jetstream

On 19/01/2020 at 16:10, Mattiman said:

Does anyone here go to places other than their backyard to observe?

Over in Canada here. I have permission to use some remote gravel pits which can be vg places to observe, private too. No going into deep pits but the road leading to it can be excellent.

16 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

My 8" f/4 Hofheim Instruments traveldob, paired with the 30mmf/77° Wild Heerbrugg (TFoV 2.89°, mag 27x, EP 7.5 mm) might be a weapon of choice, along with the 2" Astronomik UHC. I'm afraid, that the atmosphere will not be cooperative. It contains, here in SW Germany, a lot of humidity now, even in the winter months, resulting in poor transparency. But I'll give it a try. Thanks, Gerry, for the thread and the link.

Stephan

Great telescope for this Stephan as well as the eyepiece and yes the humidity might be an issue. Here we had fog the other day- not typical when the temps are supposed to be much lower and it does hurt DSO viewing. On another note I've not used a filter for these faint nebs.

I think that what we will see of these IFN or whatever they are are fairly individual ie I don't see exactly what Mels sketches as a whole- only parts of it. It is possible each observer may pick up different bits of it or even the whole thing. The Merope area is a vg place to start, around the end of the fan.

Eagerly waiting reports!

30 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

This thread on CloudyNights reflects different experiences and opinions:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/689502-have-you-ever-observed-through-a-window

I agree with Thomas'  (astrojensen) statements, given that the optical quality of the window panes is decent (as it is in my case).

The Heritage 130 P Flextube is already too large to put it on my sideboard; but might be useful through front picture windows, perhaps on a tripod /AltAz combo.

Stephan

Thanks Stephan, I'm eyeing up the grand kids Lego table right now lol! it just might work to sit the H130 on.

3 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

use my 10" dob

yes, with a but!

Try your 80mm frac too Neil, nothing to lose all to gain!

My 90mm triplet APO falls down on these, the SW120ED doublet is VG and the triplet TSA 120 is superb. My 24" is out, the 15" can catch the edges, and the 10" is good to vg, the 200mm f3.8 excellent.

Try everything

Excellent Stephan!

The thought has crossed my mind to try the same thing with the H130 out our front picture window which faces south. Great target selection and observations!

This is one currently visible, I have been studying some of these features a bit lately.

https://www.bbastrodesigns.com/Herschels Ghosts.html

I think there could be fellow observers that are interested in trying to see some very faint shades of nebulosity. There are optimum scopes for this but just try what you have, get the exit pupil over 5mm, from dark transparent skies with a widish TFOV.

These sketches are borrowed from Mel Bartels which I hope is OK.

These first two sketches show some IFN that I can see portions of with the excellent DSO neb scope -SW120ED and a mid range EP, the Vixen 42mm LVW.

The Vega sketch shows a spur near it that is relatively easy to see, if you can keep Vega at bay.  The second is some easyish shades near the Double Double, I have been observing these 2 for a couple of years. My prism diag kills these feature, the cheap but vg SW mirror diagonal works well.

Hopefully members can enjoy some success like I have.

11 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

Thanks Gerry! Seems like everyone over here was desperate for a few decent, clear nights, some good observation reports coming in at last. Hope it's ok your way.

Your welcome!

Here is my obs spot with chair to view naked eye. Some nice meteors coming across lately.

16 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Thanks Gerry. Your name came up when my observing partner told me the idea of seeing the HH unfiltered came from Canada. Your influence is strong among the Norwich Astromical Societies observers!

Thanks Neil, you have a great club to draw from and contribute to. I love sharing info and learn much from others reports and experiences.

42 minutes ago, PeterW said:

which bits of texture would you suggest and with what field of view?

There are a few things... you need to be dark adapted, no TV, NV, no tired eyes etc. Full dilation and chemical adaptation. Dark, transparent skies are a must. Under these conditions some see this all over the place. I'm beginning to believe this stuff is very faint dust and nebulosity- IFN and others.

On the other hand some very well educated people say this is impossible to see... and that it must be "noise" in the eye/brain system.

Peter, your NV is hurting your ability to see things "raw glass" IMHO. Try a 5mm exit pupil in whatever scope you have with a low scatter eyepiece. Hyperwides rule here IMHO.

10 hours ago, Ships and Stars said:

I feel like I achieved something here.

You sure did! My hat is off to you, S&S!

10 hours ago, Ships and Stars said:

 I think it made all the difference viewing the HH with the 40mm EPs -

Yes, me too. I put a lot of thought into this years ago but never followed up past the 32mm's- just too much to see and try out. I did realize that there is definitely something to the false exit pupil theory and while the experts were bantering back and forth I was trying out things. Spectacular views of certain DSO, brighter ones. The Needle galaxy is another example. I must try at f4 when I get a chance. M42 is beyond belief as well...

Keep up the great observing!

Excellent report Neil!

Seeing the HH is an accomplishment, congrats! If your obs partner is who I think it is you will be shown much, maybe ask her about seeing the sky "background" texture... a few of us see it on here. I can also say I see the HH in the VX10 no filter and repeated viewing makes it so much easier. Again congrats!

Great skies tonight, very clear, dark and cold - perfect for the easy to wheel 15" f4.8 dob.

Back to the Pleiades for a different perspective on the object compared to the shorter fl scopes with the Merope neb the specific target. This set up- 1828mm fl, f4.8 with the 20mm Lunt HDC gives a super view of the fan shaped Merope neb. The other features of the Pleiades are enhanced with the shorter scopes and are my preferred choice on the object as a whole. However, the Merope neb itself is well matched to the 15" dob FOV wise and object size in the EP. It is very easy to see this nebula in this scope, direct vision and I don't believe much experience or skill is involved. A bit of the inner lanes show but the FOV is restrictive compared to the SW120ED/TSA120 and the Heritage 130. The H130 shows the Pleiades quite a bit better than the 90mm SV Raptor, which was the first scope to show me the Merope neb.

Another comparison was on M1, the Crab nebula. The 20mm Lunt hinted at structure and the excellent 17.3mm Delos brought more out-but- it is obvious that M1 needs more illumination than I was using, problem is there are no 25mm-28mm eyepieces in the same class as the 2 mentioned.  The 24" f4.1 gives VG illumination with the 20mm Lunt and at a bigger size- this pulls out much more detail, in part due to the eyepiece class used.

The 24" falls short on the Merope though- a bit too big image scale for my liking here.

My feeling is an 18" f4 would be a super scope on most everything and still not too big.

One last thing- the HH was easily visible in both the 20mm and 17.3mm/UHC but on the Flame neb the 17.3 Delos really brought out some bright structure in the pillars and with a VG FOV to keep Alnitak at bay. This 17.3mm Delos is proving itself more and more. Well its time for Colbert now lol!

On 19/01/2020 at 09:07, Ships and Stars said:

Absolutely 100% yes! I saw the Horsehead with both direct and averted vision through binoviewers with as Hb filter

Congrats!

Quite a feat actually, seeing the HH with binoviewers and you are right on the money with the 40mm EP's!  One of my best ever views of the Leo triplet was with the Binotron27's and 32mm TV plossls at f4.8.

Great report and keep the great observing S&S!

Excellent observing on some challenging targets Iain, I hope you get more chances to observe. The big Pan is an asset for sure.

12 hours ago, Buzzard75 said:

Thanks for the compliment! It's one of my favorites that I've done so far too.

Thank you again, and keep up the great imaging work!

23 minutes ago, PeterW said:

F5 would seem a little slow for this.

"would seem"- the only way to know if you can see something is to look, regardless of theories or ideas-my 200mm f3.8 is VG at many of the objects you mention regarding Bartels. The TSA120 shows the Pleiades inner features as does the 90mm f7 Raptor. I have caught a portion of IFN near Vega with the SW120ED.

Mel is an excellent mirror maker and enjoys his craft making many dobs which suits his needs- this is not to say other telescopes won't show some of the things he see's.

@Buzzard75 I hope its ok to use your excellent image for illustration... this image begins to show the "dark" lanes" and patches that can be seen in the EP, espc next to the Merope near the chain of stars and also off the bottom end of it. The nebulosity is toned down visually, espc the Merope "streaks". This is one of the best images to describe what I see in the Pleiades- but again the nebulosity is more subdued in the eyepiece.

This is a superb image.

3 hours ago, PeterW said:

With my skies??!! I have seen the merope nebula through a friends refractor in an especially breezy dark location. Most of my dark sky trips have been NV, though I still like the widefield tiny stars of a raw glass view.

Peter

 

 

The H130 is a great asset to have, nice price, light, its own mount and easily mounted on a tripod.  If you get a chance to view the Pleiades at a dark site for a good view, I mean studying the object a bit the rewards will come- the Merope is only one feature of it. The H130 excels on this object- the 24ES68 is an excellent, lowish scatter eyepiece for this scope- it seems to have lower scatter than the 82 deg ES I've used.

I'll not be without one of these now, just too handy with too good of views. At 650mm and f5 the H130 likes a bit more mag on some of these nebs and can handle a 2.5mm exit pupil with the UHC or NPB. Many say the 13T6 Nagler is just perfect in this scope.

Maybe you should consider one to take to your occasional dark site trips?

5 hours ago, PeterW said:

Interesting view with such a mini-dob, what are the best eyepieces for this sort of 130mm (heritage or PDS) scope?

PEter

Lighter is better, but the 24ES 82 works extremely well, as does the 13T6 Nagler, 6.7ES82 etc and the 3-6 Nagler zoom is a mainstay. I use a 12.5mm Tak ortho for higher power neb views.

Have you viewed the mentioned objects without NV Peter?

4 hours ago, Stu said:

They are very capable scopes, and whilst I agree about the focuser, a better one would push the price up and make it out of reach for smaller budgets. It's great that it is available at such a low price.

If you have one, try a wrap or two of PTFE plumbers tape around the threads of the focuser, it tightens it up and removes the slop, much better then.

Thanks Stu, I agree about the focuser- I wouldn't want a price point to take anything away from the optics- this scope takes all the vixen HR 2.4mm has-270x on the moon !! no image breakdown. And the fact that we never had to touch the secondary EVER for collimation lol!

1 hour ago, Rob said:

Apologies

I'm all for H130 discussion Rob! In our case the stock helical focuser is perfect, it snugs up nicely in -30c weather lol! which is something that can give many focusers fits. Many mod the H130, which interests me eventhough we leave ours stock.

The sky cleared unexpectedly for a couple of hours with avg transparency and an SQM of 21.4mag. Out goes the venerable Heritage 130 sitting on an old Black and Decker workmate, set up and collimated in minutes. Actually it didn't need collimation after looking through the cheshire.

These telescopes offer a superlative view of the Pleiades under the right conditions and tonight was good enough for the Merope nebula to be easily seen with the 24ES68 and also the not to be discounted 25mm Super Plossl. A beautiful fan shape among a glowing array of stars. If you observe the Pleiades often you will notice something inside the object- fantastic lanes winding through the glowing stars and with an "outer faint shell" - the whole thing known as the Pleides Bubble by some.

Tonight these features were plainly visible in this high contrast, better than it should be telescope.

After studying the Pleiades for quite a while it was time for a sky cruise- M31, Pacman neb, Rosette neb, Monkeyhead neb, M42,M43, the Flame, the Flaming Star in Auriga to name a few observed.

Another object this scope excels on is Barnards Loop, just find M78 use the 24ES68 or equivalent and in my case a DGM NPB filter and it will show easily as it did tonight.  This scope does not need an Hb filter on this object but they do work well no doubt.

It sure felt good to observe and the grab and go nature of the H130 was perfect for this unexpected chance to look up.

3 hours ago, Ships and Stars said:

I will look into this route to allay my aperture fever!

Eventhough I'm a traditional astronomer I do believe that being able to observe nicely, from home and under light polluted skies is a great option to have and NV gives this option. They also work well under dark skies. I'm all for anything that allows us the observe the night sky despite that mentioned fact that I'm traditional. Personally if I were you I'd forget a bigger dob, your 20" is perfect.

S&S I would explore NV and other options but would not give up the experience of being "one" with your dob under very dark skies.