Almost Heaven Star Party
Rosana, Blue, Jaime (the boy) and I attended the 2013 Almost Heaven Star Party in Spruce Knob, WV from Sept 5-7.The first night was beautiful, not the best I've seen (lots of moisture), but good enough to see nebulae w/ structure. The second night was mostly a washout, Little-Bennett-like early and completely socked in by midnight. There was light on the horizons, especially north and east.
On the first night I viewed:
- The Veil, top and bottom, were lovely in 2inch w/ filter. Could not fit either piece entirely in FOV.
- M13 was great in panoptics 24, dimming in the 13 nagler.
- M31, with both companions in one field of view (2inch), also decent in binocs. No structure.
- Saw M101 early on, very faint, hint of swirl. Never saw M51. UM was lost in the low haze both nights.
- M27 (dumbbell) was very bright w/ filter.
- M72 (little dubmbbell) more dumbbell-shaped, but small, near sagitta and vulpecula. Even better shape definition w/o filter, but very faint.
- Globs M10 and M12 in cepheus, 3.25 degrees apart.
- M15, off of pegasus, good.
- M2, off of Aquila (below pegasus).
- Lagoon large and beautiful w/ filter. Distinct lobes.
- Triffid much smaller (above), dimmer, dark lanes clearly present w/ averted vision.
- Swan nebula very clear and bright, as above w/ pan and filter.
- NGC 281 (pacman nebula) in sagitarius.
Though the observing was not stellar (grin), it was a fun weekend away and great to get out under the dark skies.
Most of the pictures were Blue's, w/ her Sony NEX-C3, some were my new RX100m2.
