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Other (Other, est. to be in Sagitta, Est. RaDec 19h58m42s,+20d28'57")
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu, web: http://www.ezonline.com/ash/obs.htm)
Instrument: 12.5-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Thu Aug 19 06:00:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 471
Roslund 3, also known as the Snail Cluster, is a small (5.0'), rather nondescript group of stars of tenth magnitude or less. It lies about one degree northeast of Gamma Sagittae and does not appear in the Uranometria 2000.0.
Other (Other, est. to be in Aquila)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu, web: http://www.ezonline.com/ash/obs.htm)
Instrument: 56-mm binoculars Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: none Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Aug 13 02:10:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 472
B142-3, also known as Barnard's E and the Triple Cave Nebula, is a dark nebula that lies to the west of gamma Aquilae and approximately 3 degrees to the northwest of Altair. I viewed this moderately large, E-shaped cosmic void from the dark skies of Springfield, Vermont through a friend's 8x56 Celestron Ultima binocular.
Other (Other, est. mag 12.7, est. to be in Cygnus, Est. RaDec 21h33m08.1s, +39d38')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu, web: http://www.ezonline.com/ash/obs.htm)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Mon Aug 9 07:02:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 468
Humason 1-2 (PN G086.5-08.8) is a small (8.3"), 12th magnitude planetary nebula located some 3 degrees east of Sigma Cygni. I used magnifications of 118 (to locate the proper field), 249 (with an O-III filter), and 259x (with and without an Orion Ultrablock filter) to find this somewhat elusive quarry. Hu 1-2 is one of the obscure planetary nebulae featured in Jay McNeil's August 1999 Sky & Telescope article.
Other (Other)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jun 19 01:34:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 460
On this particular night I successfully completed a planetary marathon, viewing all 9 planets in a single night. First seen was Mercury at 01:34 UT, followed by Venus at 01:37 UT, Mars at 01:45 UT, Pluto at 04:23 UT, Neptune at 06:13 UT, Uranus at 06:34 UT, Jupiter at 08:30 UT, Saturn at 08:33 UT, and finally Earth at 08:37 UT. Along the way I also observed Castor, M44, the moon, M104, SN 1999cl, M8, M20, NGC 6960, M51, NGC 5195, NGC 5428, M101, M54, M55, M22, M24, M92, and M13. I used magnifications ranging from 118 to 324x through the course of the night.
Other (Other, est. mag 14, est. to be in Coma Berenices, Est. RaDec 12h32m, +14d25')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: poor
Time: Fri Jun 4 02:35:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 458
Oculars: 55mm University Optics Ploessl (118x), 32mm U.O. Koenig-II (202x), 25mm U.O. MK-70 (259x), 17mm Pro-Optic Ploessl (381x)The weather forecasts were right on the money yesterday as the day-long clouds departed promptly at sunset. The skies at the Naylor Observatory were darker and more transparent than the norm which worked in well with my plans to observe the new supernova SN 1999cl in M88 (NGC 4501).But first I gave Comet C/1999 H1 (Lee) another go. Comet Lee seemed brighter and somewhat more elongated than when I first saw it on 5/16/99 UT. I used magnifications of 118, 202, and 259x. A bright central condensation was noted and I was able to see the comet in the 5" f/5 finderscope. At 02:00 UT the comet was positioned at approximately 8h31m, +6d50'.My next target was Venus at 118x. Venus had by this point moved above an imaginary line connecting Pollux and Castor.Then it was time to behold the newly discovered exploding star in M88 (118, 202, and 259x). SN 1999cl is located 46" west and 23" north of the center of this 9.6 magnitude Sc spiral galaxy. (A 12th magnitude field star lies due north of the supernova.) Using a number of downloaded CCD images of the galaxy and the supernova (http://www.ggw.org/asras/snimages/) I had no trouble determining the location of SN 1999cl. I was somewhat surprised because it seemed brighter to me than the 14+ magnitude estimates I had uncovered on Thursday.While in that neck of the woods I also viewed the Messier galaxies M90 and M91 at 202x.High clouds were beginning to intrude from the west so I swung the 17" to Mars (381x with a Wratten #21 filter). The seeing was quite poor and with the CM equaling 194 degrees there wasn't much to be seen anyway.By this time clouds had covered most of the sky so after a parting inspection of the excellent open cluster M11 at 118 and 259x I closed the dome and departed.But my tale is far from over folks. After grabbing a couple of hours of sleep I dragged myself out of bed to watch a 08:19 UT pass of the ISS through my Celestron 20x80's.
Other (Other)
Observer: Mike Pierce (e-mail: xtozaj@webtv.net)
Instrument: 10x50-mm binoculars Location: Malone, Florida, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri May 14 02:30:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 456
Tonight, Had a great sight seeing tour of the early summer Milky Way. We observed about 40 galaxies in the Virgo- Coma cluster with binos. We also enjoyed seeingCorona Borealis and Hercules. Got a good ob of M13 with binos. I always enjoy the early summer asterisms and constellations. Also obed Scorpius rising. Ran out of gas and wanted to wait for Sagittarius to rise. Will catch it soon. Take Care my late night friends and clear skies.
Other (Other, est. mag 13-14, est. to be in Draco, Est. RaDec 12h21.7m, +75d19' )
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Mon May 10 08:12:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 455
Markarian 205 in Draco is one of the few quasars that are visible in amateur telescopes and is also one of the brightest. This quasi-stellar object lies just south of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4219 at (see page 76 of the March 1999 Astronomy) and appeared as a dim star at 202 and 259x using averted vision.
Other (Other, est. mag 13.3, est. to be in Ursa Major, Est. RaDec 9h21m52s, +51d00'07")
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Mon May 10 03:00:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 453
I have done a lot of observing so far this year and have been remiss in sending reports to AAOL on the most interesting of the celestial objects that I have viewed. I will post some of these in the near future but there is visible currently an object that demands attention. The type Ia peculiar supernova SN1999by is located in the northern half of NGC 2841, a bright (9.3 magnitude) Herschel 400 spiral galaxy located about two degrees southwest of Theta Ursae Majoris. The supernova is just to the southeast of an embedded 11.1 magnitude field star and was slightly brighter than two nearby 13th magnitude (13.5 and 13.8 magnitude) field stars. I used magnifications of 118, 202, 259, and 381x to observe SN1999by.
Other (Other)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: severe Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Sat Feb 27 04:05:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 450
The triple star zeta Cancri was occulted by the 90% illuminated moon earlySaturday morning. I had planned to observe the event from the ASH NaylorObservatory but after doing some observing from my balcony with my new ATM 6"f/10 Dobsonian mounted Newtonian I decided to watch the event from myresidence instead. That way I wouldn't have to tape Letterman and I couldstay relatively warm to boot.My astronomical activities were not limited to the hours after nightfall,however. At 15:28 UT Friday morning I checked for solar activity with my C4.5and noticed 3 small sunspots and 1 very small one at 53x under poor seeing.After sunset I used my Pentax K-1000 to take a few shots of Venus and Jupiteras they blazed brilliantly in the western sky less than 5 degrees apart fromone another. I had set up my 6" Dob to begin cooling beforehand and afterreturning from the nearby park where I photographed the 2 planets I had aquick look at Venus before moving on to Saturn. This was really the firsttime I had used the 6" under good conditions (adequate thermal equilibration,relatively good seeing and transparency, 59% relative humidity, 36 degreesFahrenheit, 30.10" barometric pressure) and I was quite impressed with what Isaw.I used magnifications of 80 (19mm Tele Vue Panoptic), 90 (17mm Tele VuePloessl), 127 (12mm Tele Vue Nagler), and 227x (6.7mm Meade UWA). With afocal length of 1524mm and a baffled tube this scope produced surprisinglygood views of the ringed planet. Seeing the Cassini Division was not aproblem. Because of its awkwardly long tube this is not the easiesttelescope to use, however.Throughout the night I would observe for short periods while watching themovie "Seven" (I had seen this flick at a theater but got caught up in itsmacabre plot and watched it once again) and other television programs (theidiot's way to observe, right?). Despite the strong moonlight and localexcessive lighting I logged a number of deep-sky objects: M42, NGC 1981, iotaOrionis, Rigel, M41, M50, M45, sigma Orionis, Struve 761, delta Orionis,h3945, NGC 2362, W Orionis, Struve 817, beta Monocerotis, Struve 939, NGC2244, M47, and M36. (My vistas are limited by the balcony roof and the sideof the building.) My 30mm Celestron Ultima (51x), 19mm Panoptic, and 6.7mmUWA saw action in this DSO campaign.As the moon neared zeta Cancri I spent some time on the area surrounding theterminator. The western crater wall of Aristarchus was nicely lit and I had afine view of Gassendi. I also inspected Sinus Iridum, Bullialdus, Schiller,Tycho, Clavius, Copernicus, Reinhold, Kepler, and the rays emanating fromProclus and other craters. The magnifications used were 80, 90, 160, 180, 227, and455x (the previous eyepieces and a 2x Ultima Barlow lens).I believe I was able to resolve zeta Cancri as a triple at 455x.After the occultation occurred I swung my scope to the south and viewed Marsat 90 and 227x using a Wratten 21 filter. For the first time during thisMartian apparition I was able to discern some surface features. I also looked at delta Corvi at 80x, M44 at 59x (26mm Tele Vue Ploessl), andCastor at 227x.Zeta Cancri reappeared sometime around 07:25 UT and after having a final look atMars I called it a night, the Night of the Long Dob.
Other (Other)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Feb 9 05:30:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 449
Oculars used: 55mm U.O. Ploessl (118x), 45mm U.O. Ploessl (144x), 32mmU.O. Koenig-II (202x), 25mm U.O. MK-70 (259x), 17mm Pro-Optic (381x), 13mmTele Vue Ploessl (498x)I observed 3 new deep-sky objects on 2/9 as well as M50, M93, M35, NGC 2158,NGC 1491, M37, Castor, Procyon, M81, M82, M3, asteroid 4 Vesta, Mars, and themoon.The new objects were NGC 2192, a fairly small and dim open cluster in Auriga;Zeta Pyxidis, an attractive pair of 6.2 and 7.1 magnitude stars with aseparation of 8"; and NGC 2767, a 8.3 magnitude Herschel 400 open clusterwhich is situated to the southwest of Zeta Pyxidis.I experimented with using a lunar polarizing filter to help with double starresolution. It worked fine on Castor but was no help with trying to splitProcyon.
Other (Other)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: poor
Time: Sun Feb 7 03:06:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 448
Oculars used: 55mm U.O Ploessl (118x), 32mm U.O. Koenig-II (202x), 25mm U.O. MK-70(259x), 20mm Meade Wide Angle (324x), 17mm Pro-Optic Ploessl (381x)On Saturday night I observed 3 of the nearly equilateral triple stars mentioned in RogerSinnott's March 1999 S & T article: Hu 507, Struve 830, and Struve 939. Iwas unable to resolve the very tight group Hu 507 in Casseopeia at 381x. Poor seeing and Hu 507's unfavorable position did not help matters any. Struve 830 in Gemini was far more widely separated but wasn't much of anequilateral triangle but Struve 939 in Monoceros (about 1 degree northeast ofthe Rosette Nebula) was a real winner. Struve 939 (6h35.9m, +05d19')consists of 8.3, 9.2, and 9.4 magnitude luminaries with postion angles of 55,77, and 48 degrees and separations of 30.2, 39.7, and 33.5 arc seconds.I also logged 3 new Herschel 400 galaxies: NGC 2655, NGC 2681, and NGC 2768.NGC 2655 is a face-on spiral located in Camelopardalis, NGC 2681 is a spirallocated in Ursa Major, and NGC 2768 is an elliptical located in Ursa Major. Allthree are nondescript 10th magnitude objects.Other objects viewed included M45 (5"), M42, NGC 2392, Mars, and the moon.Interestingly enough I may have sighted another lunar sunset ray in the arealabeled G just south of Azophi. (See my sci.astro.amateur report entitled "Another LunarSunset Ray, 2/7/99?".)
Other (Other)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Thu Feb 4 01:55:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 447
Oculars used: 55mm University Optics Ploessl (118x), 32mm U.O.Koenig-II (202x), 20mm Meade Wide Angle (324x)Tonight I finished Luis Arguelles' 33 Doubles in Orion project(http://members.tripod.com/~whuyss/33/33_orion.html), logging Struve 701,Struve 712, Struve 747, Iota Orionis, Struve 757, Struve 750, Struve 855, andStruve 880. The triple star Struve 757 somewhat resembled Struve 761, whichlies just a bit more than 2 degrees to the south. Struve 750 was interestingbecause it is the northeastern star in the open cluster NGC 1981. Struve 855and Struve 880 were both attractive pairs of differing separations that werenonetheless split at 118x. It goes without saying that the triple star Iotaresides in a beautiful field (which included Struve 747) at 118x. Working onthis project vastly improved my knowledge of multiple stars in theconstellation of the Hunter.I also observed Saturn, M42, the wide triple star Sh 49, the handsome triplestar Beta Monocerotis, and the moon at powers ranging from 118 to 324x. (Seemy sci.astro.amateur report entitled "Brief Lunar observations, 1/30 and 2/4/99 UT".)
Other (Other)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jan 30 05:16:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 446
{I have done quite a lot of observing since my last posted observation (1/27/99) and have been unable to add it to the AAOL. Although I will be not following the current chronology of the list I am going to send the more interesting of my winter observations as time permits.} Although the moon was illuminated some 92% Friday night was mostly clear in south central Pennsylvania and I decided to observe a few more of the binary stars in Luis Arguelles' 33 Doubles in Orion Internet project. The temperature was 36 degrees Fahrenheit when I opened the French Dome at the ASH Naylor Observatory (http://www.ezonline.com/ash/obs.htm) near Lewisberry. There were a few wispy clouds from time to time and, of course, the light ofmoon flooded the sky making the skyglow from nearby Ski Roundtop irrelevant. The seeing was extremely variable. Stars would vary from being nearly pinpoints to being pulsating blobs. The 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain was matched with a 55mm University Optics Ploessl (118x), a 32mm U.O. Koenig-II, a 25mm U.O. MK-70 (259x), and a 20mm Meade Widefield (324x) at various times throughout the observing session. I began with some multiple stars in Orion that are listed in Burnham's opus but are not part of the project: Struve 797, Struve 789, Struve 788, Struve 789b, and Struve 790. Struve 788, a very nice triple star (magnitudes 7.5, 9, and 10), was the pick of the stellar litter.At 05:16 UT I began working on the 33 Doubles list. The excellent triple star Delta Orionis was the first to meet my gaze. The next was 31 Orionis, which was quite a looker as well. Split at 118x this pair of 6th and 11th magnitude luminaries has a distinct color difference, is separated by 12.7", and has a position angle of 87 degrees.As Orion began to sink towards the southwestern horizon I continued with the even wider binary h2268, which was also nicely resolved at 118x. My next target was 42 Orionis, a very close (1.6") pair that showed some elongation at 324x but was not split. Struve 853, a widely separated (33.2") and nicely matched 8th magnitude line-of-sight pair, followed.Struve 848 was my final multiple star and my favorite of the night. This five member star system makes up the northwestern part of the "3" of the "37" Cluster, otherwise known as NGC 2169. The closest pair, AB (2.6"), required 259x for resolution. Be sure to look for Struve 848 the next time you view this fine open cluster.Before calling it quits I spent some time observing the moon. The seeing had improved to the point where I could use 324x most of the time. There were many interesting features along the terminator. The crater Wargentin was as striking as I've ever seen it, the central peak of Pythagoras was nicely lit by the lunar sunrise, and Grimaldi was favored with some arresting shadows.
Other (Other, est. mag 0.8, est. to be in Taurus, Est. RaDec 04h35m55s, +16d30')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Wed Jan 27 07:52:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 442
On this fine January night I observed the occultations of 3 stars of the Hyades and Aldebaran, the lucida of Taurus, from both my residence and the ASH Naylor Observatory (http://www.msd.org/obs.htm). Using my 114mm f/7.9 C4.5 at 134x I watched as the 76% illuminated moon covered the 5.0 magnitude binary star 75 Tauri at ~04:30 1/27/99 UT. I then drove to the observatory and witnessed the occultation of 4.8 magnitude ZC 0677 at 05:44 UT (according to the WWV time signal). (75 Tauri reappeared sometime around 05:34 UT.) As the moon neared 6.6 magnitude ZC 0685 haze and the brightness of the moon prevented me from seeing this occultation. It appeared that low clouds would spoil the occultation of Aldebaran but this proved not to be the case. After doing some lunar sightseeing at 202x and some double star observing in Orion at 118, 202, and 259x I took some eyepiece projection photos of the moon and Aldebaran through the 5" f/5 finderscope some 5 minutes before the occultation. At exactly 07:52 UT Aldebaran disappeared from view as the moon hovered about 5 degrees above the hills to the west. (The occultations were all observed at 118x.)
Other (Other, est. mag ~8th, est. to be in Orion, Est. RaDec 4h44m, +5d17')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: good
Time: Tue Jan 19 02:22:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 441
After observing Struve 817 at ~5h55m, +7d00' (see previous post) I moved on to the 33 Doubles in Orion list. Struve 589 (page 179, U2000.0), a fairly close pair of 8th magnitude G5 stars that is located about 2 minutes east of a wider binary on the Taurus side of the Orion-Taurus border, was my next target. I used 118 and 202x on both Struve 589 and the double in Taurus.I continued to observe binaries until the clouds completed obscured the sky. The other multiple stars I viewed were Sh 49, Tau Orionis, Lambda Orionis, Otto Struve 111, Rho Orionis, Struve 609, Theta 1 Orionis (the Trapezium), Theta 2 Orionis, Beta Orionis (Rigel), Eta Orionis, and Psi Orionis. Some of the doubles (Struve 609, Eta Orionis, and Psi Orionis) were fairly difficultand required 249 (26mm Tele Vue Ploessl) or even 381x (17mm Pro-Optic Ploessl) for a clean split.I also looked at M42 (six of the Trapezium's stars were seen at 118x) and M41 briefly.
Other (Other, est. mag ~7th, est. to be in Orion)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: good
Time: Tue Jan 19 00:15:00 1999 UT Obs. no.: 440
My plan for this less than perfect night was to log more of the binary stars that are a part of the 33 Doubles in Orion project(http://members.tripod.com/~whuyss/33/33_orion.html). My first target, however, was not one of the doubles on the list. I had heard mention of anice binary star in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, namely Struve 817 (page 181, Uranometria 2000.0). Located about 20' south of Alpha Orionis, Struve 817 is an evenly matched pair of ~7th magnitude stars with a roughly east-west orientation. I noted no color at both 118 (55mm University Optics Ploessl) and 202x (32mm U.O. Koenig II).
Other (Other, est. mag 11.9, est. to be in Orion, Est. RaDec 5h05.6m, +10d42')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Tue Dec 15 07:18:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 431
One of the many deep-sky objects that I observed on this occasion was the tiny planetary nebula Jonckherre 320. This 7" diameter object was difficult to distinguish from nearby field stars at moderate magnification (118x) without the use of the nebula filter "blinking technique". J320 appeared nonstellar (albeit as just a small, circular, colorless, and high surface brightness glow) at magnifications of 144, 202, and 259x, although the use of the O-III filter was a definite plus. J320 and J900, another planetary in Gemini that I had observed previously, are featured on page 80 of the January 1999 Astronomy.
Other (Other, est. to be in Auriga, Est. RaDec 5h08.4m, +39d03')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Thu Dec 10 02:15:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 430
On this particular night I observed the "Three Kings", three open clusters that are discussed on page 80 of the December 1998 Astronomy. Appropriate viewing for this season (even though Christ was probably born in the spring and the wise men numbered more than three and were not kings but astrologers), the King clusters were discovered by Ivan King through the POSS. King 17 is located in Auriga and was my first target. The orange-red variable TX Aurigae is just to the south east of this faint and nondescript stellar grouping and helped me to identify the cluster. I used magnifications of 118, 202, and 259x. While I was in the neighborhood I also visited the open clusters Cz 20 (118 and 202x), NGC 1857 (202x), and NGC 1778 (202x). NGC 1778 is an attractive open cluster composed of over 20 tightly grouped stars and lies about 2 degrees due south of King 17. King 14 is located just to the north of kappa Cassiopeiae. It is an open cluster worth seeing. Two other open clusters, NGC 146 and NGC 133, are in close proximity to King 14. I viewed all three at 118x.My final DSO of the evening with the 17" was the third of the Kings. Located to the northwest of beta Cassiopeiae in an area rich in star clusters King 12 at 118 and 202x was the prettiest of the Three Kings. (Both King 12 and King 14 are brighter but more sparse than the typical King cluster.)
Other (Other, est. mag 12.6, est. to be in Puppis, Est. RaDec 08h08.7m, -19d14')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Nov 29 08:28:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 424
The second little known planetary I was successful in locating was Sanduleak 2-21. At 40" in size Sa 2-21 is some 10 times larger than IC 2165 and is 2 magnitudes fainter. It was not visible without an O-III filter and was somewhat difficult with the filter at 249x. No structure was seen, only an amorphous blob. The 4.4 magnitude star 16 Puppis is approximately 4' east of Sa 2-21.
Other (Other, est. mag 10.6, est. to be in Canis Major, Est. RaDec 06h21.7m, -12d59')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Sun Nov 29 08:10:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 423
I observed two of the little known planetary nebulae that were featured in the article appearing on page 124 of the January 1999 issue of Sky & Telescope. The high surface brightness IC 2165 was fairly obvious at 118x without the use of an O-III filter. I also viewed this 10.6 magnitude object at 202, 249, and 259x with and without an O-III filter. Even at 259x I could not see the annular structure that was mentioned in the article. IC 2165 appeared as a typical circularly shaped planetary without color.
Other (Other, est. mag -2.0)
Observer: Mark Stutzman (e-mail: markstutzman@webtv.net)
Instrument: 4.5-inch equatorial reflector Location: Gilbertsville, Pa , USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Mon Nov 9 05:00:19 1998 UT Obs. no.: 417
My family was in our vehicle waiting at a traffic light facing due north.When to our surprise we saw a spectacular meteor that can best be described as a fireball. Brilliant white and green colors were visible as well as some blue. It broke into many small fragments then fizzled out. It looked like the 4th of July all over again!!!
Other (Other, est. mag 5, est. to be in Aquarius)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Oct 16 02:09:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 405
Tonight at 02:09 UT I witnessed the reappearance of the Galilean satellite Europa as it passed out of eclipse from the shadow of Jupiter. Europa reemerged from darkness in the span of about a minute. Earlier I watched Io disappear as it was occulted by Jupiter at 01:15 UT. I also observed Jupiter, Saturn and 4 of its satellites, and M30 at various magnifications (118, 202, 249, and 259x) in addition to doing some eyepiece projection photography (32mm Brandon) of Jupiter and Saturn.
Other (Other, est. mag 13.5, est. to be in Aquila, Est. RaDec 19h29m,+9d39')
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 51-cm equatorial reflector Location: Harrisburg, PA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Thu Sep 24 00:45:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 399
One of the objects that a friend and I observed through his large f/10 classical Cassegrain was the unusual cometary nebula Parsamyan 21. At 203x Parsamyan 21 was almost stellar. Upping the magnification to 302x allowed us to see a small and very dim comet-like object with averted vision. Using a Lumicon UHC filter was detrimental to the view as one might expect given the nature of this nebula. Other observations through a 20" f/5 Obsession Dob, a 7" f/15 Meade LX50 Maksutov-Cassegrain, and a 5" f/9.5 D & G refractor included M15, Jupiter, the shadow transit of Io, M101, M92, and NGC 6804.
Other (Other)
Observer: Mike Pierce (e-mail: xtozaj@webtv.net)
Instrument: 10x50-mm binoculars Location: Marianna, Florida, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Sat Aug 22 08:00:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 381
While using my 10x50 binos to observe setting stars, I noted a strange grouping of approximately 30 stars that seem to form a spider. The central (body) star is about 2 apparent magnitudes (resemblng Polaris, naked eye). Small "chains" of low magnitude stars radiate from the central star to form all 8 "legs." I have given this grouping the name "Spiderra." It is located due west of Lyra and is 20-30 degrees from the western horizon at 2:30am cdt. My 90mm scope would not get all the stars in one field of view, so if you have a larger scope try low power or binos.
Other (Other, est. to be in Sagittarius, Est. RaDec 18:19"h/-28.5d)
Observer: Mike Pierce (e-mail: xtozaj@webtv.net)
Instrument: naked eye Location: Marianna, Florida, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Tue Aug 18 01:30:00 1998 UT Obs. no.: 378
Observed naked eye asterism (Sagittarius) in it's full glory! It's beginning its downward turn over the horizon to the west. What a beautiful sight. Will miss ituntil next year. The "Milky Way" is obvious and I enjoyed estimating the Galactic Center. Stars are quite bright. After checking my star charts, I learned the names of some of Sagittarius' stars, Nunki, Kaus Borealis, and Kaus Meridionalis. Looking forward to fall naked eye asterisms!
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