Heavy dew tour.

[cotterless45]

Depending which chart you look at Perseus appears to me a mish mash of outlying Algol ( bright ) and a fine arch in the Milky Way. A promising forecast and no Moon , however the dew was just dripping. I'll start with this . Not the best of conditions !

The double cluster was sparkling, it often helps just to fill the view with one at a time. Then down to the chained bright doubles of M34 and further open clusters,

NGC 1582 has a fine long sweeping chain.

NGC 1245 showed some faint starry clouds.

NGC 1342 , a lovely filled loop and a faint

NGC 1513.

NGC 1545 was quite dull compared to the running lovely bright chains of

NGC 1528. There was enough contrast to catch

M76, the "Little Dumbell" at x50 and the bright streak of the galaxy Ngc1023. The Melotte around Mirfak adds to the glow of the Milky Way here. Even M1 showed shape and form , later and nearby in Taurus.

Uranus was surprisingly bright and easy to find, showing a greeny disc at x50.

Up past the zenith and M27 just glowed, hurrah for a cheap UHC filter. Cetus stretched along the south and showed the quite bright lone star Mira. I was very much taken by the double stars here including

66 Ceti with a fine dainty companion at x60 and the bright eyes of Σ 274. Light cloud drifted in .

A few hours sleep and a wonderful transit shadow of Ganymede caught with a 5.5mm 5000 in the Lightbridge. Jupiter is at the head of Leo, a quick nudge to the back leg showed the Leo triplet.

I was not taken with NGC 40 in Cepheus ,the Bow tie nebula , earlier on. Any good for anyone ?

I compared the views between the Dob and the 150 frac. There was surprisingly little difference from the edge of town.

Our neighbour staggered out at 5.30 for his first cigarette , tripping on the security light he bought from a Stalag. That's it until more clear skies,

Nick.

[WaveSoarer]

That's a great report Nick. I was also out last night, though I didn't stay up all that late. I also had quite a bit of dew but nothing like as bad as you.

[Qualia]

Wow. That is a lot of dew! Makes it a right pain if it starts coating the eyepieces. But great report and nice observing session. You've got quite some stamina, Nick! I just can't rise for Jupiter this year and have decided to save the first moment for winter. Thanks again and hope you get a less wetty night tonight

[DeepSkyBagger]

Great report, Nick. I had a massively dewy night on 16th September, when I forgot to turn on my secondary mirror heater. It took 20 minutes at full power to clear the mist. I staggered on for a bit, but had to give up when my eyepieces dewed over. I was at a remote location, and manhandling the 12" back into the car when it was dripping wet was quite hairy!

[DeepSkyBagger]

Oops, forgot to mention. NGC 40 - I had a good view of this object on 26th August. I'll put a report up about it shortly.

[Special K]

Fantastic tour despite the dew and you're made of sterner stuff to get back out after a nap! Now the clock is turned back, it could be a return to more social hours. M27 certainly does like a UHC

[David Smith]

Interesting comparing the 250 Dob and the 150 frac. I have a 120 frac and 250 dob but have never done a direct comparison, just assumed I would get better night-time views with the 250 Dob and the 120 frac was bought specifically for Solar viewing / imaging.

Some interesting targets in your list Nick, I just need some more clear skies to allow me to capitalise on my current level of enthusiasm for late nights

And maybe a session with the Evostar next to the Dob as they have similar focal length.