SN 2004et, TV76, 10/15/04
From: Florian (Florian_at_remove.stargazing.com)
Date: 10/17/04
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Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 16:40:30 GMT
I was camping in the Mojave (Calif.) desert Friday night at the
Hole-in-the-Wall campground. When i arrived i was surprised to find
the campground was almost full. Turns out that quail hunting season
opened the next day! Also one camper near me had floodlights on the
side of his trailer. Fortunately i was on the backside so didn't get
them face on. Unfortunately his generator was on my side so i got the
noise. Generator hours end at 7pm. When he was still running it at
7:30pm i went over and asked him to turn it off. He complied and
happily this also forced him to turn off the floodlights! [Note to
self: Don't go camping the night before quail season starts.] I was
also surprised how bright the glow was to the north from Las Vegas 75
miles away. ;-(
Using my Tele Vue 76 i easily located galaxy 6946 and nearby open
cluster 6939. I've always liked this pair of objects and how they look
similar in the small scope. I used a printed copy of the locater chart
from Skyhound.com...
http://skyhound.com/sh/SN2004et.gif
Working from the chart and using 9mm and 7mm Naglers i first
identified some of the brighter field stars. There is a triangle of
unlabeled stars south of the galaxy core and another unlabeled pair
north at the edge of the photographic image area. Trying for the
supernova at first i didn't see anything. But after a while and just
spending time with the galaxy i found i could indeed detect something
in the right place. In fact with the 7mm i did start to see two
objects which i believe were the supernova and a double start just
east. I could not tell that the double star itself was double. I
returned to the galaxy a couple of times throughout the evening to
verify that i really was seeing the supernova and each time, with
patience, i could just pick out objects (the supernova and double star
to its east) at the correct location. In such a small scope the
supernova was something less than spectacular. But just being able to
detect it was satisfying.
Later in the evening very thin high clouds started to spoil the view.
I awoke the next morning to the sounds of shotguns blasting and a gray
overcast sky.
-Florian
Stargazing.com
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