Clearest night yet - despite the moon!

[SlyReaper]

Just had another fantastic couple of hours with my shiny new telescope.  Mars was the clearest it's been all week despite being close to the moon.  With a yellow filter (which I guess must have cut out a fair portion of the moon's glare?), I was able to get a clear disc at 225x magnification and could clearly make out a dark albedo feature near one of the edges.  And hints of other features on the rest of the disc.  Jupiter, also glorious.  I could see three of the moons on one side, and what I think was the other major moon on the other.  Unlike previous observations, these three tiny pinpricks of light did not form a perfect line - one of them appeared to be slightly below the others.  The cloud bands were a little clearer - I could detect some slight shape and texture to them, rather than just seeing that there were bands. 

Tried looking for the M3 globular cluster, as was suggested to me on this forum, but wasn't able to find it.  I found the star Arcturus easily enough, and tried to just go up from there.  Saw lots of shiny little stars that weren't visible to the naked eye, but couldn't catch a glimpse of M3.  Oh well, maybe better luck when there isn't a full moon washing everything out.  If I could see it with the naked eye, I'd be able to use my red dot pointer to find it. 

Finished off the session with a look at the moon itself.  If it's going to sit there like a dirty great floodlight in the sky, might as well give it a gander, right?  Wow, even with a lunar filter on my eyepiece, it was overwhelmingly bright, it almost hurt to look at it.  Hard to believe the moon's albedo is actually very low.  Loved the exquisite detail I got on the full moon once my eye had adjusted.  All those tiny little craters you never see just by looking naked eye.  All those little pockmarks and debris fields, and those vast dark plains of ancient lava.  Fantastic.

[JulianFR]

I've just started to be able to find M3 regularly, using a wide-angle EP then upping the magnification as it seems to be able to take quite a bit. As you say, up from Arcturus, down from Cor Caroli. It is spectacular... You can really see the graininess of the individual stars radiating out from the core.

I haven't been out tonight as I have to be up early tomorrow... And I must admit I found last night's bright moon washed out everything except the planets (not that they weren't super).

Regards, Julian

[ronin]

Have you never noticed that on really good full moons the sky is generally clear.

The wails of dispair from the imagers can be heard very easily, usually along the lines of "The only clear night for weeks and everything is washed out. WHY!!!"

[SlyReaper]

I've just started to be able to find M3 regularly, using a wide-angle EP then upping the magnification as it seems to be able to take quite a bit. As you say, up from Arcturus, down from Cor Caroli. It is spectacular... You can really see the graininess of the individual stars radiating out from the core.

I haven't been out tonight as I have to be up early tomorrow... And I must admit I found last night's bright moon washed out everything except the planets (not that they weren't super).

Regards, Julian

I was using the widest angle eyepiece I own, but no luck.  Also, I have no idea where Cor Caroli is.  I'm going to try again tonight.

[JulianFR]

I kind of (very crudely) triangulate M3 as being half way ish between Arcturus and Cor Caroli (the next somewhat fainter tar upwards on a line from Lectures) and with the curved handle of the big dipper pointing roughly in its direction.

I'm afraid I'm not very scientific about these things!

Julian

[johnd]

I've just started to be able to find M3 regularly, using a wide-angle EP then upping the magnification as it seems to be able to take quite a bit. As you say, up from Arcturus, down from Cor Caroli. It is spectacular... You can really see the graininess of the individual stars radiating out from the core.

I haven't been out tonight as I have to be up early tomorrow... And I must admit I found last night's bright moon washed out everything except the planets (not that they weren't super).

Regards, Julian

Hello, noticed you have the same Scope as me and you also use a Rigel. As a newbie I was wondering how you go about finding a DSO i.e. You use a chart/Map say a Telrad Chart (as I've attached) and use your Rigel to position as per the Chart? then you use your Finder? Or you use an EP? and then go down to what EP size generally? I don't have a Finder Scope and use my 25mm EP to try and locate from its view and think I'll need to get one I've been recommended as a very good one an Altair 10x60mm Right Angled Illuminated Scope and it certainly looks the business? Any help appreciated.

Oh and I accept that my LP of SW London will limit my seeing somewhat.

[JulianFR]

Hi John. First of all I have to apologise for the errors in my previous post here... (tar for star; Lectures for Arcturus!) A combination of touchpad keyboard and awful spellchecker.

But to your question, I am very much a beginner so there are many, many better and more experienced observers in this forum who can offer sage advice. For my part I use Turn Left..., the S&T star atlas and the monthly magazines to identify what I want to look at. Then I try to memorize where to look... I haven't yet got into the habit of taking star charts out with me with a red torch, though I do use a couple of GPS apps on my phone, which are useful.

The trouble is it can take me ages to actually locate the target DSO... I STILL haven't managed to find the two sets of clusters/galaxies at the base of Leo (ie M66 and M65 I think) or M101 near the handle of Ursa Major, even though they must be EASY to spot! I can only assume they must be washed out by the moon at the moment.

I tend to point the telescope in the right area with the Rigel, then take a closer look with the 9x50. For me they work well as a pair. But the RA version I bought has been well worth it... Much easier than the supplied straight-through 9x50 finder.

When I DO finally locate my target DSO I find it much easier next time. I can now go straight to M3, the Ring Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy when before I would nearly be in tears with frustration. Well, nearly but you know what I mean.

I think the more advanced astronomers here - and other beginners probably - would be much more methodical and successful than me. I'm too impatient and just want to start looking, even though I get frustrated at my failure to find things.

But importantly I am learning patience and finally things are happening... DOEs and, finally, some detail on Mars! Usually advice from this forum is the critical factor.

[JulianFR]

DOEs should be DSOs of course! Flaming spellchecker!

[SlyReaper]

I'm going to have another go at finding some DSOs tonight. There should be a good hour or two between sunset and moonrise, so might have a bit more luck. Still need to find a good dark sky spot in my area.

[johnd]

Hi John. First of all I have to apologise for the errors in my previous post here... (tar for star; Lectures for Arcturus!) A combination of touchpad keyboard and awful spellchecker.

But to your question, I am very much a beginner so there are many, many better and more experienced observers in this forum who can offer sage advice. For my part I use Turn Left..., the S&T star atlas and the monthly magazines to identify what I want to look at. Then I try to memorize where to look... I haven't yet got into the habit of taking star charts out with me with a red torch, though I do use a couple of GPS apps on my phone, which are useful.

The trouble is it can take me ages to actually locate the target DSO... I STILL haven't managed to find the two sets of clusters/galaxies at the base of Leo (ie M66 and M65 I think) or M101 near the handle of Ursa Major, even though they must be EASY to spot! I can only assume they must be washed out by the moon at the moment.

I tend to point the telescope in the right area with the Rigel, then take a closer look with the 9x50. For me they work well as a pair. But the RA version I bought has been well worth it... Much easier than the supplied straight-through 9x50 finder.

When I DO finally locate my target DSO I find it much easier next time. I can now go straight to M3, the Ring Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy when before I would nearly be in tears with frustration. Well, nearly but you know what I mean.

I think the more advanced astronomers here - and other beginners probably - would be much more methodical and successful than me. I'm too impatient and just want to start looking, even though I get frustrated at my failure to find things.

But importantly I am learning patience and finally things are happening... DOEs and, finally, some detail on Mars! Usually advice from this forum is the critical factor.

No your method sound pretty much like mine except I don't have a finder scope and I'm finding that going from the Naked Eye view in my Rigel to my 25mm EP tricky to say the least. Your DSO targets are the same as mine although my views don't allow "M3, the Ring Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy" at the moment or I don't think so (must check these) but like you I've spent hours searching for the LEO and U Major DSO's and despite my LP Southern views did actually find M65 as a faint blob. If I get a chance I'll also be out before the moon gets up having a look for M82 and M65 again but I suspect that even before the moon creeps up its still too bright in my location and will have to wait for the new moon phase. Which, I bet will be cloudy    Your Wiltshire location must be pretty good no?

[JulianFR]

I found Andromeda and the Ring regularly a couple of months ago... As you say there not around much at the moment... Not where I can see them anyway ;-) I found one of the DSOs in Coma Berinices last week... But I have no idea which one it was!

I also located the Whirlpool galaxy in my smaller scope recently but would have liked to try a bit more mag than I did at the time... And I haven't found it again since.

SlyReaper ... Sounds like tonight might be worth a look. I'll be out later!

[SlyReaper]

Bah, high level cirrus clouds.  Not a good night for telescopage.  Of course; the moment the moon goes away, the clouds come back.

[JulianFR]

Yep, I went out with my grab-go scope and only had a short while before the close rolled in ... Just enough to obscure anything of interest :-(