Member Reports, continued:
From Marty Connors:
I have an observing report to share with the group.
Date & Time: Sunday September 6, 2020, 4:AM (approximately)
Location: Lake Chaffee, Ashford, CT
Object/event: Moon (four days past full)
in conjunction (approx 2 degrees) with a very bright object (turns out to have
been Mars, but I didn’t know it at the time.)
Details: I had awakened about 3:30 AM, couldn’t get back to sleep, so I wandered out on the deck and noticed the Moon was extremely close to some other very bright object. I made a note to myself to check it out the next day (Labor Day).
Turns out to have been Mars, and very close to the time at which the Red Planet began the retrograde portion of its visit in our sky.
I further discovered that according to The Sky6, similar events are predicted for October 3 (1 degree) and November 26 (5 degrees). On those future events, I plan on being much better prepared than I was on September 6!
From Laurie Averill:
Viewing
One morning in late August, I woke up on a slightly misty predawn to see Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon as a bright meteor streaked toward the west. What a treat!
Observing Reminiscences
My parents had a magical place on northern Lake Champlain in Vermont that we visited in summer and on some of the warmer, long fall weekends. One October during the mid-1960’s my sister and I noticed some unusual flickering in the sky. We went to the beach, lay back on the big sun-warmed rocks during the cool night, and watched the ghostly, white aurora licking the sky, horizon to horizon. The Northern Lights canopied over us and seemed close enough to touch.
From James Menturweck:
After observing with my grand niece and nephew and their mom I stayed a little later to observe Mars. I did discern quite a bit of detail which for 76 year old eyes isn’t bad. Equipment was Orion MakCass 127 at 100x. The old University Optics 12.5 mm eyepiece from 50 years ago still provides nice contrasty views.
In the first week of September, watched the moon Mars race in the evenings.
From Jim Mazur:
First Light of My First Telescope
When I was in elementary school, my older cousin Ronald got me interested in all types of science, including astronomy. In the summer of 1960, before I entered 4th grade, I talked my parents into buying me a 3-inch f/10 reflecting telescope from Edmund Scientific Company. The price was $29.95. It arrived on a Saturday afternoon about a week after we ordered it, and that night it was rainy. But Sunday dawned with a cloudless blue sky, and I knew I would be able to get my first looks through the telescope that night. I couldn’t wait for it to get dark.
By remembering the phase of the Moon (roughly first quarter) and month (August 1960), I recently used TheSkyX to determine the exact date of that Sunday night: August 28, 1960.
That night Ronald came over to help me learn how to use the telescope. My parents, brothers, and aunt were there, as well as all of my friends from the neighborhood and some of their parents. Everyone had a great time. We were amazed by the craters and mountains of the Moon. Jupiter and Saturn were both in Sagittarius. It was wonderful to see the four bright moons of Jupiter, and I don’t need to say how much we were thrilled by the sight of Saturn’s rings. We probably also looked at a few bright stars and maybe a double star, but that part I don’t remember. What I do remember is that I have never been the same since that night.
I can’t seem to find any pictures of my first telescope on its original mount, but the picture below on the left shows my brother Dennis looking through the 3-inch scope mounted on a large box camera I built with the help of my Uncle Jim. The photo on the right shows me a few years later with an 8-inch scope that I built, and the 3-inch can be seen riding piggyback on it.
The 60th anniversary of that first night of observing occurred a few weeks ago. To mark the occasion, my brothers and I, along with our families, had a Zoom family gathering that evening. We looked at some old photographs and reminisced about some of our other astronomical adventures from our childhood years. That night, August 28, 2020, the Moon was in the southern sky, and Jupiter and Saturn were side by side in Sagittarius.
From Leo Taylor:
The Saturday before Labor Day I drove an hour each way to
Stamford to watch some friends do some Sidewalk Observing. Well, not
exactly ON the sidewalk, but a gravel lot next to the sidewalk of busy
Washington Boulevard. They were quite successful, the weather was clear enough
and several dozen people stopped by for a look. There were three scopes set up:
Mark Holden with a refractor, Zane Lander with a classic Coulter Dob, and
another fellow with a Dob. I enjoyed chatting with friends, and answering
questions for those in line at each telescope. I think I convinced a Dad
that the NASA Hubble Telescope was NOT based on the ground in Arizona! He did
turn to his son and say, “Correction – The Hubble is 400 miles in space.
The Dob owners stayed mostly on Jupiter and Saturn. Mark did turn his GOTO
scope to the Ring, Dumbbell, Andromeda, and other Deep Sky objects.
It was my first Astro Event of the year and I’m glad I went!