mdstuart

It is a fine photograph though. I love looking at that NGC 404.. Mark

I can see the galaxy but not the comet? Mark

Thanks for sharing your journey. If that's how good your scope performs with the moon up then it is going to blow you away on a clear dark moonless night. Mark

Data now coming in from inside the telescope box. Humidity seems fairly stable between 65 and 70% which is a lot lower than outside the shed which ranges from 80 to 98%. I can also see when the temperature rises fastest so I plan to check the main mirror does not dew during that phase. Quite interesting actually

Update. The insulation includes thin foil and that restricts the blue tooth temp signal. I have to stand near the shed to collect the log. Well at least that shows I have made a good job of the box. Mark

Temperature and humidity monitor now inside the box. I keep readings for outside so I can compare. I am particularly keen to see a slow rise in temperature in the mornings to reduce the risk of mirror dewing. Maybe I should install a web cam with an led light that detects dew on the mirror next

I was out with my big dob last night enjoying the galaxies in the SE of the sky. I came across this little treasure. A pair of galaxies in Andromeda. I had identified them as a target using DSS images and thought I would try even though I was not hopeful in my skies. I was able to star hop to and pick out the close pair of stars to the right of the galaxies in this image fairly easily. The stars are mag 12 and mag 14. Of course they are white to the eye, no lovely colours visually. I could make out both galaxies with averted vision but NGC 317A the small elliptical was the brighter of the two. Both very small but still a lovely sight. Here is my original observation. They have been featured as object of the week here: http://www.deepskyforum.com/showthread.php?1302-Object-of-the-Week-September-1-2019-NGC-317-A-B-and-PGC-3432&p=7331 www.caelumobservatory.com has this great image of the pair on their web site. I am sure that the pair would be visible in a 16 inch scope so if you have a big dob then give them a go after observing M31! This pair are 230 million light years away so a bit of a way out from M31. Mark

My Dob now has a new home, an insulated box. Just need to make the front door. My son James thinks the scope needs a smile on the front

I find the Orion nebula best without filters such as the OIII. The OIII helps with some nebula such as the veil in Cygnus but not with the majority of nebulas. Mark

Nick I had a look at h1 Aquila last night using my 20 inch dob. It is lovely but very tight. It split nicely using my 7mm eyepiece. Really special sight. Thanks for your ongoing posts which provide such a treasure trove of ideas for things to observe. Mark

I had a look at Mayall II in my new 20 inch and it looks just like your sketch. I could not separate the two stars next to the globular either. Great sketch. Mark

I can report that even in my 20 inch at x400 the galaxies looked like an extended single oval object. I did look again at NGC383/382 which are another close galaxy couple and I can definitely see both cores of this pair relatively easily. To be fair the NGC 750/751 galaxies were low down so I might try again when they are higher in the sky. Mark

It looks like a clear night in the UK so perhaps you might like to have a go at observing the Webb Society Galaxy of the month NGC 750/1. https://www.webbdeepsky.com/galaxies/ The challenge is firstly to see them. I could see them in semi-rural skies in my old 10 inch with averted vision so I guess an 8 inch might catch them in good skies. I could only make out one object in my 10 inch scope, Tonight I plan to train my "new" 20 inch on them to see if I can split the cores which are about 30,000 light years apart. In the Webb article, Owen notes that it should be possible to split the cores in a 12 inch scope. So lets see what size scope it takes to make the split. Here is a map to help you find these objects as they rise in the east.....or use the one Owen posted on the Webb Society web site. If a few of us view this tonight we can post our experiences and share them on this thread. Good luck. Mark

I was out as well Damian with my new 20 inch dob. First really dark transparent skies this season but had to get the hairdryer out after Hickson 7! Mark

A col produces light winds so potentially stable air to view planets and double stars. So good seeing. However the air was not particularly transparent where I am. Before sunset it was hazy with visibility less than 10 miles. For the best transparency cool air from the North / North West can be best. Mark