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Dear RAC'ers,
Saturday night was a real winner, as were all those who showed up to
observe at the top-notch lakeside site at Takghanic Park, about 80
miles/minutes north of Rockland.
Although it was a bad week for America, the gods were finally with us last
night, aligning all the planets and celestial objects in a non-stop parade of
viewing pleasures. Unfortunately, Osama's influence was felt, as relatively
few RAC members showed up for this prime occasion, but I was determined
that for a little while at least, I'd battle terror with joy.
There were just six of us, armed with a wide variety of scopes: a 20" Tectron
f/5 newt, 15" Obsession, 11" Starmaster, C-8, 5" Meade Cassegrain, 4-1/4"
Tasco, 3" FS-78 Tak apo, and a neat set of Bear 15 x 70 mounted binos.
The evening was billed as an "all-nighter" in the RAC newsletter. Indeed, two
of us ended up staying until 7:20 am... 12 hours of sheer visual treats.
To make a long story short, the viewing conditions went from good to better
to outright jaw-dropping! By 3 am we were in dry, stable, mag 6.5 skies,
without a single cloud to mar the stunning beauty of just looking up. This was
almost as nice as my recent visit to the mag 7 skies of Western Wyoming --
not bad for the erratic Northeast.
Everything looked fantastic: the Milky Way popped, objects like the Andromeda
Galaxy and Pinwheel Galaxy were a revelation in these crisp conditions. 3-D and
brimming with detail, normally faint extensions leapt out and demanded comparison
with CCD photos. We counted four separate dust lanes spiraling out from M31.
The Orion Nebula was simply stunning, it's red and violet colors quite apparent.
"Brainy" detail around the Trapezium was easy to view and particularly pleasing.
M74, an open cluster, exploded like fireworks in crisp pinpoints of light in both the
3" Tak and 11" newtonian. Every scope was performing at it's absolute peak
capabilities. Star fields yielded layer upon layer of ever fainter points. It felt as though
we were on the deck of the Enterprise, with nothing between us and infinite space.
Neptune, Uranus, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter all vied for attention. Saturn revealed
both the Cassini and Encke divisions, as well as the subtle inner crepe ring. I have
only viewed under such superb skies two or three times. This year's Shady Pines
never matched the transparency and clarity of this atmosphere. The cool Fall weather
kept us bundled up at around 45-degrees F, but the views kept our inner fires burning
so that by the time the sliver of a crescent moon came up, it seemed like 3 hours had
expired, not 11.
As we packed our equipment, the lake softly misted, the sun slowly rose over it and a
Great Blue Heron stood silently in silhouette amidst the rich and rapidly changing colors
of morning, admiring along with us, the idyllic beauty which embalmed our evening
of delights.
There is simply no way around it: if you want to really see full and deep, you've got to
make an effort. This place is not close (several new members drove two hours to attend),
but the rewards of persistence and fortitude are many. We had our breath taken away
by our Universe, and for a resplendent slice of time were able to forget the man-made
horrors that have enveloped us. Long live America (and amateur astronomy)!
Clear eyes.
Mies Hora
September 16, 2001
