Nyctimene

NGC 7789 in Cas, "Caroline's Rose"; easy to find, a very dense oc, needs magnification and is magnificent; my most loved oc

NGC 6811 in northern Cyg, "Hole in a Cluster";  about 6° SE of it NGC 6866, the "Kite Cluster"

M 47/M46  in Pup with the embedded planetary 2438 (will need a OIII or UHC filter)

M 35 in Gem, with the dense 2158 close W

Stephan

6 hours ago, rl said:

A 6" f/8 Newtonian makes a good planetary instrument....

+1 for that. The best option, IMO, and hard to beat, when paired with good orthoscopic eyepieces, e.g, the Baader Classic orthos. You want to do lunar and planetary observing, not wide field observing with low power. No false colour, hardly spherical aberration or coma, easy to collimate and handle, tolerant regarding eyepieces,and very affordable.

Stephan

2 hours ago, paulastro said:

Stephan.  I've done a search and the only seller I found was Amazon which lists it at £31.68, which seems rather a lot for a 96 page soft back?  A shame as it looks a good book.  There may have been a facility to order it from the link you kindly sent, but alas if so I couldn't see it - my lack of German is not helping I'm afraid.  🤔

Paul,

it's easy and self-explaining to use this atlas. The text passages are rather short and refer to partly astrophysics of the object, partly to history and common aspects ("trivia"), so not vital for observing. All the other topics you will found out, I'm sure. When you tap on one of the sliding/changing pictures on your smartphone, or notebook, the movement will stop, and you can investigate calmly.

The book is priced here at 39.90€, so not cheap, but it oozes quality. The material is heavy DIN-A 4 paper, almost carton, dew-resistant and glossy, spiral-bound. The layout mirrors all the 30+ years experience of it's author and observer (who made the drawings of all objects once again, using 12" and 10" Dobs under 21.3-21.7 SQM-L skies). You may access the objects using their M number, or planned observing time, or right ascension etc. Symbols are used for types of observing instruments, colours for favourable observing (traffic-light system - green=ok; orange and red=worse) and so on. All very thought-out and immediately useful; and up-to-date (released Oct.2020).

The Oculum Verlag will ship to all European countries; just give it a try  (oculum.de), or use the tax-avoiding river, if it's too complicated.

Stephan

If you don't mind reading some German:

https://www.oculum-verlag.de/detailview?no=594

By the publisher of the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas - a very thought-out book, detailed and self-explaining, with Telrad circles.

Moreover, a similar guide to the best NGC objects is on the way (Crowdfunding).  The Big Binoscout is in print and will be available in November.

Stephan

3 minutes ago, Astro_Dad said:

Enjoyed your report @Nyctimene. What do you think- bit of a stretch with my 8 inch in a designated dark sky zone or could I scape it?!

I really don't know - never saw it with my 8". Please check Phil Harrington's article linked above; there have been observers who spotted the Propeller with 6" scopes. The designated Dark Sky zone might help a bit. High magnification is needed.

Give it a go, and let us know!

Stephan

23 minutes ago, John said:

Some nice galaxies near Messier 13 as well

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/m13-and-galaxies/

I've observed only 6207 (regularly when visiting M 13), but have never been able to spot IC 4617 up to now. Encouraging, that there are some "brighter" galaxies  close by; I'll give it a try, perhaps next year, when Hercules is high positioned again!

Stephan

On 11/10/2021 at 14:15, jetstream said:

Years ago a member Qualia sketched M13 that showed some star trails- I see these trails and had discussed it with him way back. I was wondering if these "detached" star trails are "Herschels hairs"? Do you see M13 like this as well? These features really add beauty to the object.

I can make out the star trails/chains slightly "detached" quite well, but not as prominent as in Qualia's sketch. And, yes, these trails are "Herschel's hairs" - to quote his description (John Herschel, btw.): "hairy looking, curvilinear branches".

Stephan

14 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

I do wonder whether the fibers would attract dew/frost and just bring it closer to the mirror

Never observed this with my two dobs, that have the secondary flocked (8" f/4 and 5.1" f/5). They rarely dew up, and definitely not starting at the secondary's edges.

Stephan

On 09/10/2021 at 19:17, ONIKKINEN said:

I am thinking of just painting these black with something like TS-black or another very low reflection paint. Although im not quite sure how to paint the mirror edge without ruining the mirror itself. Maybe using a marker or a very small brush?

Painting the secondary edge with a black felt tip or paint will still leave some reflexivity, esp. when light hits the mirror under grazing angles. I preferred to flock the secondary's edge (only half of it's circumference can be seen from the focuser) with self-adhesive velour flocking material (D-C-Fix here in Germany). Working in small pieces, I started with making a trapezoidal paper template for the part of the secondary, that points directly at the sky ( - the region of the major axis' exit) and cut it with fine scissors to the correct size and shape. I then transferred the template's outlines with a fine pencil on the velour's paper side, and cut out the part. A small pincette was used to put it into place. The same somewhat fiddly procedure followed with four more pieces (but you have to measure and cut only two templates, that are used back-to-front). The result is shown here with my Skywatcher Heritage 130 P Flextube:

You don't have to work with extreme precision - the main point is just to get most of the stray light absorbed.

Stephan

Some more ideas here:

http://www.roelblog.nl/2019/09/summierian-ii-een-100mm-f-4-babydobson/#more-2809

Stephan

I'm using this observing hood:

https://r-sky.org/en/products/observing-hood

Not always, but in situations with light pollution (e.g. early in the evening - lots of cars and illuminated buildings), or, in contrast, when observing very faint DSO's.

Works really well; only minor downside is the fogging up of eyepieces in winter times. You have to "ventilate" them for several seconds, and can go on with observing. Very good fabric and make quality, reasonable price.

Stephan

Thank you, Pixies, for the vivid report, especially for the reminder concerning comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It seems to be positioned quite favourable in northern Taurus, and I'll revisit it, perhaps tomorrow morning. A fascinating thought, that Rosetta sent down the lander "Philae" to it's surface in 2014, and that this fridge-sized space probe is still there. According to the 2020 evaluation of it's two "bounces", the comet's surface ice is very soft and fluffy, softer than cappuccino froth or bath foam bubbles. Should be visible readily with the 12" (the comet, of course; neither Philae nor cappuccino ice...;-) )Stephan

It is strange, how the eye/brain team of a DSO's observer can be accustomed to view the faintest light structures on a dark sky background, and, in contrast to that, may have it's difficulties when it comes down to observe dark structures in brighter objects. When I went out this evening 20.00 CEST, the observing conditions were not great; NELM 5.0; SQM-L 20.6; together with a lot of light pollution (cars; two illuminated restaurants close by etc.), so I decided to point the 18" at M 13, without too much expectations. With 164x mag (Docter 12.5 mmf), several star lanes, known as "Herschel's hairs", mostly directed to N, were quite obvious. But up to now I have never been able to spot the dark lane structure known as the "propeller". This time, I spent, in analogy to some DSO sessions on faint objects, about 15 minutes to observe the cluster. Letting the eye wander again and again across the bright, widely resolved cluster, changing from direct to averted vision and back, slowly the dark "Y" pattern, resembling a "Mercedes" logo emerged in the S part of the cluster. One arm was pointing W, the two other ones to NNE and SE. The whole structure took up about 25% of the cluster's apparent diameter. I was not able to view it constantly - it "disappeared" several times, but returned, when I paused for a minute or had a look at the NGC 6207 galaxy close by. I guess, my brain will have stored the view now adequately, and it will be visible more readily the next time when I'm chasing it.

A nice, appropriate sketch by Michael Vlasov:

http://skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/Globular-M13-sketch-Michael-Vlasov.jpg

An article by Phil Harrison about the propeller:

https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/column/phil-harrington-s/cosmic-challenge-m13s-propeller-r3106

Thanks for reading

Stephan

1 hour ago, Murray06 said:

Thanks for all the input. I think the Sky-Watcher Heritage-150P is the current front runner, just need to learn more about the ‘red dot’ as that appears to be the only bad review for it. 

A good choice. You don't have to be afraid of the RDF; it works quite well ( - the same one as with my 130 P Flextube). Perhaps you have to shim it a bit to get it aligned to the OTA. If the red LED is too bright (for DSO's), you can reduce it's brightness by putting a small piece of developed 35 mm film across the LED's exit to dim it adequately (works well with several RDF's in use with my dobs). Together with a wide field eyepiece, e.g. the 24 mmf/68° ES, or it's brother, the 26 mmf/62° LER, you will have enough TFoV (True Field of View) for star hopping.

A lot of questions are answered in the huge thread about the smaller, but elder brother, the Skywatcher Heritage 130 P Flextube - the same scope; here under the brand name "AWB":

www.cloudynights.com/topic/463109-onesky-newtonian-astronomers-without-borders/

Stephan

6 hours ago, Ian McCallum said:

My main concern would be damp getting into the wooden rocker base...

You could substitute the MDF base for this metal one:

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p5637_Orion-UK-Dobsonian-mount-for-300mm-aperture-Newtonian-Telescopes.html

13 kgs, so much lighter than a MDF base.

Stephan

Counterweights seem to be a quite common enemy. In my case, it was a fixed one, attached to the massive equatorial mount of the 18" Newtonian, the Starkenburg-Sternwarte had been donated months before. In the observatory's completely dark dome, the counterweight was just at the appropriate height, when I went around the scope, to hit my left eyebrow - resulting in a pretty bleeding cut, that had to undergo a surgical treatment at midnight. Lesson learned - my 18" Dob has no counterweights. ( - But wheelbarrow handles, that stay fixed for convenience when I'm observing. I've learned to walk around the scope always at the front side, as you have to do, when approaching a horse.... all went well, up to now!)

Stephan

On 28/09/2021 at 12:24, F15Rules said:

I also often reverse the chair "back to front" and sit astride it..sounds odd, but I find it's often very comfortable and stable

Not so uncommon; the ICS owner is shown here with an accessory for the "Füssener Astrostuhl", allowing you to mount binoculars or small telescopes/spectives (I don't own - up to now; but Christmas is coming...):

Stephan

1 hour ago, NGC 1502 said:

In any scope without a drive, if you watch where stars drift OUT of the field of view, that’s WEST.

To add: in any Newtonian scope (as your Heritage is), NORTH is 90° counterclockwise to WEST (so you don't have to move your scope). Just watch the stars (with a higher mag, to "accelerate" the movement), where they are leaving the field of view; right angled counterclockwise is N.

Mnemonic: stars enter from the east, and wane in the west.

Hth.

Stephan

"Füssener Astrostuhl". Similar to the Geoptik Nadira, but with a much wider base (85x70 cm), so more security on uneven ground - doesn't topple over. I bought the "magnum" version for use with my 18", and I'm seated always safe and comfortable even at the highest position. Seat position can be adjusted in seconds without looking. Sturdy build; well balanced for moving. One of the best accessories I've ever bought. Have a look:

https://www.intercon-spacetec.de/zubehoer/astronomie-zubehoer/stuehle/4888-ics-astro-stuhl-standard-grau-hoehe-90-cm-beobachterstuhl.html

Stephan

Maybe the term "erect" refers to a single mirror diagonal, that will give you an erect image, but with reversed sides, as a mirror does. A nightmare, when you try to match such an image with a map (especially at 02.00 in the morning). What you need is a real RACI finder (right angle - correct image), as Johninderby says above, to get that naked-eye/binocular-like view you want to have. Usually it's a tad more pricey, due to the built-in Amici prism. No clue, why it's different with this store.

Stephan

Happened to me twice the last nights, when observing the moon. First one was a lunar "snake", the Mare Anguis ("anguis" the Latin word for snake). One of the small lunar maria, located close to the NE border of Mare Crisium. With the 12", a really prominent dark (lava) area with an unmistakeable serpent shape. Needed a higher mag, and seemed to be prone to bad seeing.

The second one, this morning, was the straight, black shadow (darker than lava albedo) of Valley Taurus-Littrow, directed roughly SSW-NNE. Landing place of the last Apollo (17) mission. (Will be close to the terminator this evening). Always something unexpected on the moon!

Added a picture of Mare Anguis:

Stephan

1 hour ago, Nik271 said:

If the transparency is decent tonight I will try to see Triton. I've never seen it before and at mag 13  should be just within the reach of my 7 inch Mak. Theoretically.

You'd better wait until Friday/Saturday night, when Triton (13.6 mag) will be in 16.2" (arc sec) distance of Neptun, almost the maximal elongation, which is 17". This evening it's just a tiny gap of 10" - even a good Maksutov will struggle with this. I spotted Triton three weeks ago with my 12" under 5 mag skies (after a suggestion by John), and it was not easy, needing averted vision. Phil Harrington ("Cosmic Challenges") rates the observation as difficult (3 of 4-rating) with large scopes (10" to 14" apertures). Perhaps it's better to wait a few days and to try, when the moon isn't up. Very high magnifications of 300x and more will be needed. A real challenge - but, give it a go, and let us know (the motto of the Deep Sky Forum members). Good luck!

Stephan

Just came in from a planetary session with the 12" f/5 on the EQ platform. Thin haze, but rather good seeing, allowing  183x mag. Observed the last phase of Io's shadow transit. All four moons visible as tiny discs. Saturn showed the Cassini along almost the whole circumference; some faint bands on the surface; the planet's shadow on the ring could be seen clearly. Titan and Rhea readily visible, Dione was more difficult, but to spot with AV. Tethys (10.9), very close to the planet, was seen for fractions of a second. Japetus. No traces of Mimas or Enceladus. Rising moon made fainter stars fade out. Still one of the best views I had during the last two years.

Stephan

9 minutes ago, PEMS said:

Friend looked at them and said they are based on population density and the presumed, assumed or expected light polution associated.

Not all of them; the maps of French amateur Fréderic  Tapissier  (AVEX maps) seem to be based on such assumptions. The lightpollutionmap data are scientifically based.

A link to the AVEX website (in French only, as it seems):

https://www.avex-asso.org/