Star Party at Brower Observatory
Saturday, November 11, 2017, 5:00pm
341 Route 126, Whitefield, ME 04353
Yup! Star party tonight! A fine opportunity. The 16″ in the dome will be operational tonight. Colin has replaced its mirrors, and Phil has fixed the cover over the slot. Also tonight (assuming all works properly, after years in storage), CMAS reintroduces Stan Brower’s 12″ LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain. This was the original telescope in the dome, when the dome was a Stan’s house. A 12″ f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain’s performance is, in many regards, equivalent to that of a refractor or reflector twelve feet long, so get ready for some high-powered views!
Tonight promises good weather for deep space, so there is talk of hunting for the Helix Nebula, NGC 7293. Many of us have never seen it. Should be possible tonight, because the skies will be nearly perfectly clear at least until midnight, and the winds should moderate by the time the star party starts. Dress warmly, though; with temperatures in the low twenties, the mis-dressed will feel them.
Also in CMAS news, today, an heroic CMASian work crew is in Blue Hill, retrieving the deck for the new SkyShed Pod observatory. Soon, the 12″ LX200 will be in that dome, ready for use at a moment’s notice, forever shielded from snow and rain.
Join us tonight! There has never been a better time to be a CMASian!
