris: Split. Much brighter than its companion. Nice in 12mm Nagler.
M51: Observed. More than a hint of a core. No help going to higher mags than offered by 12 Nagler.
M94: Core more strikingly bright than that of M51 (a galaxy), though it is fairly dim overall.
M65 and M66: Very nice view of M65 and M66. Could also make out NGC 3628 very faintly.
M53: Very... globby.
M64: Seems to present a 45 degree-inclined face.
M3: Very nice! Needed to go to Edmunds Mag 6 Star Atlas to find it, as Nightwatch was not enough. Obvious core, nice fading shell. I can imagine that it would resolve -- with a little more aperture, and at higher powers.
M83: Bright point core, fine radiation which suggests spiral, round shape. But only suggests. Need more aperture!
Antares: Crappy seeing toward the end of the session, but it's a gorgeous orange nevertheless. It did not split.
Mars: Just over the hilltop at 1am or so. Seeing has degraded. Lots of false color.