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by Steve Scott
Wow!! What a night!! Now I know why I bought this telescope.
It’s early Saturday morning on July 26th. The clock in the corner of my PC says it’s 12:57am. I've just come back inside from the most fantastic night of observing I've ever experienced. Now that’s not saying much (considering that I’m about as new to amateur astronomy as it gets and because I've only taken my scope out a handful of times) but to me it was a night I'll never forget. What made it so special? Well, let’s start at the beginning.......
It’s about 9:30pm. My fiancé Helene and I get back from a nice quite dinner. Things have been kind of stressful recently because we’re getting married in just over five weeks. I haven’t had much free time to take my scope out because of all the planning. As I step out of our 4x4, I happen to look up and notice a beautiful clear sky.
A week or so ago, I had noticed Jupiter looming around and I had been hoping to get a chance sometime soon to get my first glimpse of it in my shiny new Meade 8" Dobsonian. I look around for it but being the beginner I am, I’m pretty well lost without my trusty star chart from the current months issue of Sky & Telescope Magazine. I walk in through the back door to our building and decide to walk out the front to see if I can spot Jupiter from that side. Again, no luck. But it’s a beautiful evening. The temperature is perfect and there’s not a bit of humidity to speak of. The stars are just beckoning me to look.
We happen to live in a condo complex in Suffern, NY so the viewing conditions are not the best. There are porch lights and two story buildings everywhere and not much of a horizon to speak of. But I figure, what the heck! I can still see some of the sky. Let’s go for it!!!
Helene’s kind of tired and she want’s to get to sleep early tonight. So I give her a kiss goodnight, grab my scope and set it up on the grass out front. Besides the Moon, Mars, and a bunch of bright stars, the only things I’ve seen through my scope so far are the great Orion Nebulae (that was a tough one to find huh), the Ring nebulae, and the Hercules Star Cluster (and the only reason I saw the last two was because someone was helping me out).
Now I did happen to locate the Ring Nebula (M57) by myself at the last RAC star party (after a few words of advice from my new friend Len of course). So tonight, I decide to start by trying to locate it again. Vega is pretty easy to find as it’s almost directly over my head and as bright as can be. I point my scope, look through the eye piece, and with just the slightest of adjustments, I find it. COOL!! Now I know finding it wasn’t a fluke the last time.
I get a touch more confident. I look downward a bit and spot the Northern Cross of Cygnus (now you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t know the "correct" names, directions, or terms of all these wonders in the sky, but as I said before, I am a major novice at this and I’m still learning the ropes!) With my little red mag light and my pull out star chart, I decide to try and locate M29 in Cygnus. At first I have a tough time figuring out where to point my scope. But then I move it a little to my right and there it is. My first new Messier object found all on my own. It’s inspiring! I want to see everything in the sky!!
Since I’m already facing East, I look at my star chart and spot M15 just to the left of Equuleus and below Delphinus. My eyes have adjusted to the dark and I can clearly make out the three stars that make up Equuleus. I point my scope and look… no luck. I adjust a few time more, but still nothing. I figure maybe I was pushing my luck there so I decide to try and spot M13, the Hercules Star Cluster.
I had seen it once before through my scope, thanks to Len, and saw it clear as a bell through another member (Seth’s) 14" Dob. But I had never been able to locate it on my own. After an initial mistake (I think Bootes is Hercules for a few minutes. Hey give me a break would ya, I keep telling you I’m a rookie don’t I!?), I realize what I’m doing wrong and reposition the scope. BOOM!! there’s M13 in all its magnificent glory. Now this is getting good! With M92 also in Hercules I decide to give it a whirl.
Once, as I look up to spot M92, I notice something moving across the sky rather quickly. I’m actually able to follow it in my finder-scope for a minute but then I lose it. Must have been a satellite or something. No UFO but it definitely got my blood pumping for a second.
A couple of more (who am I kidding, a lot more) peaks at the star chart and I again point my scope towards M92. No good. Another adjustment (along with a few dozen more peaks at my chart) and there she is! Awesome!! I’m on a roll!!
I spot the Big Dipper (even I can’t miss that!), check out my chart and notice that galaxy M51 is just off the handle. After a bunch of tries and no success I give up on it. I may be down but I’m certainly not out.
As I scan my chart and then the sky looking for a new target, I catch a "shooting star" blaze past my view. Now I know this is going to be a great night.
I move my scope over a little to get a better view of the Southern horizon. There I notice Scorpius. Being a Scorpio myself, I’ve always had a special place for this constellation. At the last star party, I tried unsuccessfully to get a look at M4 in Scorpius. This time I’m determined to spot it.
I point my scope at the sky and I notice something. I seem to be getting a feel for looking through my finder scope and positioning my scope close to where I want it to be. Something has definitely clicked!
I point to Antares (pretty easy), move right and a little down and I actually think I may have spotted M4 through my finder scope of all things. As I move to the eyepiece and look through, I’m psyched to see that M4 is just waiting there for me to focus on it. This is unbelievable! I’m starting to feel invincible, so I decide to try for M80. A few minutes later and I’m staring right at it. So I figure, why not, M19 is just sitting there waiting for me isn’t it? After a few misses, there she is too.
I can’t believe the night I’m having. Porch lights everywhere and I’m nailing deep sky objects in just a few minutes. I take a short walk down the block to see if there is another area for me to set up my scope so I can get a look at another part of the sky. On my way back I spot what can only be Jupiter.
I find a nice level area and move my scope. As you probably figured out, it didn’t take much to get Jupiter in my sights but I was definitely NOT prepared to see what I did. There’s Jupiter and three, no I think it might be four of her moons. Not only that, but I can clearly make out three distinct lighter areas separated by darker bands on the mammoth world. This is AWESOME!! I spend about 15 minutes looking and marveling at Jupiter through my 25, 12 and even my 9mm eyepiece. Damn I wish I had a good Nagler eyepiece! What a beautiful site. Bring on Saturn!!!
With Jupiter behind me, I think about heading in. But before I do, I decide to give M15 another shot. I move the scope to a better viewing area, make a few adjustments, and there it is. I can’t believe this night! I can’t go in yet! I’ve got lot’s more to see!!
I notice Altair in the South East and follow the "lines" of Aquila to what I think looks like the tip of it’s arrow head shape. I find the two stars that make up the Eastern most part of Scutum, aim my scope, move it around a hair, and there staring me in the face is M11. (I’ve said it before and here it is again) I can’t believe this night!!
It’s now about 12:30am. Sagittarius has risen high enough for me to see it if I move over close to my building. I see on my star chart that M28 is just above the top of the "tea pot" shape. This is going to be a piece of cake. I point my scope (this is actually starting to get easy), peer into the eyepiece and after a tap on the top, there she is. Moving over to my left I spot M22 just a few short minutes later.
I’m starting to get a little tired and mother nature is starting to knock. But while my scope is pointed this way I go for M21 and M20. It doesn’t take too long and there they are. I try to spot M8 but I don’t seem to have any luck with it.
At this point, who cares, right! I’m on top of the world and I feel like a kid with a new toy that I just can’t wait to play with again. Unfortunately mother nature gets the better of me and I pack it in for the night.
When I get inside I start thinking about the night and what I saw and did. I can’t believe it. Even in the worst conditions around I managed to spot 13 Messier objects all on my own and I got that look a Jupiter I’ve been waiting for. I have to write all this down before the morning. If I don’t, it just wouldn’t be the same…
Well what do you know, it’s 3:30am already. Did I really just write four pages worth of material? Maybe it’s time I think about going to bed. I know I’ll be dreaming about the sky tonight (only in my dreams, I spot deep sky objects on the first try with no scope adjustments). I can’t wait for the next fabulous night that comes my way to break out my scope and enjoy this wonderful new hobby. Why not grab your scope and head outside too. Just don’t forget your star chart.
Steve Scott
