On Sun, Jun 19, 2022 at 8:52 AM, Kent Blackwell

<kent@...> wrote:

The Skywatch was fun last night with excellent transparency but seeing was only 8/10. Very low humidity and no insects made it even more fun. Gabriel was doing his usual tour of the universe, and David W was exploring the skies with him Orion 80mm APO while Mark O was hidden away and harder to find than the central star in the Ring Nebula. About a dozen of us showed up with various telescopes and photographic rigs. Here are a few objects I observed with my all-time favorite telescope, Orion 10" IntelliScope. I suppose the most exciting object was Comet PANSTAARS.

List: 22/06/18 BBAA NW River Park

 

Barnard's Star - V2500 Oph

(Variable Star in Ophiuchus)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:50:31 PM

Comment: I couldn't pinpoint the exact star because there were too many distractions 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

Izar - Epsilon Boo

(Double Star in Bootes)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 8:50:49 AM

Comment: One of the first double stars I observed this night, and a real showpiece 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

NGC 6210

(Planetary Nebula in Hercules)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:41:09 PM

Comment: Small, but bright and blue planetary nebula 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

Blinking Planetary Nebula - NGC 6826

(Planetary Nebula in Cygnus)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 10:55:52 PM

Comment: Observed at high power with the 7mm Pentax at 170x. I showed it to Shawn Loescher, Gabriel, Patrick (?) and his little kids.

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

Izar - Epsilon Boo

(Double Star in Bootes)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:05:17 PM

Comment: Tight double with magnitude contrast. I showed it to Gabriel, Kathleen and a few others at BBAA.

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 9

Transparency: 9

 

Double Double - Epsilon1 Lyr

(Double Star in Lyra)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:10:58 PM

Comment: I was able to split all four but they don't look as sharp as in my refractor 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

Rasalgethi - Alpha Her

(Variable Double Star in Hercules)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:13:58 PM

Comment: 4.6"

Deep orange primary and a blue secondary 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

HR 6758

(Double Star in Ophiuchus)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:15:56 PM

Comment: Struve 2276

Equal pair of blue stars nicely separated 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

95 Herculis

(Double Star in Hercules)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:18:40 PM

Comment: 6.4"

Equal pair of blue stars. I showed this to Kathleen Wright and also Gabriel 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

IC 4665

(Open Cluster in Ophiuchus)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:28:25 PM

Comment: Large open cluster filling the field of view 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

NGC 6207

(Spiral Galaxy in Hercules)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:38:18 PM

Comment: Definitely visible with high power, I showed it to Mel, Shawn Loescher and others 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

Hercules Cluster - M 13

(Globular Cluster in Hercules)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:38:51 PM

Comment: Fantastic with the 7mm Pentax at 170x. It was challenging to see the "Peace Sign" but the nearby galacy NGX 6207 was easy.

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

70 Ophiuchi

(Variable Double Star in Ophiuchus)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 9:48:44 PM

Comment: Beautiful wide pair of stars 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

Messier 92

(Globular Cluster in Hercules)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 10:01:34 PM

Comment: Poor M 92, it gets no respect 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

61 Ophiuchi

(Double Star in Ophiuchus)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 10:09:51 PM

Comment: 20"

Very pretty pair of blue stars 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)

(Comet in Ophiuchus)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 10:16:19 PM

Comment: Very bright comet, eaily seen.

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

NGC 6572

(Planetary Nebula in Ophiuchus)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 11:02:14 PM

Comment: Emerald green PNe 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

NGC 6781

(Planetary Nebula in Aquila)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 11:06:07 PM

Comment: Large and faint PNe. Gabriel saw this  first with his 10" Orion Dobsonian. Low surface brightness 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

NGC 6755

(Open Cluster in Aquila)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 11:09:52 PM

Comment: Huge open cluster 

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

Ring Nebula - M 57

(Planetary Nebula in Lyra)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 10:30:38 PM

Comment: This looked fantastic at high power with the 3.5mm Pentax at 350x.

I showed it to Kathleen and David Wright, Shawn Loescher, Gabriel and others.

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 7

Transparency: 9

 

Albireo - Beta1 Cyg

(Variable Double Star in Cygnus)

Observed: Jun 18, 2022 at 10:45:14 PM

Comment: Without a doubt the most beautiful double star in the sky. The primary is gold and the secondary is blue-green. Kathleen Wright was duly impressed, as was I.

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 9

Transparency: 9

 

C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)

(Comet in Ophiuchus)

Observed: Jun 19, 2022 at 9:50:17 PM

Comment: It's amazing how bright this comet is, and it'll be in the sky much of the summer. I showed it to a dozen or so at the Skywatch.

Location: Northwest River Park Chesapeake VA, User Defined

Equipment: 10" Orion IntelliScope  f/4.6, 10mm Pentax

Seeing: 9

Transparency: 9