It was a nearly-perfect night of observing at Alpha Ridge Park Monday night. The clouds dissipated completely before sunset and the sky remained clear all night. The temperature was actually a little cool, dipping into the upper 50s by 1:00am, with no dew and some occasional light wind. Transparency was good and seeing was about average for around here. My Sky Quality meter recorded a zenith sky brightness of 19.93 magnitudes/square arcsecond at about midnight, consistent with good transparency.
Four HAL members and one potential new member came out to enjoy the evening. Jacquie and Brian, brand new members, stopped by for their first impromptu. They have a young grandchild who loves astronomy and they wanted some assistance with the small refractor they purchased for him. I gave what assistance I could, and then Ernie showed Jacquie Venus in his 8-inch Newtonian; she was thrilled. I expect we will be meeting the grandchild soon.
A non-member drove in as darkness approached and we discussed the club for a few minutes; I gave him a business card and we discussed “local” dark sky sites. He stayed around for about 15 minutes then left. Hopefully he will turn into another new member soon.
Ernie used his 8-inch Newtonian to observe 5 objects in his double star effort, and grabbed a look at M5 while he was in the area. He left at about 1:00am, leaving me alone in the park.
I spent the night imaging Abell 2151, the Hercules Cluster of Galaxies, with my 8-inch F/8 RC. I eventually collected almost 5 hours of data, finishing just before 4:00am, when I collected my flats and shut down for what little remained of the night. I have processed the data and included the image here; it is still a work in progress so be kind. The Hercules Cluster is located about 500 million light years from the Sun and contains about 300 galaxies. Its brightest member is NGC 6041, the large elliptical galaxy on the right, and there are several examples of interacting galaxies in the image.
It was nice to see some HAL members at a Monday night star party, and I hope to see you all again very soon.
I locked the park gate at 5:15am; I did make it home before having to use my sunglasses.
Wayne Baggett
