Документ взят из кэша поисковой машины. Адрес оригинального документа : http://www.wro.org/scodova/RNGC_Cover_Sheet.pdf Дата изменения: Tue Apr 14 03:02:19 2015 Дата индексирования: Sun Apr 10 02:02:49 2016 Кодировка: Поисковые слова: arp 220

Observational Log Cover Sheet

Observation Date: Location: Observers:

Apr 11, 2015 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mike R. and Bob K.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 2:30am 8 Good 7 at start, got better after midnight (8) Temperature dropped to 35 degrees with little dewing. Started the AL Globular Cluster list (mostly redo observations) to include the visual Type Classification (I-XII). Also continued the AL Binocular Messier list using my Leupold 10X42 BX-2 Acadia binoculars and my old AstroCards. Logged 12 more Messiers but did not logg the 13 or so Messier Obects in COM and VIR. The area was just filled with faint fuzzies. Having a great time with the Messiers. Even observed Messiers in Virgo with the 36". Awesome. Stopped observing at 2:00am. Closed up observatory at 2:15am. Observed and logged 29 observations with the 36". Excellent evening under the stars.

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Mar 21, 2015 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Messier Marathon Night. About 15 members and guests.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

1 day past New 6 6 Front coming through. Started the AL Binocular Observing List. Had a great time with my old AstroCards sitting in a chair and going throught the Messier Sequence. Used my Leupold 10X42 BX-2 Acadia binoculars. Transparency was not that bad between clouds that came in from time to time. Operated the 36" to show off some Messiers to those in attendance. At 1:00am, got completely fogged out. Closed up the observatory at 1:20am and was on my way home at 1:30am. Was able to record 30 Messier observations.

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Aug 23, 2014 Hidden Hollow - RAS Hidden Hollow 2014

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

1 Day Before New 6-7 Aveage 6-7 Average Hidden Hollow 2014. Second night in a row at the observatory. Previous evening saw clouds coming and going. High humidity, sky remained bright. Sky much better this evening. No clouds but high humidity. At 4:09am the sky must have reached it's dew point and within 5 minuted completely fogged out. Transparency over head was not bad. Logged 1 DSO in AGC 2593. Observed M57, M27, M15, NGC7331 and the usual galaxy clusters in PEG, AND, etc. Observed the comet C/2014 E2 Jacques in Cassiopeia which was impressive. Large and bright about 7th mag. The nucleus of the comet very bright with a large halo. First comet I observed where I could easily watch it move against the background stars. Enterained abot 6 HH attendies well into closing time around 4am. At 4:30am was on my way home.

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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May 31, 2014 Hidden Hollow - RAS Brian, Mark, Mike

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

1 Day Old 8 9 - Excellent Second night in a row at the observatory. Made adjustments to RA backlash. Scope not as jerky when reversing RA now. Completed ALFGOC - flat galaxies. Also completed AGC 2247 and AGC 2256 both located in UMi. 81 degrees DEC observing the meridian hour is the only way to go at these high declination degrees. Logged 85 DSO's including my 12,000th object. Temperature dropped to mid 60's. Stopped observing at 4:31am. Closed up observatory and on my way to my parents house at 5:00am where I stayed for the second night in a row. Got home around 1pm. One of the best evenings this year at WRO.

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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May 30, 2014 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mike, John, Brian, Dan

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon 8 9 Arrived earlier and washed the 36" mirror. Transparency and seeing got better as the night rolled on. Observed a comet with John's telescope. Worked onALFGOC. Took some time to view M51 and others with those in attendance. Whirlpool galaxy was just awesome. Logged 34 DSO's. Temperature dropped to mid 60's. Stopped observing at 2:30am. Closed up observatory and on my way to my parents at 3:00am. After some house work, I made it home around 4pm. Excellent evening at WRO.

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Apr 26, 2014 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mike, Scott and grandson

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

2 days before New 7 7-8 Clouds on and off Patchy thin clouds on and off throughout evening. Worked mainly on ALFGOC - flat galaxies. Stopped observing at 12:15am when sky conditions reached my limit for astronomical recording. Observed other Messier and NGC objects as well. Recorded 3 DSO's. Temp in the 40's. On road home at 12:40am.

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Apr 19, 2014 Hidden Hollow - RAS Lee, Mark, John K, Mike, Robert

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 1:00am Average Great - 9 Temperature dropped to mid 30's. Arrived early to work on setting the backlash on the RA drive. Mark had his new 20" setup, awesome telescope. Observed and finished AGC 1314 in UMa. Continued Flat Galaxies. Observed M51, NGC4565, M104 and Mars. M51 was just the best. Mars was also very impressive. Logged in 36 objects. Stopped observing at 1:30am when Moon was on the horizon. By 2:00am was on my way home. Excellent night. Too bad the moon had to rise.

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Jan 29, 2014 Hidden Hollow - RAS Bob Kocar

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

1 Day before new Average - 7 Above average - 7 Got better early AM Second Night in a row! Spent the day running down 4 6vDC batteries for the lift. Batteries Plus had them for $98/each. Picked up the batteries at 3pm and headed down to the observatory. Bob Kocar showed up and we installed the batteries in the lift. The lift is once again operational. Continued working on AL's Flat Galaxies and AL's Galaxy Trio's. Started the AL's Double Star program. Picked up miscellaneous DSO's where ever the scope was pointed because it was a slow process moving the dome and scope from one section of the sky to another. The cold weather had its effect on the dome and lift. It wasn't until early in the morning that the lift got warmed up but still did not respond as it normally did. Observed the 10.5th magnitude SN in M82. At 2:30am, Bob had enough and headed home. At 4:30am I stopped observing and at 5:00am left for home. Logged 38 dso's and 4 Double star drawings. The temperature was -5 degrees below zero. A very cold start for the 2014 year.

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Jan 28, 2014 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

1-2 days before new Average - 7 Excellent - 9 Extreme cold conditions. First opportunity for a couple of clear nights (close to new moon) in months with only one concern ­ sub-zero temperatures. The first observing session of the 2014 year will go down as the evening that could have been. Arrived at the observatory around 7:30-800pm. The temp was -10 degrees. I had to shovel the steps, a path to the attic, observatory door and storage garage. I'm glad I brought the Jeep, because there was about 10" to 12" of snow everywhere. The club house door lock was dead and I had to break the frozen attic lock loose to get the key to open the door. The shovel saved the day. Once the lights and heater were on, I focused my attention to the telescope. The dome had to be slowly moved back and forth before it could be rotated freely. The slit had to be manually opened a bit before the motor could then take over. After all this, the lift-a-loft batteries were DOA. Even with it plugged in, the list was dead. So much for observing. When closing up, I noticed a hissing noise coming from the restroom. The power must have gone off earlier and the pipes frozen. Water was shooting to the ceiling where it ate through the drywall and installation. One big mess. Turned off the water and drained the toilet. The heater was on and working. After 3 hours at the observatory, I was on my home at 11:00pm. The outside temperature was -16 below zero and the skies were perfect!

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Sep 28, 2013 Hidden Hollow - RAS Several RAS members. Mark, Mike, Terry, Tim, Robert, Brian, some Guests Moonrise 2am 8-9 8 earlier, 9 from 12-2am, some thin clouds off and on Cleaned up attic, garage and observatory earlier. RAS members had a cook out. RAS clean up day for HH2013. Observed Uranus - bright greenish ball. Observed MAC 0039+0331 very close to Uranus. Uranus was between NGC202 and NGC203. Finished AGC 76. Worked on some flat galaxies and continued PSC NGC/IC objects. Stopped observing at 2:13am when moon started to become noticable. Mike still hanging around. Temp dropped to low 50's. Humidity 78%, light dewing. Logged in 47 DSO's. Closed up observatory at 2:20am.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Sep 27, 2013 Hidden Hollow - RAS About 100 Richland County Leadership Group visitors. Several RAS members with about 10 scopes setup. Moonrise 1:40am 8 - Good 9 - Excellent High pressure in place Finished getting telescope and observatory cleaned up earlier in the day for HH2013. Touched up big blue, counter weights finished. Balanced scope and repaired RA worm drive. Worked on PSC NGC/IC objects and started AGC 76. Logged in 37 DSO's. Closed up observatory at 2:00am. Heavy dewing. Temperature dropped to upper 40's. Mike only RAS member still outside. Excellent night considering a late start due to the large group there for 36" viewing.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Aug 03, 2013 Hidden Hollow - RAS Public Night. Largest of the year. Many members. Bob, Mike, Steve, Eric still here at 4:30am Moonrise 4:30am 8 - Very Good 9 - Excellent from 1:00am till 4:30am Largest public night for summer of 2013. Few clouds came and went early in the night. From 1:00am on the sky was just excellent. Worked on Flat Galaxies. Logged 13 DSO's. Temperature dropped to mid 50's. Showed public many messiers. Highlight was the 12th mag supernova in M74. Very easy to locate when compared to RealSky in Megastar. Closed observatory at 4:30am. Excellent evening at WRO.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Mar 08, 2013 Hidden Hollow - RAS Messier Marathon 2013. 7 members had scopes setup. Several guests also arrived. New Moon 6 6 - Thin Clouds. Clouded out at 12:30am Messier Marathon 2013. Started out with NGC/IC in Hydra. Logged in 18 dso's in Hydra. Observed 19 Messiers with 36". Temperature fell into the mid 20's. Thin clouds off and on until 12:30 when it completely clouded out.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Feb 09, 2013 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Average - 7 Average - 7 Transparency was good at times then poor at 2:30am. Temperature 16 degrees. Thin cloud streaks around early. SW horizion remained cloudy on and off till 2:30am. About 12 Boyscouts camped in tents Friday and Saturday nights - COLD. Showed guests M43, Horsehead, Eskimo Nebula. Worked on Flat Galaxies and 6" redo list. Stopped at 2:30am when sky conditions did not meet my minumium transparancy standard. 28 DSO's logged. Closed observatory up at 2:45am. 2013 off to a so-so start.

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Dec 12, 2012 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann, Mark V, Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moon 1 day old Good Average to Good. Twelve, Twelve, Twelve. A hard date to forget. John & I spent the evening observing through the 36", Mark on his 24" dob. Continued working on the AL Flat Galaxy Observing List. Highlight of the evening was the HorseHead Nebula through the HBeta filter and Thors Helmet (NGC 2359) through the OIII filter. Both were just amazing through the 31mm Nagler. John and Mark left around 1:15am. Temperature dropped to the low 20's. At 2:20am I stopped observing and was on my way home around 2:30am. In total, 53 DSO's were logged. Not a bad night at the obseratory.

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Nov 17, 2012 Hidden Hollow - RAS New Member Observing Night. Mark, Eric, Bob, Robert, Brian, Mike and many others. Moonset 9:00pm Average - 7 Good prior to Midnight. Excellent after Midnight - 9 Transparency was average for the early part of the night. After midnight, transparency was excellent. Many telescopes and members (mostly new members) were present along with guests and stray 'public night' visitors. I entertained many on the 36" till around 11:30 when the crowds began to clear out. I turned my attention to DSO's as the transparency began to greatly improve. Finished the AL Additional Galaxy Groups, completed all but 2 ARP's galaxies and finished AGC 407. Started AL Flat Galaxies Observing List and continued AL Galaxy Trio's. I have officially completed the requirements for AL Galaxy Groups and Clusters award. Observed AGC 539 in Orion for a second time. Compare the 36" observations to the 31" for AGC 539. AGC 539 has some very nice FOV's. Stopped observing at 4:50am. Closed up observatory at 5:10am and headed home. Temperature was in the mid 20's with light dew and frost. Logged in 107 DSO's. Excellent night at WRO.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Observational Log Cover Sheet

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Oct 12, 2012 Hidden Hollow - RAS John N, John K, Tim, Guests

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 5:00am Good - 7-8 Excellent - 10 High Pressure moved in earlier in the day. Calm at evening then a light breeze after midnight. Southern horizon was excellent. Observed down to 8 degress above horizion. Telescope was horizonal on top of dome wall. Completed AGC119, AGC 147, AGC 539, Hicksons 27,28,29 and added one more Caldwell Object. Highlight was NGC1851 in Col. At 8.8 Deg above horizon, it looked like M15 and it was resolved. Finished the night with the Horse Head Nebula. Best ever to date. Stopped observing at 4:35am and closed up observatory at 5:00am. Light frost on car and temperature was around 29 degrees. 145 DSO's logged. Excellent night of observing, best so far this year and most likely one of the top 20.

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Sep 19, 2012 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mike Romine, Mark

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonset 9pm 8 - Front Moving Through 8 at start, 10 by morning Thin clouds were passing on and off till about 2am. Lght breeze and no dew. Temp dipped to low 40's, upper 30's. Coldest so far this year. Played around with Lumicon's Deep Sky Filter. It helps on brighter objects by providing darker sky and greater contrast and detail. It does not help finding faint objects. Transparency keep getting better throughout the evening becoming excellent after 2am. North American Nebula awesome. Could slew and follow complete outline. Same for California Nebula. Highlight was the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888). Ton's of detail and nicely placed in the 31mm FOV. Finished AL Planetary Club and AGC 151. Worked on Hicksons and AL Galaxy Trio's. At 5:22am stopped observing. On road home 5:35am. Excellent evening. Best to date this year. Logged 98 DSO's.

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Sep 15, 2012 Hidden Hollow - RAS Denise and Phil, RAS Member, Public Night

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon 7 - Front Moving In 8 - Thin Clouds moving through all night Sky was very transparent between thin bands of clouds. Observed the California Nebula with HBeta filter in a 6" f/4.8 David Levy Comet Hunter telescope. Awesome. First sighting of this object. Waited for sky to completely clear but never did. Closed up at 3:30am and headed for home. Saw many Messiers and the 'Blinking" Planetary Nebula for our guests. Logged in 1 DSO - California Nebula.

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Sep 14, 2012 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mike Romnie,John Neumann,Couple of RAS Club Members,Becky,Doug Out Group 1 Day before New 7 - Average 8 - Thin clouds to south all night. Went to KC's for dinner before taking Tom,Marian,Dick,Derrick,Karen,and Becky to the observatory. Temperature dipped into the low 40's. Very heavy dewing - most I have ever seen here at the observatory. Cold front just moved through after rain earlier in the day. Completed AGC 347. Around 4:40am, thin clouds came in from the North. Closed up observatory and headed home around 5:00am. Logged in 98 DSO's. Was a very good night.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Sep 12, 2012 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 4:30am 9 9 - Clouds came in from South 4:20am Completed AGC 14 and some Hicksons. Tried scope on west side of mount - not good. Issues with table and chairs not to mention electrical hookup. Not familiar with that side of observatory in the dark. Temp dropped to mid 50's. Some dewing. Completed Aqr NGC/IC DSO's. Thin clouds on horizon burned off shortely after sunset. NGC 6946 in Cep was awesome. Stopped around 4:30am and on road around 5:00am. Excellent evening. Logged in 75 DSO's. Second night in a row!

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Sep 11, 2012 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mike Romie and 5 other mew members and guests.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 3:00am 8 8 - very thin clouds stayed to the south Temp fell to about 49 degrees. Light dewing. Mike and new members observing with scopes. Showed everyone Messier objects in Sgr. M17 Swan Nebula awesome with OIII filter. First time seeing the 'Swan' in such fine detail M16 Eagle Nebula was just as impressive. With OIII the 'Eagle' was amazing. It looked like a black Maple Leaf. Was able to log in 66 DSO's. Finished AGC 2593, AGC 4038. AGC 4038 was only 17 degrees above horizon. Stopped observing around 3:00am. On road by 3:30am. First night doing serious observing with the 36" and first time in almost 2 years getting back into DSO's observing. Excellent night.

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Aug 17, 2012 Hidden Hollow - RAS Hidden Hollow 2012. 100 guests plus club members.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Good - 8 Excellent - 9 Thin clouds around 4am Hidden Hollow 2012. First time using Bigger Blue (36") since John Neumann last used the 31" on 9/1/2011. The last object observed was PGC66538. On 9/13/2011, the 31" mirror was broken when the secondary mirror fell onto the primary mirror. Now, I'm glad to note that the WRO Telescope is back in business. Spent most of week prior to HH getting the new scope ready. Mirror installed, scope painted, etc. Dozens of scopes setup and lots of HH goers along with local guests. Some hight thin clouds rolled in around 4am. Observed M57, M27 and many other 'usual' Messiers and Galaxy clusters. Closed up observatory at 5am and slept in tent setup at observatory. Logged in 2 DSO which were the missing Hickson 99 members that I could not detect using the 31inch. 17.2 and 17.7 mag galaxies. Temperature in the mid 50's. The new 36" WRO scope performed extremely well.

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Oct 09, 2010 Hidden Hollow - RAS Hidden Hollow 2010. 50-100 campers setup around area. Many large apature telescopes setup. Many RAS members. New Moon Great - 9 Good - 8 Hidden Hollow 2010. Great weekend for observing. Viewed many Messiers, NGC's, etc. for HH observers. Completed AL Planetary Club observing list and worked on AGC 262. Logged in 30 DSO's. Stopped observing at 5am. Left 5:20am. Temp 50 deg at 5am. Excellent night.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Oct 07, 2010 Hidden Hollow - RAS Hidden Hollow 2010 - about 10 early arrivals

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Good - 7 Great - 9 First night of HH2010. High pressure just moved through. Several RAS members and a handfull of convention early arrivals setup. Excellent weather is expected for the next few days. Closed up observatory around 2am. Left at 2:30am. Too tired to carry on. Logged in 40 DSO's. Worked on AGC's.

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Sep 10, 2010 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Members, Mom, Cindy and the girls, Bob.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonset 8:30pm 7 - Average to Good 8-9 Excellent around 2am Breezy, keep dew at bay, Temp around 50 degrees. Observed the 11,000th object - mac 2338+2655 in AGC 2634. Finished AGC 2634, AGC 2589, AGC 2593. Logged in 29 Objects. Observed many NGC and Messier objects for our guests. Stopped at 2:30am. On my way home at 2:45am. Not a bad evening.

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May 14, 2010 Hidden Hollow - RAS

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Average - 7 Great - 9 Some thin clouds at start. Very clear until 2am This was the first RAS members only HH convention and cook out (Saturday). About a dozen RAS members staying at HH for the weekend. After a week of clouds and rain, Friday and Saturday nights looked good for observing. Friday night turned out to be the only night that was clear. Saturday it clouded up and there was light rain! A storm system remained well south of Mansfield all nght until about 2am when the clouds from the south covered the skies above WRO. Up until then, it was a very clear and pleasant night. The temperature was in the low 50's. Continued Leo NGC/IC observation list then moved on to Bootes. Highlight was NGC 4565. Totally awesome. Everyone was having an excellent time. The remote dome control again worked excellent. Around 2:30am I had the observatory closed up and was on my way home. In total, 69 DSO's were logged.

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May 09, 2010 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 3:45am Good - 6 Great - 9 Thin clouds at start. First night using the remote dome control. What a difference! Moving the dome from the lift worked perfectly. No more getting out of the lift to rotate the dome. Excellent job Bob!. Cold front moved in earlier in the day. There were thin clouds early in the evening that gave way to very clear and transparent skies. The temperature dropped to 31 degrees and there was a thin frost layer by 3am on the car. Completed AGC 2063 (37 galaxies). 16.5 mag galaxies were fairly easy to locate. Continued NGC/IC in LEO. Stopped observing at 2:45am. Closed up observatory and was on my way home at 3:10am. A very good night at the observatory. 115 DSO's were logged.

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Mar 17, 2010 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann (left around 12am),Bob (Messier Marathon), Mark (left 1am), RAS Member (left 1am). Moonset 8:30pm Excellent - 9 Excellent - 10 High Pressure for second day Second night in a row. Happy Birthday Brett!!! St. Patricks Day. Arrived at the observatory early to collimate the 16" Lightbridge. The focuser needs to be adjusted to get correct collimation. Finished AGC 2151. Observed missed galaxies in ARP 60. Worked on Cancer NGC/IC and continued LEO NGC/IC objects. Both consellations had some awesome galaxies. Made a huge dent in AGC 1060 in Hydra (51 DSO's logged). The southern horizon was excellent (16 - 16.5 mag no problem). Observed MEL 25 (Hayides) using John's 12" dob and 32mm SWA eyepiece. Only one or two more Caldwells to go. Completed AGC 2052 (26 DSO's). The sky was so transparent I didn't need adverted vision to identify faint galaxies in AGC's. This was perhaps one of the top 10 nights at WRO. No dewing, no breeze and no frost. Temperature dropped to about 30. Stopped observing at 4:45am. Closed up observatory at 5am. Bob was still Messier Marathoning. 184 DSO's were logged, 366 total in the last 2 nights. An Excellent evening at the observatory.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Mar 16, 2010 Hidden Hollow - RAS Steve (left around 2am), John (left around 12am), Mark (all night)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Great - 9 Great - 9 After 2am Excellect - 10 Mark V. did a Messier Marathon bagging 108 Messiers. Earlier in the evening, I gave Steve a lession in Polar Alignment using the drift method. It has been a long time to have this many RAS members here at the observatory observing during a NON weekend. For the first half of the night, a thin light band of clouds hung around on the SW horizon. After 2am they were gone and the sky got very transparent. There was very little breeze and no dewing at all. A very steady night. Arrived earlier to return the 16" Lightbridge Mirror. Returned home with the upper section seeing that it needs the focuser and secondary aligned before actual collimation can be done. Completed AGC 671 and AGC 1139. Continued work on AGC 2151 missed galaxies. Observed many Astronomical Leagues Additional Galaxy Groups. Most of these groups were very impressive groups. At 6:23am stopped observing and closed up observatory at 6:30am. The temperature was about 30 degrees. Mark was still working on the last few Messiers. An excellent evening logging in 182 DSO's.

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Mar 08, 2010 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann,Mike and new RAS member Jim. Mike and Jim left around 10pm. Moonrise 4am Good - 9 Excellent - 10 Better than 3/6/2010 Excellent night. Very transparent. Best so far this year. John did a Messier Marathon bagging 103 Messiers! Temperature dropped to 27 degrees. There was a light frost and heavy fog during my drive home. Completed AGC 576 by finding those not able to find from 2 nights ago. Also completed AGC 634. There were many hightlights during the evening. Most were Face on Messier Galaxies. Sprial arms and sprial structure were amazing. Continued Leo NGC/IC observing list and AL Additional Galaxy Groups. 142 Objects were logged. Stopped observing at 4:02am. Closed up observatory and headed home around 4:45am. John stayed and continued his Messier Marathon.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Mar 06, 2010 Hidden Hollow - RAS John, Mark, Ron & Kim, Steve, Mike, Bob, Scott and Mike (guest).

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moon Rise 1:30am Good - 8 Excellent - 10 First observing session for 2010 and what an excellent forecast. Hight pressure and very transparent skies. Arrived at the observatory around 2:30 to shovel a path to the club house and the pad. February was a record snow fall for the Mansfield area and there was about 12-14 inches of wet snow on the pad. Help arrived around 5pm and before long, all the snow was removed. Started and AGC 576. Planetary nebula JNER1 (PK164+31.1 in LYN was awsome. Only 8 more planetaries to observe to complete the AL Planetary Observing List. After ABELL 576, worked on Addtiional Galaxy Clusters and 6" redo observation list. Temperature dropped into the low 20's. Moderate dewing. Stopped observing around 1am. Closed up and on my way home around 1:30am. Excellent start of the 2010 observing season. 72 DSO's logged.

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Nov 11, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann, John Knapp, Mark Vandareer

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 1:30am Poor - 4 Great - 8 High Pressure in control First night observing after second ankle surgery. A very cold and frosty night. Arrived at sunset and the dobs were already setup. For some reason, the transparency wasn't as good as it should be. Maybe the humidity and poor seeing keep the transparency from being excellent. I had troubles with 16.5 mag galaxies. Worked on PSC and CET observation list. Completed AGC 407 in PER. John K. was the first to leave around 10:30pm. At midnight, the 3 remaining of us called it a night. The temperature was low 30's if not upper 20's. Frost was heavy. Got home around 1:30am. Overall, not a bad nigfht. 66 objects logged.

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Sep 19, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Members and Hidden Hollow 2009 Attendees

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Overall Good - 7 At times a 9 Great - 8 Thin clouds on horizon, excellent at times Fourth night in a row! Hidden Hollow 2009 continues. Woke up around 11am (sleep in the lodge). Worked on finishing John Neumann's PC setup of his Astronomical Observations Database. Took a nap from 5pm to 6pm and again at 2am to 3am. Spent the first half of the night showing the public M27,M15 and other NGC objects including Stephens Quintet. Continued AGC 194 in CET, now only a few more to go. Continued ARPS and Hickson Galaxy Groups. At 4am, clouds rolled in but cleared off nicely at 5am. With a small group still up, turned the 31" to M42, Horsehead Nebula, Eskimo nebula, M1 and Mars. Closed up observatory at 6:30am. Temperature in the low 40's with heavy dewing. In total, 34 DSO's were logged bringing the 4 day total to 402 DSO's. Around 7am headed to the lodge to sleep. Woke up around 11am and headed home. Excellent night of observing and a very excellent Hidden Hollow 2009.

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Sep 18, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Members and Hidden Hollow 2009 Attendees

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Good - 9 Great - 9 Excellent 4-5am Three in a row! Hidden Hollow 2009 in full swing. Many telescopes, campers and tents setup on the grounds outside the dome. Arrived earlier to replace the 31" focuser. Spent about 3 plus hours getting the new focuser collimated. I need to return in the future to do a complete collimation of the 31" scope. After the majority of the HH2009 attendees got their fill of the usual Messiers and bright NGC's etc., I settled down continuing ARP, Hickson Galaxy Groups. Started AGC 194 and completed AGC 3744. PSC and CET constellations continue to impress with their vast display of very nice galaxy groups and clusters. At 5am the 31" turned towards Orion's M42 and the Horsehead. For those who were still up, the views were just awesome. At 6:30am, I began closing up the observatory. The temperature was in the upper 40's and heavy dewing outside. At 6:50am I headed to the lodge where I will be sleeping for the next 4 hours. In total, 77 DSO's were logged. As it turned out, this was 3 of 4 nights in a row where a total of 402 DSO's were logged. An excellent night at WRO.

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Sep 17, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Hidden Hollow 2009 Opening Night. About 20 HH2009 attendees camped out on the grounds and many RAS members. New Moon Good 7-8 Great - 9 (excellent around 4-6am) Second night in a row. First night of HH2009. Many early bird attentees already set up on the grounds. High pressure still in control. Continued CET and AQR constellations and ARP, Hickson Galaxy Groups. Continued AGC 3744 in CAP. Completed AGC 397 in ARI. At 5:50am stopped observations, closed up the observatory and at 6:15am was in the car on my way home. The temperature was 48 degrees with heavy dewing. In total, 140 DSO's were logged. This was the second of four nights in a row. At the end of the 4th night, 402 DSO's were logged. Tonight a major mile stone was reached. For on this night, the 10,000th observation was logged. That object was NGC 190 An excellent evening at WRO.

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Sep 16, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Knapp (20" Obsession), Roger Reed (new member), Brother Bob. Moonrise 5:00am Average - 5 High Pressure just pushed through. Great - 9 What a start for Hidden Hollow 2009! A high pressure just moved through and the forecast calles for clear skies through the weekend. The temperature dropped to about 49 degrees and by sunrise, there was heavy dewing. The 31" performed extremely well as I continued CEP, AQR, CET constellations. Started AGC 3744 and also made a huge dent in ARP and Hickson Galaxy Groups. Most of the objects observed in CET and ERI were outstanding. At 5am I stopped observing and began to close up the observatory. At 5:20am I was on my way home. In total, 151 DSO's were logged. Temperature was 49 degrees and the skies extremely clear and transparent. It was an excellent night of observing. As it turned out, this was one of four nights in a row which totaled 402 DSO's logged.

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Sep 13, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mark V. and John N.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 2am Average - Good 7 Average - 6 (At times 7) Tonight was John's first visit with his new 12" Dob. What a nice scope. Rather than installing encoders, the scope was outfitted with a digital ALT reader and AZ degree circle around the base. Using Megastar, John was able to locate objects with ease by the objects alt and az coordinates then moving the scope to the objects position. This process is no different than using manual RA and DEC setting circles. While John had his scope setup, Mark has his. The sky really never got very transparent. I did manage to continue objects in Cap and Aqr. Capricornus NGC/IC observation list is almost complete. 32 DSO's were logged and at Midnight, the three of us packed up and headed home. At 12:20am the observatory was closed and locked. The temperature was in the low 6t0's with heavy dewing. This evening marked the low end for recorded observations. Any worse, no observations would be logged.

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Aug 23, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonset 9:20pm Average - 7 Average to Good - 8 First solo observing attempt since AF (After Fall). Made an adjustment on the RA worm drive and the scope performed perfectly all night. Transparency at zenith was excellent! Worked on AL Planetaries and CAP observation list. Around 2am clouds moved in. Closed up and was on my way home around 2:40am. Temperature had fallen into the upper 50's. Light rain began falling as I made my way home. In all, 34 DSO's were logged. Only 7 more AL planetaries to go! Not a bad night.

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Aug 15, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS About a dozen of RAS members and their guests. Mark and I stayed until moonrise which was about 2am. Moonrise 2:00am Good - 8 At times 9 Average to good - 7 At times a 9 at zenith This was my first time back observing at WRO since A.F. (After Fall). My goal was to see if I could perform all the necessary startup, shutdown and mighty lift operations alone on crutches and without putting weight on my right foot. I soon had all the operations figured out and was able to observe without assistance. The day was hot and humid. The temperature was about 90 degrees with clear skies on tap for tonight. I was first to arrive and was opening up the observatory when Mike, then Mark showed up. Mark setup his Dob and Mike on of the RAS scopes. The transparency varied in the early evening with some very thin clouds coming and going. After the majority of the guests left, I began some serious observing working on the AL's Planetary Nebula observing list. Transparancy was very good at Zenith where I was observing. at. At moonrise, I had logged in 10 DSO's. At 2am, I stopped observing and began closing up the observatory. At 2:20am I was on my way home. The temperature was in the low 70's. Only 15 more AL Planetary Nebula to go. Overall, not a bad night.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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May 19, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 3:45am Great - 9 Excellent - 10 Third night in a row!!! Temp in low 40's, low humidity and no dewing. High pressure still in control. Came close to completing AGC 2151. Continued AGC 1656 and just before moonrise worked on AL planetary nebula observing list. Stopped observing at 4am and by 4:15am was on my way home. This was the best ever 3 nights in a row to date. In total, 98 DSO's were logged this evening and 280 DSO's over the 3 nights. Another excellent evening.

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May 18, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann - left 1am Mark Vandeere - left 2am Moonrise 3:25am Great - 9 Excellent - 10 Second night in a row. High pressure in control. Very low humidity and no Dew. Continued AGC 1656. Finished AGC 2162 and started AGC 2151. Early in the AM before moonrise, continued AL planetary nebula observing list. The plantaries were just awsome. Played around with Messiers and NGC's. NGC 4565 was the best to date. 16.0 to 16.5 magnitude galaxies jumped out of the eyepiece. Temperature dropped into the low 30's. 80 DSO's were logged. At 4:10am, observatory was closed up and I was on my way home. A very excellent night. As it turned out, tomorrow night (3rd night in a row) would be another excellent night.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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May 17, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 3:00AM Good - 8 Excellent - 10 Record low temperatures in Cleveland and Mansfield area - 30 32 degrees. Low humidity, no dewing. Completed AGC 2147 (61 DSO's). Continued AGC 1656 and AL Planetary Club. Logged in 102 DSO's. 3:30am observatory closed and on my way home. Excellent evening. This turned out to be the first of 3 excellent observing nights in a row!!!

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May 14, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mark Vanderaar and myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 1:35am Good - 7 Excellent - 9 Rode Beluga to the observatory. Temperature was in the low 70's perfect for a bike ride. A high pressure system is moving through the area and forecast is for very clear and transparent skies. There were some very thin clouds at sunset but they soon moved out of the area. Arriived early to fix the squeeking noise when opening the slit using the mighty lift and WD-40. With good transparency, worked on AGC 1656 and AGC 2147. AGC 1656 held a lot of surprises. Many NGC's and IC with field of views stuffed full of galaxies. I will definitely continue working this Abell Cluster trying to observe the 600 plus galaxies located there. Just before moonrise, observed a few messiers - M13 and M57. Played with the image intensifier on M57. At 2am closed up and was ready for the ride home around 2:45am. The temperature outside was in the mid 50's. 73 DSO's were logged.

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Apr 17, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Eric, Mark, Mike and his grandson, Kacy with girlfriend, Bob showed up later as well. Moonrise 3:30am Great - 9 Excellent - 10 Arrived early and used the laser to collimate the 31" mirror. Spent most of the time showing NGC and Messier objects to RAS members and guests. Transparency tonight was much better than last night. When I wasn't showing off Messier objects, I was working on Abell Galaxy Cluster 2065. Logged in 33 objects and after moonrise, closed up shop and on my way home at 4:00am. Temperature was in the upper 30's.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Apr 16, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 2:30am Good - 8 Good 7-8 Observed comet 2008 T2 Cardinal using the Meade 16" Lightbridge (VB,PL,LARGE BNUC,VERY BRT NUC WITH HALO,SOMEWHAT ELONG HALO,HISB MIDDLE). Spent the observing time on the 31" observing Abell Galaxy Clusters AGC 1228 and AGC 2065. At moonrise, closed up observatory and on my way home at 3:00am. Temperature then was lin the low 30's. 75 DSO's were logged. Not a bad night.

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Mar 20, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tim & Son, John Neumann, Myself. My Brother and a friend stopped down on the ATV for a while. Moonrise 5:20am Good - 8 Good - 8.5 Tonight John performed a Messier Marathon. Had it not been for the moon and complete cloud cover at 5:30am, he would have observed more. Still, he managed 93 Messier's. I spent some time helping Tim get acquainted to the club's telescopes and giving him some observing pointers. I showed my Brother some Messier's and Saturn. After midnight, I started on Abell and Arp/Hickson galaxy clusters. The temperature dropped to the low 20's and there was heavy frost everywhere. There was a lot of moisture in the atmosphere keeping the transparency from being excellent. At moonrise (5:20am) the sky quickly clouded over completely. 37 DSO's were logged. At 6am, the observatory was closed up and on my way home. It wasn't a bad night of observing.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Mar 17, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 3:20am Average - 7 Good to Excellent - 8-9 Second night in a row. Arrived on Beluga early to replace outside light bulbs and to extend the mirror cover posts on the mirror cell. Light haze at start of evening then turned very clear soon after twilight. This was the evening to do Abell Galaxy Clusters. At times during the evening, 17 to 17.5 magnitude galaxies were undetectable. Highlights of the evening was the completion of Abell Galaxy Clusters 569, 779, 999 and 1213. At 3:20am the moon was starting its climb above the horizon. At 3:40am observatory was closed up and I was on Beluga on my way home. Temperature was low 50's and 109 DSO's were logged.

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Mar 16, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 2:10am Great - 8 Excellent - 9 Arrived early to replace burned out light bulbs in the dome. High pressure moving through at sunset. Just after sunset, the sky was very clear. Tonight is first light with the newly re-coated 31" mirror and it went to work on Abell Galaxy Cluster 1185. A total of 60 galaxies down to 17.5 magnitude were observed. I continued ARP and Hickson Galaxy Clusters observing list. The highlight of the evening was the Ring Tail Galaxy. Both lobs with seperation and detail in NGC 4038 was detected. At 2:15am the moon was just above the horizon and at 2:40am the observatory was closed up and I was on my way home. The temperature at that time was in the upper 30's. In total, 97 DSO's were logged including the 9000th object. It was an excellent evening at the telescope.

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Jan 24, 2009 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

1-2 days before new Average - 6 Good at times, Average at times Well, the first observing session for the 2009 season was one of the most interesting. To start of, I got stuck in the snow outside the club house. Had it not been for John showing up later, I don't know if I would have gotten out. Then, John went to unlock the restroom and there we discovered that the water pipe had burst. Water was everywhere including on ourselves. Just to make things even more interesting, the slit on the dome was frozen. I was able to pry the lower section away from the upper section, but the lower section remained frozen to the base of the dome. No observing at low altitudes. After about 2 hours of getting ready to observe, we finaly started to observe when clouds rolled in. The sky went to pot around 10pm. Only 4 DSO's were logged. At 10:30pm we called it quits and closed up the dome. The temperature was 0 degrees. The only good thing to come out of the evening is that we caught the water break. This is probably one of the worst observing sessions to date.

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Dec 28, 2008 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Knapp and John Neumann

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moon 2 days old Average 7 Good at start. Excellent later in the night - 9 First observing session in a long time. First time at observatory since moving into new house. Arrived around sunset. John Knapp had his 14" Dob setup. Clouds moved in and it didn't clear up until 11:00pm. By then, John K. had left. Around midnight, John N. left but not until he was able to observe a few outstanding objects. Around 5:30am, sky started to fall apart with light clouds returning. Temperature dropped to 25 degrees. Heavy frost and dewing. Horsehead was awesome again using the H-Beta filter. Another highlight was NGC2359 with 2" OIII filter and the 32mm Nagler. What a view! Logged in 61 Objects working the AL Planetary Observing Club list with ARP and Hickson Clusters thrown in. Many of the planetaries were just awesome. Stopped observing at 6:00am. Closed up observatory and was on my way home at 6:20am. Excellent evening of observing.

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Sep 02, 2008 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Boggs & Son

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

1 Day old Average - 7 Good - 8 As the night went on, the skies got better and better. Rode Beluga and arrived before sunset. My targets for the evening is the AL Planetary Observing List. With one 17mm T4 threaded with an 2" OIII filter and the other with no filter, I went to work observing strictly planetary nebula's. I usually just observe very faint galaxies with the 31", so observing the finest of the planetaries all evening was very rewarding. In most cases, the 2" OIII filter improved the visual detail of the object and made it easier to locate. At 3:45am I stopped observing and closed up the observatory. At 4:10am I was on my way home. The temperature dropped to 65 degrees and there was little dew. The valley below was heavy with fog. 35 DSO's were logged including 2 more Caldwell Objects. Excellent night at WRO.

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Jul 05, 2008 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Public Night. Many RAS members and guests. Over 10 telescopes were setup. Moon 1 day old Good - 8 Great - 9 A very busy evening at RAS. Rode Beluga to the observatory arriving around 6pm. Attended the club meeting where I was voted in as the temporay Observatory Director. Temperature dropped to about the mid 60's throughout the evening. I spent most of the evening showing Messier objects to guests and RAS members. Early in the morning (around 3:30am) I started my observing lists only to have the lift-a-loft break down. It wouldn't lower or reverse. At 4:00am I closed up the observatory and headed home. Only 5 DSO's were logged.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Jun 01, 2008 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann and John (20" Obsession owner)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 4:30AM Excellent - 9 Excellent - 10 Best transparent night of the year. Rode Beluga down to observatory arriving before sunset. 20" obsession and 16" Lightbridge were set up. The temperature dipped to the low 50's with very little or no dewing. With little sleep the night before, I stayed till 2:00am then closed up the observatory and headed home. It was hard to leave with excellent skies. Logged in 76 DSO's mostly in Serpens. Excellent evening.

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May 28, 2008 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 2:15am Good - 8 Excellent - 10 This was probably the best transparent evening to date. Only a few thin high clouds noticed on the horizon around 2am. Arrived early with John to work on getting the RAS 16" Lightbridge completely configured and setup ready to go. I also washed the 31" mirror. First light with the new 16" was Saturn and M3. While John configured and played with the Argo Navis settings, I went to work on the 31" observing DSO's in Serpens. Around 1am I knocked off 3 more Caldwell Objects in Scorpius. The highlight of the evening was NGC 6302 "Bug Nebula" in Scorpius. While only getting 9 degrees above the horizon, the observations with and without the OIII filter were amazing even though the 31" was almost in the horizontal position. With high pressure in place, the temperature dipped to the mid to upper 30's and no dew was detected. Very cold for this time of year. At 2:15am, I closed up the observatory and headed home. Overall, 71 DSO's were logged. Excellent evening.

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Apr 26, 2008 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Will Rise 2:15am Good - 8 Great - 9 Then clouded out around 11:45pm Arrived to the observatory around 10pm. Rode the Bike and parked Beluga in the dome. At 11:30pm the skies clouded and by 11:45pm I was on my way home. Short evening of observing but still logged in 19 DSO Hickson Galaxies in Leo. Temperature was in the 40's.

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Apr 09, 2008 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann - left around Midnight

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonset 11:45pm Good Great - 9 At times Excellent Few high thin clouds around at sunset. Thereafter, a very clear and transparent night. Temperature dropped into the 30's. Half of the observations where logged with a waxing cresent moon lingering in the west. Moon was completely set by Midnight. 3 of 4 nights in a row to start off the 2008 observing season logging a total of 297 objects in the first 3 sessions (109 DSO's logged tonight). Pounded ARP and Hickson galaxy clusters and continued Serpens NGC/IC observing list. Observed all members of AGC1452. Rode Beluga down arriving just a little before sunset. Tonights clear skies were a complete total surprise fooling even the weather forecasters. At 4:00am I closed up the observatory and spent the next hour in the club house warming up before the frigid ride back home. At 5:00am, left the observatory and headed home. Arrived home around 6am just before I started to get really cold. Excellent night of observing.

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Apr 07, 2008 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moon 1-2 days old Good - 8 Good - 9 Some high thin clouds off and on. Back to back nights to start off a slow 2008 Observing season. Temperature dropped to the low 50's. A very pleasant night of observing. High thin clouds were around early evening, but completely gone and very transparent around 1am. At 3am, a front moved in along with clouds. At 3:30AM, the observatory was closed up and I was on my way home. A total of 106 DSO's were logged in. Completed was the Webb Anonymous Galaxies observation list. Continued ARP's and Hicksons in Ursa Major. An excellent night of observing.

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Apr 06, 2008 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann - Left around midnight

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Average - Good 8. At times excellent. Some thin clouds off and on High pressure in control but high thin clouds remained. Arrived at 10pm just as the sky was clearing up. Transparency got better and better reaching excellent around 2am. Temperature dropped to the mid 40's. Stopped observing at 5am when clouds moved in. Was on the road home at 5:30am. Finished the RNGC/IC observing list for Corvus. Continued the Webb, Hickson and ARP observating lists. Logged in 82 DSO's. Not a bad start to the 2008 Observing season. Finally!!

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Oct 13, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS Hidden Hollow 2007 RAS Members, Brent Archinal New Moon Average - 5 Good - 7 Got better towards morning. Hidden Hollow 2007. More guests than the previous evening and the temperature was not as cold. Temperature fell to the upper 30's but dew was heavy. I had setup my 12.5" and once the computer problems were ironed out, it performed very well as usual. Between running the 31" and the 12.5" I did manage to get some serious observing done by logging in 21 DSO's. Most of these objects were in Cetus. One of the highlights of the evening was ABELL Galaxy Cluster 426. 10-15 galaxies were seen in one eyepiece FOV. The Saturn nebula was just awsome. At 6am I packed the 12.5" away, closed up the observatory and headed home. This was another excellent year for Hidden Hollow.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Oct 12, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS Hidden Hollow 2007 RAS Members, Brent Archinal New Moon Average - 6 Excellent - 9 Got Better as the Night went on. Hidden Hollow 2007. Over 100 plus attented HH07 and telescopes were plentyfull all over the HH grounds. It was also the coldest night of the year. The temperature dropped to the low 30's and it was the first frosty night of the year. I operated the 31" telescope showing the guests the usual favorites, NGC7331,M15, M42, etc. All my eyepieces and Lumicon filters got a lot of action. Early in the AM when the crowds died down, I managed to get some observing of my own in. Worked on Cetus Observation List, Hickson and Abell Cluster 426. 37 objects were logged. Around 5am the transparency was excellent and views of M42 and the Horsehead Nebula were excellent. Around 6am I closed up the observatory and headed home. An excellent night for the HH2007 attendees.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Sep 12, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS Ken & Barb (both left around Midnight)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Good - 8 Excellent - 9 Cold front moved through Back to back nights and this night blew last night away. A cold front has moved through clearing out everything. By 5am in the morning the temperature had dropped to 46 degrees and the dew was heavy. With clear dark skies, galaxies and galaxy clusters were on the memu. The last (missing) object in Pegasus was observed offically bring closure to the NGC/IC Observating list for Pegasus. Over 700 objects have been observed in Pegasus to date. Also completed were Abell Clusters AGC2572 (16 objects) and AGC2666 (37 objects). Observed many Hickson Galaxy Groups in Andromeda and Aries and continued ARP and Web Society Anonymous Galaxies. Continued the NGC/IC objects in Sagittarius and was able to observe objects 6 degrees above the horizon. Observed Einstein's Cross (PGC69457) with high power but could only detect 4 faint lobs around PGC69457. This object needs to be observed high on the mederian under excellent seeing conditions. All my eyepieces and filters got a good workout this evening. When all is said and done, 104 objects were logged. Stopped observing at 5am and by 5:20am I was on the road home. Excellent evening.

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Sep 11, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann, Ken & Barb.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Poor-Average Excellent - 9 When Clouds not present Cold front moving over Mansfield. Patchy clouds here and there, then clear, then cloudy. Observations when clear were excellent. The sky was very dark. Temperature dipped into the 50's. Little or no dew. At 12:30am, clouds were still around so I closed up the observatory and heading home. Only 11 DSO's were logged.

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Sep 05, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann, Ken & Barb

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 2:30am Good - 7 Good - 7 Beluga's first observing trip to WRO. Stopped observing around 2:40am when the moon was about 10 degrees above the horizon. The sky was clear and dark but the dew never fell out of the sky. The sky had a slight brightness to it all evening limiting the 31" to about 16.5 magnitude. John setup his 8" while Ken & Barb setup their new Meade LS200 10". Once they obtained good star alignment, the goto on the Meade worked very well putting objects in the eyepiece. I finished up the last 2 IC objects in Scutum that I had missed the last time out. The NGC/IC observing list for Scutum is finished. Also completed was one of the most demanding NGC/IC observing lists - Pegasus. What remains is the confirmation/verification of the Non-Existant objects. In addition to Scutum and Pegasus, I continued work on the NGC/IC Observation list in Sagittarius. The observatory was closed up around 3am and the temperature at that time was 65 degrees. A total of 68 DSO's were logged. Not a bad evening.

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Aug 13, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann, Ken & his wife.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Average 6 Average - 6 I finally ended a 3 month observing dry spell and took what I could get even though it was not a perfect evening. All forecasts called for an excellent dark sky but the sky got brighter and a few light clouds could be detected on the horizon. The temperature bottomed out around 60 degrees. Given the sky conditions, faint galaxies were out of the question. Instead, I went after open clusters in Scutum. Around 1am, the conditions did not improve so I closed up the observatory and headed home. 10 DSO's were logged and the observing list of Scutum has only 2 more objects to go. Overall, it was an average night.

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May 18, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann - left around Midnight

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

2 days old Good - 8 Excellent - 10 A very transparent night. Temperature dropped to 40 degrees and the skies remained extremely dark and transparent. Completed the ARP/Webb Anonymous/Hickson Clusters for Virgo and Hercules. Hickson 62 is a very impressive Galaxy Cluster. At 3:15am I began to shutdown and close up the observatory. At 3:40am I was on the road home. A total of 95 objects were logged. This was one of the best nights so far this year.

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Mar 20, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moon 1 day old Average - 6 Excellent at start. Got worse later. 3 of 4 nights observing in March! Very transparent and clear skies all day with a forecast of clouds and rain moving in around 2-3am. Arrived early to the observatory and watch a beautiful sunset with a 1-2 day old moon with Venus close by. The earth shine on the back of the moon was about as bright as I have seen in a long time. The hopes of having an excellent night of transparent dark skies ended at 11pm for the second time in a row. At 11pm, the skies fell apart as thin clouds covered the sky. I closed up the observatory and was on the road by 11:20pm. The temperature was 26 degrees. I did managed to log in 41 DSO's under excellent sky conditions and finished the remaining 2 objects in Monoceros.

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Mar 18, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself only

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New Average - 6 Excellent - 9 Arrived early to finish DSO's in Monoceros before it gets too far west and sets. The sky was very transparent and dark. Forecast is calling for cloudy skies around midnight. At 11:00pm the clouds did arrive and at 11:15pm I was packed up and on my way home. The temperature was 25 degrees when I left. In total, 26 DSO's were observed and logged. The highlight was NGC 2237 with the 32mm 2" Nagler and OIII filter. What a show piece. Finished the NGC/IC objects for Monoceros but after verification there may be a few left to observe. It was a very good evening.

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Mar 17, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Average - 6 or 7 Excellent - 10 after 2am. Messier Marathon 2007! As usual, clouds most of the day kept observers at home. Forecast called for clearing after dark as a cold front is working its way through Ohio. Day started off cloudy, then partly cloudy. When I arrived at the observatory, John was already setup attempting a Messier Marathon. A few clouds kept getting in his way and soon he was off observing Herschel objects. As the night wore on, the clouds became fewer and fewer until 2am when it was totally clear and very dark. Observing through the clearings did not pose a problem, for it was still very transparent. John and I both stayed till 7:30am. The evening had very little dewing but the temperature hit 17 degrees and it was cold. I took a 30 minute nap around 4am. Observed and logged 110 objects (ironically) but no Messier objects on this 2007 Messier Marathon. Logged the 8,000th object during this observing session. Overall, it was an excellent evening for observing.

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Mar 10, 2007 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Members, Missy & Kids, Guests, John & Becky

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 1:35am Good - 8 Excellent - 9 Cold front recently moved through First observing session of 2007! January and February offered no opportunies around new Moon to observe. Very clear and Transparent. Temperature bottomed out around 29 degrees. Very little dewing with a constant light breeze throughout the evening. Many people from Globe were at the observatory for a program given by Tammy and AFY members. From sunset till about 11pm, I operated the 31" providing views of NGC objects and Saturn. After the guests left, I went to work in LEO going after ARP, Hickson and Webb Anonymous galaxies. At moonrise, 37 DSO's were logged. Around 1:45am the observatory was closed up and I was on the road home.

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Dec 19, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Good - Great 9 Excellent - 10 Oh Holy Night! The last observing night of the year was one of the best. Skies were very dark and transparent. Heavy frost covered the area as the temperature dropped to 24 degrees. TSO jamming on the CD player kept our spirits up all night. During the evening, I completed the Canis Major and Triangulum NGC/IC observing projects. The HorseHead nebula was just awesome in the 31mm Nagler T5 with the Lumicon OIII filter. However, the most spectacular highlight of the evening (and for the year) was NGC 2359 and IC 468. Both these objects are associated together and both are bright nebula. With the 31mm Nagler and OIII filter, these objects are beyond what words can describe. I have not seen any object to date that is more enhanced by the OIII filter than these two. These objects are in Canis Major and will become a regular show piece whenever the Orion Nebula is targeted for viewing. Around 1:30am, John and I both closed up shop and headed home. In total, 73 DSO's were logged. See you all next year.

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Nov 24, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS Becky, John Neumann, Ken, Missy & kids

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonset 8:15pm Excellent - 9 Excellent - 10 Still High Pressure around Today is Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the dome is repaired and the 31" back in operation. Still, I set up the Meade 12.5" to finish the southern observation lists. Unlike the last 2 observing sessions, the temperature only dropped down to upper 30's. There was no dew anywhere. When I arrived at the observatory John was on the 31". I setup the Meade 12.5" without any issues and had it ready to go in about 20 minutes. Polar alignment was good. Around 8:30pm Ken, Missy and 4 children visited the observatory. Between the 31" and the 12.5", they got to see a pretty good show. The highlight was Saturn around 1am when it was still low in the East. Many Messier's and well known NGC's were observed through both the 31" and 12.5". The 6" Discover Dob was setup and the guests had a good time using it. They were even able to find many objects themselves. It showed what a small dob can do over a small department store refractor. Around 1:30am the visitors where tired and on their way home. John left around 2am. Using the Meade 12.5" my goal was to finish up the NGC/IC in Puppis and the Herschel II (400). By 6am, I had logged 72 DSO's completing the observations list for Puppis and Herschel II 400. By 6:30am I was packed up and on my way home. The last few evenings could be the best we get for 2007 and I am sure glad I got to spend them with the 12.5".

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Nov 22, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS Becky and John (Owner of 20" Obsession)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moon Set 6pm Great - 9 Excellent - 10 Tonight is Thanksgiving Eve and is almost an exact duplicate of the previous night. Very clear and transparent. Heavy frost my 5am. Temperature fell into the mid 20's. The Southern horizon again was very clear. The Meade 12.5" was left setup from the previous evening and ready to go. This time, there were no technical issues. My goal for the evening is to work on the observation lists (NGC/IC) for Lepus, Puppis and Herschel II (400). By the end of the observing session 69 DSO's were logged and the observation list for Lepus was complete. In addition, a mini-Messier marathon was performed (not logged). Around 5am I ended the observing session breaking down the 12.5" and storing it in the dome. The 31" dome is still broken. I sure was an excellent evening observing with the 12.5". At 6am I was on the way home.

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Nov 21, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann - Left around Midnight

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

One Day Old Good - 8 Excellent - 10 High Pressure Moved in. The Dome is in repair and the 31" Scope not usable. This night (and the next 2 observing sessions to follow) belonged to the Meade 12.5". It has been over a year (HH 2005) since the Meade 12.5" was setup. I ran into several issues setting up the scope. First, I left my Scope Link Interface for the encoders at home. This was overcome by using the encoder interface from the Greer Scope. Then, the laptop computer I normally use keep crashing. I ended up using my work laptop. Finally, the battery in my illuminated reticle was dead. I borrowed John's to do the polar alignment. Arrived at the observatory at 8pm and I was finally polar aligned and ready to go at 11:30pm. The sky was extremely dark and transparent, even all the way to the southern horizon. My goal was work on the observing lists for the constellations low in the south where the 31" doesn't normally go. Lepus, Canis Major and Puppis were my primary targets. Around 4:30am I left for home leaving my scope setup and ready to go. The forecast is calling for extremely clear skies for the next 4-5 days. The temperature bottomed out in the mid 20's. There was frost everywhere. The observation list for Canis Major was almost completed during the evening as 64 DSO's were logged in. This was one of the better nights to date in 2007.

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Oct 25, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann (left around midnight)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonset 8pm Good - 7 Excellent - 9 Very clear and cold Arrived at the observatory around 7pm. The sky was beginning to clear off and the temperature was expected to drop into the 20's. The temperature did drop and the sky became very transparent. Began the evening in Pegasus where we got tied up in AGC 2589. We managed to observe all the objects in AGC 2589. Soon we were stuck in AGC 2593. After observing 11 galaxies there, we continued going East in Pegasus trying to keep the telescope East of the Meridian. Leaving Pegasus, I went into Triangulum where I spent some time observing all the NGC/IC objects in M33. At the start of the evening, I had only 49 NGC/IC objects to go in Triangulum, after tonight, only a few dozen remain. After a few Hickson Compaq Galaxy Groups and some Webb/ARP galaxies, I settled into Ursa Major. When it was all over, 136 DSO's were logged and I completed the NGC/IC observing list for Aries. At 5am I closed up the observatory and headed home. The temperature then was 27 degrees and the sky was very clear and transparent.

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Oct 20, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS Brent Archinal, John Neumann, others.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Average - 6 Average - 6 Thin, patchy clouds off and on all night. Hidden Hollow 2006. With rain and clouds for the last several days, the forecast for this years HH is calling for partical clearing. Just after sunset, the skies did start to clear. However, with so much moisture around, falling temperatures and dewing was a problem. Still, between the clouds and high overhead, observations of DSO's were not that bad. Many Messier objects were shown to HH guests throughout the evening. In between the random flux of guests, I was able to continue my own observation lists. During the evening, I was able to log in 27 objects. Just before observing the horsehead nebula, the sky took a dump and completely clouded out. The time was 4:30am and the temperature dropped to about 32 degrees. I closed up the observatory and was on the road about 5am. Not a bad HH2006 considering the weather of late.

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Jul 24, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann left around midnight.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Good - 8 Good - 8 First time Halley made it to WRO where it was parked in the observatory while I observed. I didn't have adequate sleep to make it an all-nighter and took a nap around 12:30am for 2 hours before riding Halley back home. The temperature dropped to the low 60's with little fog atop the hill. In the little time I had, I logged in 18 objects of Webb Anonymous and ARP Peculiar observation lists. Closed up the observatory around 3:30am.

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Apr 26, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann and Myself. John left around Midnight

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonset about 7:30pm Good - 8 Excellent - 9 Very clear and dark all evening A very good evening. Temperature bottomed out in the low 30's. The highlight of the evening was comet SchwassmannWachmann 3. In the 31mm Nagler T5 the comet was spectacular. It looked like a classic comet that one usually visions. During the evening, I worked primary on the Herschel 400 (II) and ARP Peculiar Galaxies observing lists. In total, 126 objects were logged. Closed up the observatory around 5:15am and was on the road at 5:30am. This was definitely one of the better nights here at Warren Rupp Observatory.

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Mar 29, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann - left around midnight.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New - 1 day old Good - 8 Great - 9 The Sky got better as the night went on The forecast for this coming weekend is for rain and like many times in the past, the Messier Marathon will be clouded out. The last observing session, John did a Messier Marathon with his 8" dob. This evening he went after Herschel's. I came determined to do a marathon of my own, but it was not going to be a Messier Marathon. I combined the Herschel 400 (II), ARP Peculiar and Webb Anonymous observing lists into one sorted by constellation. I was determined to observe non-stop for 9 hours (8pm till 5am) without taking `normal' breaks. With observing list in hand, I embarked on a 9 hour non-stop marathon. My main goal was to once and for all break my all time single night observing record of 140 logged objects on March 27, 1981. I have come close in recent years observing 130, 134 and 135 objects but could not break the 140 mark. At 5am when I stopped observing and began to close up the observatory I have set a new single night observing record. The old record of 140 objects got smashed with the new record of 202 logged objects! The statistics for the evening are amazing. One object was logged on average every 2.67 minutes. 201 galaxies were observed, 1 planetary nebula. 36 galaxies observed in Abell Galaxy Cluster 2151 in Hercules. 31 MAC's, 74 NGC's, 14 IC's and 83 PGC's (UGC's, MCG's, CGCG's) objects observed and logged. The average magnitude of the objects observed was 14.98. Most of the objects were part of multi-galaxy groups and the most impressive of the evening was Hickson 57. Made up of mostly NGC's this compact galaxy group is awesome in the 31". The Abell Galaxy Cluster 2151 was another impressive galaxy field. Up to 10 galaxies were easily identified in a single FOV. At 5:30am I was on the road. The temperature bottomed out around 30 degrees. The sky remained transparent the entire night. This evening is definitely one for the record book, I doubt I will ever top the 202 objects set during this observing session.

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Mar 26, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neumann

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

1 Day before New Good - 9 Excellent - 10 Got better and better throughout the night This was another excellent night of observing, perhaps on of the top 10. The sky was very dark and transparent. I arrived around 8pm and John was already doing the Messier Marathon with his 8" Dob. I had some unfinished business to take care of on the 31" and by morning, I have completed my tasks. Completed are the observing lists for Circumpolar (801 NGC and IC objects) and Draco (411 objects). I also continued work on the Webb Society Anonymous and the ARP Peculiar galaxies. In total, 131 objects were logged, just 9 shy of my personal record of 140 on 3/27/1981. Went over the 7,000th logged observation. The ARP Peculiar galaxies are surprisingly very interesting objects to observe due to the various types and shapes of these galaxies. A lot of detail is detected observing these galaxies. At 5:10am, it was time to close up the observatory and head to work. The temperature had dropped to about 24 degrees. At 5:30am John and I were on the road.

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Mar 04, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Meeting Night and first public night for 2006. Several RAS Members were there including: Becky, John N., John B., Joe, Keith, Dave, Tammy and new members from the Columbus area. Moonset 12:15am Excellent - 10 Excellent - 10 One of the best skies at RAS Oh What a Night! With so much activity going on at the observatory, it is going to be hard to summarize this evening. First and foremost, the 31" telescope blew away our guests. As it turned out, some of the students were themselves amateur astronomers making the view through the telescope even more enjoyable. Never have they seen objects so spectacular. Well before moonset, the views through the 31" were just awesome. The skies were just that good. The Eskimo Nebula with the 12mm Nagler was perhaps the best I had ever seen. Other highlights were M51, M104, ngc4565, ngc2903, M81, M65, M66, M84, M86, Saturn and Jupiter. In the pre-dawn hours using Heidi's 8" dob, we observed comet Pojmansk and Venus. The tail on comet Pojmansk stretched across the 40mm FOV! As the temperature dropped into the upper teens, many found warmth and comfort in the club house. In the early morning hours when the crowd thinned out a little, I continued Draco and the Circumpolar observation lists. Only 6 more objects to go in Draco and about a dozen for Circumpolar. In total, 45 objects were logged. I finished observing around 6am and at 6:30am I was on the road. What an excellent start to the 2006 Public Nights.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Feb 23, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman - Left around 2:30am

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 5:30am Good -8 Excellent - 10 Tonight's observing was unexpected. Observing 3 of the last 4 nights in February! A cold front came through earlier and it didn't clear off till about 9:30pm. I arrived at the observatory around 10:15pm. John was already here and was observing with the 31". The sky was just about the best I have seen here at WRO in a long time. Very dark and transparent all the way to the horizon. The only complaint was that is was a little breezy. Around 3:30am, a patch of clouds rolled in from the Northwest. Rather than observing through patches in the clouds, I decided to close up shop and at 4:15am I was on the road home. The temperature at that time was 24 degrees. I continued working on the Webb Society Anonymous Galaxies, Circumpolar objects and Draco. I have only 22 more objects to go in Draco and only 33 Circumpolar objects left. The highlight of the evening was Hickson 56A-D. This is an excellent galaxy cluster to observe with the 31". Draco was the other big surprise. Just about every NGC/IC object observed received a 'Good' rating. Most of the objects had High Surface Brightness and stood all alone in their FOV. My only complaint is that I wish I could freeze the night sky in this position for about a year. There are over thousands and thousands of excellent DSO's to observe from the North Pole to the southern horizon at this RA hour. In total, 56 DSO's were logged under excellent observing conditions.

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Feb 21, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise about 3am Good - 9 Good - 9 Two nights in a row! WOW! And just like the night before, everything was just perfect till about 11:15pm when all of a sudden, the sky clouded up in minutes. By 11:55pm I had the dome closed up and on the road home. The temperature had dropped to about 24 degrees as I headed out. The night however was not a bust. For 3 hours the sky was very dark and transparent, especially to the south. I spent my time working on Webb Society's Anonymous Galaxies and then finished the NGC/IC observing list for Orion. The Nagler 31mm T5 and Lumicon's H-Beta and OIII filter surely earned their keep for the remaining 20 or so objects in Orion were Emission, Reflection, Bright and Dark nebulas. The highlight of the evening was NGC 2174. Without the OIII filter the object was just a small patch of nebulosity. Using the OIII filter and the entire FOV filled with delicate detail of nebulosity, patches with dark areas that consumed about 2 FOV in the 31mm Nagler. The Horse Head Nebula again was absolutely amazing along with IC 434 (the bright nebula behind the HH). In total, 33 DSO's were logged on what surely would have been an excellent night of observing.

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Feb 20, 2006 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman - Left around 10pm

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise about 2am Good - 8 Good - 9 Tonight was first light for the newely recoated 31" mirror and the first observing session for the 2006 year. Images through the 31" telescope were amazing. The sky was very transparent and clear all the way down to the Southwest horizon. Around 10:10pm the sky became completely overcast within about 2 minutes. WIthin minutes, I was closing up shop for the evening. At 11:18pm, the dome was closed up and I was on my way home. The temperature was about 21 degrees. During the 2 or so hours of prime observing, I was able to log in 21 objects. The observation list for the constellation Lynx was completed. I worked on Webb Society's Anonymous Galaxies then took advantage of the excellent southern sky to go after Dark and Reflection nebula's in Orion. The highlight of the evening was once again the Horsehead Nebula. Using the 2" 31mm Nagler and the 2" H-Beta Lumicon filter, the Horsehead was easily detected. As John put it, "this $800 view of the Horsehead Nebula is the best ever...". Had the clouds stayed away, this evening would have been one of the best.

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Dec 07, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman - Left around Midnight

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonset 11:30pm Average - Good Excellent - 9 I arrived around 11pm to a very cold observatory. John was already here observing. The sky was very clear and dark as an Artic cold front moved into the region. Orion was just about on the meridian when John decided pack it up. While I was getting my observing lists in order for the evening, I remembered my latest purchase - a 2" Lumicon H-Beta filter and the Horsehead Nebula was right there, high on the meridian. I asked John if he wanted to see the Horsehead before he took off, yes, he sure did. I broke out the 2" 31mm Nagler Type 5 and attached the 2" HBeta filter. Using Megastar, I slewed the 31" to the correct coordinates and there in the 31mm Nagler was the best viewing of the Horse Head nebula I have ever seen. Absolutely amazing. Even the direction where the Horses head was looking was easily detected. The magnification and the FOV of the 31mm Nagler is the perfect combination for viewing the Horsehead Nebula. Continued observation lists for Lynx and Circumpolar objects. Observed 17 DSO's in ABELL 569. Only a few objects remain in Lynx. Closed up the observatory at 6:30am. The temperture was 2 degrees. In total, 72 DSO's were logged and it was indeed an excellent evening.

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Oct 30, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman & Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moon rise 4:30am Poor - 5 Average to Good - 7 A cold front is heading this way. Last 24 hours have been excellent. Very thin clouds kept coming and going for most of the early evening. Around 10pm skies cleared to good transparency. Around 12 Midnight, cold front moved in and skies clouded. Closed up observatory around 12:15am. The temperature dropped to about 38 degrees with little dewing. Continued observing in Pegasus, all but finished Aries and started Webb's Society Anonymous Galaxies. Before getting clouded out, logged in 61 DSO's. Got the chance to observe Mars at it's closest approach for the next 16 years. Poor seeing conditions prevented good observing of Mars, but was still able to detect surface markings on the red planet. Observations of Mars back in August 27, 2003 yielded better observations. John left about 1/2 hour before me. In all, it wasn't that bad of an evening.

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Oct 04, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

1 Day past New Good - 8 Good earlier, Excellent later. Thin clouds earlier. Temperature bottomed out in the mid 50's. A very thin band of slow moving clouds took their time leaving the area. After midnight, the sky was totally clear and transparent. Sure was nice to relax and do some serious observing on the heals of HH05 and some serious observing indeed was done. Observed all (but one) of the Megastar listed objects in the ABELL galaxy cluster 2572 in Pegasus. Continued the observation lists in Orion, Pegasus, Aries and Aquaruis. In Orion, only about 20 NGC/IC Nebula's remain. In Pegasus, 94 NGC/IC objects remain. In Aries, only 25 remain. 63 objects remain in Aquarius. In total, 135 DSO's were logged which is 5 short of my personal record (140 in 3/27/1981) and one more than last's February's 134. Besides the observing of the objects in ABELL 2572, another highlight was Jonckheere 320 (J 320), a planetary nebula in Orion. This is a very nice planetary that should be easily visible in smaller telescopes. Closed up the observatory around 4:30am. In summary, this was an excellent night to close off the Summer 2005 season and a very successful HH05 just 4 days ago.

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Oct 01, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Hidden Hollow 2005. Second Night of HH2005. Brent Archinal again was one of the many including a big surprise visit from Becky. New Good - 9 Got better later in the evening. Excellent - 9.0 Not as good as the previous night, but still excellent. A little warmer tonight. By 6:00AM temperature has bottomed out in the 50's with light dewing. After the normal viewing of some Messiers, NGC7331, Stephan's Quintet, the masses thined out earlier than last night. Probably because they were all tired from the night before. With everyone operating their own telescopes, I got busy in Aqr, Peg and Ori. The highlight of the evening for those still awake, was the viewing of Mars. Much detail was observed on the Red Planet. In addition, Becky got her first crack at operating the Meade 12.5". It wasn't long till she was knocking off NGC's and giving lessons on how to operate the scope using Megastar. WIth more time on the 31", I was able to log in 53 DSO's. Earlier in the day, work was done on the RA drive system. With braces on the side of the pillow blocks, the RA worm and gear no longer bind. The scope slews and tracks in RA free from binding and motor stalls. Closed up the observatory around 6:00am and headed home to crash. Hidden Hollow 05 was a resounding success. The weather could not have been better.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Sep 30, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Hidden Hollow 2005. First Night of HH2005. Among the masses was Brent Archinal. 1 day before New Very Good - 9 Cold front went through yesterday Excellent - 10 Crisp and Clear all night This was the first night of HH05 and the weather for tonight and tomorrow is expected to be very clear. Temperature dropped to 40 degrees with light dewing. The 12.5" was setup outside the dome and left there all weekend. Tried to run both 31" and the 12.5" but was swamped by the large crowd and spent almost the entire evening on the 31". Still managed to give some views of Messiers through the 12.5". Highlight of the evening was NGC7331 and Stephan's Quintet. The 6th galaxy by Stephan's Quintet was also observed. Early in the AM when the crowd thinned out, got busy working on observation lists. Completed the NGC/IC Camelopardus list (103 DSO's total). Continued Peg and Ori observation lists. Logged in 38 DSO's in total by 5:45am then I closed up the observatory around 6:15am. Headed to my parents house to crash and then back to HH05 around noon. It was an excellent evening.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Sep 27, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Joe, John Neuman (left around midnight)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 2:35am Good - 9 Excellent - 10 Cold front came through yesterday clearing out Hurricane Rita Came to observatory earlier in the day to continue working on the 31" and cleaning out the Observatory. Finished the new light shroud for the 31". Tonight was 'first light' for the newly recoated mirror and yes it did make a big difference. Used the secondary monitor on the back of the lift for the first time. For observers in the back of the lift, the secondary monitor sure is a useful tool. The highlight of the evening was NGC7009 (the Saturn Nebula). I have never seen it so good. It was just awesome! Finished all but one (California Nebula) NGC/IC objects in Perseus. Continued Hickson Compact Galaxy Clusters, Aqr and Peg observation lists. Another item of note: until we get fans on the control box, the control box needs to be opened when the drive controls are in use. There is too much heat generated with the new drive system. The temperature dropped to 50 degrees and the sky remained very transparent all night. It was one of the best transparent nights this year. Logged in 77 DSO's. Closed up observatory around 3:10am. This was an excellent evening of observing.

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Sep 04, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman, Becky. John left around 2am.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Day past new moon Very good - 9 Excellent - 10 Beautiful Skies Early in the evening, I re-installed the RS232 Bluetooth serial adapters between the ScopeLink interface and the laptop on the lift-a-loft. We had John's 8" and Greer's 10" scope setup outside the dome. Becky observed with astrocards and found many DSO's including NGC7009 (the Saturn Nebula). Installed the telrad on the Greer scope making it easy to locate guide stars and point the scope accurately. While Becky observed with the 10", I got busy busting Hickson Compact Galaxy Groups. Took advantage of the very clear southern horizon and kept the scope in southern declination most of the night. Continued Aqr and Per early in the AM. Closed up observatory at 4:45am, caught a few hours of sleep then off to the Cleveland National Air Show. Temperature dropped to 52 degrees. When all said and done, logged in 67 DSO's. An excellent night of observing.

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Sep 03, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Meeting and Public Night approx 15-20 guests.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Thin clouds off and on Good - 7, thin clouds off and on Guest from public night left around 12 midnight. Observed Messier M27, M15 through holes in clouds. Forecast calling for clear skies. From midnight till 4:30am, took nap's on the lift-aloft waiting for skies to clear off. Never did. Managed to log one DSO. Temperature dropped to 54 degrees. Closed up observatory at 4:45am. Off to the Cleveland National Air Show.

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Sep 02, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Good - 7 Excellent - 10 Cold front just moved through Showed up earlier in the day to work on the 31". Setup the new laptop for the 31", the old one bit the dust. Didn't have documentation for the wireless RS232 so I went 'wired' between the laptop and the 31" encoders. Will get the wireless Bluetooth serial communications re-configured next time down. The temperature dropped to 58 degrees. Observed mainly in Aqr then continued Peg and Per later in the morning. The observing project for Perseus (NGC & IC) could be completed after I verify unidentified and unkown objects. In all, 73 DSO's were logged in. Closed up observatory at 4:30am, slept 4-5 hours then headed to the Cleveland National Air Show. An excellent night of observing.

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Jul 29, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Joe, Tammy, John, Becky

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

MoonRise 1AM Great - 9 Excellent - 10 Very clear and transparent. Observed till moonrise then closed up shop. Logged in 9 DSO's but observed many Messier objects using the Greer 10" scope. The Greer scope was operated by Becky as she continued to get better and better observing with the 10". The star finder chart was used for the first time with great success. The Greer Scope needs the Telrad mounted to make it easier to point the scope. The 31" as usual performed very well.

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Jul 09, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tammy, Joe, John and Becky

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonset 11:20pm Good - 7 Good - 8 Got better as the night went on Setup the Greer 10" for use giving observing lessions to Becky. Before long, many Messier objects in and along the Milky Way were discovered by Becky. John, Tammy and Joe left around midnight. While on the 31", I was able to log in 12 DSO's before I hit the wall. Yes, I got too tired to observe and saved what little energy I had to make the trip back to Cleveland. I was able to accomplished another observing list goal during the observing session. Finished all the NGC/IC in Corona Borealis the Northern Crown. In total, 152 objects in this constellation were observed. Closed up the observatory around 2:30am.

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Apr 04, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman (left around midnight), Jerry Beck (left around 2am) Moonrise about 5am Great - 8 Great - 8 Some few thin clouds came and went Temperature bottomed out about 40 degrees. Continued the northern circumpolar observing project. Finished Corona Borealis (the northern crown) however, I still need to verify against Digital Sky Survey and investigate unknown objects in Megastar. Highlights of the evening was Jupiter, M3, ngc4565 and M104. Jupiter was just about the best I have ever seen throught the 31". The red spot was the best I have ever seen to date. M3 was a sight to behold. The Nagler 31mm just provided unbelievable impressions. Jerry was totally blown away and commented that "these are the best views through any telescope I have ever seen..". Jerry has observed with many telescopes and even with professional observatory telescopes. NGC 4565 was edge to edge FOV in the 31" Nagler T5. It was just the best I have ever seen. M104 was just as spectular but ngc 4565 still blew it away. In all, it was a spectular evening logging in 108 DSO's. Closed up the observatory around 5am.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Apr 03, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 4:30am Average - 6 Good - 7 Finally a break in the cloudly weather. Although not the best of skies, the conditions are fairly good for DSO's. Continued the Northern circumpolar observing list. The 31" and the Nagler 17mm Type 4 just continue to perform outstanding. Observed all the DSO's in ABELL 1783 in CrB. Need to check on possible Super Nova in NGC 5322. Something is just off the nucleus. Logged in 109 DSO's and by 4:30am had the dome closed up and on the road back home. Topped the 6,000th logged observation tonight. Temperature bottomed out around 35 degrees.

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Feb 05, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself, guests and members of RAS.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 6:20am Excellent at start Excellent at start. Around 5am sky brightened with light haze/fog Tomorrow is the Super Bowl and this week surely has been a Super Observing week. Just when you think you will not see clear skies till April, the Ohio weather has unexpectedly provided us with super opportunities to enjoy moonless skies. The score in this game was 306 DSO's logged this week. Temperature dropped into the 20's. As the night went on, thin clouds lingered on the horizon and around early morning they began passing overhead. Finally around 5am the entire sky was covered with a thin haze. Observing stopped at that time and I closed up the observatory. Took a short power nap and hit the road around 6am. Started the evening with the telescope on the west side of the mount (again) to easily observe in Perseus. With guests and RAS members present, I turned the 31" the typical showcase Messier objects, M42, M43, M78, M1, M3, M65, M66, M86,M84, M81, M82, M51. However, the best of show for the evening was ngc4565. Just absolutely stunning, the best viewing I have ever seen. With the 31mm Nagler, it was almost edge to edge in the FOV! Continued the Perseus observing list, Circumpolar objects and finished Camelopardalis and Ursa Minor NGC and IC objects. The Circumpolar observing list has taken a serious hit over the last week and the end is now in sight. The Lumicon OIII filter again proved its worth on ABELL 4 and other planetary nebula's. When all was said and done, a total of 66 DSO's were logged.

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Feb 04, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself. Bonnie and Mark showed up around 11:30am. Stayed till early morning hours. Moonrise 5:30am Better than Average - 7 Excellent - 10 This was the best night observing I had in a very long time. Temperature fell into the teens and the sky stayed very clear and dark the entire night. I was well on my way to a new record in logging DSO's (140 back on March 27, 1981) but gave it up to show some of those 'specatular' objects to my guests. Saturn, Jupiter, M81/M82, M3, M97 took the place of PGC's and MAC's but hey, it was worth it. About the only time I get to see the Messiers and Planets anymore is during Messier Marathon guests visiting the observatory. With the new Nagler 31mm now in my inventory, each viewing of the Messiers is an entirely new experience. The combination of apature, actual field of view, and magnification of the 31mm Nagler and the 31" telescope is providing the 'Best Ever' views of Messier objects. I am thinking of an all out 31" Messier Marathon this spring. This evening was a first in that I began the observing session with the telescope on the West side of the mount. This made it possible to to observer in Perseus which was just past the meridian. The telescope perform well on the west side, just needed to adjust the RA worm gear and reverse the direction of the DEC encoders. Continued the Perseus observing project, Circumpolar and Camelopardalis project lists. All but one remains in Camelopardalis. Packed up at 5:40am and was on the road at 6am. Finished with 134 objects logged just 6 short of my personal record but keep in mind that I usually don't log Messier objects used for show and tell. In all, a most excellent night of observing.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Feb 01, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman - left around 11pm.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 1:30am Good - 8 Excellent - 9 A very clear and cold (hit 10 degrees) evening that has been long overdue. Continued Camelopardalis and Northern Objects observing projects. RA and DEC timing pulley's were loose and both had to be tightened. RA drive system acted up most of the evening. Had to tinker with it several times. Other than that, the 31" was dead-on even at high declination coordinates. Just as moonrise started, the sky deteriated and high thin clouds came in from the north. Stopped observing at 1:35am and was on the road at 2am. Logged in 85 DSO's. Another excellent evening at WRO.

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Jan 30, 2005 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 11:35m Average Good - 8 At 9pm, the temperature dropped to 18 degrees and must have hit the dew point. The sky went to full fog in about 20 seconds. Waited till 10pm to see if it was going to clear off. It didn't. Closed up at 10:30pm and headed home. While it was clear, I managed to log 21 DSO's. Continued the Northern Objects list. The telescope performed very well (as usual).

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Dec 15, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set around 9 pm Good - 7 Excellent to start, thin clouds around 1am Temperature dropped to 18 degrees. Windy and cold outside the dome, warm inside. Set up the 12.5" Meade in the dome while John set his 8" up outside. The 31" is down for some minor machine work on the RA worm drive assembly. The night got off to a slow start. It was the first time to use my new setup configuration. There is too many wires hanging around getting in the way. Think I will go back to my original configuration. I still need to simplify some wiring in my observing box. When I finally got busy with Deep Sky Observing, I was able to finish off Taurus and Auriga. This was the first time with my new eyepiece suitecase - a Christmas present opened a little early. When all was said and done, I managed to log 11 DSO's. Around 1:15am, the dome was closed up and I was heading back north. This will be the last observing session for 2004 - the year the 31" came to life.

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Dec 04, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 12:40am Average Good - High thin clouds early then cleared out nicely Temp dropped to about 30. Finished putting on the final touches to the telescope balancing. Telescope drives and wireless serial worked great. John set up his 8" Dob. Observed some NGC's and comet Macholz through the 8". John passed the 600th logged observation. Highlighs for the evening was M42/M43 with the 31mm Nagler Type 5 and Lumicon OIII filter. It was the most awsome view of the Orion Nebula I have ever seen. Just unbelievable. M1 with the 31mm Nagler also provided the best view of the Crab I have ever seen. The 31mm Nagler is becoming the 'Messier' eyepiece of choice. Another 'best view ever' was NGC 2392, the Eskimo Nebula viewed with the 17mm Nagler Type 4 and OIII filter. The detail in this nebula was outstanding. When all said and done, 72 objects were logged. Closed up shop around 1am.

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Dec 03, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moonrise 11:20pm Poor to Average Average - High thin clouds come and go. Eventually clouded out at 10pm First time back on the 31" in about 2 months. The weather lately has been just horrible. The forecast for the December New Moon sessions is not looking very good either. This was the first night using the RS232 Bluetooth wireless serial connection between the laptop and the ScopeLink encoder interfaces. The wireless setup worked great. No more cables from the scope to the lift. Tried the STI knife edge focuser with the 1.5" extension tube. Was able to get prime focus with about .5 inches to spare. Continued the Pegasus pounding until it has traveled too far West of the meridian to comfortablely observe. In all 24 objects were logged and the observatory was closed up around 10:30pm. The temperature dropped to 24 degrees.

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Oct 06, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 2:30am Excellent - 10 Excellent - 10 High pressure in control for days now Temp dipped to low 40's. Just a perfect night for observing even though I was tired and didn't get much sleep the night before. The dark and very transparent skies provided the adrenalin I needed to stay awake. Observed some NGC's, Uranus and Neptune in John's 8" telescope. I am just impressed to see what John has done with his homemade 8". His mastery of Megastar is now paying big dividends as he customizes the software to his observing techniques. Locating and identifying faint DSO's right to the edge of the 8" visual limit, is nolonger a chore. Hat's off to John. Continued to pound Pegasus. What began on June 17, 1980 with the first logging of NGC7331 in Pegasus, I now have over 400 objects observed in the Winged Horse. There remains only about 120 more NGC's and IC's to observe until I complete what I started out to accomplish almost 25 years ago. Two more observing session should wrap it up. The highlight of the evening was Stephan's Quintet. The view of this tight cluster of galaxies was very impressive. This evening, 81 DSO's were logged and when the moon rose about 2:30, I closed up the observatory and headed to my parents house for a quick few hours of sleep before heading back to Columbus for work at OSU.

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Sep 19, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Jerry Beck, John Neuman, Jerry's 2 firends

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 10:00pm Excellent - 10 Excellent -10 The best night of this summer to date. Just a remarkable several days and nights of excellent weather for observing. September has made up for the aweful weather this summer. Temperature dropped to 42 degrees. Not a cloud or a hint of clouds all night. Finished Cassiopeia and Lyra NGC and IC objects. Highlight of the evening was M27 and M15. Both were just amazing. Around 1:30am the electricity and power for all of Hidden Hollow went out. After about an hour of closing the slit on the dome, and before almost getting it completely closed, the electricy came back on. Where is the hand crank for the Dome? The damage was done after that exercise, for I was whipped and lost the observing drive. I have had very little sleep the last couple of days. Packed up and eaded out about 2:30 am leaving the facilities for Jerry and his friend. When all said and done, still managed to log 20 DSO's.

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Sep 18, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Moon Set 9:30pm Excellent - 10 Excellent - 10 High pressure moved in behind Hurrican Ivan. Sky exceptionally dark and blue. This is the best night of the summer to date. Jerry was going to show, but called and couldn't make it. The next few days look very good for DSO observing. The temperature dropped to 42 degrees and not a cloud or a hint of a cloud all night. There are many highlights worth mentioning this evening. Finished Lacerta, Cepheus, Andromeda and Cygnus NGC and IC objects. Observed the last listed PGC (73197) and the first listed (PGC 1). Observed the globular Palomar 1. The planetary and reflection nebula's in Cygnus and Cassiopeia are awsome. NGC7538 and IC1747 was excellent. The Lumicon OIII filter got a good workout but it doesnot help much on Emission Nebula's (EN). Logged 75 DSO's and closed up the observatory at 4:45am.

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Sep 11, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Jerry Beck came around midnight.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 4:40am Excellent at times - 8 Good to Excellent - 9 Few high thin passing clouds. Another excellent evening at WRO. Temperature dropped to the mid 50's with fog and dewing in low lying areas. The sky was very dark and transparent. The 31" performed as expected - just excellent. Logged in 74 DSO's. Finished the NGC's in Lacerta. Continued work in Andromedia and Cygnus. Used the Lumicon OIII filter on many bright nebula's in Cygnus. Observed some different types of object designations - Kohoutek, Dolidze and Roslund. Highlight of the evening was watching Jerry just about fall out of the mite-lift getting blown away by the performance of the 31" and the ease of finding DSO's. Closed up the observatory at 3:30am and headed off to BGSU.

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Sep 10, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman stopped down late for a few hours

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 4am Great to Excellent - 9 Excellent - 10 High Pressure in control, Dark blue skies. First time back to the Observatory in about 2 months. Work has keep me really busy all summer. From what I have heard and seen, I really didn't miss much anyway. The Ohio weather has been awfull this summer. This night is perhaps the best night of the summer so far. It also the weekend of the BFSP which I couldn't make, but I pulled out all stops and made it here regardless if it meant little sleep. I finished up observations lists of several constellations that I have been working on for years and in some cases, decades. Vulpecula, Equuleus, Sagitta, Delphinus constellation lists were completed. In the case of Equuleus, all the PGC's observed, some 80 plus galaxies in the smallest constellation. Continued work in Andromeda and Cygnus. Only a dozen more to go in Andromeda! The temperature dropped to the mid 50's and the sky was just beautiful all night. Logged in 98 objects and closed up the observatory at 4am. This was perhaps the best evening so far this summer.

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Jun 20, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Couple days past New Average - 6 Great - 7 later Excellent - 8 Oh YEA! Another historical first at WRO. As far as I know, tonight was the first DSO astrophotograph (15 minute exposure) taken throught the 31". Not talking about doing a snap shot of the moon or planets either! High thin clouds with dark patches of very clear sky gave way to excellent dark skies after midnight. The evening was going to be an astrophotography shoot out, but the battery in the illuminated reticle died! I know have 6 batteries in my eyepiece box. The lumicon off-axis guider worked great. Purchasing a CCD/SLR focuser to take the guess work out of focusing through the camera. In addition, hypered Kodak TP2415 film is in the works. Get ready for breath taking DSO photo's from the WRO 31". All was not lost though, for I am not a Sun and/or Moon observer. I'm going after very advanced stuff - Abell Galaxy Cluster 2162. 34 additional galaxies were located by using the old fashioned star hopping technique in this Galaxy Cluster. That's now 53 galaxies located in AGC2162. Started a Lyra constellation mop, yes, all IC and NGC objects and whatever MAC's happen to be in the way. One more evening and I will have this constellation checked off my observing list along with Cepheus where I have only 5 more objects to go. Want a challenging observing list, try all the NGC and IC objects in Cepheus! Temperature dipped to the low 50's. Logged 78 DSO's. Overall, an excellent evening. Closed up shop at 4:30am.

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Jun 19, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman, John Knapp & Friend, Jerry Beck - came early AM

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

2 days old Average - 6 Excellent - 8 LIght clouds early then Excellent after Midnight Finally a break in the weather. High pressure moving in and the temperature dropped to low 40's. The 31" performed extremely well. Jerry Beck showed up after midnight. Was completely impressed with the 31". Highlight of the evening was M27 with the OIII filter. Just unbelievable and right at zenith. Also checked out M57 and M13. But enough with the boring Messier objects! Went to work on faint DSO's. Completed Ophiuchus and Aquila NGC and IC objects. Speaking of Messier objects, congradulations to John Neuman, he completed all the Messier objects. While sweeping through Crona Borealis, I got side tracked on Abell Galaxy Cluster 2162. Searched out 19 of the 70 or so galaxies there. I plan on coming back to this cluster the next observing session. Closed up the observatory at 4am. This was a very good night having logged in 48 DSO's.

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May 16, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 5am Good - 8 Good-Excellent - 9 Very heavy Dewing Finally got a break in the weather. Nice high pressure moved in. John setup the Greer 10", we put it to the test. The coating on the secondary as failed. The coatings are only months old!!! Need to return to Spectrum. The DEC motor needs more work and the RA gear's don't mesh at times. Other than that, Megastar and the Greer scope worked very well. On the other hand, the 31" performed extremely well. It marked the first (of many to come) time I observed in complete comfort. Not leaving the chair on the lift, I would just lean over the rail and look into the eyepiece. Move the lift a little, lean over and look again. This scope is truely amazing! Astrophotography is just around the corner. The night was extremely heavy in dewing. The most I have ever seen. I had to use the hair drier several times to clear the eyepiece and twice to clear the secondary! The primary mirror on the Greer scope even needed the hair drier. The temperature dropped to the upper 40's. In total, 47 DSO's were logged. I ended the observing session at 5:00am and closed up the observatory at 5:30am.

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Apr 14, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, John Neuman (John left around 1am)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise at 5:00am Good - 8 Excellent - 10 High pressure overhead. This was indeed an excellent evening, from dust to dawn. It also was a historical first for the Brits came through with flying colors. More on this later. Given a new lease on observing, I decided to put the efforts of Monty and myself to the extreme test. Having spent the last full moon polar-aligning and calibrating the optical encoders, it was time to go North with the AWR controlled beast. Yes, it was time to continue the circumpolar NGC and IC objects, the toughest test for any equatoral telescope. Following my own advice in my Circumpolar Observing article, I keep the telescope 1 hour in RA either side of the meridian. Actually, slightly east of the meridian is best. The blue beast is tamed. Over 100 circumpolar objects were logged. In all, 118 DSO's were bagged before the night was over. This truely was a night to remember and a historical first at that. Meanwhile, John Neuman was making history at RAS as well. To my knowlege, his is the first dobsonian telescope at RAS to have optical encoders working with Argo Navis, Megastar5 and a Palm computer. And if you ask him what he thinks of his 'techno' gadgets, he will tell you that it has made his observing experiences the best that they could ever be. John has been involved in amateur astronomy for about 6 months. Other highlights for the night was the finding of Quasar 3C 309.1, and the view of M82. M82 was just remarkable. I have never seen it this good. The temperature bottomed out at 31 degrees and I don't expect another night as cold as this till next fall/winter. The observatory was closed up at 5:15 am.

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Mar 22, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, Dave, Goose. Ed and his son dropped in out of the blue (non-member). 2 Days Old Good - 8 Excellent - 10 Temperature dipped to 16 degrees by morning. Continued Messier Marathon where I left off 3 days ago. Setup the 12.5" on the observing pad and like the previous sessions, the 12.5" and Megastar rocked. The 12mm Nagler T4 again was the eyepiece of choice. In addition to the remaining 39 Messier objects (all but M30), I observed and logged 52 Herschel II objects. The Messier Marathon for 2004 was completed in 2 evenings. The Herschell II list is getting very short. The Greer 10" scope joined the Meade 12.5" on the observing pad. It marked the first time in over 20 years both scopes were once again observing side by side. I gave a Polar Alignment lab for Monty, Dave and Goose. I think they got it, but I will be giving them a final exam soon. The Greer scope was polar aligned and connected to Megastar on the club's laptop. Before you knew it, it was knocking off Messiers like it knew what it was doing. A little slippage in the DEC motor needs attention, but otherwise the Greer scope performed extremely well. It will once again be a familiar sight at RAS star parties. Dave and Goose left around 2am while Monty stayed till dawn when there was no more Messiers to be had. The horizon to the south and south east was very transparent. I was able to observe Messiers through the trees to the southeast. It was an excellent night and well worth the struggle to stay awake the following day.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Mar 19, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty,Terry, Dave, John and others from RAS. Bonnie and Mark stopped down just after sunset. New Good - 8 Excellent - 9 This was the Club's first meeting at the clubhouse this year and also the Messier Marathon night. The sky at sunset was extremely transparent and observing close to the western horizion no problem. Only John and myself setup telescopes to observe Messier objects. By 2am, I was the only one left. By 3am, high clouds came in and ended the Messier Marathon. The 12.5" was setup for the first time this year. It was first light for the new coatings and for my newest eyepiece addition - 12mm Nagler Type 4. What an awsome eyepiece. It could easily replace my Nagler 9mm T6 as the eyepiece of choice for DSO's on the 12.5". These are tough decisions. Also this evening, the Greer Telescope was returned to the RAS after working on it for 3 months restoring it to mint condition. As usual, the 12.5" performed excellent with Megastar and DSC's. 70 Messier objects were observed and anther 10 Herschel II objects logged in before the clouds came. All observations were made under excellent sky conditions. In addition to Messier's and Herschel's, Jupiter and Saturn were also observed. This was an excellent night of observing.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Feb 25, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, John Neuman (Left around Midnight)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set Midnight Average Good to Great - 8 (at times excellent) I finally got my business taken care of, something I have not done in a while. At times, the transparency was just awsome. Some high thin clouds came and went. Around 4am they came back. John had his Dob setup with the optical encoders installed. We wired him up and gave him an Argo Navis to play with. To my knowledge, this is the first Dob at RAS to have Digital Setting Circles. I'm sure the next time his scope makes it to the observatory, all the bugs and mechnical problems will be worked out. Can't wait to see a Dob under Megastar control. The trouble light hookup Monty engineered worked perfectly. No more running over extension cords. Highlights of the evening were once again M3 and M51. Both just absolutely amazing. Several NGC's that I have observed for the first were also impressive. Some day I will compile a list of the 'best of the NGC'. I'm sure some IC's will make the list as well. With the moon setting so late, I only was able to log 72 DSO's. All observations were made with no Moon in the sky. Started the Abell Galaxy Cluster AGC 999. This is a small cluster and could easily be finished next night out. Temperature bottomed out at 20 degrees. Closed up observatory around 4am.

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Feb 17, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 5am Good to Excellent - 9 Excellent - 10 Oh what a night..... Best night so far this year. Sky cleared nicely and the transparency was excellent. Highlights of the evening was planetary nebula in Gemini and bright nebula in Auriga. The new 2" Lumicon O111 filter and the 17mm Nagler T4 proved to be an unbeatable pair. The planetary nebula's Jonckheere 900 and Minkowski 1-7 in Gemini were outstanding. Look out Abell's, here I come. In Auriga, using the filter and eyepiece combination I found sweeping large bright nebula's to be very enjoyable. Area's of nebula patches, clumps, etc. are easily detected. The constellation Gemini is now completely finished. All NGC's and IC's have been observed. Many other constellations are very close to completion as well. The viewing of M94 was another major highlight of the evening. Never have I seen it this amazing. The night ended at 3am with a technical glitch. Other than that, it was an excellent night having tagged another 97 DSO's. Februray is turning out to be an excellent month. Usually we don't get chances like this till April or May (around new moon anyway). The observatory was closed up around 3:10am.

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Feb 15, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty and Dave (Dave left around 2am)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 4:30am Average to good - 7 Good - 8 (Excellent at times throughout the night) A massive artic cold font came pushing through the area clearing the skies and dropping the temperature to about 2 degrees. This was the best night so far this 2004 observing season. Arrived early to break up ice on the steps and attempted to clear the ice in front of the attic door. No luck there. Monty brought his heater and in about 10 seconds, the club house was warmed up! I'm sure we will be seeing more of this gem for the remainder of the winter nights. The highlight of the evening was the Horsehead nebula (B33) through a 40mm and H-Beta Lumicon filter. What an awsome sight! The nebula and shape easily detected. First light with my new Nagler 12mm T4 was also the Horsehead with H-Beta filter. The view wasn't as impressive since the magnification was too high. Next on my dream list is a 2" H-Beta filter. Other great sightings were M65, M66, M3 in the 17mm T4 and the usual M51 which is now burned into my memory. Finished the night with 109 DSO's logged in and closed up the observatory at 5am. This was an excellent night.

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Jan 24, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty (left approx Midnight), John Neuman (left 2am)

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Set 7:00pm Good - 7 Excellent - 9 at start, high thin clouds around 2am on Colder then the last observing session. Temp read -2 outsid the attic door. First time with my new boots. They worked very well never having to warm my toes. Went to close up shop around 3:00am when the clouds finally won over. I spent almost 2 hours trying to get the slit closed. The rope tied to the end to the slit didn't work. Tried the hand crank for the dome, it was NOT the right tool, it didn't fit. After an hour, finally figured out the problem - too much snow on top of the slit making it too heavy to close. Rotated the dome so the opening of the slit faced West, went outside and used the 8 ft 2x4 to knock off the snow. Tossed the 2x4 up onto the top of the slit to knock off even more snow. After this exercise, then used the 2x4 to push up the slit from the outside while the motor tried to close the slit. It worked! Definitely need a tool made (or a good pair of vice grips) to manually close the slit. Before opening the slit, go outside and knock off as much snow as possible. Other than the slit problem, it turned out to be a very good night. Using the hair drier while looking through the eyepiece prevented the eyepiece from foging and improved on the views. When all said and done, logged in 60 DSO's and finished up all the IC's and NGC's in Gemini. Used the Lumicon OIII filter for the first time and was impressed with it's performance. Planetary and bright nebula were made viewable in cases where they were not otherwise. Will purchase a 2" OIII for use on 2" Naglers in the future. Finally closed up the observatory around 5am.

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Jan 20, 2004 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, John Neuman (till midnight)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Average to Good - 7 Very Good - 9 Some thin high clouds off and on. Very Cold. Low 0 degrees. This was the coldest observing night so far this season. Made the commitment to purchase new boots to combat these cold nights. The 31" and DSC performed extremely well again. Logged in 56 objects mostly in Gemini. This just about does it for the IC and NGC objects in Gemini. Only a few reflection nebula left to observe. The hair drier was needed between each viewing to keep the eyepiece free of fog. Definitely need to look into some sort of heating wire for the Nagler 17mm. Each observing session lasted about 1-1.5 hour with 1/2 hour breaks in the club house needed to get my feet warmed up. The coffee never tasted better. When all said and done, this was a good night. Closed up the observatory around 4:30am.

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Dec 26, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman (till 1am), Goose and Dave (till 2am), Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 8:30pm Average to good - 8 Excellent at start and after 1am Excellent night, temp dropped to 19 degrees, very light breeze. Had troubles with RA encoder wiring for the first hour. Used backup wiring to get everything working. DSC were then very hot and the 31" performed very will. Logged in about 103 objects. Also observed with John Neuman's 8" dob for a while while he hunted down Messier objects. In the middle of the night, high thin clouds would come and go coming from the Southwest. The views of the Owl (M97) and Whirlpool (M51) through the 31" were just absolutely outstanding. The best I have every seen to date. Also observed Saturn and it was awsome. Goose and Dave were blown away with 31" doing galaxy sweeping while reaching DSO's down to 17th magnitude. It was an excellent night of observing. Closed up the observatory around 5:15am.

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Dec 20, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Neuman (till 8pm), Monty (after 8pm), Dave (after 10pm)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 5:30am Poor - 5 Varied from 6-9 Depending on passage of high thin clouds This was our first chance to observe in almost 1 month. Very clear up till 10pm then dodged clouds through out the night. The temperature dropped to 18 degrees. The dome was almost frozen solid which would have ended the night early. John Neuman showed up after reading on the web members would be observing at WRO. He got so excited observing with the 31" he left early to go home and get his 8" dob out. I'm sure Mr. Neuman will be a regular at observing sessions this year. During periods of clouds, spent the time getting warm downstairs or working on Monty's 16". Got his tube rotated, tangent arm installed, tube and DEC weights figured out. When the skies cleared, it was a very transparent and dark. The 31" performed nicely. DSC were hot and was able to log in 76 objects. Dave left around midnight while Monty and I stayed till 5am. The cold, a long drive and the newest batch of thin clouds sent us on our way home. This was an overdue night of observing and will surely be the last night of observing this year. When the stats are all compiled for 2003, it will be shown that 2003 turned out to be a very good year looking through a telescope. It will be a challenge to repeat 2003 in 2004. Closed up shop at 5am.

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Nov 24, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Average Good to Excellent - 8 First snow/blizzard of the season occured earlier in the day. High pressure cleared everthing out about 9pm. A few high thin clouds came and went then it cleared off nicely around 1am. Temp dropped to 18 degrees. Spent first part of the evening setting up and playing with Monty's DS-16. A few modifications and this will be a very nice observing instrument. Tried observing the norhtern objects with the 31" - not possible without drives on both axis. The scope is just too hard to move in DEC and RA independently when at high northern DEC locations. When I finally got down to business, after taking care of business, logged in 36 DSO's. It was a very good night. Closed up shop at 5am.

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Nov 20, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 3:10am Average to Poor Average to good. Thin clouds early in the evening. Watch what others said was an aurora which was in the southern and southwestern sky. I thought it was just high thin clouds passing by. They were reddish, pinkish and greenish in color. It was not like any aurora I have ever seen. Still not 100% that is what I was looking at. The seeing and steadyness of the sky deteriated around 2:30 - 3:00am. Bright stars were longer showing defraction spikes but rather roundish balls. Closed up observatory around 3am. Managed to obtain 77 good observations in various constellations. The sky has really shifted since the last time I observed missing Equuleus which is now too far west past the meridian. Caught the tail end of Pegasus and started Andromeda and Taurus. The temp dropped to 39 - 40 degrees. Overall, it was a good night of observing.

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Oct 24, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, 6 guests showed up out of the blue around 12.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Average - 5 Average - 5 Hi thin clouds were coming an going all night. Clouds got worse as the night went on. Got clouded out around 1am. Still managed to observe 14 Galaxies in Equuleus. Did some work on the observatory as Monty replaced the 220 outlets with 220/110 outlets. The 31" performed nicely, Megastar was again awsome. The Nagler 17mm T4 is the eyepiece of choice when using the 31". Put the 12.5" away and brought the optics home to ship out for recoating. I don't think the 12.5" will see the winter skies like it did last winter. The 31" is just too awsome when it comes to observing those faint DSO's. I guess a CCD camera is now the next project to undertake since the new drives for the 31" have already been ordered. Around 2am, packed my stuff and closed up shop.

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Sep 25, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty,Tammy,Steve and Mr. Knapp. Steve brought his Obsession 20" f/5. Awesome. New Moon Good - 8 Excellent - 10 Just when you think it couldn't get any better, it did. Temp dipped to 42 degrees. While it was cold and dewy outside, it was comfortable in the dome. Another night using the 31" while the 12.5" sat in the corner. What am I going to do with this scope? The temporary light shroud was put on the 31" and when it was all said and done, over 134 DSO's were observed and logged in. Almost 400 objects now observed with the 31" in the last 2 months. Started a galaxy blitz in Equuleus leaving only 37 objects remaining to observe of the 100 galaxies located there. PGC 66313 was the main focus there where a possible SuperNovae may have been discovered. I should know the results in a few days. After Equuleus, continued the galaxy sweep in Pegasus. Well over 400 DSO's observed in Pegasus and counting. After Pegasus came Aries where I finished observing all the NGC's in the Ram. The DSC were very hot after another round of adjusting the DEC encoder settings. The 31" performed exceptionally well after I continued adjusting the clutch and the RA worm gear mounting brackets. The Nagler 17mm T4 never left the focuser and will be the eyepiece of choice on the 31". Closed up shop at 4:15am after completing my observing objectives. Still could of had another 2 hours to observe but was perty exhausted handling the scope all night. There was only one other night where I have observed (and logged) more than 134 objects and that was about 15 years ago. This was definitely the best night on the 31" to date.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Sep 23, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself and Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 4am Good-Excellent - 8 Excellent - 10 Temp dipped to 43 degrees. This was the coldest night since last winter/spring season. Arrived early and continued work on the 31". Got the light shroud clipped up and chalk lines marked for sewing. The sky cleared with a deep dark blue high pressure overhead. I knew it was going to be an excellent night and it was. The best observing session to date with the 31" and one of the best skies of the year. Logged in 102 DSO's. Was also first light for the Nagler 17mm Type 4 -- AWSOME. The Ring Nebula was the lucky object and what a sight it was. This is the eyepiece of choice for the 31" (perhaps a 20mm would be perfect) when doing galaxy study. 15th to 16th mag galaxies (for the most part) all had detail easily detected along with easy descriptions of the object's core. Was finding non-PGC's or objects not in Megastar but on Digital Sky Survey photo's. What a rush those are thinking you found a faint comet. Continued working on DEC encoder settings but still need to spend time zeroing in on the setting. While the 31" sang and danced to the light of a trillions trillion suns, my 12.5" sat in the corner weeping. Could it's days be numbered? Thanks Norm! This telescope really is something special and it's possibilities are just now coming into light. Closed up shop around 4am. In just under 2 months of serious observing with the 31", I have logged in 275 DSO's. This evening was the best to date.

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Sep 20, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, Robert and Windy (came late), Mom, John Boggs and Joe showed up for a bit. Rise 2am Good - 8 Excellent - 10 Temp droped to 48 degrees. Sky very dark and transparent all night. First light for the new JMI focuser. Came down early afternoon to work on the scope. Squared the focuser to the tube and alligned it through the tube. Collimated 31" with laser and optically. Washed the mirror and worked on the light shroud. This was the best evening ever observing with the 31". Logged on 73 DSO's all in Pegasus. Saw the planetary in M15 for the first time. Observed Mars and noticed the polar cap almost gone. Noticed new features on the surface I haven't seen before. This turned out to be an excellent evening.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Sep 17, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, Tammy, Mom & Dad and their guests

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 11:30pm Average - 6 Excellent -9 For accurate RA drive settings and with a monitor attached to the drive computer, use the '+' and '-' keys to set the drive rate setting to 38. Came done earlier in the day and worked on the scope with Monty. The ServoCAT drives failed again this my last attempt. Temporary put a light shroud on the 31". The views were excellent. It definitely helped. I set up my 12.5" outside where Tammy, Mom and Dad and their guests were entertained by Tammy while Monty and myself hunted down galaxies on the 31". Argo Navis worked, then didn't work, worked then didn't. It is out as far as using it connected to Megastar. Logged in 30 DSO's mostly in Pegasus The day started out bad, but the night ended on a good note. Excellent evening.

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Aug 30, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS John, Joe, Mr. Day and some invited guests.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 10pm Average - 5 Average to Good - 7. Thin Clouds kept passing through. Southern part of the sky remaind mostly cloudy with thin clouds and a clearing every now and then. The East and North sky stayed clear. Every now and then a thin patch of clouds would come through. About 2:30am the entire sky clouded up. Observing wasn't too bad in the clear patches. Meet Mr. Day from New York. This guy came down on a bus and taxi to observe. Stayed at Travel Lodge on I71. Besides M27, M15, M71 and Mars, logged in 20 DSO's using exclusively the 31" telescope. Megastar would not work with Argo Navis. Could not get the connection to work. Star hopped using Megastar instead with great success. Overall, it turned out to be a good night.

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Aug 27, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mars night for RAS and invited guests. Cindy, Kacy and Myia, Mom, Bob, Paul, Gale and Terrie, Kurt & Trica, Tammy, John and Joe, Monty (came 1am) and many, many more. New Moon Average to Good - 7 Excellent - 9 Oberved Neptune, Uranus and Mars. Observed many Messiers M16, M22, M27. About 2am when Mars was on the meridian, observed Mars with 2.5X barrow and 9mm (12.5"). The view was the best ever seen of Mars. This is the night of Mar's closest approach to Earth in over 60,000 years. So many observed through the 12.5" that I had no time for logging in DSO's. I was too tired to continue much after 2am when the last of the visitors left. Packed up shortly after. Monty brought his new Meade DS16 down. A great night of viewing for the guests.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Aug 20, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tammy

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise about 1am Excellent Excellent Observed exclusively with the 31". Megastar and Argo Navis worked very well. Closed up shop after the Moon rose. Logged in 27 objects, mostly PGC's along the border of Andromeda and Pegasus. A very excellent night.

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Jul 29, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty late. Cindy and Kasey stopped down. The campers had a 'Starry Nights' observing program and about 50 guests stormed the observatory. Besides my 12.5", Curt, Robert, John Boggs, Joe New Good - 7 Excellent - 10 Very dark and transparent night. Very little dew and low humidity. Had the 12.5" setup on the concert platform outside the dome with Megastar fired up. Observed many Messier objects, M11, M22, M16, M8, M27, M57 and Mars. Mars was the best I have ever seen. The polar cap and dark markings easily seen. About 3am when Mars was just past the meridian, the seeing was better and the view just spectacular. The campers got a great treat hanging out with the Meade 12.5". This was the first session with the Starligh Instruments Feather Touch Focuser. WOW. What a nice focuser. Observing with this focuser was just awsome. Gave Joe the introduction on how to use the Argo Navis unit to find objects. Observed a couple of Messiers using Argo Navis. After the campers and helpers left, went to work observing with the 31", Argo Navis and Megastar. This time for keeps. Logged in 23 DSO, mostly PGC's. Megastar and the 31" performed excellent. Topped out at 17.5 magnitude. Moved the scope by hand, the ServoCAT motors not installed yet. But when they are, the 31" will be a down right observing machine. Observing from the mightly lift-a-loft presents many challenges. The high chair really helps, but there needs to be holders for clip boards, goose neck red light and flip down seats attached to the sides of the the lift-a-loft to make the observing experience really comfortable. Monty and I stayed till day light hitting the road around 6:30am. Excellent evening of observing.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Jul 03, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set at Midnight Average - 6 Average -6 Although it was clear, the sky was very bright. Transparency degraded through the night until we decided to bag observing DSO's and work on the 31" telescope. Monty cut out the RA mounting plate where the new RA timing pulleys will go. Did manage to observe and log 15 objects, but IC and PGC were out of the question. Closed up shop around 4:30am. In all, it was an average night. It was better to get the work done in the 31" than to try an observe 15th magnitude galaxies.

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Jun 27, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, Jerry. Jerry left around 1am.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 5am Excellent - 9 Excellent - 9 Fast moving front moved through earlier. Finally got a break last night when a fast moving front came through and prevented a sixth night in a row. The record has finally been broken and after 5 in a row, it was expected. Besides, I needed the sleep. Got to get twice my business done earlier which further added to this record setting week. Tonight concludes a record week of observing having logged in 327 DSO in 6 of 7 nights of observing. Of the 327, 60 DSO's were logged in this session. Temp dropped to a cool 60 degrees and the sky was very dark and transparent. No shorts or short sleeves tonight. The scope remained setup in the dome ready to go. The DSC were hot as usual. Did some observing with OIII filters Monty had with mixed results. I am done for now with the Northern Gems. I have to wait 6 months to get the remaining RA hours in prime observing loation to finished the 50 to 90 degree sweep. Finished the to-do NGC list in Ophiuchus and started the NGC list in Pegasus. M27 was observed a OIII filter and was the best view of it I have ever seen to date. It is Friday night with a very clear and transparent (moonless) sky and I am shocked many others from the RAS club are not here to observe. But then, maybe I'm not so shocked. This was most definitly an excellent night of observing and a week to always remember.

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Jun 25, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty and my Mom stopped by for a little bit

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 4am Good to Excellent - 9 Good to Excellent - 8 Kind of humid and warm Looking forward in the future, this was the fifth of 5 consecutive nights (6 of 7 in total) observing under the best of conditions. This is a record week of observing having logged in 327 DSO in one week of observing. A high pressure dome moved in from Canada and is sitting over Ohio. Transparency for the 5 nights was excellent with this night being the worst of the 5. For the next 6 of 7 nights, I observed from sunset to either moonrise or sunrise. Scope stayed in the dome ready to go. Record setting evening having now gone 5 consective nights in a row under excellent conditions. Lack of sleep starting to take it's tool. Weather was warm and humid with a slight breeze to keep us cool. The sky still is dark and transparent, but not like the previous 4. Observed 65 DSO's including 7 PGC's and a hand full of IC's. Continued the Northern sweep of 50 degrees and higher until I ran out of objects in the RA hours that are observable. Finished the NGC to-go list in Aguila. Also, ran out of observing sheets, had to revert back to the old style sheets. Closed shop at the start of twilight. An excellent record setting evening.

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Jun 24, Hidden Monty, camp. gone.

2003 Hollow - RAS Joe, John Boggs and approx 50 boys and girls from the Joe and John left around midnight after the campers were

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise about 3:30am Excellent - 9 Excellent - 10 Sky very dark and transparent Looking forward in the future, this was the fourth of 5 consecutive nights (6 of 7 in total) observing under the best of conditions. This is a record week of observing having logged in 327 DSO in one week of observing. A high pressure dome moved in from Canada and is sitting over Ohio. Transparency for the 5 nights was excellent. For the next 6 of 7 nights, I observed from sunset to either moonrise or sunrise. Continued the northen sweep of 50 degrees and higher. Scope setup in dome. Weather perfect and comfortable. Observing in shorts first time this year. Kept taking a nap just before coming down and it seems to be working. Not getting tired (yet). Logged in 64 DSO including 11 IC's and 14 PGC's. The sky continues to remain extremely dark and transparent. Have never had an observing run like this before. Observed till start of twilight.

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Jun 23, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, Cindy and my Mom showed up then left around 12:30.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise around 3:30am Good to Excellent - 8 Excellent - 10 Sky very dark and transparent. Looking forward in the future, this was the third of 5 consecutive nights (6 of 7 in total) observing under the best of conditions. This is a record week of observing having logged in 327 DSO in one week of observing. A high pressure dome moved in from Canada and is sitting over Ohio. Transparency for the 5 nights was excellent. For the next 6 of 7 nights, I observed from sunset to either moonrise or sunrise. I arrived at the observatory around 11:30pm. Continued the Northern sweep of DSO 50 degrees and higher. Running out of objects in the current RA hour blocks. Spending early morning hours observing other DSO's in other parts of the sky. Logged in 32 DSO including a couple of IC and a hand full of PGC's. The DSC were hot as usual and the scope has been setup in the observatory dome untouched for this remarkable run of clear, transparent nights. Closed up just before start of twilight.

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Jun 22, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, Cindy came down and left after about an hour

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise around 3am Good to Excellent - 8 Excellent - 10 Sky very transparent Looking forward in the future, this was the second of 5 consecutive nights (6 of 7 in total) observing under the best of conditions. This is a record week of observing having logged in 327 DSO in one week of observing. A high pressure dome moved in from Canada and is sitting over Ohio. Transparency for the 5 nights was excellent. For the next 6 of 7 nights, I observed from sunset to either moonrise or sunrise. Continued the Northern quest of DSO 50 degrees and higher. I have many of the RA hours completed from 50 degrees to 90 degrees North. Logged in 51 DSO including 7 IC objects and 6 PGC. Excellent night of observing. Temperature very comfortable.

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Jun 21, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise around 3am Good-Excellent 8 Excellent - 10 High Pressure in from the North Looking forward in the future, this was the first of 5 consecutive nights (6 of 7 in total) observing under the best of conditions. This is a record week of observing having logged in 327 DSO in one week of observing. A high pressure dome moved in from Canada and is sitting over Ohio. Transparency for the next 5 nights was excellent. For the next 6 of 7 nights, I observed from sunset to either moonrise or sunrise. I continued the northern object quest logging 55 DSO in total. 14 were of the PGC variety and 8 of the IC type. Magnitudes down to 16.0 were not out of the question. Temperature dropped into the 50's and the sky was extremely transparent. Objects jumped out of the eyepiece.

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Jun 01, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tammy and Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Moon Average Average - 6 Sky remained 'bright' all evening. Setup in the 31" dome. Temp dipped to 37 degrees. No clouds, high pressure but the sky stayed bright all night. The month of May was a total wash out. June is not looking much better. Faint galaxies really didn't jump out of the eyepiece. Polar alignment was perfect and Megastar again was dead on. Observed till 4:30am when morning twiilight started. Managed to log in 51 objects but would say that the descriptions of these objects were not under optimal conditions. I was required to use averted vision more than ever to identify and confirm observations. Continued the 'Northern Objects'. Overall, the evening was average to just barely good.

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Apr 26, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mike Grilley, Mike Allen, Keith Moore, Monty, Jerry, Dave, Terry and other club members. Rise at 5am Excellent - 9 Excellent - 10 Before coming down, didn't get all of my business taken care of, but still had an excellent evening observing. Tonight was the first night having the optical encoders and laptop working in the 31". The results were OK, and some work needs to be done getting the correct encoder tics for the DEC calculated. Also, it was apparent that there needs a training program for the club with MegaStar and how best to use the software to find objects. Jerry showed up around 2am. We observed PGC objects with great success. Most of these faint DSO's were at zenth and most were easily detected. Because the 31" was in use, I setup outside the dome. The temperature dropped to 30 degrees, very light winds. Logged in 56 objects and also observed some Messier objects. M57 was spectular. Viewed IC1296 for the first time which is very close to M57. Closed up shop around 5am. Monty and Dave were still observing when I left. What an excellent evening.....

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Apr 23, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mike Allen, Tammy, Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise around 3:30am Excellent - 9 Excellent - 10 This was one of the best nights of this year. High pressure, temp dropped to 30 degrees. Set up in the dome again. Mike Allen had his 15" Obsession set up as well. Awsome scope. Finished some business before heading down to the observatory. Observed 73 objects while I continued the Northern 50 degree sweep. Mike, Monty and myself stayed till almost dawn. Left at 4:45AM. The wind stayed calm and the transparency was just awsome. NGC 5907 was the highlight of the evening. Just an unbelievable edge on galaxy. Encoders and MegaStar did it again.... dead on all night.

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Mar 26, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Monty, Dave, Tammy

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise around 5am Average to Good Very good - Clouds came and went then clouded up Again set up in the dome. Music going and the Northern objects were targeted again. Temperature dropped to about 30 degrees. During the cloudy periods, we all watched the Obsession 20inch video down in the club house. Secondary still not in the 31inch telecope. Monty has his Meade setup and had Megastar controlling the scope including 'goto'. It was really nice. Closed up the dome and headed out about 2:30am. Did manage to get observations of 9 objects logged in.

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Mar 06, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tammy and Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 10pm great - 8 - Front just came through earlier excellent 9 Finally, Februray a total wash out. Set up in the 31" dome again. Continued observing the northern DSO by RA with great success. Observed 73 objects, most of them after Monty and Tammy left. Left the observatory at 5am. Temperature dipped to about 7 degrees. Dome made the observing comfortable once again. Excellent evening.

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Jan 30, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself and Tammy. My Mom stopped by later.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

One Day before New Good - 7 Good to Excellent. Got clouded out about 11:30pm Finally a clear evening to observe. My scope was left setup in the Dome. I came down the previous evening to observe but the sky never cleared while it was clear about 50 miles to the west. All I had to do was to plug in the extention cord. Started my 'Northern' DSO's. RA hours 1-6 are finished. Polar alignment of the scope is excellent. Was able to find northern objects with ease and accuracy. Observing on the meridian is the best technique for northern objects. About 11pm the sky suddenly clouded over. The entire sky went from clear to completely clouded in about 2 minutes. I never seen anything like it before. The temperature must have dropped to the dew point. The temp was about 12 degrees. Observed a lot of nice IC objects that if not for their extreme northern declinations, they would definitely be everyone's seasonal favorites. Overall, an excellent night while it lasted.

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Jan 08, 2003 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tammy, Monty, my Mom and Dad stopped by.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 11:20pm good to OK. Very windy, Warm Front leaving Area, Cold Front coming through. Excellent, extremely clear First observing session of 2003. Set up scope in the 31" dome again. Windy evening, temp dropped to about 30. Warm for January. Continued the Herschel II list. Observed some very interesting edge-on galaxies. The evening got better and better as the night went on. Left my scope setup in the dome ready to go next new moon in February. Logged in 28 more objects and also observed Jupiter, and some Messier objects. M51 was the best I have ever observed to date. The 9mm Nagler view of M51 was just awsome. Left observatory around 3:10am.

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Dec 06, Hidden Goose, station

2002 Hollow - RAS Monty, Dave, Tammy and friend, a person from the gas (possum run road and sr 13)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set around 7:30 good - 7 good to excellent - 8 This was a very cold night. Temp droped into the teens. It was breezy most of the evening. I set up the 12.5" in the 31" dome. For cold weather obseving, inside the dome is the way to go. After countless times freezing outside in the winter, I can't believe I never thought of setting up inside the dome. Three SCT's with goto's were outside behind the dome. The observers frequently came inside the dome to warm up! Heavy dewing and frosting outside and no mosture or dew inside! The only problem was the ink in the pen kept freezing. Solved this problem by keeping the pen inside my jacket. I stayed warm and observed till dawn. Logged in 49 DSO's mostly in Perseus and Gemini. Yes, galaxies galore in Gemini. With the comfort inside the dome, observing table and music, this was one of the best nights I ever had during the winter observing season.

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Oct 05, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS HIDDEN HOLLOW 2002. Primary Observers throughout the evening were Brent Archinal, S. Astra and Bill Burton. New Great Excellent - Hurricane Lilly came through previous day RAS Convention. What an evening. Dozen's of scopes scattered all over the place. Campers too. Got to see Brent and Bill again after 17 years!!! DSS's were hot, logged in 80 DSO's. Also observed many Messier objects, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter. Temp dropped to about 40 degrees. Light frost in the pre-dawn hours. Stayed till sun rise. Plastered DSO's in Andromeda. Tried observing with Bio-Viewers (Bill's). Results were outstanding but don't know if investment would be worth it. Not good on faint DSO's. Hurricane Lilly blew through yesterday and threathened observing the entire weekend. Excellent evening.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Sep 12, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tammy, Jerry and Monty

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 11pm excellent - light clouds come and go around 5am excellent - little dewing Sure glad I went observing tonight. Left home around 9pm... got set up just as the moon was setting. Logged in 51 objects. Didn't have any luck observing around the north pole. I don't think my polar alignment was as good this time. Observed some messiers using the 31 inch, then got down to business in Peg, And and Per. The cluster of galaxies in Perseus was awsome. Observed 25 galaxies in 1.5 FOV using the 9mm nagler. This cluster is a must for the 31 inch. Temp dropped down to 47 degrees. Very comfortable night at the telescope. Left at morning twilight. Excellent evening.

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Sep 06, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tammy, Gary Deatsman and daughter Becky, Terry

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Average at Start then Excellent after Midnight Excellent Oh what a night. Logged in 64 objects. Continued the Herschel 400 II list. Observed the closest NGC to Polaris (NGC 3172). Observed may other DSO close the the pole with great success. MegaStar comes through again. Terry and I stayed till dawn..... first time doing that in over 17 years. Observed a few Messiers and finishted off the night with M42 (totally outstanding), Jupiter and Saturn. Temp dropped to mid 50's with little dewing. Excellent evening.

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Sep 04, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS Curt, Jerry, Tammy & Friend, Mike and his son,

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise 5am Excellent Excellent What a night!! Started off with the batteries on the door lock dead. Had to call Mike to come and let us in. Then things just got better and better. Perfect night. Very little dew. Temp dropped to about 55. Logged on over 75 objects (mostly in PSC) and continued the Herschel 400 II list. Had some of the best views of SNR in CYG using the Konig 32mm 2" eyepiece. Some were awsome. IC and PGC galaxies in PSC were not a problem. Having the RealSky installed on laptop's internal disk drive worked excellent. RealSky images (inverted) in dense galaxy fields sure made it easy to locate and identify DSO's. Very productive evening. I was the last one to leave and that was about 4am.

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Sep 01, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS Jerry, Terry, Robert & Friend, Jim Baker, Monty and few guests

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Rise 1:30am Good Good - Great Another awsome evening at the observatory. Observed many Messier objects, showed off computer interface and MegaStar again. Logged 10 objects in Pegasus including Stephan's Quintet. Used the Nagler 9mm on the 31 inch and looked at M57 and the Saturn Nebula.... the views were the best ever Unbelieveable.

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Aug 10, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Club and Public Night. Monty, Bob, Tammy stayed till dawn. 1 day old Excellent Good Awsome night. About 100 guests. Many telescopes set up. First light for my Nagler 9mm Type 6. Eyepiece is worth every cent. Now I want the set. Observed many Messier objects the got down to business and logged in 34 deep sky objects, most of the Herschel 400 variety. Cindy and my Mom stopped down. Perfect observing night. Shorts and tee shirt, no bugs, no dew. This was the 5th straight night of clear skies. High pressure in control. Location of command center to the East of scope works great. Easy to see from eyepiece while observing. MegaStar5 is absolutely the best. Optical encoders were dead on, scope nicely polar aligned. Excellent evening.

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Aug 03, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS RAS Members Mike, Larry, Bob, Curt & Trica, others....

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Rise 2am Excellent Good-Excellent A group of about 25 people came down. Many scopes were set up: 12.5", 10", 8", and a Dobsonian 10". I used a goto telescope for the first time - awsome. Looked at a couple of Messier objects then got down to business in Delphinus and Aquarius. Logged in 17 more new discoveries. Excellent evening... warm and mild. Low humidity. MegaStar 5 is carrying it's own weight. This software is totally amazing. Setup the computer to the East side of the mount. It's much easier to use and see in this location. Perfect night.

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Jul 31, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself, Mike G., Ted & friend.

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Rise at 1am Excellent Good-Excellent Back to back excellent nights. Delphinus continuted, 19 objects observed including my first PGC galaxies. Showed off my computer setup to Mike. Observed many Messier's then got down to business. Began using inverted field and the rotation tool in MegaStar 5. Was able to duplicate the eyepiece FOV and walk right to faint galaxies. Perfect night for observating, low humidity and warm.

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Jul 30, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself, John Boggs, Tammy & friend, Gary and other RAS members. 3rd Qtr Excellent Good-Excellent Campers from the HH camp were invited to some views. About 40 in total got to visit the telescopes. 31", 10" and my 12.5" were setup for the campers. Excellent night. Perfect observing temperature and low humidity. First night using MegaStar 5. The single star alignment worked excellent. The new/enhanced features of Megastar 5 are awsome. Need to figure out a way to get the computer closer to the eyepiece and to use a chair somehow. Observed may Messiers and 5 objects in Delphinus including my first UGC galaxy. Last one to close up shop.

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Jul 06, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

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Rise about 4am Good Good to Great Excellent night. Several guests showed up thinking it was Guest Night. Some as far as North Royalton. Sleep observed may Messier objects before crashing in attic. Got scared by a raccoon and fell aginst my car denting the door. Dew fell out about 1:30am. Guests left leaving me by myself. Packed up about 4am. Red filter paper works great. Observed many messier objects and 4 new objects. Computer and encoders worked execellent.

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Jun 08, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS A dozen or so RAS Members. Club meeting and Public Night.

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New Good - thin clouds early part of evening Good Sky turned excellent around 1am. High pressure in control. Very calm. This was a public night and about 100 plus guests showed up. Emil Diener and family stopped by. Observed many Messier and NGC objects. Demo the encoders and TheSky. Scope right on. Many were impressed with how easy it was to go from object to object. Left scope in observatory for first time. Didnot get to do any serious observing but it was an excellent night.

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May 10, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS Bob Scodova, Cindy, Mike and Kasey, Curt & Trish Goff

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2 Days before New Good - Excellent Excellent - High clouds came in around 2am First time at RAS with new SUV and trailer/boxes. New setup works great. Need to perform minor work on boxes (black cloth, metal feet, etc.) Used TheSky software with encoders with great success. Objects were in the eyepieces. Looked a a bunch of Messiers with others. Started serious observing when they left only to get clouded out around 2am. Observing with computerized software and encoders is awsome! Managed to get 2 new objects descriptions in Hercules. Need to check on collimation - secondary was loose from the trailer trip.

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Mar 15, 2002 Hidden Hollow - RAS Bob Scodova, Cindy & Casey, Mom & Dad, Curt & Tricia Goff, other RAS Members New Poor Poor - Got clouded out Messier Marathon 2002!.. First time 12.5" back at RAS in over 17 years!! Telescope has been completely overhauled and computerized. Jupiter drew first light. No Messier objects were seen, sky deteriated. Shutdown by 10pm. Played with MegaStar and encoders. Could not get software to track scope movement correctly. Problem turned out to be bug in MegaStar software. Tried TheSky software over the next 2 months with great success observing in Macedonia on Wren Drive. What a sight to see the 12.5" back at RAS!!!!!

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Sep 06, 1985 DSO - Garver Road Brent Archinal, Mitch Luman

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Last QTR Very Good Very Good Another Asteroid Hunt. Observed 8 asteroids and Comet Halley. Observed G-Z Comet which occultated a 6th mag star in Auriga. See article in M111 9/85. Brent and Mitch stopped by at 4am to hunt down and locate comet Halley. Althought the moon was close by and the sky bright, Comet Halley was located at 5am. Estimated at 12th mag. Finder charts in Tonight's Asteroids are excellent and accurate. Need to work on additional tarp for light control. Clutch needs greased and tightened. Overall a super night. Observed the following asteroids: Miriam, Ariadne, Eurynome, Parthenope, Germania, Thyra, Nausikaa and Hertha. NOTE: this night is the last recorded observation here at DSO and (as it turned out) the last observation session this century.

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Mar 15, 1985 DSO - Garver Road Myself and neighbor boys (showed them M81, M82)

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Rise after 3am Excellent Excellent Best night skywise and performance. Closed up observatory at 2:30am. Temp 20-25 deg. Not much dewing. Excellent night - 10 !!

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Mar 02, 1985 DSO - Garver Road Myself

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3 Days before Full Fair Fair First time off on an Asteroid Hunt. My first asteroid was Rachele 674. Charts shown in tonight's astroid are very wide field. Use 2" 32mm and faintest stars on Hans Vehrenberg's are visible in 32mm. The moon shine washed out the fainter stars and made detection of field stars and asteroids possible. Also did some astrophoto's of the moon and moonshine. Photographed moon with Ektachrome 200. CLosed obseratory up at 1:30am. Observed other astroids: Euphrosyne and Amherstia.

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Dec 25, 1984 DSO - Garver Road Myself

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4 Days old Excellent - 8 Excellent - 10 Completed a Tarus Burnham's sweep. Temp 10 deg. No dew. Conditions deteriated after 2am. Front moved in. M81 and M82 spactular. Used a 2" 48mm Brandon eyepiece. Observed some variable stars in Burnham's.

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Sep 21, 1984 DSO - Garver Road Tony Holenbrink, Mark Mattox

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3 days before New Excellent - 9 Great - 9 View all Burham's Pegasus objects. Best night to date. Observed in Pegasus and some objects in Sagittarius. Located and confirmed NGC 1 in Pegasus.

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Sep 20, 1984 DSO - Garver Road Myself

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Excellent - 9 Very Good - 9 Sagittarius observations. Best night ever at DSO. Dew started falling around 11pm. Go after objects in 18-19 Hours sometime in the future.

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Sep 19, 1984 DSO - Graver Road Myself

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Rise 3:00am Good - 8 Average -5 The sky appeared very dark but somehow faint objects didn't show well. Dew started falling out when I shutdown about 11pm. This was the second night after a cold front came through.

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Aug 31, 1984 DSO - Garver Road Myself

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4-5 days old Average Average Observed some objects in other constellations too - Andromeda, Aquarius

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Jul 21, 1984 DSO - Garver Road Myself

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3rd Qtr Average - Poor Good - Fair High Pressure but heavy fogging. First night to observe using tarp. Very effective, no stray lights except for south. The scope has never performed so well. Re-balanced and adjusted clutch. Crossed over mount no initial drifting. Viewed Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Saturn looks good with yellow filter.

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Mar 03, 1984 DSO - Garver Road Myself

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New Excellent Excellent - 8 Cold - 0-5 deg. Heavy frosting. Observed 10pm till 2am. Finished Leo. Observed a few other Messier objects, M3, M104 very impressive. Observing table worked very well. Has light block around building. Good Night.

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Mar 02, 1984 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Several RAS members

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New Average Great Messier Marathon 1984 Part1. Very cold, no heat downstairs yet. I left at 2:30am. This was the first half of Messier Marathon. Being 2 weeks early, the first objects were very easy to get. I had to shovel snow off the steps and the pad to setup Larry's 10 inch. The 12.5" is at DSO on Garver Road. I will finish Part II of Messier Marathon end of March or Early April weather permitting. Observed 52 objects this night.

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Feb 25, 1984 DSO - Garver Road Keith Moore

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Will rise 3-4am Very Good - 8 Excellent - 9 Some smoke problems with wood burners Good night at DSO. Temp very cold 0-10 deg. Everything frosty. Started a second run in Leo. Finished Monocerus completely. Viewed Saturn and Mars. Finished up at 3:00am.

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Feb 21, 1984 DSO - Garver Road Myself

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Will Rise 3:00am Very Good - 8 Great - 9 Best night at backyard observatory. Need to put in observing table and chair. Also need to finish light shield. This was a very good night. 13th mag objects were easy to see. Temp about 30 degrees. Fogging was a minor problem.

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Dec 30, 1983 DSO - Garver Road Myself

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1 WK before New Average - Good Good at times, otherwise poor Very Cold -2 deg. Sky seemed bright, light haze. Snow Trail's lights covered Lepus. Light shield worked well. Mouse made a mess in the clock drive box. A couple of wired chewed in two. He was killed that day. First offical observing session here at Deep Sky Observatory.

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Jul 09, 1983 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Chris Coteff, Brent Archinal, John Kerns, Tom Burns, Keith Moore New Poor Average - 5 Started Draco RNGC galaxies. Fair success. Cepheus mop complete with Verenburg Atlas. First time I observed NGC 188. Used Chris's 8" and my 12.5". Good night overall. Heavy dewing at morning. Sky cleared at sunset and remained bright all night. Last Night 12.5" spent at RAS. Scope is moving to Garver Road where I built a backyard observatory. Observing here at RAS will no longer be the same.

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Jul 08, 1983 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Kerns, Larry Greer, Chris Coteff, Brent Archinal, Dick Suiter, RAS Members 2 Days before New Good Good - 7 Clouds came and went. Sky contrast remained great. Circles hot.

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Jul 06, 1983 Hidden Hollow - RAS Doug Wereb, Dick Suiter, John Kerns, Larry Greer, Tom Burns, Brent Archinal Rise at 4am Good - 8 Excellent Pegasus RNGC run continued. Finished the last Herschel 400. Photographed some Messier objects. Very clear night, cold and frosty. High Pressure. First good observations for 1983.

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Jun 11, 1983 Hidden Hollow - RAS Chris Coteff, Larry Greer, Keith Moore

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New

Completed the Herschel 400 List.

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Feb 12, 1983 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Kerns, Dick Suiter, Tom Burns, Chris Coteff, John Boggs

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New Average - Fair Average - heavy frosting Herschel 400 Continued. Observed 68 objects this night. Extremely frosty. First time for Moon Boots and insulated overalls. They worked great, feet never got cold. Photographed 3 objects earlier in the evening then Chris and I did Herschels. CAS's 16" was set up, got some spectactular views.

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Oct 23, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Keith Moore

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Set 11:50pm Good - 8 Great - 8 Setting circles very good. Finished RNGC in Aries (56 total). Missed only 6. Triangulum looks like another area that RNGC's will be successful. Got very cold. Hand warmers worked great.

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Oct 22, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tom & Suzy Burns, Larry Greer, Keith Moore, John Kerns, G. Wood, L. Sharver Set 11pm Poor to Average - 4 Average - 6 Circles good. RNGC galaxies visible with no problem. Stopped at NGC820. Went to Connies and John's wedding Saturday. After Aries, observed some Herschel 400 objects.

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Oct 16, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, John Kerns, Dick Suiter, Chris Coteff, Tom & Suzie Burns, Bill Burton & friend, Brent Archinal, Terry Mcquisten New Fair to Good Excellent - High Pressure just moved in today Continued Herschel 400 list. Observed 41 objects. Record apature set at site - 17.5". Scopes in use: (2) 17.5", 12.5", (2) 4.25", 10", 6". First time for Bill Burton, Cloudy all day but cleared off at 10pm. Beautiful night. Very cold about 30 deg. Everything frosted over. Also observed some Messier objects.

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Sep 18, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Keith Moore, Larry Greer, John Kerns, Dick Suiter, Chris Coteff, Lacy Shaver. 1 day old Excellent - 8 Super - 10 plus Pegasus continued. Setting circles hot. Knocked off every RNGC in order. Little dew. Some clouds came in 1am then cleared. Some light clouds came in around 5am. Excellent FOV contrast, many 15th magitude galaxies jumped out. Dick Suiter very impressed and interested in finding these 15th mag galaxies.

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Aug 25, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer

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Set 12:00 Midnight Excellent - 10 Excellent - 9 Heavy Dewing Eyepieces and Diagonal dewed up. Left scopes setup till 9am so Sun could dry them off. Planted English Ivy and other plants at Observatory. Completed second run on Triangulum.

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Aug 21, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Tom & Suzie Burns, Kieth Moore, Tony Holenbrink & Friend Set 2 hrs after Sun Average - Good Good - 8 Some light clouds moved in Started a RNGC search in Per, didn't have much success. Continued Herschel 400 list. Light clouds keep moving in in patches. Observed 12 objects.

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Aug 17, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mark McKee

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1 Day before New Good - 7 Excellent the later it got. Thunderstorms seen in southen horizon. Sky got really dark after 1am. Eye sighted polar alignment, circles hot. Observed every RNGC object in Perseus in order with no misses. Only a couple of pages to go.

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Aug 14, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, John Kerns, Keith Moore, Dick Suiter

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Rise at 3:00am Average - Good - 7 Good. Sky was bright Check 6946 periodically for SN. Drew 6946 with star field on computer card. Observed asteroid 9 Metis (see field 8/14/82 on back of photography log sheet). Photographed 3 more objects tonight.

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Aug 13, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mark Mattox, Chris Coteff, Larry Greer, Keith Moore, Doug Wereb, John Kerns, Dick Suiter, Wilkie, Tom & Suzie Burns Rise 2:05am Excellent - 10 Excellent - 10 High Pressure still dominant Some light clouds at sunset, cleared off quickly. Continued Herschel 400 list. Completed the summer and fall groups. Polar alignment was extremely good. Went from Sco to UMi and object was in FOV. Temp about 50 deg. Total of 281 Herschel 400 objects now logged in.

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Aug 11, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Celia Scodova (watched TV)

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Rise 12:20am Excellent - 9 Excellent - High Pressure just moved in Worked on the Herschel 400 list. Observed 13 objects. Total of 249 Herschel 400 objects logged.

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Mar 27, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Keith Moore, Tom Burns, Emil Diener, Brian, Terry and Friend Set 2 HRS after sun Great Excellent - Cold and frosty Temp about 10 deg. Heavy frosting. Messier Marathon Night. 108 Messiers were observed. Continued Hercules and Virgo RNGC galaxies. Photographed 3 objects with 12.5". Started Sextans. I didn't participate during the entire Marathon. Got some good descriptions of Messier objects.

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Feb 27, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Tom & Suzy Burns, Keith Moore, Dave, John Kerns, Wilkie Set 10:00pm Excellent - 10 Excellent - 10 Started Coma Bernices. RNGC run worked well. Observed all planets except Pluto. Polar Alignment was excellent. Telescopes setup were: (2) 12.5, (3) 10 and (2) 8 inch telescopes. Also observed some Messier in Sag, Sco, M27 and M13.

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Feb 26, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Doug Wereb, John Kerns, Keith Moore, RAS Members and 60 plus guests Set 9:00pm Poor - haze all night Poor This was the Planet Marathon Night. I gave a slide show (twice due to large crowd) with Doug and Terry. Observed Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Earth. Mars was excellent, dark patches easily detected. WMAN radio brodcast brough the largest crowd to RAS. There wasn't enough chairs to the slide show. Telescope's in use were: 12.5", (4) 10", 6" and 8". Fair night overall.

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Feb 25, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tom Burns

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Set 8:50pm Excellent - 10 Excellent - 10 Finished Canes Venatici and started Hercules. Heavy dewing, cold and frosty. Temp about 8 deg. Used 7mm for Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. Best night I ever had observing these planets. Division in Saturn's rings, dark shadow bands on cloud tops. Mars showed unbelievable surface markings. Jupiter - moon shadow on cloud tops. First time I located and observed Horse Head Nubula. Tom comfirmed the find.

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Jan 28, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Doug Wereb, Tom Burns

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Set 9:00pm Excellent - Better after 2am Excellent - 10 First day with my new car. Continued mopping Canes Venatici with great success. Temp 12 degrees, 1 degree at 6am. Also observed M13, noticed a star in 6207, could not confirm it. M4, M5,M10,M57, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, M27 observed through Wereb's 4" reflector telescope. Dew heavy at sunrise. Excellent night!!!

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Jan 26, 1982 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tom Burns

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3 days after new Good Excellent Started Canes Venatici. Photographed M42 with 8" f/5 for first time. Noticed someone broke into Dome upstairs and destroyed 8" telescope. Temp was 0 deg.

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Dec 21, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes: Not sure of the year these observations were made, or the location. Only sure of the Month and Date.

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Oct 30, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS John Kerns, Larry Greer, Keith Moore (all three had their 10" setup) 1 Day before New Average to Poor. Some clouds hung around Great most of the Night, Excellent 2 hours before sunrise Good sucess in Gemini. Finished Eridanus. Black cloth technique works great. Continued side-by-side observations with Larry's 10" in Eridanus. RNGC 1719 galaxy in Orion easy target. Need to finish RNGC run in Gemini and Orion in the future. Took nap 9-11pm and 3-4am because I went duck hunting that previous morning.

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Oct 24, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Keith Moore, Tom Burns, John Kerns, Mark Mattox

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2 Days before new Good to Average Good at start. Excellent towards daylight Cancer mop complete. Continued Cepheus, Cancer, Lepus and Eridanus. Dew fell late morning then sky became very transparent. Started Hydra and continued Aries. Observed 1 galaxy in Cepheus. Tom brought his 12.5" Dob for the first time. Observed concurrent with Larry for first time.

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Oct 03, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Brent Archinal, Mark Mattox, Larry Greer, Keith Moore, Tom & Suzy Burns, John Kerns, Tony Holenbrink Set 11:00pm Average to Poor in Early Morning Fair to Good. Heavy Dewing, Sky fogged out early morning Diagonal and eyepieces kept dewing up. Keith and Larry had their 10" set up. Both are impressive telescopes. Helix looks good in Larry's scope. Sky fogged out at 3:30am. Extremely wet and dewy. Everything soaked. Temp 38 deg. Finished 2 objects missed in Cetus when sky was dark. Looked at many object through Keith's and Larry's telescopes.

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Sep 27, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Keith Moore (left 12am), Tom & Suzy Burns, Doug Wereb (slept) New Good - very windy, calm at 4am then dew fell out Excellent - one of the best Observed a star in same 32mm FOV as southern horizon. Unbelievable how clear the southern horizon is. Observed Piscies Austrinus, finished Sculptor, Cetus and Pisces. Observed M42,43,44,81,82,108,97,Viel Neb,41,79,27,15,31,32,110,34 and double cluster. No dew till 4:30. Transparency unbelievable. Temp hit low 40's. Southern observing the best I have ever seen. First time to observe in Pisces Austrinus.

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Sep 24, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Bruce Beck, Tom Burns

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2 days before new Excellent at Start, Poor to AVG after 2am Average, Sky remained bright Dew fell out early AM. Observed Aries, Pisces, finished Sculptor, and started Cetus. Taught Tom Burns how to use setting circles. Looked at some Messier objects. Used black cloth method, got about a magnitude gain. It works very well.

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Sep 23, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Doug Wereb, Tom Burns, Celia and Bruce Beck (left earlier)

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Moon Rise 2:15am Excellent to Best Very Good Few light clouds came and went. Celia and Bruce Beck stopped by and observed some Messier Objects. First night using black mask to cover eyepiece. It works great. Saw for first time the end of arms in M31 and 2 dust lanes. 2 FOV's in 32mm. Color again in M42. Saw NGC 55 and NGC 300 for first time.

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Sep 20, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

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Excellent Very Good - few clouds at start Observed 27 objects encluding Benards Galaxy

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Jul 31, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Doug Wereb, Brent Archinal, Mark Mattox, Larry Greer, Keith Moore, Clarence Hamilton, Emil Diener, Tom & Suzy Burns, Cindy Scodova and 20-30 RAS members New Great at start. Poor after 3am Good at start 3rd streight night at RAS. Saw several bright meteors. Clouds rolled in around 2:30am. Looked at several Messier objects. Gave talk at RAS meeting on observing.

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Jul 30, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer

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New Good - Excellent Excellent Mopped Sagittga and Vulpecula.

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Jul 29, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Clarence Hamilton, Mark Wagner, Doug Wereb, Norm Oberly and Wife, Jim and friend, Emil Diener. Rise 4:30am Excellent Excellent Looked at a lot of Messiers. Norm's first night here. Very impressed with 12.5" and RAS site. Pegasus run using RNGC.

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Jul 24, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Keith Moore, Brian, Dan

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise at 2:00am Fair - Poor Fair - Good Sky deterated around Midnight. High pressure moved out of area, breeze began to pick up. Continued Cygnus.

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Jul 22, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mark Mattox, Larry Greer

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise at 1:00am Fair to Good Excellent Draco Mop. First night to observe northern region. Not that hard to do.

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Jul 10, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Tom Burns, Larry Greer, Keith Moore

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set about 2am Excellent Excellent Best Night of Summer. Aquarius, Capricornus, Aquila Run. Helix Nebula seen in Larry's 6" f/10, Beautiful.

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Jul 07, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Randy and Mark (Randy's friend)

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Will set 1:00am Fair - Good Fair - Good Finished Pegasus run... Missed 1 galaxy. Hazy and Humid night. Stayed hazy.

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Jun 06, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer, Randy, Keith Moore, Cindy Scodova

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set midnight Excellent Very good - Excellent Happy Birthday Bruce!! Started Cepheus, Cygnus. Looked at a bunch of Messier objects.

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Jun 04, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Randy

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 10:00pm Excellent at Zenith Excellent Continued Virgo mop. Finished Ophiuchus and Lyra. Ring Nebula was beautiful. May have saw central star, 2 other stars in the ring together by rim of gas.

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May 31, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Randy, Keith Moore, Emil Diener (both left around midnight), Larry Greer arrived 12:30am New Good - Very Good Very Excellent Light clouds and haze moved in around 1am. Performed a Serpens sweep.

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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May 06, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself again for the 4th streight time

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 12:30am Average - Breezy Very Good - High Pressure and Cold Moon set when I was done observing the last object. Had Schmidt 5.5" (Celestron f/1.65) set up on telescope to start shooting astro-photo's after moon set. Bootes run.

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May 03, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Average to Great in AM Average to Great in AM This is the third clear night in a row around new moon. Last night was the best I have ever seen the Milky Way. It was amazing. Photographed some Messiers.

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May 02, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Good to almost excellent - Breezy Very Excellent - one of the best Was the night of the Lexington HS Prom. Flood lights on parking lot went off at 11:30pm. Photographed some Messier objects with Larry's camera (M51, M92, M14). MEL 2-1 is an 8" Planetary I actually found and identified. Libra mopped up.

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May 01, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Larry Greer

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Good - Excellent Excellent Photographed M13, M5 and M57 with 12.5". Observed Neptune and Uranus. Both easy finds.

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Apr 25, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Brent Archinal, John Kerns, Mark Mattox, Larry Greer

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Will Rise 1am Excellent - high pressure Excellent Virgo Cluster. Had all the scopes setup on the pad for first time. Photographed Coma Star cloud, MEL 111, M13 and North Americal Nebula with Celeston 5.5" schmidt f/1.65 camera.

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Mar 27, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Cindy Scodova, Brant Archinal, Mark Mattox, Doug Wereb, John Kerns, Sever RAS Members Very Old Moon Very Good Excellent - High Pressure over Ohio MESSIER MARATHON Night. Observed over 141 objects. Temp dropped to 31 deg. John has his 10" scope setup. Got 108 of 110 Messier objects. Missed M74 (first) and M30 (last).

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

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Jan 30, 1981 Hidden Hollow - RAS Mark Mattox

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise at 4:00am Excellent - 9 Best ever at this site Very Good Photographed some objects using Schmidt 5.5" f/1.65. Mopped up Leo completely. Saturn - 3 moons, dark inner ring. Jupiter - 6 to 7 band breaks and first time for center bands to show cloud like forus. Tempature 10 deg, cold and frosty.

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Dec 03, 1980 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Rise about 4am Good - Low clouds come and gone Excellent to Great Temp cold, about 10 deg. Observed 102 objects. Awsome night.

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Oct 31, 1980 Hidden Hollow - RAS Doug Wereb, Mark Mattox, John Kerns, Brent Archinal

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

3rd Qtr Good - very windy Excellent Observed comets Stephan and Enke. Also some IC planetaries. Moon and Regulus in close conjunction. Jupiter, Saturn, Venus also close to Moon. Awsome. Temp about 32 degrees.

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Oct 29, 1980 Deleware Rifle Range Mark Mattox

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Excellent - fog over resivore Good - best seen from Deleware to date Observed with Mark's 8" Celestron. Observed 19 objects. Temp around freezing.

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Sep 18, 1980 Hidden Hollow - RAS Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 1:30am Excellent Excellent Observed 62 objects (logged).

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Sep 10, 1980 Malabar Farm Steve (Levi) and Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

New Excellent - Very steady Very Excellent Mount Geese (Malabar farm) on top of the hill. This site is EXCELLENT!!!. Dark site, beautiful views and great horizons. Observed and logged 101 objects.

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Sep 09, 1980 Hollywood Lane Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Fair - breazy Excellent - cold front just moved in Humidity low, no dew. Best Night to date at this location.

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Sep 07, 1980 Hollywood Lane Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

OK - Good Great - best ever at home so far Got clouded out about 4:10am.

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Sep 03, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Clouds cleared at sunset Great - High Pressure Observed 17 objects.

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Aug 22, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 3:15am OK Excellent - Best yet at Perkins Observed 27 objects, Venus.

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Aug 19, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Poor - Clouds come and go Poor - Extremely hazy Got fogged out when baromeeter fell. Managed 16 objects.

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Jul 24, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

2 Days past Full OK Great - Best a Perkins so far Observed 33 objects this night, mostly double stars. Only a few DSO were logged. This was a July to remember. Many nights observing this month.

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Jul 17, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set at Midnight Excellent Great - best it has been for a while Observed 36 objects this night. This continues to be July to remember.

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Jul 15, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Extremely Hot and Humid Poor to Good. Thunderstorms in the East Temp about 88 deg. Observed 27 objects.

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Jul 14, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Sky Bright - Storm moved in around 2am OK at start, got worse as storms moved in Observed 20 objects before storms came in.

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Jul 12, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Storms just moved throught Great - foggy Got fogged out about 3am. Observed 14 objects this night.

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Jul 11, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

OK Getting Better as night goes on Observed 44 Objects this night including H & Chi Open Cluster and M45

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Jul 05, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Good - Great Good High front moving in Observed 16 objects this night.

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Jun 20, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

First Quarter OK Good - Excellent Observed 27 objects this night. First time 12.5" visited Perkins Obsevatory. Planets showed well.

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Jun 18, 1980 Hollywood Lane Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

6 days old Good OK 30-40% Humidity Observed 46 objects this evening.

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Jun 17, 1980 Hollywood Lane Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

About 5 days old Poor - Fair A lot of lights Poor - Fair Milky Way barely visible Observed 24 objects on this night. First night with my new Meade 12.5" research series reflector.

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Observation Date: Location: Observers:

Jun 10, 1980 Perkins Observatory Many from OSU Astronomy Club, Doug Wereb

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Good - Sky looks bright Good - Excellent Set up in front of Perkins Main Entrance. Turned out to be last offical observation recording with my 6". Meade 12.5" will be arriving soon. Observed 59 objects this evening.

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May 07, 1980 Perkins Observatory Doug Wereb

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Excellent - Columbus nebula only 5 degrees above horizion Excellent Set up outside of Schmidt Dome. Observing with Doug's 5" refractor. Also observed Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Observed 20 objects while using the 24" Schmidt for photography of DSO's.

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Apr 18, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

4 Days Old Poor - Light clouds around Not Good Managed to observe 11 objects. Set up on golf course outside Schmidt dome. Photographed some DSO with the 24" schmidt telescope. Also observed Venus and the Moon.

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Apr 16, 1980 Perkins Observatory Myself

Moon Phase: Seeing: Transparency: Notes:

Set 8:20pm Light Haze at start Excellent First visit with my 6" at Perkins. Set up outside the Schmidt while I photographed DSO with the 24" schmidt camera. Also observed Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn.

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