January New Moon at Cherry Springs - 2014!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_pIZ0szD3v...2inch+1833.jpg


After more than two months of no dark-sky observing I have made a successful two-night trip to my favorite site, Cherry Springs. The site is in the blue zone but possibly due to solar activity the SQM-L readings have been systematically lower for many months, and on these nights I measured 21.37 to 21.54 mpsas of averaged values. Nonetheless the transparency was excellent (above average to transparent by Clear Sky Clock), and there was no haze down to the very horizon. This enabled a nice view of NGC 1097 in the far south and made any glow from neighboring towns invisible. On the first night it cleared by midnight and I observed till 03:30. The second night began completely clear; the other regular at the site commented that the zodiacal light was brighter than the winter milky way. It was -15 to 20 C with very strong wind gusts, and there were treacherous ice spots on the access road, so despite the gorgeously transparent sky Steve and I stuck to the wise plan of departing together at 02:00. I was using my 12" LX200GPS, a scope for the non-Dobsonian weather, mostly with the 8-24 mm Pentax ocular. The seeing was bad, predictably. Below are some photos, sketches, and notes from this trip.


http://www.cloudynights.com/photopos...1834_small.jpg



Supernova 2014J, around mag. 10, in M82 ("SN"), O'Connell and Mangano's bright regions in the core are also labeled (no starlike superclusters in this seeing):

http://www.cloudynights.com/photopos...14J_in_M82.jpg


Supernova 2014G (mag. 14.4) in NGC 3448 - Arp 205 and also in UMa; asymmetry in the core and a detached star cloud on the other end:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mfRBSN7Fju...n+NGC+3448.jpg


NGC 1097 and 1097A, Arp 77 and Caldwell 67 - the companion ("A"), asymmetry in the bar due to a close unresolved arm segment, and two almost symmetrical, visually detached arm segments:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--O8zdEOr7A...9+NGC+1097.jpg



Some Herschels in Cancer (transcribed notes)

NGC 2507. Slightly elongated 2 by 1 NE-SW. Star on the SW end. Bright star to the E in the visual field. [Distance 200 Mly, size 145 kly, spiral.]


NGC 2512. Elongated 2 by 1 WNW to ESE, almost parallel to a pair of equally bright stars to its W. [207 Mly, 84 kly, barred spiral.]


NGC 2513. Slightly elongated NS. [Elliptical, 203 Mly, 124 kly.] Another galaxy is in the middle of the field to its WSW [NGC 2511, discovered by Lord Rosse in 1851] and one more [NGC 2510, same discoverer and year] twice the distance from the triangle [of stars] toward the NNW.


NGC 2530. Maybe slightly elongated NS, or the apparent elongation is due only to the presence of a faint star on the N edge. An arc of 5 equally bright stars is in the field to the N, arcing to W. [Spiral, 220 Mly, 90 kly.]


NGC 2545. Elongated 2 by 1, concentrated to the middle. Slightly [elongated] NNW to SSE. A right triangle of stars shares the middle of the field to the NW. [Spiral with a bright ring near the nucleus that may be responsible for the visual concentration. 148 Mly, 111 kly. Herschel discovered Titania and Oberon during the same “sweep”.]


NGC 2554. Maybe slightly elongated NNW to SSE, or the apparent elongation may be due to the presence of a star off its SSE end. An equally bright star is to the NNE. The galaxy is gradually concentrated to the middle. [3.1x2.3’. Spiral. 219 Mly, 170 kly.]


NGC 2558. Edges diffuse, slightly elongated NS. [Spiral, 219 Mly, 102 kly.]


NGC 2562. Elongated 3 by 2 NS, concentrated to the middle. The core is similarly extended. [220 Mly, 58 kly, spiral or lenticular.]


NGC 2563. Round, edges diffuse, starlike nucleus. [4.75’ from 2562 and 196 Mly, so possibly a physical pair. 86 kly. Lenticular.]


NGC 2577. Extremely diffuse, sharp nucleus. Round. [Lenticular, 88 Mly, 36 kly.]


NGC 2582. Extremely diffuse, relatively large, may be slightly elongated WNW-ESE. A Cassiopeia-like asterism of unequally bright stars is to the W and NW. [1.2x1.0’. Ringed spiral. 194 Mly, 68 kly.]


NGC 2592. Round, edges diffuse, concentrated to a tight core. A faint star seems to be superimposed to the NE of the nucleus. [1.7x1.4’ elliptical. 89 Mly, i.e. in a foreground “layer” with 2577. 44 kly.]


NGC 2595. Round, diffuse. An unequally bright star pair is to the WSW. A faint star is superimposed on the NE side of the galaxy. [2.5x2.5 on DSS according to Bratton. Spiral. 190 Mly, 100 kly.]


NGC 2599. Round, diffuse, concentrated. A triangle of stars is to the SE. A faint star seems to be superimposed [possibly unintelligible further, wind noise]. [208 Mly, 115 kly, spiral.]


NGC 2604. Comparatively large and extremely diffuse, no concentration. An unequally spaced trio of stars is in the field to the SE. Another star is in the field to the WNW. [2.1x2.1’. Spiral. 91 Mly, i.e. in the foreground layer with 2577 and 2592. 55 kly.]

A slightly revised transcription with comments of the Herschel objects observation is now in my blog:

http://idle-stargazer.blogspot.com/2...in-cancer.html

Also did some testing today to confirm that the scope is OK but the power supply, or at least its cord, is not. A new bit of Ivan's slapstick astronomy this time was that at the end of the second night I carried the telescope to the car WITHOUT UNPLUGGING IT. About midway I had to contemplate why, in the dark behind me, the power supply transformer fell from the post it was sitting on onto the ground... regrettably I did not literally pause to contemplate that but carried on until there was no more cord length. I have to be grateful that the yank was not enough to wrench the scope (it's 75 lb) completely out of balance and out of my hands.

Ivan,
I'm surprised there wasn't more snow on the ground. I've never gone to CSSP in the winter for fear of making the 4.5 hour trip, just to be greeted by so much snow I couldn't access the field and set up a scope with out an immense amount of hassle. I know you used the scope best suited for the conditions, but from the looks of the field, someone could still set up a dob if they really wanted to, or does the picture make the field conditions look better than they were? Inspires me to go for an observing run up there one of these winter dark windows.

It was only around 6". Yes, one certainly could set up a Dob. I have gone there with some regularity in winter in the last seven years, in a regular car, and got stuck only twice ;) Hope to see you there. And the more people register in winter the better the chances they will keep it accessible (more or less, but it would be a sin to complain) and powered, which I think is pretty unique in the world. I should say that Route 44 itself may become difficult on occasion. I go from Coudersport, and believe that it may only get worse to the south and east of the park when the road maintenance are beginning to give up on it. Now there is another regular there who goes from Coudersport in a car, although it was him that I had to push out of an ice spot last week ;) I think winter is best at Cherry Springs and worth all the hassle; the absolute humidity here is just too high in warmer seasons.

Here is one crucial bit you may not realize since you haven't been there in winter: The park plows the entrance and, when everything goes well, one of the field roads. How much and how well is a big variable, but this is what makes the field usable to those who are not 4WD enthusiasts (coincidentally most people I see there are not).

Good to know. Will have to make a point to get up there. I have a jacked up 4x4, but I still worry about access when I pull my trailer, as it has very little ground clearance. The way I see it, if I'm going to drive all that way to get awesome skies, I'm not taking my small scope, so the conditions would have to be able to accommodate the trailer. From what you describe though, I shouldn't have any hassles with the trailer. I would also be interested in knowing when you (and others) go there, as its always a better option to have a wingman around when observing in harsher conditions. No one from my club has ever been interested in taking the risk of going to CSSP in the winter, so I would have to find a wingman elsewhere. Maybe if I start going and come home talking about all the great views, they may follow.

You could get a trailer there last week. When there is more snow the problem might be to turn around afterwards. Having said all that, considering the wind last week I would declare a few meters around a large Dob a danger zone ;)

Really interesting.

Thank you so much for sharing.