We've had them before, where the two weeks from last quarter moon to first quarter are completely useless for deep sky work. However, that does not stop the disgust and outrage for and at Mother Nature on my part. Especially when the period from first quarter moon to last quarter provided 8 beautifully clear nights. This is not a conducive time to view Leo and Bootes galaxies, however. And it is not conducive to maintaining a healthy blood pressure.
May and June are difficult months for observers anyway, as at my latitude (42 N) it isn't really dark enough to begin until at least 10:45 pm. That makes for very late nights, and if one is working the next day (I am semi-retired, and still work three days a week), then it is nearly impossible to stay out all night. Even an all-night session this time of year barely goes 5 1/2 hours anyway.
Up till early April I managed a good late Winter/early Spring session, nabbing 47 new galaxies in Leo. However, as of early June I have not logged a single galaxy in Bootes, a constellation I had hoped to complete this year. A large part of the reason for that has been the lousy weather. Also, I went to London England on a short holiday in late April, right smack in the middle of the new moon season. I usually try to book my holidays around the full moon, but this time I messed up. So I undoubtedly missed two or three nights of observing. When we returned on May 1st, the skies could not give us enough dark nights. Of course, the high Spring moon was there, getting bigger and brighter all the time. After 8 such nights it finally came to last quarter. Clouds, rain, haze, and more clouds. There are few words that accurately describe the feeling one gets when an entire two months of already short observing goes missing.
Anyway, there is really no one to officially take my complaint to, so I am forced to live with it. As a result, Deb and I fired up the 6" reflector on our back deck last week. We managed three lunar observing sessions in a row, along with that of Jupiter. A 6" scope is more than enough firepower for lunar work, and almost enough for Jupiter. So our lunar work was more successful. The highlights were observing a few famous details, including the Alps, the Caucasus, and the Apennine Mtns. There were also spectacular views of the Alpine Valley, Straight Wall, and Hyginus Cleft.
Alpine Valley and Lunar Alps
http://www.astrocruise.com/solar_system/l_alpine.jpg
Hyginus Cleft
https://lpod.wikispaces.com/file/view/LPOD-Nov8-10.jpg/177304865/LPOD-Nov8-10.jpg
Straight Wall, near Birt Crater.
http://www.visit-the-moon.com/imgs/pages/21951_70767374050473853d831c.jpg
Happily, we also sought out the landing site of Apollo 15, snuggled beneath Mons Hadley, in the northern end of the Apennines. I found a very helpful photo on the internet that gives a pretty good indication of just how high that mountain is. From the shadow we saw that night in the scope, it is one impressive beast. It rises over 4,000m above the plains, where the astronauts were galavanting.
Apollo 15 astronaut beneath Mons Hadley. Someone has cleverly inserted the world's tallest building into the background, against the mountain. The building is 828m, and the mountain is 4200m, which is about 5x higher.
http://i.imgur.com/FPJ4G5Y.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/FPJ4G5Y.jpg
Hopefully I will still be able to get some work done this year in Bootes. Dark sky work can begin again around June 18th for me (I am going to be away again for the first part. Sigh).
Clear skies, wherever you are. Hopefully not where I am, because there seems to be no such thing.
Mapman
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