We will likely be open for a few hours late tonight, likely 11pm until 2am.
Dress warm if you plan to arrive and visit as it will be cold out, we have a small heater inside but we rarely turn it on while observing as the heat will cause air currents which can interfere with the view.
Some FAAC Ford Amateur Astronomy Club members will be there and we may have a couple of telescopes setup outside as well as those in the observatory.
This is open to the public but you must be over 18 or bring a parent to gain admission.
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Monday, March 14, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
I just did a quick eyeball estimate of Saturns height above the horizon
I estimated it was about 40 degrees above the horizon using my hands outstretched as a way to measure the angle.
Then I looked at the computer screen to see what the software program states is the elevation.
The computer states the planet is 39 degrees and six minutes above the horizon. So my quick estimate using the outstretched hand technique was pretty accurate.
Saturn is jumping around in the 25mm eyepiece view through the c14. At 3911mm in focal length the 25mm eyepiece gives 156 power. At 156 power Saturn is jumping around die to air turbulence. Conditions are not very good at this time.
I'm going to look at something else and then return to look at Saturn.
Transparency is really good tonight the image would be very clear if it wasn't moving around so much. Maybe the winds will die down.
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Then I looked at the computer screen to see what the software program states is the elevation.
The computer states the planet is 39 degrees and six minutes above the horizon. So my quick estimate using the outstretched hand technique was pretty accurate.
Saturn is jumping around in the 25mm eyepiece view through the c14. At 3911mm in focal length the 25mm eyepiece gives 156 power. At 156 power Saturn is jumping around die to air turbulence. Conditions are not very good at this time.
I'm going to look at something else and then return to look at Saturn.
Transparency is really good tonight the image would be very clear if it wasn't moving around so much. Maybe the winds will die down.
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A quick update
I just opened up the observatory.
I hope it's a case of the mirror needing to cool down and conditions will improve. . . But at this time Saturn looks terrible.
It looks like the sky is much worse than it was a few nights ago.
Yuck, not exactly a technical term, I hope this will improve. I'm almost ready to close up if it stays this bad. Probably not worth the cold weather and braving the cold for this poor viewing.
Perhaps its wind and ice crystals in the air or something. Seeing is poor at this time.
I will update this again in another 30 minutes.
Greg 11:49pm Sunday night
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I hope it's a case of the mirror needing to cool down and conditions will improve. . . But at this time Saturn looks terrible.
It looks like the sky is much worse than it was a few nights ago.
Yuck, not exactly a technical term, I hope this will improve. I'm almost ready to close up if it stays this bad. Probably not worth the cold weather and braving the cold for this poor viewing.
Perhaps its wind and ice crystals in the air or something. Seeing is poor at this time.
I will update this again in another 30 minutes.
Greg 11:49pm Sunday night
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Sorry about the late post I'm just opening the observatory now.
313 288-8720 observatory phone number.
It's bitter cold out but the skies are clear.
The viewing conditions are supposed to be excellent and I'm just arriving. I hope to get a Bice view of Saturn and some other objects. Maybe a few photographs.
It's really cold out and in starting late tonight. Visitors are welcome but you must be over 18 as this is not a school event.
Many club members are at different dark sky sites tonight.
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Thursday, March 3, 2011
Last Nights observing session.
A couple of FAAC members showed up for last nights observing session.
I wasn't sure I'd have the small gate open, so I only announced we'd be out there late at night.
It was bitter cold which would be a disappointment for casual visitors. You'd want to dress up for the coldest conditions.
Observing is difficult in the cold, because you're not exercising, so you're not gaining heat from physical activity. It's more of a standing around, chatting and sitting activity.
I dressed with about 5 layers and this included boots that are winter hunting boots rated for 50 below zero weather. I had a warm snowmobile jacket, pants for snowmobiling, as well as long johns. I had two hooded sweaters on each with a hood. I had earmuffs. I didn't always wear my gloves while inside the observatory.
I felt for the most part as if I was observing on a warm summer night with all the layers I had on. We had an IR heater on that was aimed at a chair in the observatory, away from the open shutter. It would keep Wendi a little warmer and at times we moved this and move the position of the chair depending on the rotation of the dome. The viewing conditions improved as midnight approached, but also that was the predicted peak of viewing conditions according to the clear sky chart.
The eyepieces were cold and many metal objects are cold and pull the heat out of you if you touch them.
All in all, I stayed warm most of the time. We took a break and went by White Castle. We ended up watching a movie during that break as we were waiting for Saturn to rise up higher in the sky. We wended to see a good image of Saturn and it's in better position currently at about 1AM in the morning and it gets better as it rises higher and higher in the sky up to about 4AM. After sitting and talking for quite a while we returned at about 1 AM to get a quick look at Saturn and see if we could see the "bright storm" on the surface.
I thought we could see this storm earlier, but now I wonder if I'm not just seeing a dark cloud band on the surface. Art thought the surface feature we saw was a shadow of the ring of Saturn. We actually didn't have enough power and resolution to verify if the features we saw was a cloud band, storm or shadow.
The dome is having more problems (maybe it needs some grease), rotating in the winter. We looked at only a half a dozen objects, mostly star clusters. We looked t M42 and M45, the Soul Nebula and "the ghost of Jupiter". We looked at the double cluster. Art and Wendi saw five stars in the Trapezium of M42 with the 40mm eyepiece on the C14. We'd need a higher power eyepiece to see 6 stars, but didn't look at it with more power last night.
Jupiter is positioned a lot closer to the sun now as it sets much sooner. We are not looking at Jupiter anymore, but Saturn rises earlier and earlier in the night sky each evening. So it will be the planet we'll likely be focusing on as the weather starts to break.
We chatted about all kinds of astronomy gear dreams and ideas which are usually left to late night chatter and discussion.
Late at night sometime around 2AM I arrived home, (maybe a little later). I still felt relatively warm all bundled up and decided to try to setup the Binocular telescope outside at home and take a peek at Saturn to see how it looked through the Vixen Binoculars at 36 and 48 power. I was able to stay outside and view Saturn for about an hour before I started feeling cold. This was while I was exposed to a slight breeze. The ground of course was cold and I was standing on cement at home. Had the viewing conditions been better, i could have stayed out at the observatory practically all night, because I was bundled up very warmly.
The observatory has some advantages of course. One being a wall to block much of the wind if there is a light breeze. The second being a wooden floor with carpeting which doesn't try to pull heat out of your shoes or boots.
Someday, who knows, we might have a separate control room or something at HJRO which would be a portable control room to control the telescope as it takes photos and provides a live video feed. That would allow observers to perhaps plan and warm up on cold winter nights. This winter has been a pretty bad winter for observing. When it's very cold out we often have very good conditions, and in the winter we have longer nights. But we've had a lot of poor seeing conditions this year. So many times braving the cold has not been as rewarding as it would be in a normal winter.
I wasn't sure I'd have the small gate open, so I only announced we'd be out there late at night.
It was bitter cold which would be a disappointment for casual visitors. You'd want to dress up for the coldest conditions.
Observing is difficult in the cold, because you're not exercising, so you're not gaining heat from physical activity. It's more of a standing around, chatting and sitting activity.
I dressed with about 5 layers and this included boots that are winter hunting boots rated for 50 below zero weather. I had a warm snowmobile jacket, pants for snowmobiling, as well as long johns. I had two hooded sweaters on each with a hood. I had earmuffs. I didn't always wear my gloves while inside the observatory.
I felt for the most part as if I was observing on a warm summer night with all the layers I had on. We had an IR heater on that was aimed at a chair in the observatory, away from the open shutter. It would keep Wendi a little warmer and at times we moved this and move the position of the chair depending on the rotation of the dome. The viewing conditions improved as midnight approached, but also that was the predicted peak of viewing conditions according to the clear sky chart.
The eyepieces were cold and many metal objects are cold and pull the heat out of you if you touch them.
All in all, I stayed warm most of the time. We took a break and went by White Castle. We ended up watching a movie during that break as we were waiting for Saturn to rise up higher in the sky. We wended to see a good image of Saturn and it's in better position currently at about 1AM in the morning and it gets better as it rises higher and higher in the sky up to about 4AM. After sitting and talking for quite a while we returned at about 1 AM to get a quick look at Saturn and see if we could see the "bright storm" on the surface.
I thought we could see this storm earlier, but now I wonder if I'm not just seeing a dark cloud band on the surface. Art thought the surface feature we saw was a shadow of the ring of Saturn. We actually didn't have enough power and resolution to verify if the features we saw was a cloud band, storm or shadow.
The dome is having more problems (maybe it needs some grease), rotating in the winter. We looked at only a half a dozen objects, mostly star clusters. We looked t M42 and M45, the Soul Nebula and "the ghost of Jupiter". We looked at the double cluster. Art and Wendi saw five stars in the Trapezium of M42 with the 40mm eyepiece on the C14. We'd need a higher power eyepiece to see 6 stars, but didn't look at it with more power last night.
Jupiter is positioned a lot closer to the sun now as it sets much sooner. We are not looking at Jupiter anymore, but Saturn rises earlier and earlier in the night sky each evening. So it will be the planet we'll likely be focusing on as the weather starts to break.
We chatted about all kinds of astronomy gear dreams and ideas which are usually left to late night chatter and discussion.
Late at night sometime around 2AM I arrived home, (maybe a little later). I still felt relatively warm all bundled up and decided to try to setup the Binocular telescope outside at home and take a peek at Saturn to see how it looked through the Vixen Binoculars at 36 and 48 power. I was able to stay outside and view Saturn for about an hour before I started feeling cold. This was while I was exposed to a slight breeze. The ground of course was cold and I was standing on cement at home. Had the viewing conditions been better, i could have stayed out at the observatory practically all night, because I was bundled up very warmly.
The observatory has some advantages of course. One being a wall to block much of the wind if there is a light breeze. The second being a wooden floor with carpeting which doesn't try to pull heat out of your shoes or boots.
Someday, who knows, we might have a separate control room or something at HJRO which would be a portable control room to control the telescope as it takes photos and provides a live video feed. That would allow observers to perhaps plan and warm up on cold winter nights. This winter has been a pretty bad winter for observing. When it's very cold out we often have very good conditions, and in the winter we have longer nights. But we've had a lot of poor seeing conditions this year. So many times braving the cold has not been as rewarding as it would be in a normal winter.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Small gate is open for those who want to brave bitter cold for viewing
We will be open from 8 to 10pm tonight and possibly later
Conditions should be okay but it will be bitterly cold tonight.
If you decide to visit to take a quick peek adults are welcome tonight.
Please beware there is ice near the inside of the small gate in the parking lot behind the stands.
Try to avoid it or use extreme caution. Also walk directly over packed snow from junior high parking lot to the observatory because there us black ice on the walkway near the observatory.
Black ice forms where the blacktop walkway around the fence meets the cement and I haven't put salt down so there us black ice there. Please use extreme caution I'd you decide to brave the cold for a peek and dress as if you are going snowmobiling or skiing.
You cannot dress to warm tonight and it's probably better to wait for warmer weather and clear nights.
Also note conditions will be clear but seeing is not perfect so it's really only worth the trip for the most diehard enthusiasts who want to brave the cold for a few minutes of viewing.
A few club members may stop by and there us a heater in the observatory but we rarely use it while viewing to avoid thermal heat currents which can degrade the view
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Conditions should be okay but it will be bitterly cold tonight.
If you decide to visit to take a quick peek adults are welcome tonight.
Please beware there is ice near the inside of the small gate in the parking lot behind the stands.
Try to avoid it or use extreme caution. Also walk directly over packed snow from junior high parking lot to the observatory because there us black ice on the walkway near the observatory.
Black ice forms where the blacktop walkway around the fence meets the cement and I haven't put salt down so there us black ice there. Please use extreme caution I'd you decide to brave the cold for a peek and dress as if you are going snowmobiling or skiing.
You cannot dress to warm tonight and it's probably better to wait for warmer weather and clear nights.
Also note conditions will be clear but seeing is not perfect so it's really only worth the trip for the most diehard enthusiasts who want to brave the cold for a few minutes of viewing.
A few club members may stop by and there us a heater in the observatory but we rarely use it while viewing to avoid thermal heat currents which can degrade the view
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Test ipad at dinner time
Just a test the observatory is closed sue to snow blocking the small gate
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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