jonathan

If tonight is clear I might get out again, hope it freezes though as the ground is getting to be rather muddy after all the rain.

I went out with the 8SE with the intention of seeing the open clusters near Orion, namely M35, M37, M38, but I felt hampered by the half-full Moon from the start. I found M35 easy enough, though it was only just visible in the 9x50 finder scope with averted vision. It seemed a little unspectacular, probably due to the light from the Moon, indeed after my eyes had adjusted I hardly needed a torch to see what I was doing. I tried moving on to M37 but for the life of me I just could not locate it in the finder scope, I found it in my binoculars but that's as far as I got with it. I started having fun with the SynTrek handset too, when I say 'fun' I mean 'didn't have a clue what I was doing'! At one point after a particular key combination the mount started twisting and turning as if it was a Goto, lord only knows where it was going, after almost doing 180 on both axis I switched it off and on at the main switch (the usual IT trick!) The instructions for the handset couldn't be murkier, probably a poor translation. I decided that if the Moon didn't want me to find those open clusters then I was going to get a good bit of crater-watching in, as it turns out this became the highlight of the night as I saw some marvellous mountain ranges (later looked these up to be the ridges between Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis), I went for the full 10mm which was very enjoyable even with the wibbly wobbly heat waves coming off the neighbour's house. The temperature started to drop noticeably and a dew began to form, although it was only just past 10pm I'd had enough so called it a night. So I live to observe another day, fingers crossed for clear skies on the next new moon!

It was a good night out for sure, I don't tend to go beyond three hour's observing at a time. Now that I have my mount and telescope all working again and the dark skies have returned, I may just be going after some of those more elusive targets that I couldn't quite see through the ST80.

Back in September I made a rather large purchase from FLO which included a Baader steeltrack focuser and Skywatcher UHC filter, purchased mainly with the Orion nebula in mind (this particular filter was recommended to me for Orion by the nice chaps at FLO), so I've been waiting for an opportunity to try it out since then. In the mean-time my Maplins power tank died, I've been trying to purchase a replacement AGM battery for it but that has been delayed so the other day I ordered another identical Maplins power tank, this arrived and I charged it up, all that was needed now was some good weather. Tonight was forecast clear on my weather app so when I looked outside at 8.30pm and saw it was indeed clear, I made my move to start setting up with the NEQ6 and new battery pack. I didn't mess about, I went straight for the Orion nebula and slotted in the PanaView 38mm with UHC filter attached - WOW! It's been probably almost a year since I last observed the Orion nebula using this scope and eyepiece, it has lost none of it's grandeur. I observed for several minutes, trying to see all the little details in the cloud mass and the stars within. I wasn't expecting the main stars in the nebula to be green, very interesting. The nebula itself looked grey as without the filter, but there was definitely more of it visible. Then the clouds rolled in, and a light snow flurry stopped play for about 10 - 15 minutes. I covered the scope and eyepiece and waited it out. Just as I was about to give in the sky suddenly cleared, the game was back on! I had a crack at Jupiter with my 10mm X-Cel and moon filter, very nice! Seeing not excellent, deteriorated a bit while I was observing too, but good while it lasted. Best views were with the 25mm Celestron kit eyepiece. Getting cold now, but still plenty of steam left so I headed back to Orion for a comparison with and without the UHC filter. I would say that the filter added about 50% to what was visible, mainly by using averted vision on the nebula cloud; I could also noticed some nebulosity at the top of the main cloud too which I had not seen before, surrounding a fairly bright star. To finish off my night's observing I pointed my 10mm at Betelgeuse, with all it's fiery redness. The new Maplins power tank performed very well, the NEQ6 power LED remained solid throughout and tracking appeared to be working a treat (though I still haven't got precise alignment sussed, it's good enough for me). This was after about three hours of use, including two Astrozap dew heater tapes on one channel of an Astrozap controller turned up to full (because it was close to 0 degrees or colder). So, was the UHC filter worth the £60 I paid for it? For me, definitely. There are many frivolous things one could spend £60 on, but to be able to see that small bit more of the cosmos has to be worth it. One very cold pair of hands later (after carrying all that cold metal inside, brrr!) and the power tank on charge (using my brand new Ring Smart Charger), I can go to bed happy that I've achieved a major goal for the season.

Having studied M42 through my Celestron 8SE with the supplied 25mm and Celestron X-Cel 10mm eyepieces last winter I was curious to see how well the ST80 could display it using the same eyepieces, as well as the standard ones that came with the telescope; I was pleasantly surprised at how good the views were. From memory of last year's viewing through the 8SE I remember the view being much larger, though that could have been through the 38mm (2mm, won't fit the ST80). I was able to clearly make out three stars at the centre, and the three stars in a line leading to the outer edge of the nebula. The classic bird shape was distinguishable using averted vision, along with the sharp-edged black area at the 'top' (as seen through the telescope). I could certainly see a lot more than was possible with my 8x42 binoculars so the telescope viewing was well worth the effort. Also tonight using the same eyepieces I viewed Jupiter and could clearly make out two rings using the X-Cel 10mm, also Pleiades and Betelgeuse for good measure. This viewing was over a moderately light-polluted part of the village - above the local pub and my neighbour (who always has some exterior lighting on until late), and the main road with street lighting, although there were no direct lights shining at my observing spot; taking all of that into account I was suitably impressed with the ST80's performance tonight.

I'm curious to see it through my ST80, recent nights have not been so good seeing but tonight might be OK. I have been pleasantly surprised just how much of the nebula is visible even when standing close to the street lights in the village, providing the house security lights are not on it is almost as good as from up the garden.

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to see Orion at all from my usual viewing location yet, but it made a full appearance between two buildings as it rose up tonight. Even with the light pollution from the local pub (which it rose almost directly above) I was able to make out a good amount of the nebular with binoculars and averted vision, maybe even with a slight green tinge unless my imagination was working overtime. Can't wait to use the filter I purchased on it, should bring out the detail beautifully with my 8SE. I will probably have to wait until January for the best views of it as it moves away from the light pollution, we will see.

Expected delivery at the suppliers for the AGM battery I am hoping to buy is 5th December, just two weeks to wait. Until then it will be binoculars and the ST80.

I put my ST80 out without any real plans of what to see, as I'm in the middle of sorting out a good battery for my NEQ6 / Celestron mounts (current battery is dead). I viewed a few things that I'd seen before, pleiades is always a favourite of mine, tried to see NGC6826, The Blinking Planetary, but no luck. Scouting along the Milky Way I spotted what looked like an open cluster that I hadn't seen before, I easily located it using the finder scope by keeping both eyes open and focusing my attention on the naked eye rather than finder scope view, while paying attention to the finder scope cross-hairs (quite a task in concentration for me!). I checked on Star Walk on my iPad to see if it was actually anything, and there it was - M39. Another target for my 8SE, when I finally get my battery woes sorted. Currently looking at a 20Ah AGM battery, hopefully one that will be a direct replacement for the cheap one in my Maplins 5-in-1 power tank.

I will have to look at these things through the 8SE at some point, but that is out of action until I can sort out my power tank.

More precisely, NGC869 and NGC 884. An excellent target for my ST80, and the best thing I managed to observe tonight. I started off by continuing to work my way through Turn Left At Orion for the Autumn season, there seemed to be quite a few clusters and double stars that required either dark skies or a bigger telescope than the ST80, I attempted a couple of the double stars but could not see them, possibly hampered by atmospheric conditions (high haze?) M34 was my first real success, an open cluster in Perseus, though a little underwhelming in the ST80 tonight. The next page was The Double Cluster, a really easy one to find, just visible with the naked eye even with all the light pollution coming from the neighbour's spotlights. I saw it beautifully through my 8x42 binoculars, and again in sharp detail through the ST80 and 25mm eyepiece. It really made the night worth while! Also had quick peeks at Jupiter (four moons visible in a line around the planet) and Pleiades (my favourite cluster).

I think I have the hand controller sussed now, but still unsure on the polar alignment. When I look through the polar scope I just don't seem to be able to find The Plough or Cassiopia for alignment, although I placed a bright star in the Polaris circle I'm not sure it was the right one - could I really be that far out??

Packed up and came inside for cheese and wine.

Hmm. Forgot to set the date when doing the polar alignment, thought there was something missing. We happen to be close enough to October right now for it to be a small difference, however next time I should be able to do it right.

Flippin' huge! Heavy, too, but not unmanageable even for a weedy nerd like me. Makes the Celestron 8SE mount look weedy for sure. First attempt at using it was a bit of a failure as I hadn't appreciated just how much initial (one-time only) set up was required, I ended up fumbling with it for about an hour in the dark with weight and OTA attached before giving up and just manually pointing it to various random stars. Pretty! This was also the first time I used the Baader SteelTrack crayford focuser, veerrry nice indeed, as well as the 50mm finder scope, also extremely nice and a hundred times better than the red dot finder. Today I took the mount out in daylight and have hopefully successfully completed the initial polar alignment and set up, the polar scope was already aligned so that when I rotated the RA the object under the polar scope cross hairs didn't move, which is good. All that should be left is the polar alignment when I actually go and do some observing, should take no more than ten minutes. I'm wondering if it's worth leaving the mount outside during the new moon phase, it would save a lot of set up, strip down, and alignment for a few days each month. I could sling an old waterproof coat over it to keep any rain off. My only concern would be if someone did manage to steal it (very slowly...) Naturally I would not leave the OTA attached. Anyway, can't wait to do that final polar alignment and see the thing tracking stars! Next task will be to work out how to use the SynTrek hand controller.

I suppose I should have read the text before going out, in Turn Left at Orion it says to find the "Teapot", but having no clue where this was (even from the diagram) I was lost from the start! I looked downwards from Altair but couldn't see anything like in the diagrams so decided to switch targets to The Dumbbell Nebula. This I managed with relative ease, I didn't have my iPad or SkyScout with me and there were no co-ordinates so I relied entirely on visual star hopping, I found the arrow of Sagitta and from there it was just a short hop and search to find a fuzzy patch - The Dumbbell Nebula! It didn't look exactly like in the book, more square with rounded corners than dumbbell shaped, but I assumed this had to be it. I'm sure with my 8SE I'll see more of it. Very pleased to have found it manually at least. When I got back indoors I checked for M8 (Lagoona Nebula) on StarWalk on the iPad and found it would have been very close to the horizon, probably well below my field of view, and probably not visible anyway due to light pollution in that direction (busy main road near the horizon with industrial units that never turn their lights off).

I decided to have a crack at this from Turn Left at Orion using my Startravel 80, it looked simple enough - a couple of stars right next to Vega, how could I not find that? Except, that is, for the massive cloud bank that had appeared across virtually the whole sky since I put my telescope out. He waits, that's what he does. Tick follows tock follows tick. You get the picture. :clouds1: Eventually I could see a gap forming on the horizon, and about twenty minutes later it arrived at Vega and I knew that now was the time, I had already seen the next cloud bank coming along sharp on the gap's heels. From Vega I could see the two 'stars' that made up an equal triangle, and through the 25mm eyepiece I could clearly see that each 'star' was actually two stars each (one pair was wider than the other), I switched to the 10mm for a closer look at each pair but for the life of me I just could not split the double-double as described in the book! I guess the Startravel 80 just isn't up to it, and there may have been slightly poor seeing too. I thought for a moment that I did see double stars through averted vision, maybe I did or maybe it was just my blurry vision. One for the 8SE I think!

With the skies still so light even after 11pm I am trying my hand at some wide-field viewing using my new Startravel 80. I went outside and turned to the first object for the Summer Season in the book 'Turn Left at Orion' - M13, The Great Globular Cluster. It was relatively easy to find using the description to follow from Arcturus to Gemma, then find the Keystone. I now also have Star Walk on the iPad which is a positive boon for quickly identifying the stars I'm pointing it at (I'm all for modern technology! But not when it gets in the way of enjoyment). What I saw was exactly how it was described in the book - a fuzzy patch with a bright centre. No doubt I would see more of the cluster edges under darker skies, and with the smaller telescope compared to my 8" SCT it was difficult to make out any individual stars in the cluster, but definitely an impressive sight and a satisfying view. M13 crossed off the list, but I will try to return to it later in the season when the skies are darker.

Despite the almost full moon and several inches of frozen snow on the ground, I decided to get out and see what I could see using the new Binocular tripod mount bracket I'd just purchased from FLO. The snow was crunchy under foot, like someone had sugar-coated the ground. I printed off December's sky map and set my sights for M37, described as 'Very fine star cluster'. After spending some time reading the star map the wrong way around I finally figured out which part of the sky I should be looking at, but by this time a large bank of cloud was approaching and some smaller clouds were making their way across my field of view. I think I was in the right area, I may even have found Auriga, but M37, M36, and M38 eluded me. I assume the moon was just too bright, almost everything but the brightest stars were washed out, I couldn't even find the Great Square of Pegasus or Jupiter (probably mostly due to the cloud). It started to snow just as I was packing up, although by the time I got inside I noticed it had cleared again. I'd had enough of freezing my nuts off anyway - next time I should wear my thicker cords!