Last night was one of the bestest nights ever on the DHO dark site in Vesper. It was basically clear and windless all night, albeit a chilly and damp 43 degrees. The Milky Way was clearly streaking from East the West (or West to East, dunno which) across the sky. Some clouds rolled in around 2:30 AM when the slim crescent moon rose in the East…where it usually rises (:-)
We entertained about a dozen of the public, who spent quite a bit of time visiting each of 7 member telescopes…two of which were located indoors, remotely using EAA. Tony and I were using our Hyperstar lenses to take fast (f/2) wide-field images and live-stack them, generating “finished products” every few minutes. Bob O, John, and Mike Z were set up for AP on the Northern border, while Tony and Kevin set up their rigs on the pads to the south…now with nearly treeless vistas. Ray and Mike B (and Halley) shepherded visitors, gave guided sky tours and answered numerous questions along the way. Visitors were impressed, if not amazed. Once again, I believe we moved amateur astronomy forward last night. Labradoodle Halley demonstrated her shepherding prowess with aplomb.
It was nearly perfect for imaging DSOs like nebula and galaxies with the Hyperstar so I kept pumping them out as fast as the camera would let me…nearly 20 different targets Here’s the link to the Google Drive where you can sort by date to see the latest pretty pix. Way too many to attach to this email.
Don’t miss newcomers, like the PacMan Nebula, Coathanger Cluster, Sculptor Galaxy, Flame and Horsehead Nebulae (see teaser above), and many more. The Orion Nebula (M42) was stunning as ever. It was so much fun on a clear night when everything works the way it should. Makes you want to do it all again, and soon.
