Joe Tarkany
Hidden Hollow ‘02
The weather forecast for the weekend was for rain and gusts of wind up to 40 miles per hour. When I left from Dayton a radio station said the rain already stopped in Cincinnati. Their High school football games will be played and there was just an isolated chance of more rain. I arrived at Hidden Hollow ‘02 and set my tent up with help just before the rain started. Remnants of the hurricane Lili arrived around seven PM and dropped about a half inch of water in about two hours. The winds blew, and constant maintenance was required to keep the tent standing. The tent held and I figured that this was better then sitting in my van after riding for four hours. I was unpacked and ready for clear dark skies.
It was dark and wet. Binoculars came out first. Andromeda Galaxy was one of the first objects to be looked at. It spread clear across the field in every pair of binoculars that was available. Hidden Hollow is for sure dark. It was at least a sixth magnitude sky. We were swapping binoculars and I was getting to hold an 11 by 70 pair. I saw M110 in the same field as M31 and M32. M33 was an easy find. The double cluster in Perseus was a spectacular sight, full of stars! Still with clouds in the sky I searched for Open Cluster NGC6939 next to Spiral Galaxy NGC6946 in Cepheus. I found both, with binoculars! Almost strait up, and a bit north, NGC6946 is a difficult object to see unless the sky is very dark.
The 31-inch telescope was in operation, I could here the sounds that the big dome made and see the red glow from the lights inside. Everything was getting wet. I counted a couple dozen Messier objects through binoculars before getting some sleep. There was dew was all over everything.
Saturday came and the talks were superb. Brent Archinal of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) gave a scientific explanation of the Space Program and what he is doing with the USGS. One picture showed the path of a dust devil on Mars. There were new pictures and high-level explanations. Brent is a long time member of The Richland Astronomical Society, and has an active part in the operation of Warren Rupp Observatory. Which includes their 31-inch telescope.
Phil Harrington, noted astronomy columnist, lecturer and author knows a lot about binoculars. It was a well-received lecture. The history of binoculars goes back as far as the invention of the telescope. His talk included matching the exit pupil of the binoculars with your eye. For dim galaxies go with an exit pupil of about two to darken the background.
Rick Fienberg, Editor in Chief of Sky & Telescope Magazine gave a lecture on telescopes that included both amateur and professional astronomy. Telescopes began in 1609-10 with the Hans Lippershey’s invention. Galileo Galilei used the invention to make the first astronomy observations. He then talked about the technologies of today. The amateurs and the go-to telescopes are making it easy for beginners to use their equipment without being frustrated. He finishes with predicting where we will be at the end of the 21st century. Large segmented mirrors will be in space in the near future. It was a well-researched presentation on the history of telescopes.
One more thing before dinner, Door prizes. Lots of them! Included in the door prizes were three pairs of binoculars given out and MVAS members got two of them. The last door prize was the ETX90 / EC with field tripod. Dave Hartsel presented the ETX and elaborated that long time Hidden Hollow attendee Maury Childs is gone and that he is being missed. He gave a history report on the” Fairy God Mother Department” and the donations of Meade in the past. He thanked Maury and Meade telescopes.
Saturday night was dark, but because of hurricane remnant Lili, there were fewer telescopes this year. But the ones that were there were impressive. I set up first on the paved basketball court away from the hoop to get a good spot off of the grass and to avoid the dew. After a few hours of viewing I noticed the court was full of Meade telescopes: One 12 inch LX200, three10 inch LX200’s, A couple of ETX90’s, A 10 inch old LX3, and my 10-inch LX5. They all worked well. A Meade Pictor 416 was operating on the 12-inch and on one of the tens.
The sound of the Warren Rupp Observatory dome moving was like a calling. Every time the dome moved the line would form. The operators made sure that every one around got to see through the 31-inch telescope before moving to the next object.
The Saturn nebula through the 31 made a lasting impression, I could clearly see the ring. This object requires a camera to see the ring if smaller telescope is used. M13 was impressive M15 was good. M27 or the Dumbbell was especially memorable, I remember showing the Dumbbell to Maury many years back. The view of Saturn itself was bright, the yellow from the surface of the planet easy to detect, but it was just too bright. The view of M57 or The Ring Nebula was awesome. It was the first time that I could see the central star.
The most committed group of astronomers were the ones the attended. There were a lot of great scopes with memorable views and they shared their view of the sky with everyone. There were some larger four-inch binoculars that showed great views of Andromeda Galaxy. Another memorable view was of Saturn through a Meade Research Grade 12 ˝ Newtonian. The MVAS has one like this and is preparing to place it on a pier at John Bryan State Park in the near future. Hidden Hollow ‘02 is over, and because it is a biannual event I will have to wait until 2004 to return. I will be there even if the weather forecast for the weekend is not good.
We would like to thank Joe very much and hope to see him again this year!