Continuous Observing - Reports so far

[Akarsh Simha]

So far, I have completed five days of continuous observing (one day inbetween was left - i.e. Sunday) and Amar has completed four. Hemant and Ravindra have done two days. Pavan Keshavamurthy, Krishnan, Manju and Dhruvaraj joined us for one day each.

Observing has been interesting and I post only the highlights here. The best observing was done with Hemant's 12" Dobsonian with excellent optics and marvellous eyepieces.

Orion Nebula:
This was even better than usual, with the 12". In fact, I compared the views through 8" and 12" and there was significant difference. Through the 12", the whole nebula was visible. M42, M43 and NGC 1975 occupied the same field of view, so we could see three nebulosities in one field.

Flame Nebula:
Flame nebula was easily visible through the 12" and showed the dark rifts that give it the reminiscence of flames. Through a 8", both Hemant and me could 'sense' it as an extension to the halo (caused by defective optics) around Alnitak.

H and Chi Persei:
The view was better than usual through the wide field of the 12". Nothing more need to be said about the beauty of this object.

Triangulum Galaxy:
Everyone could see the knots in the galaxy and most of them (except me) could see the spiral arms, through the 12". I made a sketch of the galaxy indicating the position of various knots and am yet to confirm with photographs of the galaxy. We have most probably seen NGC 604, nebula in Triangulum Galaxy, but we are yet to confirm the same. This was simply a marvellous experience and is the first time we have resolved the knots in the galaxy.

M81 - M82 - NGC 3077:
All occupied the same FOV through the 12"!!! M82 showed brightening towards the center (which could be seen even with 8"). NGC 2976 was nearby, just a fraction of a field away - quite bright.

Milky Way:
Was very thick on some of the days and we could observe rifts etc. A previous report gives more details.

Photography:
With Hemant's 6" motorized (GOTO) equatorial scope, several photographs of various regions of the sky have been taken by Pavan, Hemant and me using the "Piggyback" method. The exposures include:
1. Orion Region at 50mm f/1.8 on 400 ISO Fuji Provia film for 15 - 20 minutes.
2. Ursa Major Region with M81-82 field at center at 50mm f/1.8 on 400 ISO Fuji Provia film, 10 minutes
3. Canis Major Milky Way at 50mm f/1.8 on 400 ISO Fuji Provia film for about 10 minutes.
4. Andromeda Galaxy and M33 (+ haze :( ) for 10 minutes on 400 ISO Fuji Provia film; 50mm f/1.8
5. Nebulae in Orion at 300mm f/5.6 on Kodak Ektachrome 200 ISO film for 45 minutes!!!
The expected size of Orion Nebula in the last exposure mentioned above is 2.5 cm on a 4x6 (inch) print.

Sky condition:
Skies are unfortunately not very good nowadays, with horribly lighted skies and visiting haze. No longer is Hosahalli school a dark site. We may want to venture to nearby areas around Hosahalli.

Experience of a True Winter:
It gets really really cold at night and it becomes unbearable, even if you have thick jackets. The problem is more to do with condensation / dew after midnight and telescopes / blankets / finder charts / eyepieces etc. become wet (as though it has rained!!!). People accompanying us on any future observing trips this month are advised strongly to wear a lot of protective clothing and be protected from HEAD TO TOE - or you can't get the maximum of the observing session.

Progress:
I have seen, totally, in these 5 days, maybe about 40 new objects. Amar is not far, having found about 30 new objects.
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Be Blissful always.

Regards,
   Akarsh.