Public Night Log
Last night we had a slow start with some clouds that briefly cleared for about 1.5 hours and gave us some great views of Saturn. Though around 10:15 the clouds returned. Many variables were in place last night for a spectacular night of observation so we stuck it out and around 12:30 the sky started to clear. By 1:30am the sky was crystal clear with a VERY bright, visible Milky Way directly overhead. We continued with a beautiful observation of M5, M3, M94, and a clearly defined view of M101 (The Pinwheel Galaxy). We eventually ended up at M51 with a clear view of the supernova that is taking place. At this point Ernie Evans, Dave Kerber and myself had experimented with Ernie's newly modified Samsung SDC 435 camera and were able to get a remarkable view of M51 and the supernova (An image is to follow). After a very successful experiment we removed the imaging device and continued our observations. We had a few late-comers that enjoyed the spectacular skies with us as we viewed M33, M32, M31, Perseus double cluster, Eta Cas, and an early preview of Jupiter and its Galilean satellites. Dave and I wrapped up around 4:30am with the rising Sun.Let's hope for more nights like this!-Scott MacNeill
