I traveled to the ASH Naylor Observatory last night to take advantage of a few hours of unexpected clear skies. Using the club's 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain, I was able to see the Cocoon Galaxy, NGC 4490, and its smaller companion NGC 4485 easily enough, despite only fair transparency. I could hold the 13th magnitude field star at the southeastern end of NGC 4490 steadily but the recent supernova SN 2008ax, which is more proximal to the nucleus of NGC 4490, proved to be very illusive. I could only catch the occasional fleeting glimpse of it over a period of over half an hour. I observed the two galaxies at 162 and 259x and the supernova at 259, 324, and 404x.

I decided to try again after NGC 4490 had climbed higher into the sky and slewed the 17" to Saturn and a few other celestial objects. I viewed Saturn at 259, 324, 404, and 432x and noted four (Dione, Rhea, Tethys, and Titan) of the five Saturnian satellites that were visible at the time. Enceladus, which was just north of the ring plane, was the exception. While I was hunting down NGC 2392, I noticed clouds streaming in from the west. I took a quick look at M3 at 162 and 432x before the clouds reached the east but in a few minutes time the entire sky was completely overcast so I called it a night.

Dave Mitsky

__________________
Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

im keeping my fingers crossed for tonight. last night was too cloudy to go out for any significant amount of time. the forcast calls for a clear night. knock on wood.