Caldwell Program Thread

[sfast]

I'm working on the Caldwell list now, and it's been a lot of fun - more fun than the Messier list. Of course, the Messier list has most of the showpiece objects for the northern hemisphere, but the Caldwell list is much more varied. It's got showpiece objects as well as dim ones that Patrick Moore picked for historical reasons. It's also more interesting if you take the time to do a bit of research on the objects before you view them because there's usually an interesting background to the object. A few are naked-eye like the Perseus Double Cluster, but there are 2-3 I haven't been able to find yet from Columbus in an 8".

Has anyone in our club gotten the Caldwell pin (there are objects in declination from +85 to -81 degrees, so you have to go to both hemispheres to do it)? I'd be very interested in how you did it. I was able to find Caldwell 87, which is a glob in Horologium, at -55 degrees and just 5 deg 40 min above the horizon at Columbus. There were tree branches in the field of view, so I sketched those as well! So I'm sure it's possible from Columbus to get the 70 objects that are required for a certificate. But I want see them all because the southern ones are the really cool stuff that we never get to see here, so I'm hoping to travel south at some point.

Anyone else working on this one? I've got 47 so far.

David Paul Green has done a really nice set of log sheets for the Caldwell list http://www.davidpaulgreen.com/tcol/TCOL_R1a.pdf

Steve

[rene-gedaly]

Ah, Steve. Miss your smiling face at the Membership table. I recently got a promotion to Membership myself but due to covid-19, the smiles are virtual.

Okay, so I'm substituting the Caldwell Program for the Open Cluster, which I intend to re-observe in the future. I sure hope I'm reading the rules correctly this time because it appears that the 70 object list counts toward the master observer award. So does the complete 109 object list.

The Awards:

The Caldwell List has been broken into two award categories; 70 objects, and the complete list of 109. Each award will consist of a certificate with Sir Patrick Moore's signature and an award pin. The pictures on the pins are two of Sir Patrick's favourites; the Cat's Eye Nebula, visible from the Northern Hemisphere, and the Tarantula Nebula, visible from the Southern Hemisphere.

There's a pdf on the astroleague site, believe Aaron Clevenson compiled it, that shows that the Caldwell - Silver is acceptable for the Master Observer Award: https://www.astroleague.org/files/u220/ALObservingPrograms.pdf. This is the one that sold me.

Finally, it appears many of our Master Observers observed and got award credit for the Caldwell - Silver toward their master. So this looks fun, I've already got complete logs for a number of the objects, and will use this as my final, optional list. Note: THIS IS A STAR HOPPING ONLY LIST.

Still need to finish up others, too. Guess I better look them over sooner than later.