September 3 Observing
by Glenn Jackson & Dave Huestis
Glenn, Jack Szelka, Pat Landers on the 16" Dave and Alex were on the Clark
Weather: Looked like we were going to be clouded out early. However it did
clear enough to observe. Transparency was maybe a 5 out of 10. Most
clusters showed only 50% of the stars. Public Night I was there 7:30 TO
11:00 PM. We tried for the comet but the skies just didn't cooperate, way to
hazy with high thin clouds. A family of six spent most of the night with
me. The father was a binocular enthusiast, the daughter just was given a 4"
Bushnell which she did not know how to use. I gave her some tips like
aligning the spotter scope to help her find objects. Both agreed that they
would join us this Friday at the monthly meeting. If she shows up I'll make
sure I introduce her to you. You might find her interesting!! You could
help her with her telescope. Bob Napier showed up to make sure we knew what
we were doing, then left. The scope worked well with no issues. The 16"
handbook is missing. I had to borrow a page from the 12" for star numbers
to check alignment etc.
Owl Cluster
Sailboat cluster
Blue Snow Ball
M57
M13
M92
NGC 457
Dumb Bell
Wild Duck
Double cluster
M31
We tried for comet Garradd, which was located right at the "hook" of the Coathanger cluster, but could not pull it out. By this time, the conditions were rather poor, and we only saw 6 stars
in NGC457 The Owl cluster.
--Glenn Jackson
Lately it has not been easy to decide whether or not to make the trek to Seagrave for a public night as a volunteer. Will the forecast prove correct, or will we be foiled once again?
Saturday, September 3 fell into this category. Thunderstorms were predicted for 5:00 pm, with partly cloudy skies thereafter, and rain coming in around midnight. When that time rolled around, radar didn’t show any storms within 200 miles of North Scituate. Hazy sunshine prevailed.
Since local conditions vary considerably here in southern New England, I called the other volunteers for the evening and told them I was still going up to Seagrave to operate the Clark.
Alex’s folks dropped him off to be my assistant just before 8:00 pm. The skies were quite hazy, but a nice waxing Moon, a day before First Quarter, hung low in the south-southwest.
Glenn Jackson arrived. It had been cloudy at his place in Warwick, but he decided to come out anyway. Though such diverse conditions throughout Rhode Island shouldn’t surprise anyone these days, I think Glenn was pleasantly surprised that the skies were clear. Jack Slelka arrived shortly thereafter. It was nice to see Jack out there again.
Alex hung out our sign, while I opened up the Clark and Glenn and Jack opened the Meade 16-inch.
The public soon arrived. Alex acquired the Moon for our guests. He also filled them in on the history of the telescope, Frank Seagrave and Skyscrapers, while I pointed out some constellations out on the observatory deck. Alex has become quite the Skyscrapers ambassador, especially when young children accompany their parents to Seagrave.
When these families had finished observing the Moon, Alex escorted them out back to sample whatever celestial objects Glenn and Jack had selected for them.
During the evening Pat Landers arrived and divided his time between the 16-inch Meade and the Clark. President Tom Thibault arrived with a neighbor of his. He had observed at Tom’s home observatory, and after seeing the Clark thought Tom should invest in one for his backyard.
The night quickly evaporated away, as did some of the haze. We kept the Clark on the Moon until it was obscured by our western tree-line. Just around closing time a young female student named Ashley from URI arrived. I quickly found M13 for her to observe. It didn’t look too bad, considering the still hazy and light polluted sky. We showed her the stars of the Summer Triangle and a few other bright stars and constellations. She plans to revisit on another clear Saturday night.
While we only had nine guests that evening, they all had a great time. I expect the families will be back again to observe the beauty of the heavens from Seagrave Memorial Observatory. It’s rewarding to share our love of the sky with folks who show an interest.
We closed up around 10:20 pm.
--Dave Huestis
