Third clear Saturday marks the beginning of Saturn season
by Dave Huestis & Matt White
Three consecutive Saturday nights and the skies have been clear. Our good fortune continues at Seagrave Observatory.
Even before our normal opening time of 8 pm guests began to arrive at Seagrave Observatory. Alex Bergemann and I, along with newly introduced perspective member Matt White arrived around 7:35 pm. Alex immediately opened up the Clark dome with Matt’s assistance. Conrad already had the 16-inch Meade open and ready for observing. Jim Hendrickson was also in attendance when we arrived. He divided his time between the 16-inch Meade and the Clark.
Jupiter was acquired first. Beforehand I had used Starry Night Pro to show me if there were any special events in the Jovian system to be observed. Indeed, I knew that a transit of Ganymede’s shadow would be in progress as we began. And it was beautiful. A very dark shadow was visible transiting the central meridian. All four of the Galilean moons were visible: Callisto and Io on one side, with Ganymede and Europa on the other.
Suddenly we had 15 visitors sharing this spectacular view. Steve Siok joined us. Then there were 19. After these folks got good looks at Jupiter under 148X, we swung over to the Orion Nebula. Once this group had marveled at the vast nebula, they went out back to join Conrad. More guests took their place in the dome and we slewed back to Jupiter. Steve mentioned that the crowd was most likely attributable to Channel 10 meteorologist
RJ Heim who had mentioned on the six o’clock news that the night would be good for stargazing out in North Scituate! Thanks RJ.
We also showed the remaining and returning guests from out back one of the M open clusters in Aurirga, then got a look at Algieba, a nice double star in the sickle of Leo. Our speaker the previous night,
Long-time member Frank Dubeau showed up to enjoy the evening, as did newer member Tom Gilson.
About 9:30 pm or so the crowd began to thin out. We entertained and enlightened 40 visitors. A student of mine from Bryant University showed up and we quickly showed here several objects. By this time we looked to the southeast and Saturn had just cleared the pine tree. Despite being fairly low in the sky, the image was remarkably steady. Titan was clearly visible. The Saturn observing session for Seagrave Observatory had officially begun!
We closed up the facility around 10:45 pm. Another successful open night.
Can this feat be repeated next Saturday? Time will tell.
Many thanks to Alex, Matt and Steve for their support up in the dome throughout the evening. Great teamwork!
PS. I forgot to mention the other several hundred visitors who were quite apparent … the Spring Peepers! A beautiful sound to hear.
Submitted by Dave Huestis
Saturday turned out to be a beautiful early spring day and the partly cloudy conditions promised for later in the evening never materialized. After a quick meal at the local pizza house, I arrived at the Seagrave Observatory around 7:35 pm. Out behind the dome, Conrad had the 16” Meade already prepared for the guests. As I was retrieving my equipment from the vehicle, Dave and Alex pulled in. Together we proceeded to open the Clark for the evening’s viewing session.
I must admit, I’m still in awe of the pristine condition and quality workmanship that went into the Alvan Clark refractor. Before turning down the lights, I managed to get a couple photos of the scope and its mounting structure.
Our first target that evening was the Jovian System. The shadow of Ganymede could already be seen on the cloud tops of Jupiter. The Great Red Spot was also scheduled to transit the gas giant around 08:00 pm. I couldn’t see it, but Alex, with his youthful eyes, was able to resolve the feature with ease. Ah, to be young. By now we had a few visitors join us in the dome. One of the gentlemen was obviously an advanced amateur and I was impressed by his detailed description of his observation.
During our viewing session, Dave Huestis reviewed the rich history of the Clark and Steve Siok covered some astronomical facts with the now, quite sizable group. More guests were arriving as we trained over to one of my favorites, M42, the Great Orion Nebula. Turning the dome was considerably easier than the previous week, although it was still quite a workout. M42 is breathtaking, even through a modest scope; the view through the Clark carries that aspect to the nth degree. The stars in the trapezium were easily resolved at the magnification of 148. By this time we had over twenty five guests, either in the dome, or out on the balcony.
After a quick trip back to Jupiter, we trained the scope on the “Winter Albireo” or CMa 145. The seeing didn’t seem to be as good as it was Friday evening and while I was able to resolve the binary pair, the colors were not as pronounced as they appeared before. Dave suggested that part of the problem might have been the heat escaping from the dome.
The viewing session ran late enough to allow us to get the season’s first glimpse at Saturn. I recall the first time I saw the ringed planet in my tiny little 50mm refractor. I was blown away then. Seeing it through the Clark, in all its majesty, was enough to leave me speechless. The crowd had dispersed somewhat and the seeing condition had also improved considerably. Jim Hendrickson and I took a few pictures with our DSLRs against the eyepiece.
We brought up the lights around 10:45 pm and began to close out the dome and while I am not yet officially a member, the comradeship extended by Dave, Alex, Steve, Jim, Tom, and Conrad made me feel like a part of the team.
Submitted by Matt White
