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Re: Star Party in Nov
George Reynolds
Yeah, Stu, I was hoping to go to SRSP this fall, but I had some other commitments, including prepping for IOMN. George George Reynolds "Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA) http://www.backbayastro.org
On Monday, October 18, 2021, 10:50:24 PM EDT, Stu Beaber <wd4sel@...> wrote:
George...if that interests you, you ought to check out Staunton River Star Party next March & October...it's a little closer too... Stu On Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 10:19 PM George Reynolds via groups.io <pathfinder027=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
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Monday Night
After dinner I set up a small telescope just to look at the planets in a few double stars. The seeing was only so-so. I had help setting up the telescope since I’ve been a bit under the weather lately. The last object viewed was the moon. It was really bright. I snapped a picture with my iPhone handheld to the eyepiece. The image isn’t all that good but I was in no mood to set up my DSLR.
List: 21/10/18 Intes
Epsilon Equulei (Double Star in Equuleus) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:16:07 PM Comment: Pretty yellow primary and a blue secondary. Nice contrasting pair Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
Saturn (Planet in Capricornus) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:18:56 PM Comment: Although the seeing isn't great Cassini's Division was easy. The only moon visible was Titan. Rhea was too close to Saturn. Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
Jupiter (Planet in Capricornus) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:28:18 PM Comment: The GRS was challenging to see. That is until I slipped in the Lumicon Comet filter. I was then able to see it and even suspected seeing Ganymede across the surface, just north of the GRS. Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
Saturn Nebula - NGC 7009 (Planetary Nebula in Aquarius) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:31:44 PM Comment: Because of its high surface brightness NGC 7009 shows up easily even with the full moon in the sky. Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
12 Aquarii (Double Star in Aquarius) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:34:03 PM Comment: 2.5" Close pair of stars. The primary is yellow and the two magnitudes fainter secondary is blue Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
HD 203667 (Double Star in Aquarius) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:36:05 PM Comment: 56" A wide pair of 8th magnitude stars Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
Epsilon Equulei (Double Star in Equuleus) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:37:07 PM Comment: A gorgeous color contrasting pair of stars. The primary is blue-white and the secondary is pale yellow Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
HR 8010 (Double Star in Delphinus) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:38:29 PM Comment: 2.0" Tight pair of 6.25 and 7.5 magnitude yellow stars Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
HR 8056 (Double Star in Aquarius) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:40:32 PM Comment: 1.2" Challenging close pair of equally bright yellow stars Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
95 Herculis (Double Star in Hercules) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:43:36 PM Comment: Close pair of beautiful orange stars. Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
V772 Herculis (Variable Double Star in Hercules) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:44:40 PM Comment: Wide pair of stars. The primary is orange and the secondary is pale blue Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
Mu Herculis (Double Star in Hercules) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:45:39 PM Comment: 37" Nice, unequal pair of stars. The primary is 3.4 magnitude and the secondary is almost 10th magnitude Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
Pi Andromedae (Variable Double Star in Andromeda) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:57:43 PM Comment: 35.4" Beautiful 4th magnitude blue-white primary and a 7th magnitude deep blue secondary Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
HR 122 (Double Star in Andromeda) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 8:58:54 PM Comment: 55.3" Deep red 6th magnitude primary and a 9th magnitude blue secondary Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
HD 1641 (Double Star in Andromeda) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 9:02:48 PM Comment: 1.8" Very tight pair of 7th and 8th magnitude orange stars. I had to use the 3.5mm Pentax at 220x to split them Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
Plato (Feature on Moon) Observed: Oct 18, 2021 at 9:43:39 PM Comment: Plato is one of my favorite craters on the moon. The seeing wasn't good enough to see any craterlets though. Location: Virginia Beach Moon 97% Full 55° H 57% Equipment: 127mm F/6 Intes MN 56, 14mm Pentax Seeing: 8 Transparency: 9
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Re: Star Party in Nov
Stu Beaber
George...if that interests you, you ought to check out Staunton River Star Party next March & October...it's a little closer too... Stu
On Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 10:19 PM George Reynolds via groups.io <pathfinder027=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
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Re: Star Party in Nov
George Reynolds
This sounds doable. I think it is worth participating in. The park is about 200 miles away, a 3.5 to 4-hour drive. I have never been to an International Dark-Sky Association certified dark sky location. I want to go to this November star party. George George Reynolds "Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA) http://www.backbayastro.org
On Friday, October 15, 2021, 09:15:24 AM EDT, Shawn Loescher <shawn.loescher@...> wrote:
James River State Park is hosting a star party on November 5-6. We are all welcome to attend. Here are the particulars:
Website: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/event?id=2021-09-29-14-22-33-394579-da6 The park has been super supportive of astronomy and we want to have a good showing of astronomers at the event if we can. James River State Park is near Gladstone, VA and is an IDA dark sky park with frequent astronomy programs. There is no charge to attend as a volunteer astronomer and camp on the observing field. The park asks that astronomers make themselves available for a couple of hours each night just after sunset to do outreach for park visitors. There are plumbed toilets near the observing area and a shelter with limited AC power. There is no food service at the park. Amherst is probably the nearest town of any size nearby, but there are some local convenience/gasoline stores around. Marty Liebschner, Assistant Park Manager who is leading the effort, would like someone from each club that has members who are planning to attend to send him a list of the people attending rather than have individuals contact him directly – he is not staffed to take individual reservations. If you are interested in attending please let me know and I will forward a list of club members to Marty so he knows how many of us to expect.
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Re: Star Party in Nov
George Reynolds
I just today added the event to the BBAA calendar. George George Reynolds "Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA) http://www.backbayastro.org
On Saturday, October 16, 2021, 10:15:28 AM EDT, Jonathan Scheetz <jonathan@...> wrote:
I was going to RSVP on the website but I don't see the event on the calendar.
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Re: Moon observing last night
George Reynolds
Good catch, Mark! I had to find and ID Kies and Kies Pi for the Lunar II award. Your description brought back recent memories. George George Reynolds "Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA) http://www.backbayastro.org
On Saturday, October 16, 2021, 08:48:11 AM EDT, jimcoble2000 via groups.io <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:
We had a very good view of Kies Pi, a lunar volcanic dome last night at 250X. These subtle volcanic features are only seen at times of low illumination. They are almost always found on the margins of the Mare. You can even see a summit pit on several ones if you have good optics and seeing conditions. A lunar dome is a low viscosity surface volcanic feature. They have gentle slopes much like certain Icelandic volcanoes. Called shield volcanoes, the lava flows easily due to the chemical make up and forms wide low features generically known as volcanic domes. These exist both on Earth, where they are more common, and on the moon where they are far more rare. There was a time in the 1940's though 60's and earlier that many thought lunar craters were volcanic features (even though no such volcanic feature was ever found on earth). Sometimes called crypto volcanic, which was scientific terminology for something you can't see (and may not exist outside of the imagination of the observer), the term had also been applied to meteor crater in Arizona during the early 20th century. There too, in that terrestrial case, no other volcanic feature was known to exist but hey it must be volcanic so let's call it "crypto." In both cases, earth bound meteor crater and lunar craters, the volcanic description was imaginary. But there are real volcanic features such as Kies Pi on the moon though they not nearly as prevalent as once thought. These are fun objects to observe due to the subtle nature and low relief. You have to get the lighting just right in many cases to be able to see them. There exists about a dozen of the these lunar objects that make for challenging observations. Attached is a photo of the dome. It is located to the left of the distinctive crater Kies. Kies is close to Copernicus so navigation is not too hard.
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Re: A Binoculars find.
Whoa! Nice! And a pair of them to boot. (Never split the pair!)
"Keep looking up!"
Dino.
-----Original Message-----
From: Kent Blackwell <kent@...> To: BackBayAstro@groups.io Sent: Mon, Oct 18, 2021 1:16 pm Subject: [BackBayAstro] A Binoculars find. Some of you know that I am a collector of binoculars, and I’ve been collecting all my life. I was in a thrift store last Saturday and came across a fine pair of Bausch & Lomb 7 x 35 Zephyr. These were made by B & L from about 1930 to 1970. The later ones were actually made by Bushnell in Japan. These, in a beautiful rawhide case were made in Rochester New York and rarer than the Japanese version. I don’t think the coatings are up to modern day high-end binoculars but they are far better than most of today’s Chinese imports. Another beauty is they are featherweight, hence the name to Zephry.
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Re: Disney moon
We surely missed you, Gabriel. Thinking of theme parks when I was kid interested in stargazing adult used to ask if I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. Astronaut, I asked? I won't even ride a roller coaster. That was back then, and the same holds true today.
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A Binoculars find.
Some of you know that I am a collector of binoculars, and I’ve been collecting all my life. I was in a thrift store last Saturday and came across a fine pair of Bausch & Lomb 7 x 35 Zephyr. These were made by B & L from about 1930 to 1970. The later ones were actually made by Bushnell in Japan. These, in a beautiful rawhide case were made in Rochester New York and rarer than the Japanese version. I don’t think the coatings are up to modern day high-end binoculars but they are far better than most of today’s Chinese imports. Another beauty is they are featherweight, hence the name to Zephry.
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Re: Viewing Last Night
George Reynolds
Good for you, Ian, looking at the Moon instead of those DSOs. At IOMN last night Eddie Parris showed me an image he had taken of that same area, the Appenine Mountains, the Caucasus Mountains, with Archimedes, Autolycus, and Aristillus. I identified the craters for him, then realized that something looked "off". When we compared his image to a map of the Moon, I realized that his image was reversed. Duh!  George George Reynolds "Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA) http://www.backbayastro.org
On Thursday, October 14, 2021, 09:49:38 AM EDT, Ian Stewart <swampcolliecoffee@...> wrote:
Wow, still shorts and t-shirt viewing weather. Caught a nice view of the red spot transit on Jupiter last night. Seeing was good, transparency not so much. Spent some time on the moon. The terminator was in a good position to show off the Apennine Mountains. Aristillus, Autolycuc and Archimedes all very dramatic ... Cheers Ian
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Re: Disney moon
George Reynolds
Poor Gabriel! He couldn't attend International Observe the Moon NIght in Norfolk because he had to go to Walt Disney World!  (I wish I had to be there!)  George George Reynolds "Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA) http://www.backbayastro.org
On Sunday, October 17, 2021, 08:58:48 AM EDT, Gabriel Dandrade via groups.io <gddandrade@...> wrote:
 Since I’m not able to attend any of the observe the moon events, here’s the view of the moon I had Friday, taken from inside Hollywood Studios. Rise of the Resistance in the foreground.
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Re: IOMN - International Observe the Moon NIGHTS
Matthew Cook
That sounds amazing! Sorry to have missed it.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
On Oct 18, 2021, at 12:08, George Reynolds via groups.io <pathfinder027@...> wrote:
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IOMN - International Observe the Moon NIGHTS
George Reynolds
We had a very successful two nights of observing the Moon and planets on the sidewalk in front of the Ted Constant Center (a.k.a. the Chartway Arena) for International Observe the Moon Nights. IOMN is usually a one-night event, but this year it became a 3-day affair in conjunction with the Barry Art Museum, Old Dominion University, the Chrysler Museum, NASA, and others. The BBAA set up ten telescopes Friday night and eleven scopes Sunday night, and hosted at least 400 visitors each of the two nights. Saturday's outdoor skywatching was cancelled due to the rainstorm that blew through Saturday evening. It was good to see Kent Blackwell and Dr. Robert HItt there last night. Kent has been in pain from a double hernia, and will get surgery at the end of this month, but nothing could keep him away. As he has already said, there was a huge 3-dimensional Moon strung across 43rd Street, made up of actual photographic images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and other lunar satellites. It was an awesome sight to see! I got pictures of the whole Moon from all sides, including the far side, which we cannot see from Earth, but which orbiting satellites can see. Bob Hitt, director of the Chesapeake Planetarium, got to talk to Justin Mason, ODU's Planetarium director. Last night Justin was wearing an orange astronaut jumpsuit, so one could not miss seeing him. Our telescope site was adjacent to the Chrysler Museum glass-blowing activity, which was very entertaining. They had a spectacular presentation, making glass rockets, astronauts, space aliens, planets, rabbits, and for their grand finale, glass "rain". We passed out many BBAA business cards and two large stacks of Moon maps, compliments of Dr. HItt and the Chesapeake Planetarium. This year's IOMN was without a doubt a big success. George George Reynolds "Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA) http://www.backbayastro.org
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A.L. Observing Programs
George Reynolds
I have been looking through the list of Astronomical League (A. L.) observing programs to decide what to do next. I recently finished the Outreach Award and the Lunar II program, and am ready to start another. I guess I will NOT do the Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) program, not because it requires either visual sketching or photographic imaging, but because the visual requires a 13- to 15-inch telescope, which I don't have. AGNs are some of the faintest of faint fuzzy objects. A CCD camera can see them when the eye cannot, so an imager can get by with a 4- to 5-inch scope. George George Reynolds "Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA) http://www.backbayastro.org
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Moon Globe at the Barrie Museum
Back Bay Amateur Astronomers were invited to set up telescopes next to a giant moon globe by an artist on display outside the Barrie Museum at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Thousands showed up through the weekend for the event.
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Disney moon
Gabriel Dandrade
 Since I’m not able to attend any of the observe the moon events, here’s the view of the moon I had Friday, taken from inside Hollywood Studios. Rise of the Resistance in the foreground.
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Lunar observing last night
jimcoble2000
We
had a very good view of Kies Pi, a lunar volcanic dome last night at
250X. These subtle volcanic features are only seen at times of low
illumination. They are almost always found on the margins of the Mare.
You can even see a summit pit on several ones if you have good optics
and seeing conditions. A
lunar dome is a low viscosity surface volcanic feature. They have
gentle slopes much like certain Icelandic volcanoes. Called shield
volcanoes, the lava flows easily due to the chemical make up and forms
wide low features generically known as volcanic domes. These exist both
on Earth, where they are more common, and on the moon where they are far
more rare. There
was a time in the 1940's though 60's and earlier that many thought
lunar craters were volcanic features (even though no such volcanic
feature was ever found on earth). Sometimes called crypto volcanic,
which was scientific terminology for something you can't see (and may
not exist outside of the imagination of the observer), the term had also
been applied to meteor crater in Arizona during the early 20th century.
There too, in that terrestrial case, no other volcanic feature was
known to exist but hey it must be volcanic so let's call it "crypto." In
both cases, earth bound meteor crater and lunar craters, the volcanic
description was imaginary. But there are real volcanic features such as
Kies Pi on the moon though they not nearly as prevalent as once thought.
These are fun objects to observe due to the subtle nature and low
relief. You have to get the lighting just right in many cases to be able
to see them. There exists about a dozen of the these lunar objects that
make for challenging observations. It
is located to the left of the distinctive crater Kies. Kies is close to
Copernicus so navigation is not too hard.
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Re: Comet filtet
I couldn't open the link you referenced. I have found the Lumicon comet filter is practically useless for most comets so I wouldn't consider it a necessity. I happened to stumble on its use for revealing detail with the cloud belts of Jupiter. What is did was hold all my various color filters between my eye and the eyepiece just to be able to quickly "A-B" the different filters. I was shocked to find the comet filter was even better than my previous reference filter for Jupiter, a Wratten 58A. Be aware both filters turn Jupiter "green" but that's what make the reddish belts stand out so beautifully. I hope this helps a bit.
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Re: Star Party in Nov
I was going to RSVP on the website but I don't see the event on the calendar.
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Re: Star Party in Nov
Sean, I will attend if weather looks favorable. I had registered for the week at the Staunton River star party and did not go because the forecast was bad for the entire week. Hopefully weather outlook for this will be a little better.
It looks like this is a Bortle class 3 site so it should be a little darker than what we see at NWRP. Thanks. Jonathan
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