The overall image is of the Milky Way centered on the Double Cluster. Additional objects include The Heart Nebula, the Soul Nebula, Pacman Nebula, Sh2-171 and Ced 214.
| Mount | IOptron Skytracker | ||
| Camera | Canon T3i | ||
| Lens | 28mm @ f/2.8 | ||
| Exposure | [CLS:25x30s@ISO 800] | ||
| Software | Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop |
| Mount | Celestron AVX | ||
| Camera | Canon T3i | ||
| Lens | 300mm Sigma @ f/2.8 | ||
| Exposure | [?:20x30s@ISO 1600] | ||
| Software | Deep Sky Stacker, Photoshop |
| Telescope | Intes 6″ Maksutov-Cassegrain | ||
| Mount | Celestron AVX | ||
| Eyepiece | 12.5mm uo-orthoscopic |
| Telescope | Intes 6″ Maksutov-Cassegrain | ||
| Mount | Celestron AVX | ||
| Eyepiece | 12.5mm uo-orthoscopic |
| Telescope | Intes 6″ Maksutov-Cassegrain | ||
| Mount | Celestron AVX | ||
| Eyepiece | 12.5mm uo-orthoscopic |
Our first High School star gaze was a qualified success. Throughout the day, 10 different classes totaling 268 students, attended a brief introduction to telescopes in the school auditorium before adjourning outside to view the Sun through Dennis Hausch’s 80mm H-alpha telescope and his white light filtered Maksutov-Cassegrain.
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Tom Haugh added his white light filtered 4.5″ Newtonian reflector. There were a couple of very small sunspot groups visible in the white light view as well as a small looping prominence in H-alpha light. While most of the students were able to take advantage of the scopes, the intermittent clouds did hamper some of the visibility.
Thanks to Marietta Hausch for the photography.
For the past two years the weather defeated our efforts to hold a star gaze for Kenwood Elementary School’s Science night. The morning of the 10th of March looked like another washout. But the satellite imagery showed we were right on the edge of the overcast and the clouds motions were promising. We had planned on making a go/no go decision about 3:00 PM. Just about 2:00 PM the clouds started to break up and by 3:00 there were just a few remnants left so the call was made for a GO.
We chose poorly. By the time Dave Halupowski, Tom Haugh and Chuck Lynch arrived at Kenwood, the skies were solidly overcast. So, just before the event started, we called off the star gaze (once again). By then, club member Ken Leone called in to get an update and was told of the cancellation.
Tom Haugh moved his 8″ Meade into the meeting room with the rest of the science night exhibits and provided views of the wall clock through his scope, answered lots of astronomy questions and handed out many of the club’s 2016 public star gaze schedules. By the time the event was over, it was raining outside.
There’s always next year.
The 2016 Pack 52 tiger growl star gaze was a major success. As always, the skies above Spanish Trails Scout Reservation were very dark and we had a large group of very enthusiastic guest observers and their leaders/parents.
Club members Dave Halupowski, Tom Haugh, Dennis Hausch and Ken Leone all brought scopes. Tom Haugh and Dennis Hausch started off the afternoon with solar equipment. This was poor planning on our part since the 4th of March was a Friday and our guest observers were still in school. As the sky darkened the solar scopes were put away and the nighttime equipment was brought to bear. Club member James Dubbin joined the group and provided running commentary and constellation identification to those waiting for their chance at the eyepiece.
As you would expect, Sirius was the first nighttime object to come into view. This meant that Orion was well placed as the sky darkened. The stars of the Trapezium are quite easy to see before the sky darkens enough to bring the surrounding nebula into view. Star clusters M41 and M44 were targeted as well as many other celestial objects. Eventually, Jupiter and it’s moons climbed over the eastern treeline and provided a great view.
We had a continual stream of scouts/leaders/parents throughout the evening. Just before 10 PM the last group of scouts visited the observing field. These were the older Boy Scouts who were assisting the adult leaders with the large group of 1st grade Tiger Scouts (thanks guys). A lively discussion on the effects of time dilation ensued, but eventually, ‘time’ caught up with us and we had to wrap up the evenings activities.
On the 20th of November we added a third state park to our theater of operations after being invited to hold a sky view at Eden Gardens State Park.
We expected a lot of trees and a reconnaissance visit verified that prediction. The tree line is high enough that it made a solar viewing session untenable. There would just be too much time waiting between the Sun dropping behind the trees and the Sun actually setting. But a high tree line will not stop a star gaze.
Due to the park’s location we expected a dark sky which resulted in a great turnout by club members:
The assembled members were not disappointed as the dark sky prediction was very accurate.
 Dennis and his 12″ dob. |
 Dean in front of the Wesley house all decorated for the holidays. |
Since this was the park’s first star gaze we only had a moderate turn out of guest observers. But there were enough to keep all the scopes busy without any waiting lines. We even had a group of cadets attend from Eglin AFB’s Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. All were treated to some great views of deep sky objects as well as a bright meteor that crossed the sky from tree line to tree line. Another transient visitor was the Air Force’s X-37B space plane, easily visible as it passed overhead.
“Can you take a photo through a telescope with a {insert your favorite phone name here}?” has become a very common guest observer question at our events. The answer is “Yes”, so there were several smart phone pictures taken through scope eyepieces during the event. Also during the evening, Frank Atchison attached his Canon camera to his 8″ Meade and demonstrated some of the advantages of CCD observing.
 Chuck and his guest observers. |
 Dave supervises his wooden dob. |
This picturesque location as well as the dark sky will make Eden Gardens State Park a favorite location for the NWFAA. We look forward to returning to the park in 2016.
Our first visit to the Seaside School to support their “Night Under the Stars” was a moderate success. Security and safety lights were a constant annoyance but, to start with, the skies were clear. Without any bright planets visible and with the Moon already set, we had to concentrate on deep sky objects.
Club members Dave Halupowski, Dennis Hausch and Tom Haugh were able to support the event. To start off, Tom’s 8″ Meade concentrated on the multiple star system Epsilon Lyrae and Dave’s small Dobsonian displayed the colorful duo of Alberio. But the ‘star’ of the show was Dennis’ 12″ Dob. Even with the bright ambient lighting, the scope was able to show a nice bright Ring Nebula.
However, is wasn’t long before some high thin clouds started to appear and ultimately thickened enough to shut us down.
All our guest observers were able to view the few celestial objects that the conditions allowed, and we received many favorable comments and interest in the club. We hope our next visit to Seaside School will be cloud free allowing a longer list of observed targets.