Hodgson Observatory

The shadow of satellite Io was well seen on Jupiter’s disc; Io itself was also in transit but indistinct against the prominent South Equatorial Belt (SEB). Because of mediocre (poor) seeing there was little of value to record on Jupiter’s disc.

Highlights of the night included observation of a recently discovered comet now in Draco, the crescent Venus, the transit egress of Jupiter’s satellite Ganymede from in front of the giant planet’s disc, and later the transit of Ganymede’s dark shadow across Jupiter’s face. Added to that were views of many fine globular star clusters, including, among others M4, M80 in Scorpius, M13 in Hercules, NGC 6934 and NGC 7006 in Delphinus, and M15 in Pegasus. At medium to high power many of these were spectacular. The open
star cluster M11 in Scutum, seen at 201x in the 635mm (25-inch) Obsession, was the best view I have ever had of that impressive cluster. It far surpassed the Pleiades in my opinion. Many galaxies (like M31, M51, M81, M82) were also fairly well-seen although atmospheric conditions were not ideal. Among planetary nebulae the spherical-shaped bluish “Little Gem Nebula” in Sagittarius at 201x was a delight. Observing by “the Intrepids” continued to about 2:20 a.m. (CDT).   — Dick Hodgson

[Observation was briefly interrupted by the sound of loud breathing outside the Observatory. A look out a port to the west revealed a large doe deer standing south of the West Woods, looking toward the Observatory!  In the real Universe you never know what comes along while you are observing!]

Looking at Jupiter’s disc, the North Equatorial Belt (NEB) was by far the most prominent and quite dark. The Equatorial Zone (EZ) was bright with a hint at the narrow dark Equatorial Band (EB) running through the middle of the EZ.  The South Equatorial Belt (SEB) was present but relatively pale compared with the NEB.  In the southern hemisphere the belts and zones were more subdued on Jupiter; as seen in both the 635mm telescope (at 201x) and the 120mm telescope (at 20x)  there appeared to be a beige/pale tan hue added to all features. This is an unusual dichotomy, reminding me of Jupiter’s appearance one year in the early 1960′s.

At 02h 20m UT the view declined, so the bright satellites became the center of attention. As the sky darkened they became much more visible. All four Galilean satellites were seen: Io close by the planet to the west; Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto all near their elongations to the east of Jupiter. With declining seeing, observing of Jupiter ceased at 02h 56m UT.

At 03h 05m UT observation of Antares began with the 635mm telescope at 85x. Antares was almost at the meridian. I wanted to find out if this red supergiant star could be seen with full aperture as the telescope was then positioned (“the ideal location” mentioned in the Observatory Manual). At minus 26.5 degrees declination (2000.0) Antares’ approach to the meridian was carefully monitored as seen through the bottom of the telescope behind its primary mirror. At meridian transit a true full-aperture was obtained. THIS OBSERVATION DEFINES THE SOUTHERN FULL-APERTURE OBSERVATION POINT WITH THE 635MM TELESCOPE in its current configuration. Observation of Antares ceased at 03h 26m UT.

Two well-known globular clusters in Scorpius rounded out the observing session. M4, very near Antares, was seen with ~99% aperture with the 635mm at 85x and the 120mm at 20x. Probably the closest globular star cluster to our Solar System, it is well resolved in the larger telescope. Brief observation of M80 began at 03h 40m UT with the 635mm telescope at 201x, and was resolved to its core. Observing ceased at 04h 00m UT as it was getting humid, and dew began to fall. The temperature was 57 F.
–  Dick Hodgson