ASD Planetarium: 1999 Dieruff Academy Field Experience
FEBRUARY 12, 1999:   STAR HILL INN OBSERVING DECK

The night of the twelfth marked the second evening we were out under the stars after dark. On the eleventh, we spent a chilly hour familiarizing ourselves with constellations that can only barely be glimpsed from our Lehigh Valley environment. There were probably over 1,500 stars visible to us on each evening, and no light pollution discernable at all. The second night was our big push to use the computer-driven 14" CompuStar telescope.
Our goal was to view some of the celestial masterpieces first catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Messier was a comet hunter who didn't want to foolishly mistake a moving comet for something which was permanent in the sky. His comet discoveries were insignificant compared to the wonders he found with his small telescope.
Among the three dozen M-objects upon which we set our telescopic sights were: the Beehive Cluster (M44); the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51); and the Orion Nebula (M42). The Whirlpool Galaxy has been in collision with another smaller spiral galaxy for 100 million years. The Orion Nebula is located in the sword of Orion, which has now been shown by the Hubble Space Telescope to be a stellar birthplace.
The night was so dark and the skies so beautiful that we soon found ourselves hunting down obscure clusters and galaxies that would be virtually impossible to view from Eastern Pennsylvania. Probably all totalled, we saw 75 galaxies, clusters and nebulae. When the frigid 18 degree temperatures finally got to us, it was 3:15 a.m., and summer constellations were rising in the east. We got to bed by 4 a.m. and slept a good sleep.

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