Howard Astronomical League

Four HAL members attended the impromptu star party of April 19th at Alpha Ridge Park.  The weather forecast was pretty accurate, as skies were clear until midnight and the temperature was 39 degrees by that point.  Transparency was very good (19.29 on the SQM-L, the best reading since 19.40 on August 30th of last year). José was imaging galaxies M81 and M82 in Ursa Major with his Apertura Carbon Star 200 Newtonian. Bianca was imaging the Leo Triplet, also with a Carbon Star 200.  Unfortunately, the mount started making a disturbing amount of noise after a meridian flip, and she stopped imaging in order to begin the troubleshooting process. Shrikant was also imaging the Leo Triplet with his AstroTech 72mm and Canon DSLR camera.  The live-stacked image on his laptop looked really sharp and clear and I was impressed with the visibility of the dark lane in NGC 3628. I observed some very southerly double stars (UZ Pyxidis and zeta1 Antliae), the globular cluster M3 in Canes Venatici and the Ghost of Jupiter planetary nebula (NGC 3242, Caldwell 59) in Hydra with my 8″ Celestron Starsense Explorer Dob while imaging M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, in Ursa Major with my Vespera II EAA scope. I locked up HALO at midnight, just as clouds were rolling in.  I closed and locked the gate with help from Shrikant, who graciously stayed a few minutes later to assist, at 12:05 AM. Ernie Morse

Twenty members joined us Saturday evening for an outstanding impromptu star party.  I counted sixteen telescopes around Alpha Ridge with one member actually pointing three scopes skyward.

Although seeing was lackluster, transparency remained above average throughout the night.  In working through my imagery, I was able to tease out a magnitude 18.9 galaxy with a five-inch lens.

Working out kinks in equipment and trying new things seemed to be the theme of the evening with our members learning the isochronies of their equipment, using new equipment and even pointing toward unfamiliar objects. I love it when deep-sky observers discover the planets.

Meanwhile, several others worked on April’s Object of The Month, Messier 81.

Although a few members left earlier, most started packing up around 11:30pm with Phil Whitebloom and I locking the gate at 12:30am.

Thank you everyone for a wonderful night.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ken Everhart

Seven HAL members enjoyed a crisp, clear evening of observing and imaging at Alpha Ridge Park last night.  It was chilly and a little breezy at times, but the transparency was better than average (SQM-L reading 19.18 mpas) and seeing also seemed  to be pretty good.

James was working through some issues with his recently-acquired 12″ Newtonian reflector.  He was having some issues with guiding.  He was simultaneously imaging the Orion Nebula with a 120mm refractor.

Jeff was making visual observations with an 8″ Celestron SCT.  He visited Rigel, Betelgeuse, open cluster M67 in Cancer and the Double Cluster in Perseus.

Mike intended to image the Flame Nebula in Orion with an 80mm Orion refractor, but he experienced issues with his control software demanding a firmware update for the mount before it would consent to moving the telescope in small increments for guiding.  He was forced to pack up early, but plans to resolve that issue ASAP.

Mike & Dan were imaging with a pair of Svbony refractors of 122mm and 80mm, respectively.  Mike was imaging M51 in blue, green and luminance, adding to red exposures that he obtained on a prior night.  Dan imaged the Sliced Onion Galaxy in Leo Minor and the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer.

Wayne was imaging spiral galaxy M81 (the Discord group’s object of the month) in Ursa Major with his 8″ RC reflector.

I spent a lot of time setting up for an attempt to sketch the double star eta Persei with my Celestron 8″ Starsense Explorer Dob, followed by about 15 minutes on the actual sketch.  I used a new Orion illuminated reticle eyepiece and an angular measurement card that I made to fit around the focuser barrel to help with estimating the angle of west in the eyepiece and the double’s position angle.  The sketch was a decent effort, but I’m still learning.  I also used the new eyepiece for alignment of the Starsense Explorer app and briefly observed open clusters M35, M37 and M67.  I continued imaging NGC 2264 (Christmas Tree Cluster and Cone Nebula) with my Vespera II EAA scope.

I locked the gate and left around 12:15 while Wayne stayed to continue his imaging.  He finished up at 3:30, locked up HALO and the park gates and departed at 4:40 AM.

Ernie