Coe Post Noctum 12/11

[Mark Wagner]

Quite the turnout for a Thursday night.  Did anyone take a head count?

Interested in thoughts from those who were there: social, conditions, most interesting/impressive observations, gear?

I was first in yesterday afternoon, and last out this morning.  Easy traffic, thankfully.  I'll wait on my thoughts.  I did however have an unexpected visitor watching me pack up, from over by the work trucks on the west side of the lot.  Meow.

Thoughts?  Post 'em if you gottem.

[Richard Navarrete]

Mitchell’s night vision gadget was incredible. Barnard’s loop and the California nebula were amazing!

Richard

Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

--
Observing Sites, Observing Reports, About TAC linked at top of:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sf-bay-tac
 
Subscribers post to the mailing list at:
 
sf-ba...@googlegroups.com,
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Astronomy Connection (TAC)" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sf-bay-tac+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/4d9485e3-2ece-4fdb-97e9-26f27556387bn%40googlegroups.com.

[Peter Santangeli]

Fun night. Dark enough. Great to see people. Really warm "sweatshirt/light jacket" temps for as long as I was there.

Though from an imagers perspective it wasn't great. It was dark enough, but the wind was quite strong and breezy/inconsistent meaning any large scope was going to get blown around too much. I'm hoping I end up with some results, but it was in doubt for a while. The wind died down by 9 or so, but came back at about 12:30, maybe even stronger. I'll post any results I get.

Was great to see so many people out there. Wasn't *quite* like the 'old days' when we would fill the lot, but it was a solid turn out with I'm guessing around 10 cars.

At around midnight people started to disappear, which is probably normal for a week night. In previous years (the 'old days') I probably would have put an 'ask' here for people to be a bit more careful with their headlights when leaving, but with modern cars it's getting harder and harder to turn them off. I used to use tin foil and gaffers tape on the lights of my cars, but that's getting harder and harder as light systems get bigger. And you used to be able to drive out with the hand-brake moderating speed too without lighting up the brake lights, but these days that too is often impossible, because as often as not, the handbrake isn't manual anymore, and is nothing but a switch. Life moves on.

No worries though - there often seems to be concern about lights and imagers, but that's interestingly mostly a 'relic' of the days of film, where a light could ruin a 2 hour exposure. These days with sub-exposures rarely going over 5 minutes, the risk is small, and people should worry more about the dark adaptation of visual observers.

I also had a number of issues come up which varied from 'doh!' to 'unfortunate'

• Like a total newbie, I forgot my laptop plastic shield. I resolved to keep my laptop in my van but this made polar alignment (where going back and forth between the scope and laptop is a must using my technique) a total pain. What takes me 5-10 minutes probably took 1/2 an hour+. The wind didn't help either.
• My van overheated when I arrived. Turns out I have a seized cooling fan. Airflow got it there, but when it 'heat soaked' after stopping, it boiled over. Doh. 

I had originally planned on napping until 5 or 6 then packing up and leaving, but I decided that empty roads would be better for me to keep the van moving and cooled, so I packed up and was gone before 2.

pete

--

[Brad Templeton]

Is there a practice where there's an area where the imagers can have their screens, pointed in a direction so people keeping dark adapted won't see them unless they go around to that side?   Or does everybody have a shield for them?   I have heard some people get a sheet of red at TAP, is there anything more formal?

I didn't make it.  Mostly because I still need to improve the portability of my setup, also because it seemed cold with lots of dew, and there was another event that night.  Would have made it if it were tonight (even though the day of the week doesn't matter too much to me.)

[Joel Lee]

@Peter. A little disappointed to hear there’s a decent amount of wind. Has it been windy for you recently? Ive been imaging in the backyard for the whole week and basically every night has been a scrap for my larger rigs due to the recent odd wind. Last night was calmer here but seeing was atrocious instead. 

@Brad. I was recommended by Jeff while at Calstar to use a mini laptop tent. I got one off amazon for 14$ and will try it out this weekend. I also use red plastic sheets over the front of my screen then pointed it away from everyone else. It’s still pretty bright even with the red film. I have some extra red film sheets if you need some. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/85e86784-edf9-4925-b37f-d54e14d29723n%40googlegroups.com.

[Brad Templeton]

Sure, if there's an easy way to get such a sheet, otherwise tell me a good source.     Now I have a nice monitor that mounts on my tripod which is connected to my mini-pc, but I could also set up a wifi node on the mini-pc and connect to it from a laptop or phone.     When imaging here in the valley, I don't dark adapt much, so it's not an issue.   In a dark site, I would not dark adapt while setting up and controlling NINA, but might try to after it's being stable taking subs.  Though I admit it's nice to look at the subs as they come.   The monitor can't get super dim, alas, so I would want such a sheet.  There are "privacy" sheets that direct the light one direction, and there's also software to dim the pixels on the screen which might help. Already use a NINA night colour scheme.

[Peter Santangeli]

I've always used tap plastic sheets. And then I cover the 'sides' where the sheets can leak light using gaffer's tape. Gaffer's tape, while expensive, is an investment that anyone doing astro events should make (IMHO). Easy to use, doesn't stick too much. Blocks light totally. Tears easily and is a little torn off bit is the perfect thing to neutralize the annoying bright LED you didn't realize that device had...

Works well and doesn't mess up your laptop.

Some people like laptop boxes or tents. Personally I move my laptop around too much for that to work.

One thing that IS certain, is when at an evening like this, just turning on 'night mode' on your astro apps is not enough.

pete

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/85e86784-edf9-4925-b37f-d54e14d29723n%40googlegroups.com.

[Joel Lee]

My last email got bounced for too big of a photo file haha. 

Im based in Fremont and can bring them on Saturday if you come to Coe. Otherwise, I got them off Amazon for probably <10$ for a pack of several a while back. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/cf699789-d58e-4533-9766-687e1c1af1a8n%40googlegroups.com.

[Richard Navarrete]

As Pete mentioned, it did seem like a flashback to the past when TACo's could almost fill that lot. It was definitely the most 'star party' feeling I've had since the pandemic. Lots of really nice like-minded folk enjoying the night sky in their own way (as it should be) lots of chatter, people coming over to visit or catch-up, sharing of views, trying out new equipment (I had a new to me 8" dob with a base from Jake and a tube from a guy in Richmond) and the light discipline was awesome. I don't think I saw one stray light all night, other than cars (mine included) trying to leave with minimal lights, which is virtually impossible.

Let's do that again! 

Richard

--

[Mark Wagner]

I will post this one, and a "most fun stuff at Coe" impressions report later.  Here's a not most fun, or "worst feeling" after a night of astronomy at places like that:

Packing up everything in your vehicle, being the last person there, and you don't know where the car keys are.  And stand there looking at the car, fully packed....

[matthew marcus]

A not-so-fun moment at Coe: The fog started to roll in and I decided to
wait it out. Bad move - it stayed all night, thick enough to make it
impossible to see from one end of the lot to the other, so I had to stay
all night.
mam

On 12/12/2025 11:38 AM, Mark Wagner wrote:
> I will post this one, and a "most fun stuff at Coe" impressions report

> later.  Here's a /not most fun/, or "worst feeling" after a night of

> astronomy at places like that:
>
> Packing up everything in your vehicle, being the last person there, and
> you don't know where the car keys are.  And stand there looking at the
> car, fully packed....
>
> On Friday, December 12, 2025 at 8:59:17 AM UTC-8 Mark Wagner wrote:
>
> Quite the turnout for a Thursday night.  Did anyone take a head count?
>
> Interested in thoughts from those who were there: social,
> conditions, most interesting/impressive observations, gear?
>
> I was first in yesterday afternoon, and last out this morning.  Easy
> traffic, thankfully.  I'll wait on my thoughts.  I did however have
> an unexpected visitor watching me pack up, from over by the work
> trucks on the west side of the lot.  Meow.
>
> Thoughts?  Post 'em if you gottem.
>

> --
> Observing Sites, Observing Reports, About TAC linked at top of:

> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sf-bay-tac <https://
> groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sf-bay-tac>

>
> Subscribers post to the mailing list at:
>
> sf-ba...@googlegroups.com,
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "The Astronomy Connection (TAC)" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send

> an email to sf-bay-tac+...@googlegroups.com <mailto:sf-bay-
> tac+uns...@googlegroups.com>.

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-

> tac/93303069-d8b9-43e9-b979-31c4f5f4a24cn%40googlegroups.com <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/93303069-d8b9-43e9-
> b979-31c4f5f4a24cn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Mitchell Koerner]

It was indeed a magical night!

By my count we had a whopping 11 people (counting from tree to gate):

 - Richard with his 8" and smaller refractor with binoviewers

 - David with the lovely large refractor

 - Muriel with her trusty 10" dob

 - Mark and his 18" Obsession

 - Myself with my 10" dob (mostly night vision tonight)

 - Philip with the beautiful and unique 17.5" (is it named "fat albert" or am I misremembering)

 - Joshua rocking his 6" mak

 - Pete imaging with his (was it a 10"?) and modified pier to make it fit

 - Jake and his 8" dob with an amazing new base (hopefully you're able to easily fix that piece of laminate)

 - Frank mostly with his 5" frac but briefly with the questar

 - Lance imaging the flaming star with his Askar

My favorite views for the night were:

 - Thor's Helmet from Mark's 18

 - Double cluster in Frank's refractor (I'm absolutely loving the new handle as well)

 - Heart and California nebula in my own setup (I got a chance to really enjoy the nebulous outlines of these 2)

 - And best of all, all the conversation and background meteor shower on a wonderfully transparent night!

Thanks everyone for making this possible! Bad weather (of last month) is annoying, but I love how it can bring everyone together on the same night as we are starved for stars.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sf-bay-tac+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/7564f546-f9ef-4d69-abd2-47784ff18b13%40lbl.gov.

[Mark Wagner]

Nice Mitchell, thanks for the headcount, and noting the throwback (Fat Albert - hey hey hey!).

It was a fun night.  There was non-stop chatter, and not our teeth from cold.  Other than the sometimes stiff breeze, sometimes bloated stars, it was just plain fun to see that lot with so many doing what they enjoy.

I'll list my favorites (in no particular order):

1.  M42 in all its wide glory in David's 5" Stellarvue.
2.  Binoviewer view of M42 wide region through Richard's (80mm?) at 23X capturing.
3.  Thor's Helmet in my 18" at 293X with NPB - remembering its Wolf-Rayet nature with a great view of its bubble, uneven horns, and I assume hot and windy progenitor star. 
4.  Simple views of Eta Cass double and the lovely Copper Penny, the radiant gem it is, contrasting against its yellow primary, our Sol twin.
5.  The excellent last minute "what the heck I'll look" at Jupiter, to find Io ready to kiss the trailing limb, shadow having already preceded it on the disc.  Then seeing it as a round BB, denting into the face.
6.  Catching IC 434 with others confirming the brightening across the FOV, while looking for B33 (the Horsehead), which was elusive even though suspected, from Coe.

Lots of great views.  And not bad for a Thursday evening out.

Here was the alluded to kitty cat (meow) visitor story when I finished packing this morning and "losing" my keys (in my other pants pocket):

Once my car was fully packed, I took a last cursory look around. Then I saw the large "cat" (mountain lion) on its belly behind/under of one of the road worker's large trucks, it was watching me.  I made myself big, and fully electrified backed to the car door and climbed in.  I watched the side view mirror as the visitor turned and left in a single easy motion.

I got out of the car warily, reached into my pocket for the car keys, and... uh

That was a first.

Mark

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "The Astronomy Connection (TAC)" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/sf-bay-tac/t_noPyrFy3w/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to sf-bay-tac+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/CAFc0qyt4Ehkb4Rs4fLgThqBTCjq0RjnpUf8xMWcruJvXP0%2BSzQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Jacob Ellwood]

Was great to finally meet more of you. I had a blast chatting with folks and checking out how everyone enjoys the night sky in their way.

We were blessed with good weather (minus the wind), and good seeing even though it was mushy in the middle there for a bit.

I was enjoying the new base for my 8" from Mark, which worked great! 

Saturn was amazingly crisp early in the night

Io transit Jupiter near the end of the night

Hit some of the usual stars this time of year such as M42 and the Veil

Then focused on some of the Messier galaxies to include M81, M82, M94, M51, M101, & M102

10/10 would do again! Thank you all for the fun night!

P.S. Thanks to Mitchell for making me want to spend more money... I now "need" a night vision device. Haha!

-Jake

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/CAFc0qyt4Ehkb4Rs4fLgThqBTCjq0RjnpUf8xMWcruJvXP0%2BSzQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Jacob Ellwood]

And sharing a last minute view of Uranus with Frank was a treat right before I packed up for the night. Was a beautifully crisp round blue disk @ 300x.

-Jake

[Joel Lee]

@Mark, am I interpreting this correctly, you ran into a mountain lion on the way out this morning? 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/CAB6vkrBmy1hgNiN0wzxCXw1Pw-fTNqd9QTAjNSRHHfGBXXv4Dw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Joel Lee]

Sorry I typed too quickly before double checking (mobile). That’s pretty unnerving. Glad to hear you are fine after the encounter. 

[David Kirjassoff]

What a great gathering of people it was.  More like a star party than just a Thursday night of observing.  So many highlights;

- Binoviewer views of Orion

- Innovative Newtonian imaging set-up

- Fascination night vision both 1:1 and on the dob

- My first in person look at a Questar

Early evening views of Saturn before the sky got mushy, sparkling scene of the Double Cluster, and some good nebula views with the NPB filter; Orion, Dumbell, luminosity around the Pleiades. 

Great company and conversation didn’t hurt either!

David

On Friday, December 12, 2025 at 8:59:17 AM UTC-8 Mark Wagner wrote:

[Lance Pickens]

Wish I would have seen the cat. Been there A lot this year, seen lots of deer and few owls and foxes

--

Observing Sites, Observing Reports, About TAC linked at top of:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sf-bay-tac
 
Subscribers post to the mailing list at:
 
sf-ba...@googlegroups.com,
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Astronomy Connection (TAC)" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sf-bay-tac+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/b4f09737-b17d-42e4-b30f-044584151ef1n%40googlegroups.com.

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Mitch noticed Philip's wonderful scope -

"Philip with the beautiful and unique 17.5" (is it named "fat albert" or am I misremembering)"

That telescope was designed, built and used by Albert Highe for years. It's the scope Albert used on his adventures, finding hundreds of galaxies in the Perseus, Coma and Leo clusters.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160412072247/http://pw2.netcom.com/~ahighe/home.html

Joe Bob Jardine bought that scope from Albert and had a lot of fun with it. He called it Fat Albert, which Albert didn't find funny but which nonetheless stuck.

Dan Wright's 16" Albertscope is a cousin of Philip's. And my 13" Johannes also shows family resemblances.

Michelle Stone made and sold telescopes with that 3-strut design; Marek Cichanski has one. Others, like George Feliz, Carter Scholz, Greg Laflamme, have made their own similar elegant scopes.

[Frank Graham]

I had a great time meeting new and reconnecting with fellow enthusiasts.  I think it was Mitch who said, "I don't know if I want to observe more, check out everyone's gear or just chat with everyone."  That abundance of choice made it a perfect evening for me, because I learned so much from all of you and not just about astronomy.  Joshua and Pete shared their experiences with portable power systems that lead to a very enlightening conversation about home solar panels and requisite wall batteries.  Pete, Mitch and Jacob helped me understand 3D printing material differences.  In explaining how Pete built his scope, I learned what you can do with a CNC machine, even got me reminiscing about working on rusty old cars, seized bearings, wheels falling off, etc.  Lance described the pros and cons of being part of a beta program as his system decided to update firmware with what I can only imagine is a 300 BAUD connection in that parking lot ;-)

Coming from San Mateo, it was such a treat to see the Milky Way.  I really enjoy people calling out what they're looking at, so we can compare views in different gear.  Jacob showed me how easy it was to hop from Bode's Galaxy to the Cigar Galaxy.  Great encouragement to let go of electronic finder dependence and begin star hopping across the sky.  Sky highlights for me were catching Io on the limb of Jupiter and its shadow, digging into the never ending pin prick stars in the Double Cluster, and passing the ceremonial night vision device with hand lanyard from one person to the next as we all took in Barnard's Loop, Heart & Soul, Veil, and incredibly North America low on the horizon through light of San Jose (amazing all that is visible with just 7nm of Ha).

Departing at 1am, I even enjoyed some wild and domesticated life on the road. I waited for a rather slow skunk to meander off the road, an inquisitive gray fox, and finally one of the cattle mentioned earlier.  As I passed the steer slowly he turned and stared at me through the driver's side window of my minivan reminding me how big they are and why they need to be avoided on the road ;-)

What a great night!

Thanks to all,

Frank

--

Observing Sites, Observing Reports, About TAC linked at top of:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sf-bay-tac
 
Subscribers post to the mailing list at:
 
sf-ba...@googlegroups.com,
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Astronomy Connection (TAC)" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sf-bay-tac+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/539fab9c-536b-48f9-8789-e1fdfa0530adn%40googlegroups.com.

[Mitchell Koerner]

That cow stared at me too on the way down. A black cow against the black night with this giant head staring into my soul! I at first thought I had seen a minotaur before my rational brain realized it was just a cow.

When do they sleep? And why was this one waiting at the side of the road gazing into the incoming drivers?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/CABtFoDri-V1CU7r4LumHi20Mv0_wFLpDgSRxS8SekXoQ0-cdUA%40mail.gmail.com.