Chiefland Astronomy Village Spring Picnic 2011

     This spring, my dad and I made the usual trip to Chiefland for some high quality dark sky observing and the annual Spring Picnic. Despite the stormy weather, we arrived on the afternoon of March 31 and immediately set up our tent and astronomy gear. Along with our usual telescopes,  I had brought my small 80mm refractor that was built from the left over parts of my broken 20x80 binoculars.  I broke my 20x80 binoculars on the patio at home a couple of weeks before, so Jack Lavely and my dad and I built 2 small refractors out of them.  I painted mine blue and Jack painted his red.  It worked very well on wide field objects like M44, M45, and others.  The focal length is about 240 and the focal ratio is about f/2.8.  It had first light on Saturn!

  After realizing what was left behind, we headed to WalMart followed by Bar-B-Q Bills for dinner.  As far as skies go, the first night was not too good.  There were bands of clouds coming in continuously.  One minute, it was clear.  The next, it was clouded over.  Despite the cloudiness,  I still logged 1 object (M50) for my 50 object Binocular Messier Project.  

                                                                                                                                

     The next morning, we went to breakfast as usual (not that we needed a reason to go to Bar-B-Q Bill's). After breakfast, we took a 20 minute drive to Manatee Springs State Park for a few hours of nature observing and hiking.  It was a nice day to sit at the 'swamp' (see below).  After a nap in the evening, we were ready to observe.  That night, the weather was awesome.  I logged 7 objects for my Messier project (M78, M67, M1, M5, M36, M37, and M38).  My dad and I went to bed at about 12:30. 

    

Birthday Cake

 The next day was Saturday, the day of the picnic.  We went to breakfast at Bill's again.  It seemed like the weather was going to be great.  My dad and I had ordered a birthday cake from Wal-Mart with a space shuttle on it for the picnic (and my upcoming birthday), so we went to pick that up at around 1:00.  The food at the picnic was awesome, especially the chicken and baked beans.  There were so many desserts to choose from, and a lot didn't get eaten and went in the trash.  There were almost 60 people at the picnic, so it was  very nice gathering of friends and fellow amateur astronomers.

Messier 51

 That night, the weather was good.  A little soft... but good.  I made a find that night that seemed very cool to me: I found  M51, (the Whirlpool Galaxy).  That doesn't sound like much, but for 15 x 70 binoculars, it was very nice and it felt great to find it.  I logged it for my project.  I also saw M51 and the companion galaxy in my 8 inch dob. 

                                                                                                                                                                

 During the late evening hours, we were invited to look through Tom Clark's 42 inch reflector.  We saw a lot of things, including the Whale and the Pup, NGC 4565, the Blinking Planetary, the Skull Nebula, and M3.  Even though it was soft outside, my dad and I and Dave Gracey stayed up for a while.  I saw Omega Centauri, M4, and the Ring in the 15x70 binoculars that Dave Gracey was letting me borrow.  I went in around 2:30, and my dad came in around 4:30.  

   The next day after breakfast (yes, Bill's again), it was time to pack up.  I did most of the packing.  It was kind of sad to leave, but at the same time, I wanted to go home.  I gave Dave his 15x70 binoculars and mount and tripod that he had let me borrow.  They were a real help.  We left around noon on Sunday.  The weather was great on the way home.  

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Our next adventure is to the Kennedy Space Center on April 29th for the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour!

  

Until next time....wishing you clear dark skies!

Matthew

* The 'swamp' is the nickname given to our friend David Gracey's camp set-up. His dog's name is Hawkeye....