RobertI

A formidable looking setup, the mount on the 2" tripod looks wonderfully solid - opens up the possibility of observing even when it's windy. 🙂

On 27/08/2020 at 23:40, LukeSkywatcher said:

10 people interested so far.

7 women

3 men.

 

Excellent, onwards and upwards (literally). 

Great vid Chris, I think you've got the all bases covered there.

22 hours ago, skyhog said:

It wont be this angular size again until 2033 and even then it will come to opposition in July and be very poorly placed. Unless my list is out we are looking at 2052 for a similar apparition here in the north just to put it in perspective ( based on angular size), I might just be still around🤞

Interesting, but slightly depressing too! Still, we must make the most of what we have!

Back in January this year, I wound the clock back 40 years to see what the sky looked like when I first started astronomy as a teenager, I think I was spoiled........

3 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Thanks Robert,

With regard to the lighter or white features, I often look for those first starting with the polar cap and mists and clouds on the limb. I find that more often than not they lead my eye into the more subtle features. Not only Mars but bright cusps and spots along the terminator of Venus can help to reveal subtle shadings on the cloud tops. Although I didn't use any colour filters in my Mars observations, a blue 80A filter can really help to enhance the positions of brighter areas, while an orange 21 filter can bring out the darks.  Could be worth trying!

Regards, Mike

Thanks for the tips Mike, I will try your technique, and I also think I have those filters which is good news.

I agree, FLO's website is light years ahead of other astro retailers - it's the only one I browse just for enjoyment (although I do look at the others if I'm looking for something specific), and I don't even attempt to look at the others if I am using my phone!

Wonderful sketches Mike, you've picked up so much subtle detail, even at that lowly altitude. These premium 100mm scopes really seem to shine on planets. On my recent view of Mars with the 150PL I was not so aware of the lighter/whiter features, I'll have to see if I can pick them up on my next outing.

Fascinating post, a cornucopia of GC information, great idea @Mike JW to show these globs at the same image scale to highlight the variety.

Excellent! A very exciting idea, I’m sure you’ll get lots of support, encouragement and great suggestions from the wonderful folk on SGL. 
 

EDIT: I am planning to do some outreach observing sessions outside my house so my neighbours can experience Mars and Luna. We have a Facebook page for folk on our estate (around 150 houses) so should be easy to organise, COVID permitting! Good luck with your venture. 

Great stuff, it is rather amazing isn’t it? I observed for the first time in a few years  and what really surprised me was.....well everything really! It was big, sharp, light orange, with lots of features clearly visible. A long way from the tiny, boiling red disc which I remember from last time (I suspect there is some memory exaggeration going on too). It can only get better in the next couple of months. Looking forward to trying to tease the most out of it in various scopes and with various filters. Might even try a few sketches. 😁

2 hours ago, skyhog said:

I still enjoy visual astronomy, as much as I ever did, but I would say my visual acuity isn't what it was. My vision has certainly declined in the last 10 years or so. I didn't require specs back then. Can't read a book without them now!

 

Same here!

The Veil has definitely become my favourite summer object. Out of interest, can anyone think of another object which reveals itself so dramatically with the right filter?

2 hours ago, jetstream said:

Great report!

What is the f ratio of the scope?

The Owl nebula can take much more mag than some think and using more can reveal the eyes- what eyepieces did you use on the Veil and Owl?

Thanks! It’s an F8 giving 1200mm focal length. For the Veil I used the 21mm Hyperion (x57), for the Owl I started with the 21mm and then upped to the 10mm (x120).  Do you think I could have gone higher?

10 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Move to a country where neighbours are not compulsory!

😁lly

I have not ruled this out! 🙂

Last night was wonderfully transparent, with fast moving clouds cleaning the air and surprisingly good seeing. I thought I'd make use of the good conditions to observe the Veil with my 150P and Astronomik OIII filter. I wan't disappointed and was treated to by far the best view I have ever seen in any of my scopes. The Eastern Veil was extremely bright, luminous and sharply defined with many filaments visible with direct vision, especially at the 'wide' end. The Western Veil was even better in many ways, showing such a well defined 'pointed' end and hints of dark lanes (with averted vision) at the other end - it was almost like looking at a photo. It was a truly stand out moment, one of those that will stick in my mind, and probably get exagerrated over time! If my ED100 ever arrives, I look forward to trying the Veil with my new 2" 38mm Panaview eyepiece, which should almost be able to fit in the whole complex.

Buoyed with success I thought I'd have another go at the Crescent Neb - this was not so good sadly. Just a large smudge in with a slight curve, no detail and not much to see. I think a larger aperture is needed, perhaps the C8 might reveal more.

M27, the Dumbell, was very good with the OIII, with the fainter parts visible, making it look like an egg with a bright bow accross the middle (the bow being the normal dumbell shape, and the egg the fainter parts not normally visible) . M97, the Owl, was very low down in a brighter part of the sky and I failed to see either of the 'eyes' - not sure if this is achieveable in a 6"?

I feel that a filter drawer would be very useful for switching between my 3 different filters, I might investigate.

By this time (midnight) Mars was reasonably high and I had a quick look and did a rough sketch - the polar cap was clearly visible and what I later identified as Syrtis Major like Africa, with Syrtis Minor and other Mare forming a wide dark band across the diameter of the planet. I could also see some dark areas near the pole.

I finished by lying down and scanning the sky with my home made 2x60 wide field binoculars. Putting an OIII filter in front of one eypiece and a UHC in front of the other gave the effect of instant X-ray vision, with the sky going black and the nebulosity in Cygnus suddenly popping into view, especially the North America Neb and nebulosity around Sadr. Interestingly the stars remained bright and numerous, adding to the X-ray effect.

That's sad news about the oberving site and worring about the observatory. Terrible pictures. More importantly though I hope your son is safe.

Nice progress Chris. Of course the burning question is, what scope and mount have you got planned for the Obsy?

31 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

reading this thread makes me wonder if the 100RS came with 2 focuser options?

The one I have has a R&P focuser that looks very different to the one pictured.

I read a long thread from quite a while back where the different focuser options are discussed - I think the conclusion in the end were that there were three or four different versions over time!

8 hours ago, Stu said:

The tube alone comes in at a fraction over 3.9kg, so should be within the capabilities of the AZGTi, although I would suggest using a decent tripod rather than the standard one.

That would sit nicely on my SkyProdigy then. 🙂

Nice selection of captures. 👍

3 hours ago, MarkAR said:

If I said what I really think then I could get banned for life.

Anyone know what legal right the FCC has to pollute the skies above countries other than the USA ?

If it's a free for all then I'd like to start the commissioning of a handful of hunter killer sats to clear the skies, I'm sure organisations such as SGL, S@N, RAS and others would approve.

We need The Liberator, that would sort them out!

On 19/08/2020 at 00:47, MylesGibson said:

Anyway, I thought this might be nice for some people to have a go at visually!

Nice list of coloured doubles, thanks, I'll have a look for any I've not seen yet. It would be helpful to have the separation in the table too.

I've just done a count up and I've got a total of 49 imported observing lists in SkySafari! In addition to the ones Stu mentioned above, I also have the AL Carbon Star List (The Astronomical League) - not doubles but still colured and lovely to look at!

The software looks like it’s working superbly - when I do some EV again I shall have another bash at installing (might be needing a new laptop soon - mine has almost reached its 10th anniversary! 😯)

Very nice report, some lovely objects there. 

A quick session with the 150PL on the Skytee 2. A beautifully transparent and dark night, with the milky way pulsating overhead, meteors flashing across the sky and fast moving satellites, seemingly in a hurry to get somewhere.

Jupiter was low over the garage rooftops and so in turbulent air, but the GRS was immediately apparent, and in moments of calm the spot was bright orange with surrounding belts of brown, orange, grey and white. Plenty of swirls were visible during the very fleeting moments of super calm. I spent most of the session teasing out details and by the end the GRS had moved quite a lot. The scope is clearly capable of seeing plenty (its relatively new to me) so I may try it out the front of the house where I have clearer skies. I may have a head to head with the C8 for interest. 

Finished with a look at the challenging Pi Aquilae, it took 140x to split the components which are 1.4", the seeing was pretty good I think.

Had a quick scan with the 10x50s. First was a strking triple (not related) comprising a orange, white and blue white star - these were Omicron1 Cygni, 30 Cygni and the unforgettably named HD192579. Omicron2 also lay nearby, another striking orange star.

Alberio looked beatiful, very close through bins.  Heading south from Alberio was the rusty orange Alpha Vulpeculae (Anser) with 8 Vulpeculae making a pretty unrelated pair. South again and we have the Coathanger asterism, a really lovely collection of stars.

Short but very sweet.