Observing Notesfrom the Tuckahoe IrregularsOnce the moon set on Sunday, Jean-Paul, Tim, and I were treated to a night of clear and spectacularly steady skies. We were able to push our dobs beyond what is normally possible for our region... At one point we had J-P's servo-cat driven 18" to 1175X on M57... We were able to clearly see the central star with averted and sometimes direct vision. (I even believe I was able to see a second star inside the ring like in the photographs.) Other highlights for me included the numerous other planetary nebulae, as well as the veil (with Tim's O-III filter). J-P was able to show off lots of great globular clusters... and at magnifications that made each look like M-13. :) While we had some high clouds before moonset, once luna was gone we had a *superb* night out. I only wish it had been Friday night so I could have stayed all night!! Take care all, Chris Mazzola |