As usual, the skies were a complete write off during the moon's declining phase. As soon as the new moon was four days old, bam, clear skies appeared. So did extreme humidity. Still, a few faint objects were advanced, and my newest NGC discoveries appear below. All are faint galaxies in Lyra.
eg 6640--mag. 13.35.
eg 6657--mag. 13.35.
eg 6663--mag. 13.75.
IC eg 1288--mag. 13.2.
The impressive thing about seeing these objects was that I was looking through skies with humidity in excess of 80 %. This is okay for double stars and clusters, but for galaxies not so much. I returned to Hallam Observatory to set up my scope. This is the official observatory of the Windsor/Essex County branch of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, of which I have been a proud member for many years. Located outside of Comber, Ontario, the observatory houses a 14" Celestron telescope, available for member use. It is also open to the public one Saturday each month. I have used it in the past, but this past week I just came to use the dark sky site to set up my own 12" reflector. Only 40 minutes from my home, this is the nearest really decent site that I can access regularly. In addition to seeing the Milky Way clearly and deeply, it offers comforts such as a warm-up room in cold weather, and a toilet, as well as a small library. Usually on any given clear night a few members will be there to observe.
Because of the humidity this week, I mostly abandoned my usual predetermined observing plan and just had an enjoyable look around. I observed many of the most prominent summer sky objects, most seen for the first time with my new scope. M 11, M 22, M 20 etc etc were simply spectacular, and a nice holiday from all the faint objects I have been observing lately. I also undertook the suggested July Sky Tour that came with my "push-to" system. So there was plenty of observing done over three nights, the last night finding me staying out until 4 am. My good friend Randy was out with his 5" refractor, and some of the best images I have ever seen were through his telescope just before we packed up. The Pleiades were rising, and the Double Cluster and Andromeda Galaxy group were well up and all of them provided outstanding views. The advantage of a refractor, of course, is its awesome focal length (though the newer short focal length ones are getting nearly as impressive), and if combined with superb optics is incomparably better than a reflector of similar aperture. The disadvantage is the cost of a superior one, not to mention the size. While a 12" reflector fits nicely into either of my two VWs, I doubt a 12" refractor would be so easy to carry around. Still, who wouldn't want to own a 12" refractor if it was possible?
I am already looking forward to next month, when I will return to Lyra and hopefully start official work in Cygnus. Throw in a good meteor shower and it has the making of a spectacular summer of observing, my first with the newest scope. I am already on track, despite the paucity of clear nights, of setting a new record for observing hours over a period of one year.
Mapman Mike
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