Craney

Oh well !! Better luck next time. The big impact failed to emerge... A couple of yellow bars, thats all. I set up in a local quarry that has a good Northerly aspect. Windy and cold. Lovely setting though and lots of stars to behold. This looking Eastward and the lights of the nearby metropolis...Harrogate.

Yes, they can be a bit US of A-centric. Some web-sites I have been looking at suggest peaking between 2100 UTC 30th til 0300 UTC 31st. This graphic was labelled as times in UTC.

The Sun produced an X-class CME a few days ago. Due to hit tonight, and shock,horror..... it might be clear'ish in the more Northerly latitudes., well North Yorkshire at least and the Moon is almost out of the way. Lots of 'possibles' and 'maybes' , but the Aurora-web is pretty confident of an impact and a magnetospheric storm. Quote "maybe Kp=7". Which translates to mmmmm?? Watch the (Northern) skies. maybe. Sean.

Nice of it to clear up for New Moon. Seems to be the opposite effect in this hemi-sphere. How many times do you see the Full Moon on a night, compared to the number of times you see a New Moon ? ( )

Yes, the Ha network is showing that region becoming nice and active. https://gong2.nso.edu/products/scaleView/view.php?configFile=configs/hAlpha.cfg&productIndex=3 (load the images and play) This page should constantly keep up to date with images. An X class is quite a big one in solar terms.

That's rather good. Excellent picture. Isn't great when everything works, the weather behaves and you can doze contently ? sean.

Congratulations. ( they had probably better get used to late nights under the stars ) ( never too early to mention finest Japanese Optics as well ... my partner scans the labeling on the sides of any boxes I get delivered.....😇.)

Looks like an insulator from a pylon ?? This could become a competition....

Anybody got any tips on how to image it ?? I went for the "Planetary imaging Option", as I was doing some Solar System stuff at the time. 8"SCT, 2xPowermate and a ZWO224mc. Thought stacking would evenly spread out the scintillation of Sirius and hopefully reveal the Pup lurking in the glare. Sadly not a sausage let alone a white dwarf. I had better look at the separation data and see if this combo would actually split it. Has anybody succeeded with a photo on the forum ?? Could be the next SGL challenge.

Maybe not the best candidate for extra-terrestrial life with all those X rays..... but imagine witnessing at close hand all that Astrophysics going on within your own SolarSystem.

I think I need to get some serious aperture going with the Oiii. I need to roll out the 10" Quattro. Fight the monster with a monster.

Thanks Paul. Yes, It is hidden in plain sight, once you know. Only discovered a few years ago as well, 2007 by an amateur. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_Bubble_Nebula I like it because it is so round.

Absolutely JFK .... but crikey, these are slippery beasts. Three challenges of the Summer / Autumn sky that have been 'interesting' and alas, probably not finished. Soap Bubble. (Equinox 80 0.6x FR atik 414. 8hrs Ha 6 Hrs Oiii ) Stretch to infinity and beyond..... but it's there. Shark. Lum only ( lets see if it is there first !!! ) Samyang 135 atik414 3 hrs usuable... lots of spoil subs due to Moonlight. If you know what you are looking for.... it's there. When asked, my partner said she could see a Giraffe....🤨 Squid. Samyang 135 atik414. ( 4 hrs Ha 6 Hrs Oiii ). Is it there ?? Maybe.... a little blu'ish smidge..... if you use averted vision Thanks for looking. I need a nights sleep !! Sean.

Back to the original post.... I'm afraid all the answers are wrong. According to my Brooke Bond Card collection " The Race into Space" , and they should know about staring into tea-cups........ we have already been there since 1982....

But let's hope he doesn't want to use a submarine....

Is that an original wall ? Looks a bit fancy and OTT. Wonder if there is planning permission on it....? I googled, "in regard to its height: it is next to a highway used by vehicles (or the footpath of such a highway) and it would not exceed one metre in height (from ground level); or it would not exceed two metres in height (from ground level) if elsewhere; or ...." That might make an interesting conversation starter.

This object always reminds me of the time that I committed 6 hours of Hydrogen Alpha to it.... when clear nights were as rare as teachers' pay rises. Only to find out ........ Nice picture btw....

Inscribed with Stellarium ver 0.0.0 on the back

It is named ORAC ?? EDIT: original picture seems to have vanished.... teleported maybe..... here's another

Small planetary nebula require longer focal lengths to bring out any detail and tend to be narrowband targets, so mono is beneficial. Some also display very large ranges in brightness from their cores outwards and are easier to process if you have lots of shorter subs, hence a small sensitive chip is very useful. I have an atik 414mono and it works very well.

Me thinks Simon is going to get a "WOW" moment when he stacks them now.

I lifted this from Wiki "PK" designation comes from the names of Czechoslovakian astronomers Luboš Perek and Luboš Kohoutek, who in 1967 created an extensive catalog of all of the planetary nebulae known in the Milky Way as of 1964. The numbers indicate the position of the object on the sky. PK 164+31.1" basically represents the planetary nebula that when using the galactic coordinate system.

Maybe have the focuser end "high" on the mount and remove the end cap to allow any hot air to leave the scope ??

I thought it just screwed out as a block ... Like this. Are there two holes ?? Could you use a pin spanner on them if greater than finger tight ??

Well done Adam, that is such a difficult target. I have had 5 hours of OIII with my Samyang 135mm and not a trace of the slippery beast.