When I left San Jose, I knew there was a decent chance the wind could entirely ruin the evening. After a quick and uneventful drive, I arrived at the D.A.R.C. Observatory. The wind was indeed blowing very hard from the west. Around sunset, the wind started dying down and I decided to set up my equipment in the west dome, alongside Lee’s 16″ Meade SCT, just in case the wind would decide to make a late come back.

Shortly after, we were treated with a nice view of a day-old moon, followed by planet Mercury and the Pleiades. What a nice way to start the evening! Later on, as the sky grew progessively darker, the zodiacal light was readily visible, although not as impressive as it was last weekend. The transparency was good, just not excellent…

The wind picked up again, and most of us found refuge inside the building for the next hour or so, watching a fantastic documentary retracing the history of George Ellery Hale: Journey to Palomar (PBS) I warmly recommend it, if you haven’t seen it yet.

Right after the movie was over, the wind died down again. It remained low for the rest of the night. Overall, the seeing was very soft all night, and the transparency was just average (although average transparency at D.A.R.C. means LMT of 6.5 upward!)

My observing list had a lot of small galaxies in Coma Berenices. At some point early on, I became frustrated because I had a terrible time matching what I was seeing in the finder scope and at the eyepiece with Uranometria, probably due to the lack of conspicuous field stars.

Around 1am, I started getting pretty cold. Around 2am, I decided to call it a night. I logged a disappointingly low number of new objects from the Herschel 400 list, but it was still a good night, and it always feels good to be out and surrounded by such great people! Below is my log for the night. Cheers!

Update: Peter Natscher reports:

I did two NELM tests within transiting Leo at 11pm (between Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma Leo) and another one in Corona as it was transiting later on in better seeing. They were 7.0 and 7.2 respectively. OTOH, my observations of Hickson groups and Abell planetaries at 250x with my 24 in. Starmaster appeared sub-par because of inferior sky transparency. After midnight, the rising Milky Way didn’t have the expected brightness. I believe the high winds from the Pacific lowered the transparency along with the seeing last night. We got two decent hours of observing by 2 am but it was cold for this time of year. I hope GSSP will be warmer.

Location: D.A.R.C. Observatory [Elevation 1400ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x - 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x - 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x - 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x - 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x - 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PST)

NGC 4147 GC Com 12h10m36.5s +18°29’15″ 10.4 mag 10:40p
Fairly small and dim. The outside of this cluster was partially resolved at 169x.

NGC 4150 GX Com 12h11m04.2s +30°20’54″ 12.5 mag 10:55p
Small, faint, with a tiny core surrounded by a very faint halo elongated 2×1 NNW-SSE.

NGC 4203 GX Com 12h15m35.3s +33°08’43″ 11.7 mag 11:00p
Fairly small, fairly faint, with a small and fairly bright core and a very faint halo that appears round. Faint superimposed star about 1′ W.

NGC 4274 GX Com 12h20m20.7s +29°33’39″ 11.3 mag 12:00a
Fairly large and bright, elongated 3×1 almost E-W. Fairly large and diffuse central concentration. Faint superimposed stars about 2′ W and 3′E.

NGC 4278 GX Com 12h20m37.2s +29°13’41″ 11.0 mag 12:00a
Fairly bright and compact, round, with a relatively large core. Forms an interesting trio with slightly fainter and smaller NGC 4283 located about 4′ ENE, and much fainter NGC 4286, located about 10′ ENE.

NGC 4245 GX Com 12h18m07.1s +29°33’17″ 12.3 mag 12:20a
Fairly small and bright with a relativelt large core. Elongated 2×1 NNW-SSE.

NGC 4251 GX Com 12h18m38.6s +28°07’19″ 11.6 mag 12:50a
Fairly bright and moderately large, with a fairly small compact core surrounded by a halo elongated 2×1 E-W.

NGC 4293 GX Com 12h21m43.1s +18°19’43″ 11.1 mag 12:55a
Fairly large and moderately bright. Elongated 4×1 almost E-W. Weak central condensation.

NGC 4350 GX Com 12h24m28.0s +16°38’18″ 11.9 mag 01:10a
Fairly small. Elongated 3×1 NW-SE. Fairly bright non central core. Forms a nice tight couple with NGC 4340.

NGC 4394 GX Com 12h26m25.8s +18°09’36″ 11.6 mag 01:15a
Fairly bright with a non stellar core surrounded by a faint halo slightly elongated NNW-SSE. Forms a nice couple with M85.

NGC 4448 GX Com 12h28m45.2s +28°34’04″ 12.0 mag 01:20a
Elongated 3×1. Fairly bright and large core.

NGC 4419 GX Com 12h27m26.8s +14°59’34″ 12.0 mag 01:35a
Elongated 4×1 NW-SE. Fairly bright non stellar core.

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I arrived at D.A.R.C. observatory around 7pm. Dr. Lee Hoglan and his father were already there, along with Albert Smith and his wife. Rogelio and his family joined us a bit later. It was a little windy around sunset, but the wind died down around 9pm. While waiting for the sky to get dark, I pointed my telescope toward Sirius, which was about 25 degrees above the horizon. Sirius’ companion was seen pretty easily, which is always a sign of very good seeing. Saturn was absolutely breathtaking, showing a wealth of incredibly fine details. Later on, as the sky got darker, the zodiacal light became very obvious, reaching as high as 60 degrees above the western horizon, intersecting the milky way around Gemini.

Around 9pm, the sky turned dark like I’ve never seen it. Albert got an SQM reading of 21.84! It seemed a bit high to me, but Albert says he regularly gets readings of 21.1 at Fremont Peak, which is about correct. Under such dark skies, a lot of the galaxies I observed were starting to show intricate details.

Among the highlights of the night, I logged 27 new Herschel 400 objects. We also looked at a few bright deep sky objects: M101, M81/M82, M51, and later on, M83 all offered jaw dropping views.

Around 2am, Rogelio asked me what those “clouds” were toward the south east. The summer milky way was just … unrecognizable! All the faint extensions, all the dark nebulae that you don’t usually get to see at local sites around the bay area, started to appear. It truly looked like a photograph!

We finished off the night around 2:30am with a few more bright deep sky objects from the summer sky: M57, M27, M13, M17, M8, M20.

A big thank you to Dr. Lee Hoglan for the generous invitation! Last night was truly a night to remember.

P.S: still no sign of the elusive Gegenshein…

Location: D.A.R.C. Observatory [Elevation 1400ft]
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 12″ F/5
Eyepieces used:
- Televue Panoptic 27mm (56x - 1.2° TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 16mm type 5 (95x - 52′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 9mm type 6 (169x - 29′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 7mm type 6 (217x - 22′ TFOV)
- Televue Nagler 5mm type 6 (305x - 16′ TFOV)
(All times are PST)

NGC 4041 GX UMa 12h02m44.4s +62°05’08″ 11.6 mag 09:20p
Fairly bright, round, non stellar core, gradually fainter toward the edge.

NGC 4036 GX UMa 12h01m59.2s +61°50’38″ 11.6 mag 09:25p
Elongated 4×1 E-W with a fairly bright stellar core.

NGC 3610 GX UMa 11h19m00.9s +58°44’10″ 11.6 mag 09:35p
Bright almost stellar core. Faint halo slightly elongated NW-SE.

NGC 3613 GX UMa 11h19m11.6s +57°56’59″ 11.7 mag 09:55p
Fairly bright almost stellar core. Faint halo elongated 3×1 E-W. Forms a nice trio of galaxies with NGC 3619 about 15′ SSE, and much fainter NGC 3625, about 5′ E of NGC 3619.

NGC 3619 GX UMa 11h19m56.4s +57°42’31″ 12.5 mag 09:55p
Fairly faint stellar core. Very faint round halo. Forms a nice trio of galaxies with NGC 3613 about 15′ NNW, and much fainter NGC 3625, about 5′ E.

NGC 3898 GX UMa 11h49m48.0s +56°01’54″ 11.3 mag 10:05p
Fairly bright non stellar core. Very faint halo elongated 2×1 E-W.

NGC 3982 GX UMa 11h57m00.4s +55°04’22″ 11.8 mag 10:10p
Fairly faint, very uniform, slightly elongated NE-SW. Very faint stellar nucleus. At 95x, 52′ TFOV, no less than 5 galaxies are visible in one eyepiece: NGC 3998, NGC 3990, NGC 3977, NGC 3972 and NGC 3982.

NGC 3998 GX UMa 11h58m28.2s +55°24’05″ 11.4 mag 10:10p
Fairly bright almost stellar core. Faint uniform halo slightly elongated NW-SE. Forms a tight pair with NGC 3990. At 95x, 52′ TFOV, no less than 5 galaxies are visible in one eyepiece: NGC 3998, NGC 3990, NGC 3977, NGC 3972 and NGC 3982.

NGC 3992 (M 109) GX UMa 11h58m07.8s +53°19’20″ 10.5 mag 10:20p
Fairly bright non stellar core. Pretty large and bright halo, elongated 4×1 ENE-WSW. Hints of spiral structure. Fairly bright superimposed star 1′ NNW of the nucleus.

NGC 3631 GX UMa 11h21m36.7s +53°07’05″ 10.7 mag 10:35p
Fairly bright round non stellar core. Round halo, appears slightly mottled.

NGC 3729 GX UMa 11h34m23.0s +53°04’24″ 11.7 mag 10:45p
Fairly uniform, elongated 2×1 N-S. Fairly bright superimposed star 1′ S. Forms a nice couple with NGC 3718.

NGC 4102 GX UMa 12h06m55.0s +52°39’29″ 12.1 mag 11:00p
Small, with a fairly bright almost stellar core. The core seems slightly elongated E-W while the halo is elongated 2×1 NE-SW. Fairly bright stars 1′ W and 2′ E.

NGC 3953 GX UMa 11h54m21.1s +52°16’28″ 10.5 mag 11:05p
Fairly bright non stellar core. Fairly bright halo elongated 3×1 NE-SW. Fairly faint superimposed stars 1′ NW and 1′ ENE of the nucleus.

NGC 4026 GX UMa 11h59m56.8s +50°54’34″ 11.7 mag 11:15p
Elongated 5×1 N-S. Fairly bright non stellar core.

NGC 3949 GX UMa 11h54m13.6s +47°48’20″ 11.4 mag 11:20p
Fairly uniform, elongated 2×1 E-W. Faint nucleus seen at higher magnification (217x)

NGC 3938 GX UMa 11h53m20.9s +44°04’08″ 10.9 mag 11:45p
Round, faint, uniform nebulosity. Faint stellar core. Faint superimposed star about 3′ WSW.

NGC 3675 GX UMa 11h26m41.1s +43°32’05″ 11.0 mag 11:50p
Elongated 4×1 N-S. Fairly bright non stellar core.

NGC 5322 GX UMa 13h49m37.5s +60°08’30″ 11.0 mag 12:40a
Elongated 2×1 E-W. Fairly bright, fairly large core. Faint superimposed star <1' S and slightly brighter one about 3' E of the nucleus.

NGC 5631 GX UMa 14h26m53.9s +56°32’15″ 12.5 mag 12:50a
Fairly bright non stellar core. Round uniform halo.

NGC 5473 GX UMa 14h05m06.1s +54°50’46″ 12.4 mag 12:55a
Small, round, pretty faint, with a non stellar core. Very faint superimposed star <1' E. I later found out this was a mag 15.6 star, which is right at the limit of detection for a 12" scope on a perfect night!

NGC 5474 GX UMa 14h05m24.6s +53°36’53″ 11.5 mag 01:10a
Fairly faint and uniform, with a weak condensation located at the northen edge of the halo. Faint superimposed star (mag 14.6) 1′ NE.

NGC 5694 GC Hya 14h40m10.8s -26°34’53″ 10.2 mag 01:25a
Small, bright, round, gradually brighter toward the center, unresolved.

NGC 4088 GX UMa 12h06m04.9s +50°29’13″ 11.3 mag 01:30a
Elongated 3×1 ENE-WSW. Fairly uniform with a faint stellar nucleus. The halo does not appear perfectly uniform, and shows hints of 2 curved arms. Forms a nice couple with NGC 4085 located about 10′ S.

NGC 4085 GX UMa 12h05m53.9s +50°18’01″ 12.3 mag 01:40a
Fairly faint, uniform, elongated 4×1 E-W. Forms a nice couple with NGC 4088 located about 10′ N.

NGC 4051 GX UMa 12h03m40.8s +44°28’42″ 10.8 mag 01:55a
Elongated 3×1 NW-SE. Fairly bright stellar core. Two large spiral arms seen at 169x.

NGC 3941 GX UMa 11h53m26.7s +36°56’00″ 11.3 mag 02:10a
Slightly elongated N-S. Fairly bright, large, round core.

NGC 3813 GX UMa 11h41m50.4s +36°29’38″ 12.3 mag 02:15a
Elongated 3×1 E-W. Fairly uniform. Fairly faint (mag 14.3) superimposed star 2′ E, right at the eastern edge of the halo.