Sky & Telescope - April 2020 - 34

Going Ultra-Deep

First Success: The 90-inch Bok Telescope
The view through the 90-inch Bok telescope at Kitt Peak
in 2010 was a dramatically different story altogether,
made even more special because it was a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to observe through this tremendous instrument. Here's an excerpt from my notes:
"By golly, there it is, big as life! AV [averted vision] brings it
out best along with two bright knots in the jet - how cool is
that! Words are failing me at this point because everything is
superlative - a jet of relativistically accelerated matter by a
supermassive black hole - woohoo! The jet appears cooler /
bluer than M87 . . . 668×, 21.52 SQM [sky quality meter]."

This was an electrifying sight! I had given no thought
to the jet's color beforehand and seeing it so well was
thrilling. Afterward, I wondered if this stunning vision of
the jet would spoil future observations. Fortunately, no.

pTHROUGH THE 90-INCH BOK TELESCOPE The view was pretty
much the same through the 82-inch and 90-inch scopes, so this 90-inch
sketch represents them both. M87's outer reaches had no obvious edge
and filled the field of view. The relativistic jet was a knockout directvision object, especially when the light blue color of the jet was seen
- look carefully at the sketch, the color is subtle just like through the big
scopes. Wow for both! North is up in all sketches featured here.

Second Success: My 28-inch Telescope
The ﬁrst time I deﬁnitely saw the jet in my own scope
was in 2012. Through the 28-inch I saw the two knots on
the end of the jet blurred into a single stubby, fuzzy knob
pointing outward from the core of M87. It was diffuse
and appeared much wider than expected - the knots had
looked stellar in the 90-inch - but that did nothing to
dull my excitement. Hey, I'd ﬁnally seen part of the jet in
my own scope! Assuming it's possible (which I am), seeing
it extend all the way to the core in the 28-inch will take
a night with much steadier seeing conditions. My notes
from that night's observing read:
"Not quite a jet sighting, but I did see the brightest knots in
the jet! I should have given this a shot last night when the
seeing was steadier. 695×, 21.68 SQM."

Third Success: Jimi Lowrey's 48-inch
Telescope

pTHROUGH MY 28-INCH SCOPE This sketch shows how I perceived
M87 and the knots at the end of its jet in my 28-inch f/4 scope. Compare
with the other sketches and note that the jet isn't portrayed as a thin ray
all the way to the core. See also how wide the knots are - they blended
into one fuzzy blob during this observation.

I've seen the jet in Jimi Lowrey's 48-inch each time we've
looked. The best views show the jet coming from the
central core, and the two brightest knots toward the end
look like beads on a string. This is what I noted regarding
my best view in 2017:

Interestingly, the jet has always looked wider in the
48-inch than in the 90-inch. Or in the 82-inch for that
matter, which is just a short drive up Texas Highway 118 at
McDonald Observatory.
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APRIL 2 02 0 * SK Y & TELESCOPE

pTHROUGH JIMI LOWREY'S 48-INCH SCOPE I call this a "kick-butt
view," though I didn't perceive any color in this observation.

HOWA RD BA NICH (3)

"Holy cow, this is nearly as good a view as in the 90-inch
Bok!! The jet is thin and long, coming directly out of the core
and has two knots, the brightest on the end. They're stellar
during the steadiest moments of seeing. SPECTACULAR!
690× gave the best view - an unforgettable sight - wow!
21.74 SQM."
Sky & Telescope - April 2020

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