A nice night with the big Vixen 26th/27th May 2015

[Stu]

Had a nice session with the Vixen and Tak on the night of 26th/27th. It was the first proper run out with the AZEQ6 on the Meade Giant tripod and it basically went very well.

The Vixen and Tak ready to go

I just started from the home position initially without alignment before it was dark. That basically hit the planets close enough, particularly Jupiter which wasn't naked eye visible when I started.

Once it was dark enough to see a few stars, I did a two star align which proved pretty accurate. I had the Tak 100 on the other side as a mega finder and the targets were always visible in this so could be centred before picking them up in the Vixen at high power.

SkyFi was working very well initially. I connected it after completing the alignment and it picked up the position perfectly. I was able to slew to targets and also align further using SkySafari.

I hit a problem after coming inside for a cup of tea. When I went back out, the light on the SkyFi was red, and I could not get it consistently staying green despite trying a number of things. I need to check this out in the daylight and see what is wrong. Having checked this again the following morning, the light is green and everything is working. Quite strange. I had to revert to the handset after that but this still worked very well.

The last problem I'm having is with the Baader SteelDrive unit. It seems to randomly reset its position to zero every now and then so I have to restart it. It's a pain, and more annoying because it works so well otherwise. I suspect a loose connection in the jack socket as it does not click home firmly. Will check this out soon and see what can be done.

Enough of kit, this is supposed to be an observing report [emoji6]

Before the sky was anywhere near dark, the moon was looking lovely both naked eye and through the scopes. Unfortunately I could already tell that the seeing was pretty flakey, but I was hopeful at least for some clear skies.

Rupus Recta was nicely positioned, and I identified a number of craters in this area from this web image, plus the Moon Maps app.

iPhone snap of the moon

By 9 ish I picked Jupiter up using the goto , even though it was not visible to the naked eye yet. GRS was just making it's way on to the disk.

Venus too was a nice target to observe. I've never given it much attention in the past as it has always just been a mess of colours but this time I am getting some nice clean views of the phase. No detail so far but I need to try some filters to tease some out.

Through until midnight I mainly concentrated on Jupiter and the moon, picking up Saturn a bit later on. In general the seeing was pretty bad, but there was one period of around ten minutes where things settled and the detail was stunning. This coincided with GRS being centre disk so I had some excellent views. Orange pink colour in the GRS and subtle shades in the other areas. Detail and festoons on the equatorial belts, plus further detail in the polar regions. Very nice.

Saturn looked OK. It's never great down at these elevations but Cassini was clear, as was some surface banding and the inner crepe ring too. Three moons picked out, Titan, Dione and Rhea I think, possibly Tehys too.

Here is an extremely dodgy iPhone shot just for the record [emoji13]

The scary thing was how close the Tak pushed the Vixen on Jupiter and Saturn!! It really does cut through poor seeing very well.

After darkness fell, I just did a trawl of a few favourites, mainly just checking the Goto and making sure everything worked, but also because it's just not worth trying anything too obscure from here.

M13 was its normal amazing self. In the Vixen it was resolving right into the core, really nice. I didn't notice the propeller, but didn't explicitly look for it either. M92, 10, 12, 14 and 56 followed, all good but without the impact of M13.

M57 and M27 looked really cracking. The contrast in the Vixen is excellent, and even without filtering the ring showed clearly with its hole slightly brighter than the surrounding sky background. M27 looked very dumbbell like I must say. It's always bigger than I recall.

I tried the Blinking Planetary and was found it quite easily. At high power the blinking effect was very clear. Actually my biggest problem was making myself look directly at it. Years of training myself to use averted vision means that I really had to force myself to look directly at it, at which point the star popped into view and the nebula disappeared. Back to averted vision and the nebula jumped back into view with a slight greenish tint. Very nice.

Last surprise of the night was the Veil. I've never really had much luck with it from home, and sure enough unfiltered it was invisible. Popping the Lumicon OIII in with the 21Ethos and there it was. The field of view in the Vixen is only sufficient to take in one sectional a time, but the views were surprisingly good. The eastern Veil showed some structure and the two 'hooks' were clear. The western part was brightest as it runs through 52 Cygni towards the 'handle'. The broom end faded away and I wasn't quite able to pick out the separation but I was mighty impressed by seeing this from home and will definitely give it another go. Perhaps getting the Canopus out on a dark night isn't such a silly idea after all.

I tried the 31Nag by comparison, and whilst the wider field of view set it in context better, the sky background was brighter and the contrast not nearly as good. 21 wins this one easily.

So, nothing earth shattering in terms of targets but some lovely views and great to bed down the kit now it is all basically working. A few niggles to sort, and some tidying on cables etc to make life easier.

Overall I'm really pleased with the AZEQ6. It takes the Vixen with no problems and the whole lot is very stable in the tripod and pillar extension. I can view at the Zenith without grovelling on the floor, the bottom rung of the catsperch is still very comfy. Motorised focusing combined with tracking makes a big difference too, you just concentrate on getting the focus nailed, no need to wait for vibrations to damp out, there aren't any (unless it's windy!!)

I hit the sack at about 3.30am, v tired but pleased with the session.

Cheers,

Stu

[John]

Super report Stu

Getting a good solid mount for these big refractors is the key to enjoying them I reckon - sounds like you have cracked that !

I had a family social event myself last night so the scopes had to remain inside despite the nice lookng skies

[baggywrinkle]

Clouded over yet again in deepest darkest Norfolk....

[chiltonstar]

Looks a lovely piece of kit......

Thick murk here all evening.

Chris

[Stu]

Super report Stu

Getting a good solid mount for these big refractors is the key to enjoying them I reckon - sounds like you have cracked that !

I had a family social event myself last night so the scopes had to remain inside despite the nice lookng skies

Thanks John. I'm actually really pleased with it now. The tripod and pillar are rock solid and there is no danger of the scope hitting the tripod at the Zenith. I have plenty of height in hand, the tripod is basically set at it's lowest currently, mainly so I can see Saturn down low without a ladder!

As you know, I've been playing around with numerous giro style mounts but none of them felt right. Following Gaidis' feedback, I went for the AZEQ6 and have been pleasantly surprised. Yes, there is still some vibration, but it damps quickly, and the fact that you are not touching the tube means that it vibrates far less in the first place. Balance is now pretty much a non issue (other than basic front to back when setting up), and changing eyepieces is a breeze, you don;t even have to think about the whole thing swinging vertically!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[David Smith]

Great write up Stu. Enjoyed the read and glad its all working (mostly) for you.

[Piero]

It was very nice to read your report and your success with the AZEQ6. 

A solid mount makes the whole observation a pleasure. Your images of the Moon are great too! I tried to take a picture on the moon using my tablet on the eyepiece, but the N3.5 did not help much on this! 

Just a beginner question. What is the 'propeller' on M13 that you mentioned?

[Stu]

It was very nice to read your report and your success with the AZEQ6.

A solid mount makes the whole observation a pleasure. Your images of the Moon are great too! I tried to take a picture on the moon using my tablet on the eyepiece, but the N3.5 did not help much on this!

Just a beginner question. What is the 'propeller' on M13 that you mentioned?

Thanks very much Piero.

The propeller is a visual effect within M13 which does resemble a three bladed propeller. Some say that it forms a wider effect making up a hexagon but I've not seen this.

In general it needs some aperture to see it. We managed in a C925 at my club the other night under average conditions. At SGLX under am dark skies with the 16" it was amazing!

Here are some images off the web to help you see it.

Taking phone images is quite hit or miss. I have an app called Procam which allows control of focus, ISO and shutter speed which really helps. An adaptor to hold the phone to the eyepiece also helps but my current one won't fit to the Leica which I use most often. Need some DIY to get it to fit!

[Piero]

Amazing!

I never noticed that effect on M13 images online. 

Thanks for your explanation, Stu.

[cotterless45]

Super report Stu. We usually have no trouble with the Eastern Veil, NGC 6992 and NGC 6995 sweep around with a simple UHC filter. Always worth a shot.

Have you caught the rill up the middle of the Alpine Valley ? It's a km in width , a good tester !

Must be a demon set up for those tight binaries,

Old Nick.

[Stu]

Super report Stu. We usually have no trouble with the Eastern Veil, NGC 6992 and NGC 6995 sweep around with a simple UHC filter. Always worth a shot.

Have you caught the rill up the middle of the Alpine Valley ? It's a km in width , a good tester !

Must be a demon set up for those tight binaries,

Old Nick.

Thanks Nick.

I tried for the Valley Rille but seeing was not up to it, same for the tight doubles. Now I'm setup up properly I will use more frequently and catch some good steady nights hopefully.

[jetstream]

Great report Stu! Great to know about the Tak... these things sound excellent, my wallet is wincing as I write lol!  Very nice set up.

[Stu]

Great report Stu! Great to know about the Tak... these things sound excellent, my wallet is wincing as I write lol! Very nice set up.

Cheers Gerry,

I'll put it side by side with the 120 and see what happens!

[estwing]

great work there buddy..