[Lvas] Redstone Tonight?

[Rob]

Fred Rayworth wrote:
>
> Is anyone still considering going out tonight. It's not looking very 
> good right now and I just checked the satellite at 2:00 and there are 
> more bands of high haze and light clouds coming up from the south.
>  
> To tell the truth, it looks like it might be a good night for Jupiter, 
> but for deep sky, not so good.
>  
> Anyone know something I don't?
>  
> Fred
Folks,

Didn't get Fred's note until after I got back from Redstone.  I was 
enroute when he sent it. 

You missed a great night and what may become a favorite close-in 
semi-dark sky site.  Although it didn't look promising when I left at 
3:30pm, once I got there, the clouds were breaking and by the time I got 
set up, they were gone.  I was joined by Pedro Torres and Ryland Ogle.  
Actually Pedro was there first.  We were later joined by Tim (forgot his 
last name) and Mike Turley and family for a little while.  Tim had an 
equipment malfunction with a damaged spreader for his tripod.  He and 
the Turleys stayed for a short time and observed objects I was locating 
and displaying with my Mallincam.

I'm still learning how to use my Mallincam, but was quite pleased with 
what I was able to see.  For the first time, I was able to see the 
Horsehead Nebula through a telescope rather than looking at Hubble 
images.  What a trip.  I felt like the M&M commercial where Santa Claus 
meets the M&M dudes and exclaims, "They really do exist."  The Horsehead 
Nebula really does exist - see attached images for proof.  I still need 
to work on the exact camera settings to get a darker background and 
produce a better image, but it's there, and not just "I think it's there."

I'm creating a personal astronomy website/blog and I'll soon have a 
place where I can share images captured with my Mallincam.

I'm sorry you missed a great night.  I left about 2am only because I had 
to get up for Church meetings today.  I would have loved to have stayed 
several more hours.  Needless to say, I'm looking forward to my next 
dark sky night with the Mallincam.

I appreciate sharing the evening and early morning with my old friend 
Pedro and my new friend Ryland.  I think Tim will soon be joining us as 
a member of LVAS.

Take care - clear skies.

Rob
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