Littleguy80

Skies picked up a lot as the night went on. I think I would have felt a lot less confident about what I saw in the Equinox 80 had I not seen it in the dob too. It helped to be able to compare back and forth with the two scopes.

I had a successful evening seeing the comet in both my 10" dob and 80mm refractor. Wrote a short report here:

Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) has increased in magnitude significantly over the last few days and was therefore at the top of my "To See" list. This evening presented my first opportunity to try for it. The weather forecast had worsened throughout the day but looked like it should be clear at some point. Around 22:15 I spotted stars on the horizon so I took my Equinox 80 refractor outside. The clouds were still covering Ursa Major, where the comet is currently residing, so I went and grabbed my 10" dob too. My plan was to go widefield so I could try and see the comet alongside M81 and M82. As the clouds cleared, I managed a view of the two galaxies but not the comet. I switched from 40mm Aero eyepiece to the Baader zoom. A brief pause to wait for the next clear patch and I was off again. Clicking up through the magnifications I caught the hazy glow of the comet. It was faint but I felt sure it was there. The cloud returned and I had a moment to plan my next move. Time for the the dob. After 15 minutes or so of waiting the clouds parted. Starting at M81/M82 I started to move towards the comet and hit upon a grey fuzzy but it didn't look like a comet I then realised that I'd found the galaxy NGC 2976. Shortly afterwards, I had the comet in the eyepiece. After Comet C/2017 T2 (Panstarrs), the new comet seemed quite large and diffuse but clear with the larger aperture. I found my APM HDC 13mm gave the best views. Clouds arrived again and it was another 30 mins before I could return to observing. I decided to try again for the widefield view of M81/M82 and the comet. The view was hazy and even the galaxies seemed faint. I returned to the dob and the Comet seemed clearer than ever. I picked out a mag 12.8 star which was close to the comet's core. Now I was confused, skies looked good in the dob but poor in the refractor. The answer was obvious, the refractor had dewed up. I took it inside and cleared the dew with a hair drier. Back outside and things looked much better. I was finally able to get the view of M81/M82 and the comet that I was after. My ES82 30mm eyepiece giving a superb widefield in the Equinox 80. Finally I decided to try for the comet with my 10x50 binoculars. M81/M82 were obvious with the bins. The comet was a maybe in averted vision. A night of cloud dodging but really rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable. I've now seen 10 comets since I started observing in 2017.

Awesome, Dom. I’m so happy you go it. It’s a great achievement with a 4” scope. Sounds like a really nice session.

Recently I’ve been starting at the Christmas Tree cluster, then observing Hubble’s variable nebula, 13 Mon and finally Rosette nebula.

Hi Dom. Great report The cluster, NGC2244, is quite obvious but the nebula is a bit trickier. It definitely benefits greatly from darks skies. I normally use an OIII filter with a big exit pupil (6mm) with a 2 degree TFOV. It’s quite a big target. SkySafari screen grab below shows it with my dob and ES82 30mm. When using a UHC/OIII filter don’t be afraid to go really low power to maximise the exit pupil. I had some amazing views of this nebula using a 40mm eyepiece in my dob. With dark skies this is a special target. Hope your back feels better soon!

Thanks to @Davey-T for bringing this to my attention. The Comet C/2019 Y4 (Atlas) has brightening, currently at mag 9.8. Some good info here: http://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comet/2019Y4?fbclid=IwAR0zN6VDuvfvQoE95hneLgp5kcqkDoGvuRf5E2Qmh6f6kXy6nbAKLX3YIzE

Exciting! I’ll look out for that one. Thanks for the heads up

Conditions weren’t the best but I took on the challenge of observing this comet with my 80mm frac. It’s a whole different ball game to the dob. I started with the Baader zoom. On the 8mm setting I thought maybe. Switched to 9mm BGO and got another maybe. Then went to the 12.5mm BGO and, in averted vision, it started to come through a bit more decisively. A definite edge observation but they all count. I checked afterwards and the 12.5mm BGO gives the magical 2mm exit pupil which seems to strike the right balance for DSO’s. A good ortho helps too. The view through the dob of this comet is much more impressive but I really enjoyed the challenge of finding it with smaller aperture.

Hi Marvin. This is certainly a tricky comet compared to 46/P but I think it should be achievable for you. I’ve observed it with my 10” dob many times from my local dark site and from my back garden which is NELM 5.5 on a good night. I think the normal rules for DSO observing apply. Good transparency and no Moon are needed. I normally start with a lower power view to locate it. In my dob that’s 60x with a 4.2mm exit pupil. I then go to 133x with 1.9mm exit pupil to gain some contrast and get a clearer view. I would concentrate on the exit pupil values as opposed to the magnification. It’s a really nice comet which is starting to show a small tail, based on my last couple of observations. Best of luck finding it. I share your love comets. I’ve been lucky enough to see 9 since 2017

Well it took a nearly half 5.5 degree FOV but I managed to catch Venus and Uranus together in the eyepiece. Always neat to see two planets at once.

Thanks John. Very interesting results. Sounds like you a few steps ahead of me on this The Baader Contrast booster adds a yellow tint so I’ll give that a go first as I already have it. Maybe try the violet after that. I’ll be interested to hear how your journey with the filters continues!

Thanks Mike. Good point on aperture. Hadn’t considered that. I wonder whether sticking with the Equinox 80 unfiltered on Venus may prove as effective as using a filter with the 10” dob?

Thank John. Are you able to see any cloud detail on Venus without a filter? Perhaps a similar experience to Mike. Once you’ve seen it with a filter it becomes easier to see without?

I’ve never been a fan of coloured filters for planetary observing. I just prefer a more natural look. I like the Baader Neodymium for Jupiter. I also have the Baader Contrast Booster but there does add some false colour. However, I find myself contemplating a #47 Violet filter to try and see some cloud details on Venus. Has anyone else tried this? Are there other coloured filters that really stand out? I read some very positive comments on magenta for Mars.

The clouds briefly parted so I managed a brief look in WL. It’s quite an interesting spot. It appears to be a group of smaller spots in a circular formation. The centre is definitely brighter. Many thanks for the heads up @astro_al. I would certainly have missed this otherwise.

Excellent heads up. Thanks Paul. The three peaks in photo are a real stand out. One much brighter then the other two. The Marius hills are also making captivating viewing. Equinox 80 paired with Vixen HR 3.4mm proving to be a top notch Lunar setup!

As I sit here on a cloudy and rainy Friday night, I look back on a happy Thursday night with the stars. I was a weary stargazer, having risen at 5am for work. A restful afternoon had given me enough energy though to wander out under the clear skies. The Moon and Venus in the early evening had lit the fire inside me. The fire was needed as it was bloomin’ cold outside. The words and sketches of a fellow stargazer named Nick filled my mind. You may know him as @cotterless45. Nick had written of a Constellation named Puppis and that is where I directed my telescope. The planetary nebula NGC2440 blinked in and out view, just as Nick promised. More magnification showed an irregular shaped nebula. At first I thought it’s stat could be seen but, alas, it was simply a brighter region within the nebula. Nick’s trail led to a spectacular pair of clusters, M46 and M47. The bright binary in M47 was eye catching. Nick described M46 as delicate and I cannot top his words. Adding an OIII filer, elevated the view as the planetary nebula NGC 2438 grew in prominence within the nebula. With greater magnification, the PN took on an annulus structure to my eye. Nick knows just where to find the most stunning double stars. The winter Albireo, h3945, more than lived up to its name. Carbon stars followed. For these I retrieved my refractor. Hind’s Crimson Star and La Superba showed amazing colours. The first like the red of a traffic light and La Superba, a deep orange. The colour rendition of the frac surpassing my reflector on these targets. I parted ways with Nick at this point and started to collect galaxies. The superb irregular galaxy, NGC 4449, led me onto the Cocoon galaxy (NGC 4490) and its smaller and fainter companion (NGC 4485). The bright Messier galaxy M106 followed. The pairing of M97 (Owl Nebula) and M108 was intended to be my final flourish but I decided on just one more target. I’ve clocked up 13 observations of the wandering comet know as C/2017 T2 (Panstarrs). Observation number 14 was a memorable one. The icy visitor is currently travelling through Cassiopeia giving a wonderful starry backdrop. Using a simple but very sharp orthoscopic eyepiece, I marvelled at the hazy glow of the comet. It seemed to hint at its tail. As I started to clear my stargazing tools away, I kept coming back for just “one more look”. A view worthy of a sketch by Nick who inspired this session with his words and sketches.

Great sketch Does the UHC filter help? I've only ever observed comets unfiltered. I know Lumicon produced the SWAN specifically for comets but I've not tried one of those.

I was observing from home, so not under the best skies, but I did think there were signs of a tail. It would be interesting to see some recent images to see what they show.

My final target observed tonight was this superb comet. Set amongst the star fields of Cassiopeia now, it’s a real treat. I was observing it with my 10” dob and 12.5mm BGO. As I packed up, I went back for about six “one last look”s before coming in to thaw out. Be sure to catch this comet while it’s around

Just in from a lovely session. Spent the first half following your targets from this report. I observed Hind’s Crimson star and La Superba through my frac for the first. Wow! The colour rendition is a real step up from the dob. Hind’s Crimson star is traffic light red and La Superba a deeper orange through the frac. Thank you for posting your reports, Nick. A constant source of inspiration...under clear skies

Looked lovely this evening with lots of earthshine. Venus sitting pretty up high

With my 130M I only ever used a collimation cap. Cost about £5 and was plenty good enough to keep it collimated. I did put a centre spot on the mirror to help with this.

This was my first telescope. I had many happy hours with it. Learning to find targets is tricky with the EQ2 mount. I replaced the red dot finder with a Telrad. A Rigel Quickfinder may be a better sized option. I highly recommend the BST Starguiders. The 8mm was the first one I purchased for mine. For a Barlow look for the Baader Q Barlow 2.25x. These often come up second hand for a good price. Same with the BST Starguiders. Don’t be disheartened if you struggle to find things to start with. I found it difficult to align on the Moon when I first got it but with practise I was soon star hopping my way around. Lots of experienced and helpful people on here so feel free to ask all the questions you want I should add that it’s worth spending time using it with the stock eyepieces while you get used to it. Better to be comfortable with using the scope before spending lots on upgrades.