Mike - Because of the spacing to the reducer I'm not getting a true 0.5x reduction. I reckon the focal ratio is about 3.3.

You say you could not get an image. What sort of adapter were you using? A low profile 2 inch to 1.25 inch? Or are you referring to the C/CS thread to 1.25 inch filter thread adapter so you can attach the focal reducer?

With a focal reducer you usually need to focus inwards.

A big advantage of cameras such as the Lodestar and Ultrastar is their 1.25 inch diameter body will go well into the focuser. I have a parfocalising ring on my Lodestar so I don't push it in too far (and it allows me to set the camera in at the same point each time I set up).

Cheers

Bill

Abell galaxy clusters - plenty to go at. I looked at a couple the other night and I must have another look at them but they were rather 'spot the galaxies'. (Abell 347 in Andromeda and 349 in Triangulum.) I've been looking at them again and realise that the galaxies are rather small. Like Martin I decided to look what I'd got from the past. This one, Abell 2151 in Hercules, seems to have quite lot to it. Otherwise known as the Hercules Galaxy Cluster. It's got up to 200 galaxies in it and is around 500 million light years away.

I could not resist running a spot of plate-solving and annotation to see what's what.

Or if that's not enough using HyperLeda (and ASTAP) we get:

Good luck unravelling that.

Alvin Huey's guide is a great resource for these galaxy clusters:

http://www.faintfuzzies.com/Files/AbellGalaxyClusters v1.pdf

Cheers

Yes it was.

Cheers

While rambling around Triangulum I decided to have a look at NGC 672. It's a pretty obvious object. An edge on barred spiral Sbc or SB(s)cd. (So fairly loosely wound arms I think that means.) It's interacting with IC1727. It's also a barred spiral type SBm, which means it is a Magellanic type. (The Large Magellanic Cloud is type SBm. I found out about this while researching this galaxy. You probably guessed that.)

The two are interacting and are VV 338.

In the snapshot NGC 672 is in the middle and IC 1727 is to the upper left.

Best regards

Bill

By coincidence some of the recent things I've been looking at included Mirach's Ghost and the the Silver Sliver.

I was prompted to look at Mirach's Ghost by McCavity's post on the EEVA Discussion forum.

Here's what I saw. It should appeal to those who like a diffraction spike:

The Silver Sliver Galaxy came up when I was having a short session looking at things in Triangulum. I decided to have a look at things other than M33 for a change and drifted over into Andromeda to look at things other than M31.

Cheers

Bill

Your (Callum) post of Jones 1 reminded me it was something I'd look at last year. Here's a rather noisy stretched image. I notice I have some rather square stars reminiscent of what I used to get with the Watec.

Cheers

Bill

Yes, focus using a nice bright star. A Bahtinov mask can help but again, use a bright star. Or use the Moon or Mars if visible.

Cheers

Ooh, yes. Some more interesting ones to have a look for and read about. Thanks, Callum.

Martin,

Here's a plate solved and annotated version of your shot. PGC 214960  is marked.

Hope this helps.

No observing last night but the previous night one of the objects I was looking at was Arp 86 and at about the same time as you and MikeJW.

There's a lot to see in Pegasus.

Best regards

Bill

It was clear last night so a bit of rambling around Perseus and Auriga. Looked at some Abell planetary nebulae (4 and 5 in Per, 8 and 9 in Aur) as well as flat galaxies in Aur. The most photogenic of the planetaries was Abell 4. I noticed there were some other faint fuzzies and wondered what was what. The plate solved and annotated image is also shown. (Courtesy of Astrometry.net and ASTAP.) A few to work through. I shouldn't have asked. (Only joking. Always nice to find a few more objects.)

Cheers

Bill

Martin

Remarkable detail in those shots.

Best regards

This web page has some information about planetary nebulae that may be of interest.

https://www.webbdeepsky.com/publications/free/

The Brightest Pla

The Brightest Planetary Nebulae Observing Atlas - 2nd Edition

Massimo Zecchin

Clear Skies Observing Guides (CSOG)

Courtesy of Victor van Wulfen.

Also, the BAA had a recent talk by Owen Brazell about PNs. It may be of interest

Best regards

netary Nebulae Observing Atlas - 2nd Edition

Massimo Zec

I do like planetary nebulae. A bit of colour certainly helps. I've got a few monochrome snaps that I'm sure the PN is in there but did not spot it. OIII filters are often suggested for visual use with PNs including trying them in  and out of the light path to make them show up. I wonder if this is something to try with EEVA.

Some clear skies would help too... Grumble, grumble...

Best regards

Great shots. Yep, no substitute for a good steady clear atmosphere. Always worth having a go even when things aren't at their best, because it might be cloudy next time. And now I know a little bit about Baade's Window so thanks for that too!

Fascinating stuff. There have been a few more of these bulge globular clusters discovered. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-ancient-globular-clusters-galactic-bulge.html

Very old objects up to 13.5 billion years old! Thanks for drawing attention to them, Martin. Like Mike, new stuff to me.

Sagittarius is not a good area of the sky for me so I really enjoy seeing others' observations. 

A powerful well organised set up you have there. Thanks for all the details. Enjoyed seeing your observations too.

Bill

An impressive demonstration of what determination, skill and EEVA can achieve.

Thank you for sharing, Ian.

Bill

Impressive stuff. Thanks for the sharing the details.

Bill S

Impressive, crisp shots. Good to see. Do you use a coma corrector? The stars are very sharp right to the edges.

Best regards

Bill

Since you can get a good snap of M57 you should be able to get a good one of M27 (The Dumbell). Planetary nebulae are marvellous objects. Great shapes and if you can get the colour too even better.

As for focusing and a Bahtinov mask. I definitely recommend them. Rother Valley seem to sell some reasonably priced ones. You'll need to use a bright star for focusing.

And... don't forget to take it off when you've got the focus right. I've tried leaving it on several times and it does not improve the images.

Bill

Enjoyed looking at your shots. Very impressive to see these so well with Bortle 8-9 skies.

Bill

Steve

Sounds like you’ve got some powerful equipment and ideas. Good times ahead! Please let us know what you get to observe.

Alan 

Looks an interesting and useful book. Despite being (apparently) aimed at astrophotographers it’s evidently of interest to those observing with NV and probably those of us using live stacking EEVA too. 

Best regards

Mike

Well done to get that. I saw a message from the BAA today about it. According to the message it's been classified a Type 1a - the type where there is a binary system and material is transferred on to a white dwarf until it goes bang. See for instance:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Ia_supernova

Also: https://britastro.org/node/22847

As you say we'll do well to see it as it sets in the twilight.

Globular Clusters in Ophiuchus.

Inspired by Mike JW's feast I had a bit of snack myself at the end of May. One of the courses was in Ophiuchus.

Messier 10 is class VII (Intermediate loose concentration), M12 is IX (Loose towards the centre) and M14 and M19 are both designated VIII (Rather loosely concentrated towards the centre).

Palomar 15 is by my reckoning class XII (Almost no concentration towards the centre) and is more a case of spot the globular cluster. I can't really see it clearly in the Aladin picture posted at the end.

Just a single 15 second gives a reasonable snapshot. A stack of 10 is below and does not show a lot more.

Spot the globular cluster time...

Best regards

Bill

Arp 104 again.

At the end of May I decided to revisit Arp 104 (Keenan's System) to see if I could pick out the bridge between NGC 5216 and NGC 5218. Left things stacking for a while and watched things build up. (Not strictly true. I nipped into the kitchen and then had a look at my list of targets for the night to decide what I was going to look at next.)

Anyway I reckon I saw the bridge (22000 light years long) to my satisfaction.

Not exactly near real time viewing (nearly 20 minutes stacking).

Best regards

Bill S