Hello all,
I just got back Sunday night from the Okie-Tex Star Party 2021. This is a star party held near the western corner of the US state of Oklahoma at 36 °N latitude. The Okie-Tex name comes from the idea that it is a gathering of astronomers primarily from Oklahoma and Texas. Okie-Tex is less light-polluted than Texas Star Party, and is amongst the darkest star party locations in the US (I think only Oregon Star Party and maybe Nebraska exceed it in lack of light-pollution). However, this year, the skies did not live up to their best. People with SQMs reported hitting ~21.4 MPSAS. This is perhaps due to smoke from various wildfires, but more likely also because of moisture in the air. It's unusual to have all clear nights at Okie-Tex Star Party and it usually rains on one or more nights. This time, it rained on the first night of the star party, before I arrived at the star party. The 6 nights I spent at the star party were all clear at least for 3--4 hours, but with variable sky brightness and seeing.
The star-party was a ~21-hour drive from the bay area of California which I split over 2 days going and 3 days coming back. My first night there (the second night of the star party), 2021-10-02, was probably the darkest night. The rain must have cleared some of the moisture, but there was heavy dew formation which seriously impeded my observations. Since I had arrived after dark at about 11 PM on that night, I spent the night outside the gate of the star party, setting up only the 25x100 binoculars and not my 18". The next night had some dew, but a lot less. Subsequent nights had less and less dew. The night of 2021-10-05 was supposed to be the best night acc. to forecasts, so I tried to be as efficient that night in observing, without spending much time in the late-night cafeteria (hot chocolate until 2 AM!) or talking to people. My last two nights there were poor, but still usable.
Since there are lots of observations, I'm breaking this log into several posts, this being the first.
25x100 observations:
1. Pleiades nebulosities
(2021-10-02) Having never used such wide-field, I was surprised to see how obvious the nebulosities around the Pleiades stars were. Merope nebula, in particular, was obviously fanning out. I saw the nebulosity around Electra to be a little lopsided. Maia nebula was not as distinct except close to the star.
2. Fornax Dwarf
(2021-10-03) It was a very faint, large glow almost at the threshold of visibility. I am still hoping to get a stronger observation, but I confirmed many aspects of the glow that I did not know before-hand against an image, so I consider it a positive observation. See also the same in 18".
3. Flame Nebula (NGC 2024), NGC 2023, and IC 434
(2021-10-02) I made the following sketch:
Attachment 4478
(2021-10-06) Towards the early AM on this night, the conditions appeared to have significantly improved, as I was able to see pieces of the Zodiacal Band. During this night, I studied the same region and got 4--5 pops of the Horsehead shape "jutting" into IC 434.
4. Veil Nebula
(Various nights) As discussed on the Cygnus Loop OOTW thread, I was only able to identify the western, eastern Veil fragments and Fleming's triangle.
18" observations:
5. Cartwheel Galaxy complex
(2010-10-03)
2 diffuse patches intermittently appear, both with < 10% holding -- one larger and fainter (main Cartwheel structure), and the other smaller and brighter (two neighboring galaxies). The smaller/brighter patch occasionally resolves into two. No ring structure whatsoever could be discerned.
This is much less exciting compared to an observation I made almost a decade ago using John Tatarchuk's 25" from Pontotoc, TX (30 °N), where there were occasional flashes of the "full ring", but more frequently, the brighter part of the ring could be held with averted vision.
6. NGC 985
(2010-10-03)
An object which I presumably picked up from Jimi's rings list, this appeared just as a dim lopsided glow around a "star" (stellar nucleus) in my telescope.
7. HCG 22
(2010-10-03)
Easy group with five members. Using lettering designations from Reiner Vogel's Hickson atlas:
HCG22a was the brightest by far, with discernable elongation.
HCG22b,e,d had approximately similar difficulty.
HCG22c was the faintest, low-surface brightness galaxy with a halo comparable in size to HCG22a.
(which amazingly, agrees with Reiner's notes!)
8. IC 289
(2010-10-03)
A fairly faint, mildly mottled glow which responds to UHC/OIII. Could not identify any specific mottling structure.
9. NGC 7008
(2010-10-04) [207x]
Re-observing an "old friend". With OIII, I was able to see mottling in the "back" of the fetus.
10. AM 2115-273
(2010-10-04) [207x]
This galactic trainwreck gained some attention recently when HST photographed it after a restoration operation. Obviously, in my 18", it is mostly nondescript. A "very faint smutz that was only detected because I knew exactly where to look. ~80% holding averted after adaptation [to the field darkness]. No more detail discernible other than that it 'feels' irregular".
11. NGC 7284
(2010-10-04) [207x]
Attachment 4479
12. Shk 21
(2010-10-04)
Only the brightest galaxy could be observed, along with ~4 stars. The brightest galaxy had ~20% holding with averted vision and was best seen in a 7mm Nagler (295x) and 4.5mm Delos (460x).
I had maybe one pop of the second brightest galaxy, which does not count.
13. Arp 147
(2010-10-04)
This is one of those objects I really want to try again and again under good conditions. Using a 6mm (207x) Delos eyepiece, I saw an elongated blob that, at occasional, fortunate moments, resolves into two. The resolution was easier to detect at higher power (4.5mm Delos -- 460x).
14. Cone Nebula region
(2010-10-04)
The top of the frustum near the star has a lopsided round glow that is brighter than the background nebulosity. Shortly further south from this increased nebulosity, a dark region begins and expands into a cone going further south.
15. Blinking Planetary
(2010-10-05) [460x]
Layered, oval-shaped planetary nebula with a central star. OIII mushes out the layers. No sign of the outer halo.
16. Arp 2 globular cluster
(2010-10-05) [114x]
Not as difficult as I imagined. A glow is readily sensed once the general area is identified. It feels like it's made up of stars although not fully resolved. [114x]
In a 10mm Delos [207x], the extent of the glow is smaller but it feels more frequently resolved into stars. About 3 stars appear intermittently.
17. M 76
(2010-10-05) [344x]
With an OIII filter, it looks like a barred spiral galaxy, with a thick bar and two curved "arms" jutting out of either side. The ends of the bar are of increased brightness compared to the rest of the bar.
Without an OIII filter, the "spiral arm" on one side seems to close into a loop, and a knot is seen on the opposite side.
18. NGC 7640
Nice, elongated, mottled LSB galaxy with a brighter core. Hints of curved south arm flash occasionally.
19. Arp 169
This is Jimi's OOTW from several weeks ago. I logged "Two cores + star (?)", with the "star" being vF and the other two cores being easy-ish, with a 6mm Delos [344x] and a 7mm Nagler [295x]. The "star" referes to PGC 200377 which shines at 15.7 mag.
20. NGC 7759 group
I'm not sure where I picked this "chain" of galaxies from. If anyone knows where it was featured, please let me know. It somehow landed on my observing list and I thought it was cool. Of the 6 galaxies seen in this DSS2 Color image from Aladin, I attempted only the brightest four.
Attachment 4477
The brightest galaxy marked with a + is NGC 7759. It was easy. NGC 7754, which is the edge-on on the far southern side, was the second easiest object. I was able to call it out without knowing the exact location or orientation. I would say it had ~20% holding with averted vision. Elongation was easily discerned. PGC 72509, which lies at 1 o'clock of NGC 7754 in the image above, was the third hardest. I called it "very hard" with 4--5 flashes into view. The hardest of the lot, perhaps because of its superposition on NGC 7759 which makes for a distraction, is designated MCG-03-60-019. I had 3--4 flashes of this object, appearing as an "arm" on top of NGC 7759.
