Some sessions on holiday with retro-equipment

[Piero]

I eventually decided to collect together and report my sessions when I was at my home place in Venice Area, Italy. For visual observation it is a strange place because the seeing is often very good (it is rare to have wind and if there is it is generally mild), but there is a fair amount of light pollution. My TV60 is not really suitable for this sort of sky and I only used it for solar observation (wow.. this was amazing!) in Venice Area. If interested, a report from a dark location with my TV60 can be found here : http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/250093-report-from-lorenzago-di-cadore-italy/ .

For these sessions, I used my first telescope (Celestron 114mm F8) and my old eyepieces (Celestron SMA 25mm, Orion Sirius Plossl 10mm, Orion Barlow Shorty). In very few occasion I also used my Naglers 7mm and 3.5mm. Regarding filters, I used my Astronomik UHC and OIII. The finder was a straight Orion 8x50. The mount was an EQ1 (?), sold together with the telescope at the time. I also used Stellarium with my 7in tablet to manage star hopping through the light pollution.

Therefore, this is a collection of sessions with standard and cheap "retro-equipment" under nasty-ish sky condition (p.s. finding Uranus in Pisces when even the Pegasus Square was barely visible at naked eye was a nice challenge! ). 

I hope this can show that one can still see a few targets with a bit of patience and enthusiasm. Expensive equipment is not necessarily required for pursuing this hobby nowadays (thankfully!), but with some dedication, quite a lot can still be achieved. 

I am not suggesting people to buy a telescope such as the one I used above. Back in 1997 that was still quite popular among beginners. Nowadays, a dobson 8" F6 or 6" F8 would be much better (for beginners and not!) and cost less than half the price I spent for my Newton 4.5" at the time. I am just trying to invite beginners not to give up because of a feeling of having a poor equipment or for light pollution. Of course, if you have a chance, it is always worth going to a dark place,  as this is a wonderful experience. However, to me at least, the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy with what we have. 

Cheers, Piero

Date: 05/08/2015 (this was two days after a thunderstorm, and despite the light pollution, the sky was very transparent. It is a bit rare, but sometimes it happens in the Summer. The wonderful teapot emerges).

Seeing: 1 - Perfect seeing

Transparency: 5 - Clear

M11 Sct Opn CL 36x, 72x

Stars started being resolved and a pretty expanded cloud was visible at 36x. At 72x the object was still bright and allowed to see more stars. Really pretty view. 

M22 Sgr Glob CL 36x, 72x

Large globular cluster. Stars were not resolved although a granulation was detectable at both 36x and 72x.

M28 Sgr Glob CL 36x

Located very close to Lambda Sgr (Kaus Borealis), this globular cluster is much smaller than M22. Stars were clearly not resolved and it appeared as a little soft cloud.

M7 Sco Opn CL 36x

Ptolemy Cluster. To me, this is one of the best open clusters out there. It is large, made of dimmer and brighter stars, and its shape is majestic. 

M6 Sco Opn CL 36x

Butterfly Cluster. Another pretty open cluster in Sagittarius, but much smaller than M7. It is located at North-West of M7.

Epsilon Sgr Star 36x, 72x

Kaus Australis. Although this is not a binary star, there is a little dimmer star next to it. The couple seem to have different colours although I could be wrong on this because the target was too close to the horizon. The difference in brightness was striking and made a lovely couple.

M69 Sgr Glob CL 36x

From Epsilon Sgr (Kaus Australis), this globular cluster is located at North-East via easy star hopping. It is quite dim and appears as a little cloud not clearly distinguishable from the background sky. 

M70 Sgr Glob CL 36x

From M69, I reached this other globular cluster, which is even dimmer than M69. It was almost invisible. 

M54 Sgr Glob CL 36x

From Zeta Sgr (Ascella), M54 is easily reachable. Its brightness is similar to M69, therefore slightly easier to identify than M70. 

Zeta Sgr Dbl Star 36x, 91x, 182x, 260x

Ascella. I tried to split this double. It seems very tight. I am not sure the companion was separated at 260x.

Gamma Del Dbl Star 36x, 91x

Wonderful orange-blue double star. The two were already separated at 36x, but the view was better at 91x in my opinion. I also tried Alpha and Beta Del, but I was not able to split them.

M31 And Galaxy 36x

Only the core was visible. It appeared like a large cloud with well defined perimeter. M32 was detectable (see M32), whereas M110 was not. 

M32 And Galaxy 36x

It appeared like a little cloud South of M31. This cloud was relatively packed.

Eta Cas Dbl Star 36x, 72x

This beautiful double star is located at North-East from Schedir. It is a bit tight although already separated at 36x.

NGC281 Cas CL+Neb 36x +/- OIII or UHC

Pacman Nebula. I was able to detect some nebulosity around the star HIP4121C with the OIII filter without knowing exactly where this was. This nebulosity was not visible without filter or with a UHC filter to my eye. The associated cluster did not reveal specific features. 

Moon 260x

I was just curious to see how the terminator appeared at this high magnification. In contrast to what I thought, the image was quite crisp likely due to the steady air. Looking at our Satellite using such a high magnification provided me with a nice flyby over these lovely details. Apart from the terminator, the Moon appeared as a flat land with almost homogeneous features. 

Date 06/08/2015

Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing

Transparency 4 - Partly clear

M9 Oph Glob CL 36x

Due to the poor transparency, M9 was tricky to identify. It was a grey smudge slightly distinguishable from the background sky. 

M26 Sct Opn CL 36x, 72x

From M11, follow the chain of stars leading to an asterism reminding me of a fisherman's hook. M26 is right below this asterism. It was quite small and made of faint stars. I guess this was the reason why I struggle so much to identify this cluster with my TV60. It showed 5-6 dim stars and a few faint stars visible via averted vision.

NGC6664 Sct Opn CL 36x

This open cluster appeared dimmer than M26 and somehow less interesting to me. This might have been due to the terrible combination of light pollution and humidity which made targets quite hard to find tonight. 

NGC6738 Aql Opn CL 36x

Use the pair of stars forming a triangle with Epsilon and Zeta Aql, as a pointer to reach this open cluster. Its stars are quite separated. 

NGC6709 Aql Opn CL 36x From NGC6738, move 2.5 degrees west and you find this cluster. This target is much prettier than NGC6738 and formed by a mixture of moderate and dim stars.

M15 Peg Glob CL 36x, 72x, 91x

Large globular cluster near Epsilon Peg (Enif). Increasing the magnification did not allow separation of any star. However a bit of granulation was detectable.

NGC7789 Cas Opn CL 36x

From Beta Cas (Caph), this cluster is located at South-West. It was beautiful and emerged from the surrounding stars.

Date 13/08/2015 (early morning)

Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing

Transparency 4 - Partly clear

M30 Cap Glob CL 36x, 91x Not very easy to spot due to the severe light pollution in this area. The stars at the edge were resolved without much difficulty even with this small telescope aperture. At 91x this globular was much easier to see and resolve. It is not very bright and a moderate light polluted sky should be enough for showing this cluster nicely even with small-ish telescopes.

Neptune Aqr Planet 36x, 91x, 182x

Not too difficult to spot due to moderately bright nearby stars. At 36x it appeared as a grey tinted star and was detectable using a star atlas. At 91x its shape was still punctiform and possibly a hint of blue-green was added to the grey tint spotted at 36x. This colour might have been altered due to the light pollution in the sky though. At 182x, the planet appeared as a very small circle or large pinpoint object of blue-ish / grey colour. 

Uranus Psc Planet 36x

Uranus and nearby stars in Pisces were entirely covered by light pollution. Therefore, it was very difficult to spot the location of this target. Eventually I did not find it for this reason after some research and comparison with a star atlas.

Date 13/08/2015 (following evening)

Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing

Transparency 4 - Partly clear

Theta Ser Dbl Star 36x, 91x

Alya. Only separated from the nearby star. The two stars have similar colour (grey) and intensity. 

NGC6755 Aql Opn CL 36x, 91x

A medium size open cluster. I was not particularly impressed with this target.

M22 Sgr Glob CL 36x, 72x, 91x

Already at 36x, this open cluster showed a large area. Stars were not resolved and the target appeared like a cloud visible via direct observation. Light pollution was too severe for catching some detail.

M25 Sgr Opn CL 36x, 91x

Lovely open cluster. The little aggregation of stars visible in the centre was easier to see at high magnification and was just beautiful. To me, this is the treasure inside this cluster.

M24 Sgr Opn CL 36x

Sagittarius Star Cluster. About 50 stars were visible. Really pretty.

M20 Sgr CL+Neb 36x

Trifid Nebula. Viewed quickly and without nebula filter.

M8 Sgr CL+Neb 36x

Lagoon Nebula. Viewed quickly and without nebula filter.

NGC6530 Sgr Opn CL 36x

Cluster inside the Lagoon Nebula. With this aperture, this open cluster was easier to see. As for M25, it reminds me of a little collection of gems inside an already stunning open cluster.

M72 Aqr Glob CL 36x, 72x, 91x

Very faint globular cluster, barely seen at all magnifications I tried.

M73 Aqr Asterism 36x

An asterism of 4 stars. Not really special.

NGC7009 Aqr Pln Neb 36x, 72x, 91x, 130x, 182x

Saturn Nebula. From M72 and M73, this target is relatively easy to find. It is almost attached to a star and has line of three stars at North. The planetary nebula was identifiable at 72x and a OIII greatly improved the observation. At magnifications higher than 91x, it showed a little disc without visible detail. This disc was clearly visible at 130x + OIII filter.

NGC1245 Per Opn CL 36x

Medium size open cluster located at West of Mirphak. About 10-15 stars were visible.

NGC663 Cas Opn CL 36x

Medium size open cluster. Really pretty dense target showing stars of different brightness.

NGC659 Cas Opn CL 36x

Visible on the same field of view of NGC663, this is much smaller, but still nice to see. 

Neptune Aqr Planet 36x, 72x, 91x, 182x

Tonight, it was clearly distinguishable as a grey blue pinpoint star but with firm light. This pinpoint shaped object became slightly larger, almost like a little circle, at 91x and 182x. The blue colour was a bit more evident at these magnifications.

Uranus Psc Planet 36x, 72x, 91x, 182x

Due to the presence of soft wind, the humidity decreased reducing the effects of light pollution. The Pisces constellation was not visible at naked eye, but more dim stars were visible through the finder and eyepiece. To find Uranus, I star-hopped from Gamma Peg (Algenib), reaching Delta, Epsilon and finally Zeta Psc. Uranus was very next to Zeta Psc. Uranus' colour is slightly greener than Neptune, and was visible as a little circle already at 91x. This was much more evident at 182x. 

Zeta Psc Mlt Star 36x, 91x

Two stars were clearly distinguished at 36x. One was a bit dimmer. The brighter component seemed white / yellow, whereas the dimmer star was grey / blue. Due to the presence of severe light pollution in the area where this star was observed, these colours might not be correct though.

[Tzitzis]

Lots of targets, fine report mate! I think seeing Neptune and Uranus is great and I am dying to try them! Great job tracking them down! All those DSO's too. I guess it goes to  show how much you can achieve if you are excited and dedicated to your astronomy!

Cheers Piero!

Tzitzis

[cotterless45]

Brilliant ! Can hardly wait for our dark sky holiday in October,

Nick.

[laudropb]

Very nice detailed report. A joy to read. Thanks for posting.

[Stu]

Cracking report Piero, I really like the way you lay out and report your findings, it's very clear and easy to read.

You achieved a lot with the challenge of LP and a relatively small aperture so well done!!

[Piero]

Cracking report Piero, I really like the way you lay out and report your findings, it's very clear and easy to read.

You achieved a lot with the challenge of LP and a relatively small aperture so well done!!

Thanks Stu  ,

I created a program to format my observation session by date and more importantly by target. As I am writing it in my spare time, it is not yet super user friendly (currently it works as a batch program), but does the job well. I report my session on a spreadsheet using a specific table format. Then this program loads these sessions and generates two well structured documents: one reporting all my sessions by decreasing time, the other reporting my notes for each object I have so far seen. 

The information reported by the former is somehow similar to our reports, whereas the one reported by the latter is really interesting as allows one to study differences between observations on the same target in a trivial way. 

[Stu]

That sounds really useful! Way beyond any of my capabilities!

I've started to use SkySafari to track what I've seen. I create a new observing list then just add the objects as I see them. I should start adding notes too. You can them export that as a .csv or other formats. That's how I tracked all my Devon targets.

[Piero]

I think taking notes is useful  . It is a sort of written sketching, although less impressive. It would be useful to have a mic-recorder and recording while observing the objects. I haven't ever done so, (and maybe it is a bit weird to talk alone in a field!) but I believe it would make a richer report. 

I write down my notes immediately after a session to not forget important details. I still have a pseudo photographic image of the targets in my brain when I come back, which fades away the day after. The cons of this is that it can take an hour of writing after returning home, but I would write other thoughts anyway, so not a real problem.

[swamp thing]

Great report, very nicely laid out and easy to read.

I'm impressed that you managed to detect some nebulosity in the Pacman nebula. Well done indeed. Not easy at all with a 4.5" scope.

[Piero]

Great report, very nicely laid out and easy to read.

I'm impressed that you managed to detect some nebulosity in the Pacman nebula. Well done indeed. Not easy at all with a 4.5" scope.

Thanks Steve  

With that eyepiece, it was an exit pupil of about 3mm. I reckon this played as a good trade-off for limiting the sky brightness due to the light pollution and enhancing the object image brightness. On the other hand that night I was lucky with the sky which was very clear and transparent despite the light pollution of that geographical area. This is not usual at all, but sometimes there are heavy thunderstorms and the air becomes very terse.

Of course no Pacman or Ghost () was identifiable. There was just a soft layer of nebula around the main star and this nebula was not visible at all with UHC or without filter. I swapped the filters a few times because I did not expect to see it, but every time I put the OIII on it was there.  

[swamp thing]

Oh the O-III is the kiddy on the Pacman nebula no doubt about it

[beamer3.6m]

This report makes a great read.

[Piero]

Oh the O-III is the kiddy on the Pacman nebula no doubt about it

BTW, the biggest challenge I had wasn't the Pacman, but finding Uranus! No kidding! Star hopping for about 15 degrees among the severe light pollution in Pisces, was like being on a raft in the sea looking for an island! I took me 30-40 minutes for two nights and the first one I failed. Eventually though I was very happy to find it. 

[Qualia]

Another lovely report, Piero and should be an inspiration to many. Great to hear you had a good time in Italy. By sheer coincident, I was just a little south from you in Rome for almost two weeks this August but needless to say the trip was about really necessary family time, so didn't do any observing .

[Piero]

Another lovely report, Piero and should be an inspiration to many. Great to hear you had a good time in Italy. By sheer coincident, I was just a little south from you in Rome for almost two weeks this August but needless to say the trip was about really necessary family time, so didn't do any observing .

Thanks Rob! 

I bet the weather was *warm* in Rome   !

The temperature was above 30C on the Mountains where I went (~850mt altitude!!).

[Martin Meredith]

Excellent report Piero. I have to agree re Ptolemy's Cluster: a truly magnificent sight, bright stars embedded against a dense background star field, and with more than a hint of nebulosity. For some FOVs it beats the Pleiades… shame it is so far south to appreciate for many.

Martin

[FenlandPaul]

Super report, Piero, and I echo Stu's comments on the format you've used - it works very well, especially for such an impressive haul!

Paul

[Piero]

Thanks everyone for your nice comments! Actually, too nice! 

One day, when it is a bit more user friendly, I might write a thread on the software I have been developing so that other members can have their reports in a similar format if they are interested. I need some spare time and cloudy nights though! 

[FenlandPaul]

I need some spare time and cloudy nights though! 

Hey, we've got enough clouds round here at the moment thank you!!

[Piero]

eh eh!   That's true, but I had to do some other work to do this weekend!