[Lvas] Horsehead Night

Mon Jan 19 16:56:41 PST 2009

Roger,

Thanks for the comments! I'm glad you can appreciate them.

I've been at this since Sputnik, though not seriously until about 40 years ago.

I started logging my observations in 1982 and have 3292 entries. I've nailed 1030 different objects, so far, including all of the Herschel 1's and of course, the Messiers. I don't know if I've ever said so on this forum, but for the Herschels and the Messiers, I keep a logbook that includes the basic data, conditions, scope, etc. but also an eyepiece field that I draw the object in. I'm a pretty bad artist, but do well enough to get the idea across. I'd intended someday to also write a book on my observations. However, most of my descriptions are probably not detailed enough to pass the muster. Some might be as simple as "A faint round glow" or as detailed as a paragraph.

I have two 16" scopes. One I did the mirror myself and used it for 20+ years. However, the beast is an f/6.4with a tube nine feet long. It got to be quite a chore to move it around, so my wife suggested, to my surprise, that I get the 16" LightBridge. Same aperture, but shorter and much much lighter! I've also got several other optic sets including my first mirror, an 8" f/9.44, a Coulter 8" classical Cassegrain set, a 6" f/8, and four 60mm refractors. However, they are just boxed up in the garage right now.

Well, I have a writer's group meeting to go to, so I'll have to shut up for now.

Great hearing from you and I hope our conversations can inspire some of the other people that get these posts!

Fred Rayworth

From: drivester at hotmail.comTo: lvas at lvlug.org; drivester at hotmail.comDate: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:44:42 +0000Subject: Re: [Lvas] Horsehead Night

Fred, I enjoyed reading your observations regarding the Horsehead and also the report on the "much awaited" 17 Ethos. I was not planning on purchasing an Ethos but have been wondering what the performance of this eyepiece would be. As we all know resolution and the ability to see fainter stars and objects diminish with an "excess" of lens elements. I find that I use my older University Optics Konig's more than any of my other eyepieces. They work extremely well with my (17 year old) Meade DS-10A which is an equatorially mounted 10-inch F/4.5 reflector and also my 4-inch F/9.8 Vixen refractor. I do a lot of double and multiple star work as well as all other deep-sky objects and they excel at both.  I have always had difficulty seeing the Horsehead and probably my best view came from an exceptional 14.5-inch reflector at a very dark site in the mountains north of my location.  I was out last night and the air was almost saturated with moisture which caused the transparency to allow a limiting naked eye magnitude of 5 or less from my backyard. On good nights...less than 10 foot from my backdoor I can go to at least a 6 at the zenith. I do have some problems with streetlight's but I try to block them as best as I can with a large piece of black auto/marine fabric which is very thick and durable. The temperature last night during my observing session was 25° with a calm wind. The unusually high moisture was continually causing dew to develop on my refractor objective. This is very unusual for this to happen during the winter here in western North Carolina.  I too have been working on the H-400 but my poor southerly view from my house is a problem with objects lower than -20° south declination. I have completed the Messier's (many times) the AL double star list, about50% of Tom Lorenzin's "1000+ The Amateur Astronomer's Field Guide to Deep Sky Observing" and I am also working on Jim Mullaney's "Celestial Harvest". Tom Lorenzin doesn't live but about an hour from me and has been a friend for many years. He is also an honorary member of our local club "Cleveland County Astronomical Society". I have been friends with Jim Mulaney for many years also. His first book which was published in 1966 "The 105 Finest Deep-Sky Objects" was my first DS observing guide, and we began a correspondence and friendship that has lasted almost 20 years. He currently lives in Pennsylvania but for a brief period lived only 45 minutes away. He is a dedicated and knowledgeable astronomer.  I have always believed it to be important to keep detailed and catalogued notes of all objects observed. It is very nice to compare notes with others and analyze telescopic views using different telescopes. I have thousands of object descriptions and sketches going back almost 20 years. It has always been my objective to write a deep-sky observing manual based on my past observations. I did a local publication at one time of Jim Mullaneys "FDSO" and sold all copies mostly locally and titled it "The 105+1 Finest Deep-Sky Objects as Jim always said that he should have included the "Crab Nebula"...    Our weather forecast is for snow this afternoon through tomorrow...so no observing for me.  I am enjoying reading your correspondence between members.  Best regards, Roger Ivester        

From: rayworth1969 at hotmail.comTo: lvas at lvlug.orgDate: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:30:18 -0600Subject: [Lvas] Horsehead Night

All, I tried to get someone to go out with me Friday, the 16th, figuring it would be a better night than last night, the 17th. However, I couldn't get nobody to go with me so for safety factors (it's a cell phone dead area), I passed. Last night, a group of us made it up there and I set up just after dark. Still had to pay the $5 to get in at the Lake Mead Blvd. gate, but... Anyway, after I set up, I glanced at Orion and was blown away at how dark and clear that part of the sky was. I was able to see the great nebula as a fuzzy tip to the sword. I got a 2" H-Beta filter for Christmas and this was the time to try for the Horsehead. After the 2nd try, it just popped in the eyepiece! I could not see a horsehead shape, but I picked out the dark mass of the nebula. I was not just imagining it, because three other people out there saw it in my scope also. That was the first time  I've seen that thing visually since 1997. Later on, I tried it with a 17mm Ethos and was quite disappointed. I couldn't see the dark area at all. It was also such a huge field, that I couldn't block out the nearby bright stars and got diffraction spikes. Though I was impressed with the super wide field and general crispness of the stars, I found the thing had a touchy sweet spot for the eye, and it gave me a headache just trying to keep my other eye closed. The eyepiece was fine on M42/M43 but for the fainter stuff, so many elements just sucked the faint light right out of it. Sorry, but to me, it's just not worth $750.00. My cheap Orion Q-70 gave a crummy edge, but in the sweet spot, it gave much brighter images. True enough, it was a lower power at 26mm, but it makes me happy. If I ever won one in a raffle (Ethos), I might take it, but I'll never spend that kind of money on something with those annoying little problems unless I win the Megabucks and want it for the snob factor! As for the rest of the night, I nailed 25 new objects including 5 Herschel 2's. I got tired too fast, though, and with the slight breeze picking up, it was enough assault on my bare face to call it a night. I packed up at 9:30, still very satisfied with the night. Fred

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