Nice clear sky

[Piero]

Finally, the sky was clear tonight. There were only some few clouds but they were quite packed at South-East, so not a big problem. Despite the 89% Moon, I managed to see some new targets (new for me at least!), and generally had a nice session. 

Hope you enjoy the reading,

Piero

Date 26/08/2015

Time 20:50-23:10

Temperature 15C (14 km/h)

Seeing 2 - Slight undulations

Transparency 5 - Clear

Eta Boo Dbl Star 28x, 69x, 129x, 180x, 257x

Izar. The suggestion that this star was double was at 129x. Izar appeared like a yellow-orange colour whereas the darker companion was dark white to my eye. The two components were clearly split at 180x and even better at 257x. At this latter magnification, the companion showed a green tint colour. Wonderful double star.

Alpha Her Dbl Star 69x

Rasalgethi. Superb double star. Main star was orange to my eye, whereas the companion was green. Really pretty.

M13 Her Glob CL 28x, 69x

The Great Cluster in Hercules. Lovely globular cluster. It was not possible to see any star although a hint of granulation was perceivable at 69x.

M92 Her Glob CL 28x, 69x

Soft hint of granulation was detectable at 69x but not much else.

Alpha Cas Dbl Star 28x

Shedir. Well separated star where the companion is far less bright than the primary star. 

NGC7788 Cas Opn CL 28x

Dim open cluster not easily visible due to the presence of an almost full Moon. Averted vision and a bit of dark adaptation helped. 

NGC7790 Cas Opn CL 28x

As for NGC7788, averted vision and some dark adaptation was useful to see this cluster with almost full Moon.

M52 Cas Opn CL 28x, 69x, 72x

At 28x this open cluster was not so obvious potentially due to the bright Moon. The shape was clearer at 69x where 8-10 stars were visible better with averted vision. The view of this cluster with the Vixen SLV was slightly less obvious to my eye. Possibly the larger field of view with the Nagler helped showing the nearby stellar context.

NGC7635 Cas Pln Neb 28x, 69x +/- OIII

Bubble Nebula. I do not think I spot the planetary nebula. With the OIII filter, there was a hint of nebulosity around the main star of mag 8.7, but this was not obvious. It would be interesting to try again when the Moon is not out. 

NGC7510 Cep Opn CL 28x, 69x

At 28x this target showed an elongated shape reminding me of M82. It is a relatively small open cluster and some stars are visible at 69x. At this magnification, the cluster shows a more rounded shape. The elongated shape observed at 28x was due to the presence of a chain of nearby brighter stars.

[MarsG76]

Half your luck... here right now we're getting rained out....

Good viewing collection... Nice report...

[cotterless45]

Struggling with both the gibbous Moon and the clouds, send some clear sky this way,

Nick.

[Stu]

You did well there Piero, particularly given the moon.

My club meets today so I'm hoping the forecast is correct for another clear night, although we may just have to concentrate on the moon

[Qualia]

Cracking report, Piero and thank you for sharing it. Although I've been a little busy recently, I've also had the time to do a bit of observing, the only let down it seems it that the skies really get decent around full Moon time. Oh well, such is life .

[Piero]

Cracking report, Piero and thank you for sharing it. Although I've been a little busy recently, I've also had the time to do a bit of observing, the only let down it seems it that the skies really get decent around full Moon time. Oh well, such is life .

Very happy to see you again Rob!      

Looking forward to reading your reports then!   

Actually, it was clear here last weekend but had a temperature and could not get out. It seems tonight it is going to be clear again!

Yippieeee!!!       

[YKSE]

Nice report as always, Piero

It has been rainning for some days up here, but I can't complain after having had 9 clear moonless nights in less than 2 weeks.

[Piero]

Nice report as always, Piero

It has been rainning for some days up here, but I can't complain after having had 9 clear moonless nights in less than 2 weeks.

Thanks Yong, too nice!  

Yeah, you have got a fantastic time recently! 

Hopefully I will have a second night tonight, so I can try some new things! eh eh!