Clear Skies in France - A Week of Observing

[Clear Skies]

Hi All,

After and eight hour drive I am posting this from a hotel room in Macon, France. On my way to the tiny town of La Montagne in the southern part of the French Alps (http://www.giteslamontagne.eu). My fifth visit in four years. Observing buddy Jeroen arrives on Sunday.
Tomorrow there's three hours of driving left. I will spend the remainder of the day setting up my Kendrick tent, 12" SCT and other equipment. The plan for the week:

1. Observe
2. Observe
3. Observe
4. Run a timelapse (or two) every night
5. Discover a comet. Ah, c'mon, one can dream, right?!

Weather forecasts look promising, although a fair amount of snow remains on the ground. Thus far I was able to make at least four nights under the stars every week I visited, including three all-nighters. Keep your fingers crossed for Clear Skies!

My observing plan is, as always, by my own CSOG guides, mostly targeting objects I never observed before. I'm planning to set up my scope azimuthal ("Alt/Az") for the first 2-3 nights to observe objects 10 degrees or more beyond the zenith towards the north. Observing objects located relatively close to the NCP is cumbersome when using a fork mounted SCT on a wedge. Once I complete (most of) my observing plan in Draco and high in Lynx and Ursa Major I will remount the scope on its wedge for the remaining nights.
For the first time I will attempt to go "all iPad", no longer using printed CSOG guides. During my latest observing run I gave the tablet a try. It worked beautifully, dimmed and with only a single layer of red (pink, really) vinyl applied it had no effect on my night vision. This time, under 21.50 skies I will use a double layer of red PVC, attached to the iPad simply with tape.

My observing menu primarily lists galaxies, with the odd carbon star and planetary nebulae on the side. Leftovers in Virgo and Draco, the main course for the week in Leo, Ursa Major, Coma Berenices, Canes Venatici and quite a few in Boötes.

If the skies cooperate I plan to post updates every day, including pics, both here and on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

Cheers,


Victor

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[Clear Skies]

Cleared over a foot of snow, but I'm set. Skies may clear around midnight. If not, tomorrow looks pretty good.

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[Ivan Maly]

Wow, Victor, camping in the snow is hard-core! Seems like an excellent site. Do post the updates.

I have a scope like that too, only mine is older.

[Clear Skies]

Don't worry, I'm not sleeping in the tent! Although this is a campsite during summer, there are three nice apartments on site.

[Ivan Maly]

OK, that's better ;) I have actually seen folks sleeping in tents on the observing field in the snow... To me that's extreme.

[Clear Skies]

The skies cleared up unexpectedly around midnight! A few stars appeared after which I decided to set up a timelapse. As I was doing so, the last clouds quickly vanished. I openend up the observatory (tent) and observed until 4:15. Logged approximately 80 galaxies and the odd double star sharing the FoV. Most in Ursa Major, a few in Draco and a single one in Ursa Minor. Using the iPad (dimmed and a double layer of red foil applied) worked amazingly well. I'm done using paper! The only thing worth improving is the background color of pdf's. Some apps have this functionality, I wish it will make it to the Filebrowser app I like to use. By changing the background color of open documents it becomes just a little easier on the eye. That being said, there was no negative effect on my night vision and I was able to discern stars up to mag. 15.

Here's a single, unedited frame from my timelapse. The single light post at the bottom of the frame is in the distance and does not interfere with observing. The light pollution on the right side is a source of illumination from the ski resort further up the mountain. It's not visible to the naked eye. Skies were SQM 21.4-21.5.
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Today observing buddy Jeroen arrived, we spent about two hours to clear more snow and to haul the equipment to the observing spot.

For everyone, here's an observing suggestion. Galaxy NGC4054 & friends in UMa. Last night, in my 12" I was able to discern the southeastern companion in addition to the NGC, the north-northeastern proved elusive. Screenshot from CSOG:
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Currently some high cloud appear to drift in from the west. We'll see whether or not the skies clear again!

[Clear Skies]

Had an awesome observing run last night. Skies completely cleared an hour after end of astronomical twilight with transparency quickly improving. SQM hovered around 21.5 for most of the night.
Observed 80+ galaxies in Ursa Major and a few in Draco. Lots of very faint ones, some barely discernable and a few bright ones that showed some detail. IC2574 (http://www.deepskyforum.com/showthread.php?348-IC-2574-aka-Coddington-s-Nebula) was one of them. Was lucky to catch a small meteor streaking through the FoV, leaving a trail that quickly dissolved. Quite a sight.
A timelapse was running towards the southwest, here's a single frame (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=473603476044082&set=a.416891691715261.98819.178986298839136&type=1&relevant_count=1).
Clouds are expected tonight, let's hope the site's altitude of 1400m. will keep us above most of them.

[Ivan Maly]

A really good site. Thank you for posting the detailed information about it. Love that shot of our Galaxy center over the dramatic ridge.

[Clear Skies]

Allright, who's doing the raindance..?

[Clear Skies]

The skies have not yet permitted an all-nighter. We did observe the past two nights. Just over an hour on Thursday morning, as skies did not clear until 3AM. Managed to catch a few galaxies in Serpens (Caput) and some in Hercules, along with the brighter carbon stars of Her.
Last night was better. Again, cloud cover 'till midnight, then great skies with the best transparency of the week. SQM >21.50, which is quite good for Europe. Ran a timelapse, observed some faint fuzzies in Leo, experimented a bit with prime focus photography and continued my observations in Boötes. Another 80 or so galaxies to add to my log.
Once I get home I will work out my observations, first in Dutch, to later translate everything to English.

Here's an image, "self portrait with telescope":
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With forecasts continuing to improve I am expecting that all-nighter tonight.

[Ivan Maly]

Great photo, captures everything and the bright stars. 80 galaxies can take me months to log at my typical pace of late.

Incidentally I was thinking about the site you are at. The driving distance (8 hours) is like for me (now after my move to New York State) to Spruce Knob in West Virginia, arguably the best eastern site in the US. The elevation is also similar to that site, meaning the Spruce Knob summit and not the Mountain Institute in the valley, from where most folks seem to observe and call it "Spruce Knob". Yet what you get in terms of SQM is rather between our rural club site (45 min away) and my now normal remote site, Cherry Springs, arguably the second-best in the Eastern US, now only 3 hours away for me. I haven't been to Spruce Knob with my SQM-L but 22.0 is what we can expect. This is how living in the relative wilderness compares with living in the heart of civilization. On balance I am no longer certain what I would prefer. I might just prefer the Australian Outback ;)

[Clear Skies]

Hi Ivan,

There are quite a few sites in western Europe with very dark skies, although an SQM value approaching 22 probably can't be found. There's always a tradeoff between weather and site darkness. Some very dark locations are closer to home (for me), like former East Germany, or the Ardennes in the north of France. Problem is that the weather is no different than in the Netherlands, meaning clear skies are very rare and clear spells of a week or so are completely unpredictable. The drive to the south of France is worth it, 10-11 hours, as at least a few clear nights are practically guaranteerd for every visit.
The darkest site I ever observed from was Sutherland (http://astro.clearskies.eu/en/observing/locations/locations.htm#sutherland), South Africa. The town hosts SALT, the Southern African Large Telescope. I suppose the best comparison to the site would be the Australian outback. I visited Sutherland twice in 2008 and once in 2009, the last two occasions using an 11" SCT available locally. I tweaked the scope on my first visit, now it's mine to use whenever I'm there . :)

Last night here in France was an all-nighter. Observed loads of galaxies in Leo, Virgo, Bootes and Libra and a few NGC nebulae in galaxies. The nebulae were faint and and a challenge in my telescope, some avoided detection. Ended the night with carbon stars in Ophiuchus. Noted a small, clustelike group (http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_search?v=poss2ukstu_blue&r=18+31+42.5&d=%2B04+25+50&e=J2000&h=15.0&w=15.0&f=gif&c=none&fov=NONE&v3=) (6' east to west, cluster or asterism) NE of TY Ophiuchi, reported it on the DSH Yahoo Group. Ran a panning timelapse sequence but filled up the camera's card before the end of the night... just as the Milky Way through Sagittarius rose over the mountain Ceüze immediately to the south of the site.
Skies are amazingly clear today, expecting a lot from my final night here!

[theritz]

Great stories, Victor! And an amazing site at Spruce Knob. Looking at The Netherlands it is clear to me why not so many countrymen are interested in the universe. They simply cannot see any of it. Sad!

[Clear Skies]

Finally some time to start working out my observations! I knew that old computer screen would come in handy one day:

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485 recordings on my memorecorder for 6 sessions, including three all-nighters and a short one of only 70 minutes. Should translate into approximately the same number of objects, likely a few more.
Once I have all observations worked out (in Dutch) I will continue the translate all of them to English. Regardless, as soon as these session are complete I plan to post them all on my website in pdf, Excel, Apple's Numbers and an AstroPlanner observation database, and will update the files whenever another session is translated. Work in progress!

Here's a short, closeup timelapse at halfspeed (12fps) of observations in the night of 13-14 April. (http://www.clearskies.eu/webfiles/temp/130414_480p_12fps.mov)

Weather on day of arrival (temp. -5C) vs. day of departure (+25C):

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[Clear Skies]

All observations now worked out. Although all observing notes for the April sessions in France are in Dutch, I will get back to translating my observations to English. Planning to post all observations on my website and to update the file once new translations are complete. Anyhow, the attached Excel file lists the objects observed.

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Final tally:


6 Sessions
29 1/2 hours of telescope time
593 logged observations for 591 individual objects; approximately 490 objects I did not observe before
19 Carbon Stars
15 Double Stars
7 Nebulae (in galaxies)
3 Planetary Nebulae
2 Quasars
1 Possible asterism or cluster
544 Galaxies


Hopeful to revisit the site later this year to sweep up lots of galaxies in Andromeda and surrounding constellations.

[Clear Skies]

Hi all,

In France, astrotrip! Weather forecasts have never been better, this could be the first week with clear skies every night. I am posting short updates and a few pics on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_ClearSkies. Observing mostly galaxies, using a 14" SCT.

Cheers,


Victor

[Jimi Lowrey]

Victor Thanks for the report sounds like you had a great observing run.

Thanks for the tip on NGC 4054 looks like a gem of a group of galaxies. I have it on my list to give it a go!

[andre8x8]

Hi Victor,

Next week we will go to the Provence for a week of serious stargazing. The weather sure looks promising.
I have the Herschel 400 on my todo list.

Greetings,
André
Netherlands

[Clear Skies]

Hi Jimi,

The observation I posted for NGC4054 + friends was in 2013..! Here's a screenshot from CSOG 2.1:

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If you wish, you can download the observing guide containing this object (Uma Gx-6, first object on page 10) at http://www.clearskies.eu/download/constellation (http://www.clearskies.eu/download/constellation/), download 7 of 7 for the 12" edition.

Tonight, I observed a group not unlike NGC4054: MCG+00-29-022, PGC200269 & PGC200270 in Leo.

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Using my 14" SCT @ 167x I observed all three. Both MCG+00-29-022 and PGC200270 showed a nucleus, with the PGC's nucleus notably brighter than that of the MCG. PGC200270 was on the limit of visibility, I could glimpse it only using AV, no nucleus seen.

CSOG's 12" Leo Gx-11 guide contains this object on page 6. Download 4 of 7 for the 12" edition.

Also, tonight I learned NGC3705 has a bright (mag. 12) foreground star, superimposed directly NW of the center, as the SDSS image (http://skyservice.pha.jhu.edu/DR8/ImgCutout/getjpeg.aspx?ra=172.525&dec=9.28333&scale=0.396127&width=1200&height=1200&opt=&query=) reveals. Pity, for a little while I believed it could be a supernova..! :D

Cheers,


Victor

[Clear Skies]

Hi André,

I'm in Alpes de Haute Provence, close to the city of Gap. Weather forecast continue to look very promising. Had two good, although quite short observing runs. Tonight's skies' transparency was not as good as yesterday, but hey, it beats the Dutch skies hands down!
In case you're looking for an observing guide for the Herschel 400, you can download it here (http://www.clearskies.eu/download/catalog/).

Cheers,


Victor

[andre8x8]

Hi Victor,

Today I'm going to pack the VW transporter, we will travel to the France this night.
We will stay in Cruis:
http://www.chambresdhotes.org/Detailed/3910.html
I hope my new 24"f3.7 encased GoTo Dobson performs OK and nothing breaks loose.:
http://www.astrosurf.com/aheijkoop/Equipment/24%20inch%20Dobson/24%20inch%20f3.7%20Encased%20GoTo%20Dobson.htm


Thanks for the link, I downloaded the guide.


Greetings,
André

[Ivan Maly]

Cool new scope!

Edit: BOTH!

[Clear Skies]

There's a first for everything: Not clouded out tonight, but sanded out. Southern flow today brings Sahara dust / sand particles. Can't see it by day, but as I stepped out for another night under the stars, it seemed as if the sky was filled with tiny snowflakes in the glare of my headlight. Keeping the scope covered. Not checking satellite images for clouds tonight, but keeping an eye on wind direction instead.

[Clear Skies]

Last night was my best night under European skies, ever. Dark, great transparency, good seeing and no humidity whatsoever. After 1:30 SQM reached over 21.7 and stayed there.

Observed galaxies in Lynx, Leo and Canes Venatici. If you like a busy field of view, here's a suggestion: NGC3842 and friends, in Leo.

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Galaxies galore. A few relatively bright ones and countless tiny faint patches. As you move the scope a bit, more and more enter the eyepiece (14" SCT - 167x / 29'). I use a memo recorder to record my observations, to work them out in detail at a later time. The recording for this patch of sky is almost 11 minutes in length. There have to be at least 30 observed galaxies on that one recording. I simply described what I observed and will find out what their names are later!

[Clear Skies]

Tonight will be another good night. With a bit of luck, tomorrow will be too. Thursday looks doubtful.
I have four recent OOTW's on my list for tonight, will post observations tomorrow.

The skies have been exceptionally good the past few nights, especially for western Europe. It's my ninth visit to this site, and already it's the best by far. Fingers crossed for more clear skies.