August 20 Observing
by Conrad Cardano & Jim Hendrickson
In an unusual circumstance for the recent weather pattern, afternoon thunderstorms gave way to clearn and steady skies on Saturday night. Jim Brenek, Conrad Cardano, Jim Hendrickson, Steve Hubbard, and Bob Napier gathered at Seagrave Observatory to open the 2 Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.
Sky conditions were about 3/5 transparency with the Great Rift easily visible and seeing appeared to be around 4/5. Temperature was steady around 70F and winds calm. A very slight hint of haze due to standing humidity but absolutely no clouds or contrails. Mosquito activity was surprisingly light. Tree frog and cricket activity was probably at its maximum for the year.
Early in the evning, a -2 magnitude Iridium satellite flare pierced the eastern leg of the Summer Triangle, just north of where Comet Garradd was located.
Steve used his Mallincam on the 12-inch Meade and remarked about its tracking and go-to accuracy after the adjustment done to the RA drive done several weeks ago. Targets included M13, M57, and the Veil Nebula.
Bob featured Comet Garradd in the 16-inch Meade and Jim Hendrickson noted on how its mostion could be detected in an interval of 15 minutes. The comet appeared around 8th magnitude with a hint of a tail stretching slightly to the north-northeast. The comet did not exhibit any obvious hue.
