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(ATMoB:Discuss) Monday night observing

Just thought I would write some notes about my observing Monday night.

While hedging whether or not to observe with my 4" f/5 refractor on a bogen 
tripod, or drag out the 13" w/dob driver, aperature won out.

Observing Saturn was great! I could hold Saturn in the FOV for more than 30 
minutes with a 7mm Nagler at 214x, making only minor corrections, and 
sometimes, for at least 20 minutes not make any adjustments at all. I 
observed the Encke division for the first time during moments of steady 
seeing. The Crepe ring was etheral, being both visible against the dark 
background and yet transparent enough to see the planet beneath the rings. 
Of the moons visible, I observed Enceladus near to the rings, Tethys and 
Dione huddled together to one side, Rhea to the otherside and below 
Enceladus, Titan and Iapetus below the planet. Mimas was too close to the 
rings to make out clearly and Hyperion I missed that I will chalk up to not 
seeing because of the light pollution in my neighborhood. I should be able 
to see all 8 visible moons this weekend when I travel to mag 6.5 skies,

Comet Linear was etheral too. Finding it a degree or 2 away from its charted 
position, I observed it at about 167x, with a 9mm Nagler. The head clearly 
showed a coma, sharply edged to one side gently sloping off to the left and 
right side, while the other sported a 1/2 degree tail. The nucleus was a pin 
point. At roughly 7.3 mag, it was a chore to find in mag 4 skies, but a 
reward to see it at last.

Jupiter was behind some trees, but using the 7 Nagler and an orange filter, 
I could see some fine detail on the N and S EQ bands, but having to break 
down the truss tube at 11:30pm to get in so I could get ready for work in 
the morning, I didnt get a clean shot at Jupiter.

On Sunday night, using my C102 refractor and a 2x barlow for an effective 
focal length of 1000mm, I observed Io's shadow transiting across the south 
EQ belt for about 30 minutes. Saturn exhibited some nice ring structure, and 
some banding on the planet itself. There were 5 moons visible in the 4", all 
except Mimas, Hyperion and Enceladus, were visible. I was also able to see 
M78 from the light polluted skies, which I thought was remarkable, seeing as 
it was a reflection nebula and I couldnt use a filter. The Eskimo planetary 
nebula was visible. showing a greenish glow, at high power with and without 
the OIII filter. Not much detail was discerned, but it was visible 
nonetheless.

I ended the evening going back to Jupiter and Saturn to see if any satellite 
phenomenon was visible. I consulted my Jup Sat and Sat sat programs to 
determine ahead of time what was visible and in Jupiters case, what transits 
or occultations were taking place. Meridian also confirmed the transit of Io 
and its shadow. A couple of really neat programs to make obseving the outer 
planets more enjoyable.

Clear Skies,
Dave Aucoin


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