Anyone going out tonight?

[cijunet]

Hi,

I was wondering whether there is anyone going to take their telescope out tonight for stargazing. I just bought myself a telescope and I am eager to give it a try .
I am probably the newest member of this club so I'm taking this opportunity to say hello.

Adrian  

[Deleted]

Welcome Aboard!
Enjoy the weather while you can.
I suggest you have a look a Jupiter and Mars tonite
as they are easy to spot and nice to look at.
Stay tuned to this board and you may be able to hook up
with one of going out on a run.
MarkMc

[Deleted]

Welcome Adrian,

Personally I'm looking at tomorrow night (Wed) I'm hoping on getting out to my Chilliwack Lake spot. I'll commit by 7:00 pm.

Both tonight and tomorrow night should have rather good seeing as the jet stream is away from us. Like Mark said: -- definitely a good time to view the planets. A couple more days and the moon will be in our way for deep sky stuff so I'm hoping tomorrow night the transparency will be good.

DSD.

[cijunet]

Thank you for your welcome. I went out last night somewhere by the Fraser river (near by the Mission bridge) and was pleasantly surprised to see that my beginner telescope (Celestron SLT130 )performed really well on Jupiter and Saturn. Unfortunately my most powerful EP is a 9mm so there were not to many details, but I can live with that for now...
Deepskydarrell, if you still want to go tonight to Chilliwack lake, I would gladly accompany you there for a couple of hours. Just let me know where you observing spot is and I will meet you there.

Bye for now,

Adrian

[Deleted]

Adrian, I've attempted to send you a private message through this board. It should be under the heading "Messages" the last item in the top menu lineup. It contains particulars on the Chilliwack Lake site.

I won't commit to going until at least 7:00 this evening. Too bad the Clear Sky Charts have stalled since yesterday morning -- we could use an update. Tonight, twilight doesn't end until 10:38 so the darkness advantage of that site doesn't take effect until then. So I'll probably leave by 8:00 and arrive there just after 9:00 if all works out.

Darrell.

[Deleted]

Alas there's too much crud drifting or sitting. All my weather cams show some sort of high cloud: Vancouver, Sooke, Lion's Bay, Burnaby, Chilliwack. Just not worth the gas this time. Always good for planets from home. So hopefully next moonless run.

Darrell.

[Deleted]

Looks like between 1 and 3 AM we have a reasonable sky.
My clear sky clock says no clouds and transparency at
above average.
I am headed up to the new clear-cut south of Salsbury lake.
If any one is up to it email me at [e-mail]
tonite after 10. i am headed up there about 10:30
Now that i said this it probably will rain.
MMc

[Deleted]

It was wonderful last night. The sky was maxed out right around 1:30,
with a SQMeter reading of 21.1 The road is rough, all 30 km of it.
But no yahoos or campers around.
I am really happy with my scope now that i have figured out how to
set it up and be observing in ten minutes,in the dark!
I'd like to thank the fallers that put this clear-cut in the "right" spot.
The East loses out with a small hill in the way,but south is good right
down to the horizon.I gotta go back up soon to look for a lens cap i lost,
but probably not tonight.
Oh and my new super-phone does not work up there,tower is behind a hill.
So you really are in a dead zone for cell coverage.
MMc

[Deleted]

Glad you had a good time Mark. I peeked out on the deck at 23:45 and it was still clouded out. 21.1 is very nice. Wish I could set up in 10 min. It's 40 for me. I guess I'm slowing down.

DSD.

[Deleted]

Ever since i got that custom spider made and setup properly, the whole scope has just come together.
I tried the parracorr out last night,and i am still undecided as to whether i really need it.
Also i think i will go back to paper charts for deep sky. I noticed it took do long for the eyes to adapt
after looking at the tab. Even with the nite mode on. The red flash light/black charts is hard to beat.
As we are rapidly losing night time length,i am hoping next dark run will be clear.
Maybe we could go out to your spot,i have never been there.

[Deleted]

Chilliwack Lake has some southern restriction but is otherwise great. It's very peaceful with skies averaging 21.45. You could check it out in the daytime to get a feel for it. Blacktop all the way, no dust or bugs, 1900 feet, one hour from the Clearbrook Rd overpass. Observing there is definitely something we should do, hopefully soon.

I'm currently attempting to check out another potential spot up the Coq at Exit 200. (the Dewdney Creek spot had too much dust and very poor western exposure once they gated the original pit there.) I might be able to get to it in the daylight this month and measure it up.

When I was almost in need of reading glasses, a brighter red light would obliterate me. KHW uses a magnifying glass with a faint red light. A fellow on Cloudy Nights noted seeing the rocks in the gravel when looking down on the ground, then looked up at the Milky Way, then looked down and couldn't see the rocks anymore. Perhaps an eye patch is the answer. Arrhh. Especially when I constantly can't remember my star hop and have to recheck my atlas again and again (getting old?) (some hops are hard -- that's what makes it fun)

Twilight with the Moonless Runs actually works out quite well this year. There's just the one late June Run that almost hits the solstice dead on. That leaves the preceding and following Runs with some actual darkness so the May and July ones aren't a waste of time but rather quite do-able.

You might have to wait for Merrit to really test the Paracorr. I'd like to peek through it too. I might break down and get my first Delos this summer.

DSD.

[Adhamh]

I am going to get out tonight. I got my StarSense working before it clouded over last night. Wunderground says it is supposed to be clear until sunrise, so I want to go to a spot with better seeing then my usual in Matsqui. I will check back here later this afternoon (between 4:00-5:00) to see if someone wants to meet up, as I won't be making it to the meeting tomorrow. If any member want's to contact me with Skype, that info is available if you log in.