Eldorado Tx. Star Party

The Eldorado Star Party was hosted by the Austin and San Antonio astronomy clubs. It is an annual event held at the X-Bar Ranch just south of Eldorado Tx. This year the event took place the first week of November.

The weather and skies were simply unbelievable! I had three very successful nights hunting for "faint fuzzies" with  my new Z10.

This was the first real challenge for the Z10. The scope easily pulled in galaxies down to 11th and 12th magnitudes. It is truly amazing what these light buckets can achieve.

The telescope observation list that the organizers provided was in a word "challenging." I was unsuccessful at completing the list, but by no means did this detract from the experience. I found lots of other objects on the H400 list to observe. I spent a lot of time in Cetus, observing and sketching. My sketches will be a subject of another post.

The facilities at the ranch, were a little on the "rustic" side. There were hot showers which were appreciated as the weather was a little on the cold side.  Potable water was also available. The ranch has very limited accommodations and so most attendees either camped or stayed off site. I chose to camp and to cook my own meals. This worked out well and I would do it again.

One of my favorite activities of any star party is to look for the "unusual" or "creative" examples from our hobby. Well here is the blue ribbon winner of this party. This is a 10" scope which has been adorned with gadgets and accouterments which enables the observer to be as productive as possible. The owner of the scope made the comment that his scope has "character" and I could not agree more.

Clear skies;

rw

Improved productivity at the eyepiece

   I have been passionate about recording my observations either in a written log book, or now in a database program. There are several reasons that I do this. First, I contribute my observations and estimates of variable stars to the AAVSO database and so I need a way of gathering and maintaining this information. Secondly, like most observers, I work my way through various observation lists like the Messier and Herschel 400 with the goal of completing these list. I find it very enjoyable to look back at my observations and to share them with others. One draw back that this has is that it can consume a lot of time while in the field. Time that could be better spent at the eyepiece.

    Well, I discovered a method that allows me to be more productive when I am at the telescope. I now use a hand held digital voice recorder to record my observations. I can now spend more time at the eyepiece and less time on the lap top recording the observation as this can be done later at home. I have also noticed that my observation are more detailed as I am spending more time at the eyepiece and can record verbally a lot more information than I could ever type in a reasonable amount of time. I estimate that my productivity has increased by about 50%, meaning that I get 50% more time at the eyepiece. I suspect there are very few things that one can do to get a productivity boost anywhere near this level or for this cost.

Clear skies

rw

 

Fantastic weather and a new scope

The weather for the last week here has been fantastic. As a bonus, I took delivery of a new telescope, a Zhumel, 10" dob.  I have been able to make several trips this week to my (semi) dark site. So  I far, I am quite pleased  with the new scope. The scope came with a corrected image right angle finder scope, which I have replaced with a regular finder scope. I have used a straight through finder for many years and I find it superior to the right angle design for just about all circumstances except for look straight up. The other accessories  that came with the scope, a two speed Crayford focuser, built-in primary fan and a laser colminator, have all proved to be nice additions to the scope.

So here is a list of what I have been observing over the last week:

• Open clusters in Cassiopeia (M103, NGC663, 659, 654 and 457) NGC457 is quite noteworthy as it has an unusual shape and includes 34-Cas, a wide double. The shape of the OCL looks like someone standing with their arms outstretched with the bright double being the eyes. 
• M33 - galaxy in Tri - This was still a tough target as the spiral is face on and the surface brightness is low. 
• Variables (WZ and W in Cas, W and U in Her) Yes, I am a variable star junkie. I enjoy the star hopping to find these "old friends" 
• Uranus - this was the first time I have observed the planet. With a close proximity to Jupiter, it was really easy to find.
• More Messiers - (M6,7,8, 13, 22, 28, 31, 57 92, and 110)  The new scope really showed off M57, The Ring Nebula in Lyra. The added aperture really helps improve the contrast .

I know I said the weather has been fantastic, but there is one problem still and that is the humidity. Dew becomes an issue by 10 or 11 pm with everything becoming absolutely soaked. II am looking forward to the Eldorado star party in West Texas where the humidity will not be a concern.

Clear skies;
rw

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I am an amateur astronomer who lives on the Texas Gulf coast. This blog is designed to give me a place to share my  observation experiences as well as offer thoughts about the hobby. Please also check out my home page: rwastronomy.com for more information about me and my hobby.
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