| Observer: | Tom Campbell |
| Location: | Iola, Kansas (Long: 95°24'W Lat: 37°55'N) |
| Equipment: | Discovery DHQ 8" dobsonian |
| Eyepieces: | 1.25" Plössls - 25mm (49x), 15mm (81x), 10mm (122x), 6mm (203x) |
| Time: | 10:30pm - 11:30pm CDT (03:30-04:30 UT) |
| Transparency: | Clear (8/10) |
| Seeing: | Stable (8/10) |
| Weather: | Temperatures in the upper 70s. There was a little to no breeze. Relative humidity was very high. |
Tonight's weather forecast was iffy. By sunset, however, the clouds had managed to stay away, so I took a chance and set up. I wasn't disappointed.
In honor of flag day, I thought I'd look at some celestial fireworks tonight. My favorite fireworks displays have comets, spinning galaxies, and big starbursts. As luck would have it, so does the current nighttime sky.
| C/2003 K4 (LINEAR) | Hercules | Comet | 10:30pm CDT |
| RA: h m s | Dec: ° ' | Mag: | |
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This comet was fairly faint, looking about like a Messier galaxy in terms of brightness. The shape was difficult to determine. The nucleus was nearly stellar and perhaps slightly elongated. The nucleus was surrounded by some nebulosity, but a direction for the tail couldn't really be discerned. |
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| C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) | Ursa Major | Comet | 10:55pm CDT |
| RA: h m s | Dec: ° ' | Mag: | |
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This comet was bright, although not as bright as it had been earlier this year. The shape of this comet reminded me of a greenish globular cluster whose bright core couldn't be resolved. The shape of the comet was slightly oval, but it was difficult to tell exactly which direction it was facing. |
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| NGC 5248 | Boötes | Spiral Galaxy | 11:20pm CDT |
| RA: 13h 37m 32s | Dec: +08° 53' | Mag: 11.0 | |
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Finding this galaxy was a starhopping adventure. At this time, Boötes was nearly over the county hospital, and the limiting magnitude was about 4.7. I had to use a low-power eyepiece to find it. I started at Eta, which was just visible through my Telrad. From there, I jumped to 70 Vir, and then 71 Vir. From there, I hopped sideways to the double star Burnham 612, and then finally over to my target. This galaxy was just barely detectable from my backyard. In fact, I missed seeing it the first time I tried to locate it. The spiral galaxy was fairly large and elongated. With direct vision, it almost disappeared completely. Using averted vision, a nearly stellar core was visible. The best view was at 88x, but no spiral structure was visible. |
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I ended my evening under the stars by looking at M13. This globular starburst was a good finale to my show. Then I took a quick peek at M57 to catch a glimpse of the smoke ring left behind by all the celestial fireworks.