Telescope Treats or Tribulations
Ever since I espied eight Messier galaxies in one night, I have been longing for another similar night. That’s right. I need and deserve another night similar to that one.
Tonight may be the night I have been longing for. I am all set. The Great Red Tube is collimated. Plus, I put some tape inside the 1.25" adapter. The tape takes some of the slop out. Plus I switched adapters, substituting a one screw for a three screw. Both those adapters have too much slop, but at least the one screw adapter is less pretentious.
Jeez Louise! How is an average amateur astronomer supposed to collimate his or her Newt when the Cheshire, or home made laser collimator, and accordingly all the eps, have wiggle room in the adapter. Jeez Louise!
Anyway, I am officially fixing to approach the Merciful White Goddess with the topic, Merciful WG, I, Crumby Ovate, your faithful yet slavish worshiper, need to have another night similar to the one when I got to espy all those nice galaxies. OK, maybe?
Maybe Crumby. Maybe you have been forgiven for guzzling up all that expensive gin that you found hidden in the freezer. Maybe.
I am very sorry about that gin, WG. But you may understand that when I drank up all that gin, I was under a lot of stress. Yes. I was stressed because of my impending nose operation. I was fearful that something might go wrong and I would never get any more gin. That’s why I drank up all that delicious gin. Now I feel like I have fully atoned for that gin. I have suffered a lot.
All righty then, Crumby, maybe you have suffered a lot. So I promise, you shall have another night like the night you espied the eight Messier galaxies. The type of night you are longing for could be tonight. But maybe not.
Later.
Excellent! The WG has come to my rescue despite the gin. The seeing in these parts is, once again, about as good as it ever gets. Try to remember Crumby. The wind is light and variable. The temperature is in the low 30s. The relative humidity is around 25%. Those conditions are favorable to happy viewing.
All righty. I have fluffed up my Messier list. The newly espied are M68, the very faint globular in Corvus, M82 in Ursa Major, M85 in Coma Berenices, M99 in Virgo and M94 in Canes Venatici. Funny about M82. I have looked and looked for that one, having espied its nearby, brighter companion, M81, several times. Yet tonight, there it was, very long and skinny compared to M81, both in the field of my trusty 40mm plossl. M82, at close to culmination, was perhaps the brightest of the new galaxies espied tonight.
Galaxies that eluded me, or were so faint that I could not in good conscience count them are M63, M95, M96 and M83. M83, as everyone with a lick of sense knows, is fairly close to Omega Centauri. Turns out, I espied some of the stars that are very close to Omega Centauri. However, those stars were behind a tree. Yet as DY3 makes progress, ever higher those stars may ascend relative to me. Omega Centauri may be within my grasp, anon
Tonight may be the night I have been longing for. I am all set. The Great Red Tube is collimated. Plus, I put some tape inside the 1.25" adapter. The tape takes some of the slop out. Plus I switched adapters, substituting a one screw for a three screw. Both those adapters have too much slop, but at least the one screw adapter is less pretentious.
Jeez Louise! How is an average amateur astronomer supposed to collimate his or her Newt when the Cheshire, or home made laser collimator, and accordingly all the eps, have wiggle room in the adapter. Jeez Louise!
Anyway, I am officially fixing to approach the Merciful White Goddess with the topic, Merciful WG, I, Crumby Ovate, your faithful yet slavish worshiper, need to have another night similar to the one when I got to espy all those nice galaxies. OK, maybe?
Maybe Crumby. Maybe you have been forgiven for guzzling up all that expensive gin that you found hidden in the freezer. Maybe.
I am very sorry about that gin, WG. But you may understand that when I drank up all that gin, I was under a lot of stress. Yes. I was stressed because of my impending nose operation. I was fearful that something might go wrong and I would never get any more gin. That’s why I drank up all that delicious gin. Now I feel like I have fully atoned for that gin. I have suffered a lot.
All righty then, Crumby, maybe you have suffered a lot. So I promise, you shall have another night like the night you espied the eight Messier galaxies. The type of night you are longing for could be tonight. But maybe not.
Later.
Excellent! The WG has come to my rescue despite the gin. The seeing in these parts is, once again, about as good as it ever gets. Try to remember Crumby. The wind is light and variable. The temperature is in the low 30s. The relative humidity is around 25%. Those conditions are favorable to happy viewing.
All righty. I have fluffed up my Messier list. The newly espied are M68, the very faint globular in Corvus, M82 in Ursa Major, M85 in Coma Berenices, M99 in Virgo and M94 in Canes Venatici. Funny about M82. I have looked and looked for that one, having espied its nearby, brighter companion, M81, several times. Yet tonight, there it was, very long and skinny compared to M81, both in the field of my trusty 40mm plossl. M82, at close to culmination, was perhaps the brightest of the new galaxies espied tonight.
Galaxies that eluded me, or were so faint that I could not in good conscience count them are M63, M95, M96 and M83. M83, as everyone with a lick of sense knows, is fairly close to Omega Centauri. Turns out, I espied some of the stars that are very close to Omega Centauri. However, those stars were behind a tree. Yet as DY3 makes progress, ever higher those stars may ascend relative to me. Omega Centauri may be within my grasp, anon
posted by ray pistrum at Monday, December 29, 2008
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