[Chaos-l] Duke School For Children soccer field Observing Report

[Thom Ross]

Hi Chaos Astronomers:



I - Thom Ross am very happy to declare success on a super viewing session, last Wednesday, at the Duke School for Children!  Jon Stewart-Taylor also represented CHAOS with his big Dobsonian scope.  Jon taught us many aspects of astronomy and equipment.  He deftly controlled his telescope to reveal celestial objects, many of which were beyond the limitations of my experience and equipment.  Patrick Knox turned off most of the lights, shared scientific knowledge of the sky, and brought a telescope.  Another CHAOS member - Mike came out to share in the experience.  I ran the Celestron Nexstar GT4 for the 4th time, and viewed objects through the Meade ETX 125 for the first time.



I am so new to astronomy that I don’t even have my secret decoder ring yet!  I have just purchased lightly used 4 and 5” Maksutov Cassegrain GoTo telescopes, lenses, tripods, cases, bags, and accessories;… with the hopes of evaluating, enjoying their use, and selling some of them.  Perhaps I’ll move up to 8 or 10” scopes.  Who knows?  Having some fun now!



The soccer field is on a plane close to the roof top level of the school.  It is far enough away from the tree line to provide a big field of view.  The site is within a mile or two of shopping area, and residential light pollution.  However, it seems to my junior astronomer eyes somewhat dark for a urban environment.  Even with the orange light on the soccer field during an earlier session, I was able to see planets clearly that were high in the sky.  However, with the lights off, it is still too light polluted for serious deep sky viewing.  Both nights that I observed there were a few clouds, therefore some humidity.  The grass was cut, and the field in good condition.  I would recommend the site for bright object casual viewing of the moon, planets, constellations, etc., and a fairly large field of view.



We scoped out Saturn and Jupiter.  The rings of Saturn, the bands and moons of Jupiter were spectacular.  A wedge of the moon was up and showed it’s lower portion clearly.  Jon helped me to center the beehive cluster in the GT4.  He slewed to many Messier objects, etc. with his scope while I was trying to figure out the Meade scope I had just received that day.  We saw many clusters of stars.  However, it was not dark enough to distinguish features of galaxies.  We saw 3 bright satellites between 9 and 11 PM.  



The people of the Duke school are very nice, and curious about astronomy.  Their site is conveniently located for my Southwest Durham residence.  Maybe they can sponsor other viewing sessions.  Laura Berry, the Office Manager, gave me permission to use the field, and would probably extend that favor to other CHAOS members.  They are having a get together on Saturday, May 21.  Patrick would like to see some astronomers on the soccer field that evening to share the experience with kids and parents.  Patrick Knox is a Duke science teacher, and can be contacted at: patrick.knox at dukeschool.org.

 

Things just get curiouser and curiouser,…

 

The viewing session provided inconclusive results about my equipment.  The GT4 has displayed remarkable performance.  The GoTo capabilities are working well.  They are user friendly.  However, planets do not track 100% under high magnification.  Whether this is due to initial setup or equipment limitations has yet to be determined.  I suspect that using the easy alignment methodology – level and North, then 2 alignment stars is not precise enough regardless of equipment limitations.  Of course, there are learning curves with it and the ETX 125.  The batteries expired with the ETX 125 before I learned how to test its capabilities.

 

There are curious issues with lenses that I want to study too.  The 7 Celestron lenses  (including a 2x Barlow) versus the 4 Meade lenses I have in hand have yet to be shaken down.

 

The tubular Celestron tripod is much more user friendly than the rectangular rod configuration of the Meade 883 tripod. The tubular design features one tightening point per leg that is quick to let the tube slide in and out, and fix back into place.  The rectangular rod type has the original lower tightening points, and later added upper tightening points.  Preliminary analysis shows that these require many more turns to let the posts slide.

 

The GoTo capability is driven by hand held controllers.  (I just leave the GT4 controller mounted on the scope arm.) The GT4 keypad controller is backlit with a LED display.  It features keys for planets, Messier objects, etc.  The Meade Autostar 497 is menu driven through the LED display.  The menu goes easily to sub-menus: planets, objects, events, utilities, etc.  Who knows which type is better?

 

Of course, I also have not evaluated dew shields and heaters yet.  When, why, how often,… ? My heater arrived without a controller.  Can it just be powered by a 12 volt dc source,… what amperage, or other critical factor?  If anyone knows how to power it up, for a reasonable price, weight, etc., please let me know.  It is a Kendrick 5”. 

 

I did not see any significant advantage with either the red dot or cross hair finder scope.

 

It certainly is entertaining to evaluate the equipment, and learn something about the heavens.

 

 

See my previous relevant email below:

 

Hi Chaos Astronomers:



I am the newest Chaos member.  I just purchased a Maksutov Cassegrain, Celestron Nexstar GT4.  I also hope to have a similar Meade ETX AT 125 in hand today.  I should set both of these scopes up tonight.  I will share the use of my scopes.  A science and math teacher – Patrick Knox – at Duke Middle School is interested in observing.  I am expecting him, a few adults, and a few telescopes to show up about 8:30 PM.  He should turn off the light at the soccer field for a wide sky view that is somewhat dark.



The weather forecast flipped suddenly to mostly clear tonight, and isolated or scattered showers for the next 5-6 nights.  Hence the short notice.  Saturn is getting lower in the sky, and the moon is getting brighter.  Anyone is welcome to come out and observe tonight.  I hope to see you there.



Place:

Duke School For Children - Soccer Field

3716 Old Erwin Road (aka Erwin Road), Durham, NC 27705, 919-493-2642

(between Cornwallis Road and Highway 751 (aka Cameron Blvd.) – just southwest of the new traffic circle, West of 15-501 By-pass, close to Duke University)



Time:

8:30 PM until,…



Date: Wednesday, May 11, 2005





Cheers,

Thom Ross

Tross2 at nc.rr.com

(919) 419-0396
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