cloudsweeper

Not so much what I saw, rather what I saw it with.

6.00pm Saturday - couldn't resist the waxing crescent Moon, even thought the sky was bright, so I set up the lovely big 127L frac and the observing chair.

Theophilus et al were clear near the terminator, with a bit more detail at x100.  The pairs and line of small craters between Catherina and the faint Beaumont looked nice, being lit only on their western rims.

Time to compare views with different EPs.

The 20/100 Myriad  (x60) gave a lot of Ring of Fire at the prevailing light.  Not a great view.

The 20/82 Meade UWA was better, but the best view by far was from the 17.5/76 Morpheus (x69) - over 1 deg TFOV (less than the others mentioned), giving nice framing.  Detail was better than at x120 when I suppose some dimming would be taking place.  The Morpheus just gave what I can only describe as a nice, easy view, perhaps due to the 76deg AFOV being slightly easier on the eye than the higher values?

Later, the Moon had slipped behind trees, so I was pleased with the chance to make this comparison.

Doug.

Couple of familiars - just nice to be out with the 10" Dob!

10.35pm Tuesday - warm and clear, so out came the Dob, more for simple enjoyment than likelihood of elusive or exciting, new targets!

First job was to drape a big old curtain along the washing line to block out the large blaze of light from the neighbour's living room a few metres away.  😒😒

Vega > Epsilon Lyrae, the bright and beautifully balanced Double Double - x35, 73, 127, 159 just split, 190 nice and clear.  ('Scope wobbling a bit by then.)

Sadr (Cygnus) > Messier 29, the Cooling Tower open cluster - x35 7 or 8 stars, x73 more contrast, stars clearer, x127 8 stars plus a fainter one.  

First session for a few weeks - very enjoyable.

Doug.

24 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Nice haul Sigma 1873 co ordinates are 14h 44.8m   +07° 42`   you can put them in the handset as a new object.

Thanks Paul - not thought of doing that - I just look at a close, bright star on Stellarium, put that in the handset, and hop from there!

Doug.

 MOON - TRYING SEVERAL EPs - BOOTES DOUBLES - GLOB M3

7.55pm Tues., 8" Cat/Focal Reducer/GoTo.  Moon east of south, 3 days past 1st quarter.  Not a great deal of detail then, so I decided to play around with several eyepieces.  Field, mag, presence of central obstruction (bright object, low power), and Ring of Fire effect (wide angle EP, bright object, low power) all offered differing views.  

I sometimes thought (at higher mags) that the Plossls gave a cleaner, silvery view compared with the slightly orange-tinged views in the wider angle EPs, probably due to the light conditions.

The 20/100 Myriad and 17.5/76 Morpheus gave excellent views, with 1 - 1.5deg of field, and about x70.

9.00pm - more detail became evident.  Plato (off-terminator) followed westwards by the smaller Bliss, then a line of four still smaller craters.  Going then from x85 to x128 with the 10mm Hyperion, still finer detail was spotted in that region - a lovely view.  Similar with the 8mm Hyp at x160.  The 6mm TV Radian showed great detail at x213, although focusing became more critical.  By x256, sharpness was fading.

9.30pm - break until 10.25.  Then, Bootes doubles:

Sigma 1873 (not in handset, so via 31 Boo) - 8th mag pair, 6.4 arcsec separation.  Going from search view (x36) to x64, I just got the split - very close, a near match (though both faint), side by side.  Better at x85 in a Plossl - sharp, nice.

Sigma 1886 - 7th and 9th mags, 7.4 arcsec.  x51 - not sure.  Plossl at x64 - yes!  Sharp, very close, secondary very faint and at 8 o'clock.

I finished with a look at glob M3 (CVn) which usually looks good with resolved stars around a core, but owing to the nearness of the Moon, the fuzzy patch only revealed slight resolution of stars at x160, 213.

11.25pm - finished.  A very pleasing and instructive session.

Doug.

Moon position better!  8.15pm Sunday - Moon (1 day past 1st qu,) better placed than recently, being further east, and somewhat lower.  Sun very low; lovely clear sky.  AR102S frac in use.  

Plato near terminator, Archimedes, Apennine Mountains.  Going in steps from x24 to x68, the two craters in Cassini's floor stood out.

x90 - good view, but poor contrast because of light.

8.35 - Alpine Valley sprang into view, x75.

8.55 - x60 - the view with the 10mm Hyperion was beautifully sharp.  Still a little yellow fringing.  x100, 120 - less sharp, less depth of focus.

x75, bit more mag with the 8mm Hyperion and 0.91deg of field..  Nicely framed, beautiful sharp view again.  Southern highlands good - packed with detail - the dark line of Rupes Recta, the floor of Clavius was dark except for the rims of its two largest craters which glowed like two silver rings.

9.25 - more fine detail, tiny craterlets/pits, a fine view before getting too bright.  x90 - still very good.  

9.40 - back to x100, sharper now - sadly, still no pits visible in Plato's floor.  More aperture would help.

9.50 - finished a very pleasing lunar session.  I do find that changing mag by small amounts gives noticeable nuances of view, and can highlight best views and limits for decent views.

Doug.

5.30pm Saturday, Moon first quarter, high SE - not a great deal seen - I just wanted a play with the big frac, which doesn't get used as much as it should.  (Also, I find it increasingly hard to get out in the early hours!)

I did enjoy swinging the 'scope round - very easy to use, despite its size.  Operating between x33 and x86, I was still able to see details of crater terraces, and the Alpine Valley was very clear near the terminator.  x69 with the 17.5mm Morpheus was particularly pleasing.

The Ring of Fire effect was of course very noticeable with the low power wide angle EPs, where the exit pupil was larger.

An hour well spent.  Comfortable, too, with the modified chair which can be moved now without the back support collapsing!

Doug.

Great observing chair, lots of seat levels.  The strap stops the rear support from opening too far, but nothing stops it closing up when you move it.  Very annoying.

Solution - a piece of 7 x 1.8cm wood (planed to a curve at one end), two bits of hardboard, a couple of hinges, and four M4 machine screws (excess sawn off) and nuts.

(The length of the main member must suit your preferred angle for the support.  I went for 31cm.)

This is easily placed on the strap, the sides are dropped to keep it in place, then you can move the chair about as much as you want and the support stays in position and doesn't tend to close up.

All from bits out of the shed, cost £0.00.  

Doug.

Just taken delivery of a Vixen NPL 25/50 Plossl to complete my desired (and nice quality) set of these sharp, contrasty, lightweight eyepieces.  

The set comprises: 32mm Cel Omni, 25mm Vixen NPL, 20mm TV, and 15mm Cel Omni.

But that's not all - I can also use the Exp Sci x2 Focal Extender (see pic) to effectively get Plossls at 12.5, 10, and 7.5mm, without the eye relief getting too small.

Doug.

Wilkommen von mir auch!

Yes, the view in a reflector is inverted horizontally and vertically - da haben Sie recht.

Get Stellarium on your computer, then use CTRL ^ H, and CTRL ^ V and you will see on the screen what you see in the eyepiece.

Viel SpaB!

Doug.

He brought a 15mm Celestron Omni Plossl EP - a continuation of my move back to simple, light eyepieces, giving nice views over narrower fields.  

Complete set now, I feel, as I don't fancy the short eye relief of the higher powered versions.

Doug.

It's all orange tonight!

Finally got out again, this time with the AR102S frac.  Had the company of bats at dusk when I set up.

Only saw Arcturus first, beautifully orange, especially in the EP.  About 10deg straight up to 9 Boo - also orange - then about 2deg west to the main target, Sigma 1785 (Boo) - 7th and 8th mags, 3.0 arcsec separation.  Initially it was a single faint orange dot, but going from x17 to x100 I just got the split and it became two orange stars, a fair match, sec at 7 o'clock, all in a sparse/empty field (at that level of light anyway).  A pretty sight, I recommend it to the doubles enthusiasts out there!

Thin cloud was spreading by now, so I took a quick look at Vega (ENE) and the Double Double.  Got the two 2.3 arcsec pairs at x150, but they were not sharp due to the cloud and seeing (low, and above houses).

Short session, but very enjoyable, with a pleasing new double to add to the list.

Doug.

6 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

The BBC says clear tonight, everyone else says no.  We know where that's going.

So the Mak isn't cooling tonight, these are instead.

Well Paul, I've got the right glasses, but nothing to put in them!!  ☹️

Doug.

Yeah, I had AFOV fever and acquired a few bruisers.  Still got some, and they are good for extended views and for tracking, but I now really like the simpler, lighter EPs, and using the GoTo mount means tracking with a reduced field is not much of an issue.

Upshot of studying this thread - I fancy a 35mm Eudiascopic to expand my range further into the low power region!

Doug.

Having spent eight years obsessing over 2" diagonals and 2" W/F eyepieces, I've now rediscovered the joy and simplicity of the 1.25" diagonal and EPs, especially Plossls at the low power end.  The crisp views they give across the (reduced) field is very pleasing.  At higher mags, Celestron XCel LXs and ES82s are good.

At one point, I even had ALL my EPs fitted with 1.25-to-2" adaptors!

Here's the lovely ES ED80 Triplet fitted with a Tele Vue 20mm Plossl, ready for action.......

Doug.

POPULAR DOUBLES - IZAR (Boo) & CASTOR (Gem)

Thursday.  Little ED80 Triplet Frac, grab 'n' go.

IZAR - Pulcherima, "most beautiful", triplet, visual double, 2nd and 4th mags, 2.9 arcsec of separation.  Sometimes said to be difficult because the primary is so much brighter, but I thought I had the split at x120.  It became very clear at x160, still quite close, primary distinctly orange, with diffraction rings, and appearing larger than the secondary on account of being so much brighter.  Not really difficult at all, and certainly a beautiful sight.

CASTOR - interesting, being a visual triplet comprising three pairs of inseparable stars, 1st (1.9), 3rd (3.0), and 9th (9.8) mags, 5.5 and 71 arcsec.  The brighter pair was easily split at x120 - close, good match, very pleasing, but I didn't spot the fainter, more distant third component, probably because it was clouding over by then.

Doug.

I was out a few nights ago, finished, brought in the 'scope, EPs, and power pack.

Next morning I looked out and saw ............................................... the tripod and GoTo mount on the lawn.  Good thing it hadn't rained!

Doug (rather worried).

ALGIEBA (Gamma Leonis) RE-VISITED

8SE Cat with Focal Reducer.  GoTo played up for some reason, so I went to Algieba directly since it is easily seen naked eye.

Its components are bright 2nd and 3rd mag stars, with an easy 4.6 arcsec separation.  But being so bright, they need more mag than you might expect to be sure of two stars, and I had to go to x191, 213 to be sure they were separated.  They get in each other's glare, and signs of rings also complicate matters.  Good split, close-ish match, nice orange/orange pair.

Served as a reminder of the variety and potential complications that can arise with double stars.

Doug.

Yes, can't beat a simple cap.  Never used a Cheshire or a laser, and collimation is excellent.  The high mag, detailed views of the Moon I had yesterday could not be improved upon!

Doug.

FRACASTORIUS REVEALS ELUSIVE RILLE!

Moon 2 days to first quarter, very high, south.  10" Dob in action.  Sky initially quite light.  I went further towards the lunar south from the nice trio of Catharina, Cyrillus, Theophilus (near terminator) to look closely at Fracastorius, a lava-flooded crater with no central peak, but plenty of pits and bumps and an elusive crack or rille.

x35, 73 - nice general detail, very stable (helped by high altitude).
x144 - more clear detail such as pits in M. Nectaris and Fracastorius at the sea's southern edge.
x190 - still more tiny pits in Fracastorius, but no sign of the rille.

Later, sky darkening, better contrast, a bit more fine detail.  Fracastorius very good - more tiny pits and "bumps", x144, 190.  The view says a lot for the quality of the Bresser Dob.

x212 - still very good.  (Less sharp at x423, as might be expected.)
x318 - brilliant sharp view, and sky darker with some stars out.  AND, with AV, I spotted the elusive rille (with a small pit in the middle) across the crater floor, near the southern edge.

Cloud closed play after 75 minutes.  Very pleasing to tease fine detail from Fracastorius at high mag in a fine telescope!

Doug.

45 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Finally! A clear night beckons. Out and acclimatizing for the new toy. A quick cruise around looking at terrestrial daytime high-contrast objects and edges at (an amazingly perfectly usable) 586x showed no fringing whatsoever (for the benefit of those familiar with a certain other thread 🙃). Northerly targets tonight.

Never mind the stars Magnus, I'd just like to enjoy the landscape!

Doug.

Got off to a good start with new Orion doubles:

Sigma 708 - 7th and 8th mags, 2.7 arcsec - not in handset, so went via Psi 1 Ori (the brightest in the field) - close but clear split at x191.

Sigma 750 - 6th and 8th mags, 4.2 arcsec - busy field at x36,  just above M42 - close but clear split again, now at x160.

Just warming up, then......well, you know what.  Drat!

Doug.

Brief outing with my much-favoured 8" Cat + Focal Reducer.  Full Moon rising in the east.

Started with C50 the Satellite Cluster in Mon. x36 - very pretty - loose, with several fairly bright stars.  Nicer at x73, with fainter stars appearing, and many in the cluster looking like "pairs".

Then, just 1deg east and at x36, a beautiful tight equilateral triangle of 8th/9th mag stars.  These are: ABH47 (a double), Sigma 939 (also a double), and SAO 114114.  The doubles are not in fact physical doubles.

Difficult to figure what's what.  ABH47's sec is a 12th mag D-star, so it was probably not seen.  So was the third star in the set the B- or C-star of Sigma 939?  Anyway, a most pleasing configuration, well worth taking a look at!

Short session, but nice to be out after a couple of weeks in inactivity.

Doug.

GoTo:

1. is easy to set up.

2. puts you on target quickly.

3. provides tracking - very helpful, esp. at high mag.

4. does not detract from familiarisation of the sky if you also get the target on Stellarium for example.

.........which is why I use it a lot. 

But I also use a widefield grab 'n' go frac as well as the large frac and Dob.  It all depends on target and mood!

Doug.

5.30pm Friday (sky quite light initially), 8SE Cat with reducer, Moon waxing crescent, high in the south, aligned on it.

Moon nicely framed, with Mare Crisium a great feature - x41, 73.  Cleomedes above it, mostly lit.

x128 - M. Crisium: craterlets, hills, and a "ridge" which is the western edge of the shallow crater Yerkes.  Craterlets and hills also in Cleomedes, plus the overlapping larger pair of craters in the northern floor.

x213 - those overlapping craterlets were clearer, with shadows to their SW rims.  The jagged eastern wall of Cleomedes showed up better with the play of slender shadows.

x256 - M. Crisium was a large part of the FOV, very nice.  View still stable.  Most of the very low eastern edge of Yerkes became evident.  West of M. Crisium lay Macrobius, mostly lit, with central peak, and a craterlet (mostly in shadow) right on the northern rim, the whole resembling a ring with a small dark jewel.  Lovely.

x320 - still good - the small hills and their shadows in Cleomedes stood out more, as did some wall detail in the larger of the two overlapping craterlets.

x427 - quite good, although 'scope wobble became a nuisance!

Finished after an hour for a meal.  A very pleasing lunar session.  What a delight the Moon is!

Doug.

1 hour ago, PeterStudz said:

Nice clear night here in Southampton. Unfortunately I have to go off and be “romantic” 😀

Poor you!  💖