2013 is out Hello 2014!

[Preston Pendergraft]

So with the year ending, how did everyone fair this year? 2013 wasn't terrible but I got out more in 2012. This year I completed the Carbon Star list from the AL. Also saw PANSTARRS and ISON, so two nice comets and a observing pin, not a bad year overall. It does seem those of us in the south sure got a lot of rain though from about June forward.

Plans for next year:
Sketching the Messier Catalog.
Completing the Stellar Evolution Pin from the AL.

So what did everyone accomplish this year? And what goals does everyone have for 2014?

[Clear Skies]

2013 was a good year. Three trips to dark skies in France. 18 Sessions, 1486 logged observations for 1458 objects. Plenty of double stars close to home, saving most DSO's for better skies abroad.
Highlight of the year for me was observing 18 individual segments of the Veil Nebula, only "B" eluded me.

Plan for 2014 is to continue to observe new objects, still targeting every DSO in reach of my 12" SCT. Hopeful to be able to travel to dark skies this spring, targeting plenty of galaxies in Leo and surrounding constellations.

[vesna71]

2013 was a "annus horribilis", for me only 1 session to dark skies. :(
I hope that the new year will give me more satisfaction ... and a new mirror!
Ciao

[lamperti]

It definitely was a "annus horribilis", here in the eastern US. Lucky if I got out to dark skies 1x/month. December = 0. Must be the unlucky "13" in the year 2013. Like Preston though did get certificates from the A.L.: Comet, Asterisms and Stellar Evolution. Onward to 2014!

[Vic]

2013 was not bad, I had 180 observing sessions (but 2012 was a bit better with 246 nights). This year I saw 19 comets, many new DSO's (including a few new Palomars). Last night I also catched Himalia for the first time with my 16"… So, in the end I'm quite contented.
I'm looking forward to 2014. I have no special plans. We will see…
Vic

[Howard B]

My 2013 observing year was pretty darn good, and a big improvement over 2012. Even so, I only had one night when conditions were truly top notch, but then that's better than none so no complaints. My observing highlights were seeing the brightest segment of Cas A's southern arc and watching the pulsations of V42 and V84 in M5. In 2014 I hope to complete several composite drawings I've had in the works but mostly to enjoy as many clear, dark nights as possible and see lots of new stuff.

[Ivan Maly]

Good questions, Preston, and interesting replies. Happy New Year to all!

It is hard to evaluate 2013 objectively because in the last 80 days I have had 2 hours of observing. Enough to drive a man mad, right? Also since late May there has been a certain brightening of the sky here, by about 0.2 mpsas. It may be solar rather than local industrial activity, but not helpful regardless. Objectively though the year was quite fine as far as what I have been able to see. In all months except December I had a satisfactory outing to the dark skies, and in some months two or three. The natural highlights of the year were the asteroid 2012 DA14 (link (http://idle-stargazer.blogspot.com/2013/02/asteroid-2012-da14.html)), the conjunction of Pluto with Palomar 8 (link (http://idle-stargazer.blogspot.com/2013/07/pluto-and-palomar-8.html)), and the supernova in M74 (link (http://idle-stargazer.blogspot.com/2013/08/phantom-erupts.html)). Among the most non-trivial observations for me this year I should count the star-like HII regions in M66 (link (http://idle-stargazer.blogspot.com/2013/05/hii-regions-in-m66.html)) and a very detailed view of IC 1613 (link (http://idle-stargazer.blogspot.com/2013/10/ic-1613.html)) on what was probably the only exceptional night of the year.

New Year wishes: 1) not to be tempted to move far from good skies; 2) for the sky to darken back to how it was; 3) for the weather to coordinate with the moon so that there are 1 to 3 fine nights every month. Given the possibility to observe under good conditions, I am not concerned about specific observing plans. I can always continue digging out detail in Messier and Messier-class galaxies and enjoy the freedom to go off on an observing tangent at any time. To think of it in the light-hearted holiday spirit, I may even blow the dust (and scrape the rust?) off my CCDs!

[akarsh]

Driving is a non-essential skill in India, but is indispensible in the US. Learning to drive in late 2012 / early 2013, turning 25 in mid-2013, and getting a car in mid-2013 really has enabled my astronomy! So 2013 has been a wonderful year for me, although the skies over Texas haven't been as good as they were in 2012 and 2011.

I got about 7 ~ 8 nights of observing in 2013, and this, along with TSP 2012, has enabled me to finish 50% of the Palomar globulars, and a good number of Hickson groups. Also observed a lot of fainter diffuse nebulae, and some of the Abell planetary nebulae.

I think my most memorable observations of 2013 include Abell 70, Pacman nebula, Heart nebula, NGC 1999.

My goals for 2012 are to bag a few more Hickson groups, and make some trips to west Texas to attempt all those low-contrast nebulae and local group galaxies. Also want to check off some more Abell planetary nebulae.