John

2 minutes ago, SuburbanMak said:

... was a great night and all the better as there's been slim pickings over December.....

 

Excellent report, and I think your comment above is spot on. Two clear nights "back to back" after around 3 weeks of frustratingly rubbish observing conditions. No wonder we are all out enjoying ourselves

Great report !

I found the conditions similar last night - it looked wonderful to the eye but the ultimate transparency was not quite there when I came to search for the fainter DSO's. Still a very decent night for observing though.

You got a good haul of targets and the filter seems to be earning it's place

14 minutes ago, Merlin said:

Most of us use our ‘scopes for stargazing rather than research. It seems to a case of overkill to have a premium grade ‘scope for casual viewing.

That's an interesting viewpoint.

Judging by the enthusiasm on here for premium refractors, eyepieces etc, there are plenty of folks who want to get the very best that they can lay their hands on even if they are doing astronomy as a hobby.

Just now, Kon said:

In your 12", is the long nebula between the two stars also very faint or much brighter?

Very faint. The HH seems like a vague bite out of it - a small patch where the nebula (which is IC 434 I think) just "isn't there".

I know I've posted this a few times before but I do love Jeremy Perez's description: "Really, it's like trying to see a little bit of nothing with a little bit of less than nothing resting over it"

3 minutes ago, Kon said:

My skies are supposed to be bortle 3 (with my E, I would say 4 due to lights from a nearby village). As discussed in a previous thread about scales etc, I can see the Milky Way arch from S to N with structure in the summer when it is overhead. Several clusters are visible naked eye as smudges of light. Again transparency is key as some nights Milky Way is not that great at all.

That's interesting. Mine are bortle 5 generally although worse towards the horizons with Bristol and Newport on them. I need a really exceptional night here to be able to see the HH and that is with my 12 inch.

The HH is never an easy target by any means I understand, even under really dark transparent skies. Well done again !

Superb report and what a result @Kon !

When I've managed to see it (just a couple of times with my 12 inch dob from home) it has been about the hardest thing that I've ever observed and probably one of the least spectacular visually but it is a significant observing achievement. I'm so pleased when I read about others getting it

Your description of the process and the observation seem just right - especially the long dark adaptation. I can recall not even turning on my Rigel finder reticule to keep the light levels around me as close to zero as possible !

Very well done again and thanks for sharing this achievement !!!!

2 minutes ago, Kon said:

I think I may have got the HH tonight with my 8" Don and Hb filter; amazing nebulosity on the Flame, bright with dark lanes with direct vision , much much better than last night. NGC2023 was showing nebulosity (not a show last night) and there it was a faint faint nebula running from N to S and on my E (Dob side) missing a bit of nebulosity the size of half thumb.

That sounds like the horsey to me

Can't see the Flame at all here with my 8" so no chance of B33 for me tonight. Nice night otherwise though

Cracking night here now, even better than last night I think

Gorgeous night here - even better than last night

I'm using the 200mm F/6 newtonian for this session:

When I tried out the Skywatcher SWA 70 eyepieces I got the 32mm, the 13mm and the 5mm. They turned out to be rather mediocre in general, in line with @Don Pensack's feedback and other reports that I've read.

I'm only sorry that I was not sent the 22mm at that time - I guess that one would have stood out somewhat amongst the others

Last night was pretty good here - I'm not far from you !

The forecast was OK for tonight as well but it seems to have clouded over for a while. Hope you get some clear skies later.

33 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

I also need to read a lot about these diagrams to understand them one day. But i suppose a diagram that shows all coloured lines crossing at a close point on the vertical axis would mean the diagram doesnt belong to the Celestron Astromaster 130

Actually the Astromaster 130 is a newtonian (I think) so it should be apochromatic.

17 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

I have also concluded that whilst the Ethos give a superb view, I still prefer the XWs in these refractors, and the (very) mild field curvature on the XW14 and XW20 isn’t an issues at all in use. Nebulosity just seems that little bit more visible with these eyepieces....

 

I spent some time comparing the Ethos SX 4.7mm with the Pentax XW 5mm in my 12 inch dobsonian tonight. I think I preferred the XW for Sirius but the Ethos SX for the Eskimo Nebula. I'll have to hang on to both now !

Just now, Sunshine said:

I don't understand how to interpret these graphs 🤔😢

Me neither, despite @vlaiv's valiant attempts

The views with the scope are excellent though, so that is what really matters

I've managed to get some glimpses of Sirius B though it's not the best I've seen it by quite a long way. The glare from Sirius A was quite extensive and the "Pup" star only managed to glimmer though the glow intermittently. 

I've decided to finish my session with a look at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko which is nicely positioned in Cancer tonight, quite close to Iota Cancri. Around magnitude 9.5 I reckon. Quite a small patch of light with a brighter centre. Strange to think of that little Philae lander stuck in a crevice on that odd shaped mass of rock and ice.

Really nice views of the Eskimo Nebula at 338x just now. Great definition of the "face" peering out of the "parka hood" with the central star shining quite brightly from it's centre. Tonight the UHC and O-III filters don't seem to add much to this target - I prefer the unfiltered view.

14 minutes ago, Dark Vader said:

... Trapezium E&F faint but very steady. 

They are showing well tonight.

Not sure if the seeing is quite good enough to split Sirius tonight but I'll wait until it shows above the rooftops and give it a try anyway.

Good start here - first target with the 12 inch dobsonian is Uranus. Well placed, easy to find and it's moons Titania and Oberon were visible without too much trouble at 338x. Hoping to pick up Ariel and Umbriel once I get my eye in gear. Feels like mag 15 should be possible tonight.

Refractors are lovely but it's a good night to have some aperture out there

15 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

Here's a rarity. CO has been predicting this for me over the last week, and hasn't changed its mind once:

Meteoblue agrees closely, but Metcheck has low cloud coming in around 20.00.

 

 

 

I've seen those differing views on what it might do tonight. I've put my 12 inch dob out anyway but if Metcheck is correct then the session will be a short one

The good thing about Mark's tests and his narrative are that they attempt to quantify the experience that an observer will actually have with the scopes with regard to CA. For me, no amount of interferometer results, charts, figures etc can actually do that.

This target is the subject of Phil Harrington's "Cosmic Challenge" this month. A useful piece on observing it (or trying too !):

https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/column/phil-harrington-s/cosmic-challenge-horsehead-nebula-barnard-33-r3332

1 hour ago, Zermelo said:

Mr. Pensack's spreadsheet lists the Meade 40mm as having 40° AFOV.  

That may well be the true value. Manufacturer specs have been known to be a little on the optimistic side from time to time 

1 hour ago, jetstream said:

Check out the TOA130...

https://www.takahashijapan.com/products.html

Two ED elements used in the TOA triplet objective I believe. "Practically perfect in every way" 

8 hours ago, jetstream said:

Hows does this one compare?

 

Or this ? - I've no idea myself

I think we are into colour crossings here, which is well over my head !

50 minutes ago, Splodger said:

Interesting. I had a hunt around and found that about half of the sites selling, or were selling as they are all sold out, the eyepiece have it at 52° and the other half, including meade.com, at 44°. Perhaps I bought it a telescope.com https://tinyurl.com/meade-40mm who are marketing it at 52°. Anyway Ive been bamboozled one way or another.

If you click on the "Specs" tab for that particular eyepiece it does say that the apparent field of view (AFoV) is 44 degrees. It is rather confusing that they mention 52 degrees in the "More Info" tab but I think that is a generic description of the Meade 4000 plossl range. It is only the 40mm focal length of the 1.25 inch 4000 series eyepieces that has that smaller AFoV.

You are not the first to be confused by this description:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/462043-meade-4000-plössl-40mm-does-it-really-have-52fov/