Notable Observations from the 20" Scope.

First Light in Washington, Michigan, January 1993. Object: IC 405, Flaming Star Nebula.

I deliberated for days as to what the First Light object would be.... Obviously something the 8" couldn't touch.

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Successfully splitting Pluto and Charon, SMURFS Star Party, Gladwin, Michigan.

Following an S&T article mentioning maximum elongation of the Plutonian system occurring, I successfully split Pluto and Charon, seeing black sky between them. Estimated elongation was 0.9 arc seconds.

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Visual observation of Spokes in Saturn's ring system, All Arizona Star Party, Arizona City, Arizona. October, 2001.

Some of the most steady skies seen in Arizona to date. Saturn's ball was filled with detailed belts and the spokes were visible in the ring system. Very good tilt of the ring system this year.

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Visual observation of M87's Jet, Overgaard, Arizona. May, 2006.

Armed with a photo from the article by Steve Coe "Explore the Virgo Cluster" in the April 2006 issue of Astronomy Magazine, I successfully identified the Jet of M87 using the anonomous galaxies within the halo of M87 to confirm orientation of the jet, as well as, not being confused by the anon galaxies.

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