[Lvas] Desert observing tips / Anybody up for observing this week?

[Fred Rayworth]

Rob,

 

Wow! Those are great shots considering the circumstances.

 

If you saw them from Death Valley, which is a few degrees north of us, we should be able to see them from the Las Vegas area a bit easier, if we can get a clean and dark horizon to the south.

 

Fred


 
> Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:54:55 -0700
> From: scopegeek at gmail.com
> To: lvas at lvlug.org
> Subject: Re: [Lvas] Desert observing tips / Anybody up for observing this week?
> 
> Here's the single frame 14-second integrations of the Omega Centauri 
> Cluster and Centauri A that David mentioned. I captured these with my 
> Mallincam from Death Valley during our Star Party there this past 
> February. Because it was so low on the horizon, the images aren't as 
> sharp as I would have liked. I've reduced the size of the jpg files for 
> easier email handling of the files. The higher resolution jpgs are a 
> little better, but at least these images show you what can be captured 
> with a special low-light video (NTSC) camera.
> 
> Rob
> 
> Jonathan Kade wrote:
> > For what it's worth, we got a little too sick of the Strip yesterday
> > evening (didn't take that long ;) and decided to try visiting Mount
> > Charleston. We found a decently protected parking area near a
> > trailhead and set up. (On the way up, Diane was somewhat shocked when
> > we found the youth correctional facility next to the hilltop
> > campground!) We spent some time with the UMa/CnV galaxies and with
> > assorted Messier and other open clusters, but then identified the top
> > of Centaurus and looked for it.
> >
> > I'm 95% sure we found Centaurus A - a large bright patch with visible
> > dark lane - but it was extremely low contrast. Much better in 15x70s
> > than in the 66mm telescope, too. Based on where it was, we knew Om
> > Cent was behind a ridge in the mountain, so we broke down the
> > equipment to call it a night.
> >
> > But coming down the mountainside, we realized we could see much more
> > of the body of Centaurus, so we stopped at the next pulloff and got
> > out the binoculars. We caught Om Cent just over a ridge, right near
> > the meridian. There was just enough time to pull out the telescope
> > and set up. The cluster was blobby and stars didn't really resolve,
> > but it was stunning nonetheless - especially with the mountain ridge
> > right below it in the field of view!
> >
> > Comparing it to M13, which was just across the sky from it, it was
> > hard not to be struck by how badly the great globs of the north
> > compare to the great southern ones. We still haven't seen 47 Tucanae,
> > but maybe someday...
> >
> > Jonathan
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> > 
> 

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