[Chaos-l] Farrington- Clear and Dry!

[Michael Hrivnak]

http://michaelsastronomy.blogspot.com/2009/02/clear-and-dry-at-farrington.html

There is my full account of the evening, including observing notes and a 
picture of my setup.

Enjoy,
Michael

On Tuesday 17 February 2009 20:31:40 Robert Nielsen wrote:
> Michael,
>
> Yeah ... I've seen a couple of nights where there was no dew ... it's
> nice, isn't it!
>
> Sorry I couldn't make it.  Sounds like your views of Saturn were better
> than what I've seen lately ... likely because the air was still.   I'm
> interested in what else you saw!
>
> Robert
>
> Michael Hrivnak wrote:
> > Tonight was the clearest I've ever seen Farrington. The air was still
> > and very dry. Even when I left at 2:10am, the humidity was only 57%.
> > There was not a drop of dew on anything!
> >
> > Let me say that again. At 2:10am, there was not a drop of dew on
> > anything!
> >
> > By request, I paid special attention to Saturn. I saw four moons:
> > Dione, Titan, Rhea, and Tethys. I knew where Enceladus was supposed to
> > be, but I could not see it. I pushed the magnification up to 410x (18"
> > f/4.5 scope with Burgess 5mm eyepiece), and the view was still very
> > clear! If I'd brought my barlow, I would have gone for 600x. The rings
> > mostly looked like straight lines extending from the sides of the
> > planet, but in moments of exceptionally still air, I could see dark
> > space through the rings on either side of the planet! I doubted myself
> > at first, but I was able to repeat the observation many times. There
> > was a distinct band across the planet, about 25% of the way from the
> > equator to the north pole. I felt like I was on the verge of seeing
> > some detail in the southern hemisphere, but it never materialized.
> > There was also a very distinct but thin shadow, which appeared to be
> > immediately under the rings where they cross in front of the planet.
> > The planet and rings appeared bright yellow.
> >
> > It was an incredible evening. I was out there for nearly 9 hours, so
> > now I must sleep. More to come later.
> >
> > Michael
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
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