A night out under the summer Milky Way

[OzEclipse]

I have been working on a number of non-astronomy projects and suffering persistent back pain lately so I haven't been doing much telescopic observing. Last night I slept early then went out at 2am for a morning of Leonid spotting. Leonids don't present high hourly rates at my mid-southern latitude but always worth a try.

Equipment
Reclining camp chair, allows me to lay back
10x42 APO binoculars
Water resistant bluetooth speaker streaming from the house
Camera tripod, Full frame DSLR, 14mm lens

The night was incredible. It was cool, not cold, so I was quite comfortable in a pair of track pants, fleece shirt and jacket.


With my naked eye, the Milky Way through Taurus, Monoceros, Orion, Canis Major, and Gemini was glowing, absolutely awash with stars, dark dust lanes threaded through the sea of faint stars like an incredible cosmic tapestry. It was hard to find anywhere without stars but when I did, the sky was black. I stayed out 2.5 hrs until 4:30 am local time. I dozed off a few times. I only saw three meteors but all three were magnificent bright fireballs, one was perhaps magnitude -5, covered a 70 deg arc and left a persistent vapour trail. All three trailed back to the radiant so i think they were genuine Leonids and Leonids are known to produce fireballs.

Naturally, all three fireballs I observed missed the frame of my camera field. Sometimes you just have to watch.

Ironically, I did manage to catch one but didn't notice it visually.
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Overall a very pleasant night out under the summer Milky Way.

Joe Cali

[messier 111]

very pleasant read , thx .

[Bigzmey]

Sounds like a nice relaxing session Joe. I love those morning meteor shower comfy chair sessions even if they are hit and miss.

[kt4hx]

That sounds like a really nice outing Joe. Being able to just lay back and enjoy the richness of the Milky Way with some meteors thrown in for good measure sounds like a cathartic experience to me! Very well done, and in my book warrants a VROD.

[OzEclipse]

That sounds like a really nice outing Joe. Being able to just lay back and enjoy the richness of the Milky Way with some meteors thrown in for good measure sounds like a cathartic experience to me! Very well done, and in my book warrants a VROD.

Thanks Alan,

The original 1970's mount of my 6"f7 is mostly machined cast aluminium. A few parts like shafts and the pier are steel. No drive or electronics. As such it's virtually weatherproof and I just leave the mount set up outside all the time with a plastic bag over it. . All I have to do is throw the OTA on and I'm in business.

However, I knew if I set up a scope I would be looking in not be looking up. Leonids are always few and far between. The reclining camp chair is an essential piece of equipment IMO to keep you looking up.

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As it was, I missed the one in the photo that must have been in my peripheral vision in the southeast when I was scanning northwest. I saw a really nice little mini pulse of meteors one night a couple of years ago, possibly Orionids. Over an hour and a half I probably saw 25. That particular night I was sitting out with the scope while doing astrophotography


I have a friend who I've known since teenage - 45 years. He's constantly boasting about all his fancy gear, how he sets up a sequence late afternoon, then goes inside and makes dinner and watches TV , then goes to bed while the observatory does all the acquisition unattended then shuts the roof if it starts raining or when his run is finished. For mine, he's lost the magic of being out under the stars. It's all just a production schedule to him. He doesn't even have the motivation to process most of his data. For all the automation, all the bluster, he produces maybe 2 images a year.

I still take great joy particularly on those high transparency nights. The photo I inserted in the report did not even go close to doing justice to the naked eye sky that night. I particularly enjoyed it because we've had a lot of poor transparency clear nights lately. I think it's pollen in the air from canola crops during certain parts of spring. So when I get a night like this, I'm definitely going to enjoy it.

Joe

[kt4hx]

I am in full agreement with you Joe. For me, communing with the night sky at a personal level is a truly visceral experience. To purposely deprive oneself of that opportunity is simply beyond my ability to understand. But then again, some folks think I am nuts!