Littleguy80

I’ve followed the AR for about an hour now. There was around 3 tiny spots near it to start with. Since then a string of tiny spots has developed from the main AR to the three small spots. Brilliant to watch this happen through the eyepiece.

I can happily confirm that this is an easy spot in white light. Quite central. I’d describe it as having a comet shape. Thanks Charl for posting as I’d have missed this otherwise

Excellent report, Iain. Great to have the 14” out again. Windy conditions seem to go hand in hand with good transparency. I understand the sentiments of feeling out of practice. I often feel the same way even after just a few short weeks of not observing. Equally I understand the sense of guilt. Tiredness takes over but you look across the sky thinking of all the objects you could be observing. Another session always comes along though. Better to stop while you’re still enjoying it and leave wanting more.

Great images as always, Charl. Is the spot showing in white light at all?

It’s just a hobby. My wife and I have a date night every Saturday come clouds or clear skies. I’m sure it was who you said “Astronomy over TV. People over Astronomy.” I thought that was as near a perfect guide as I ever heard

I had the NAN in my 80mm Frac last night with an OIII filter. You can do it

I was super happy to follow the MW down to the southern horizon last week. First time I remember being able to do that. Last time I looked at the Cheeseburger was last year. I’m going to give it another gear on my next dark site visit. I’ll report back my results. Camping this weekend. Only space for the little frac but should be good for some widefield dark neb hunting.

Another excellent report, Gerry. Planetaries are among my favourites. I had a good look at the Foetus a few weeks back. Haven’t seen the Cheeseburger recently but will put that right soon! I have the Baader VIP and like it very much. I created an Eyepiece spreadsheet which calculates all the key figures for my eyepieces. I can even work out values based on length added/removed from the VIP. Can you see where I’m going with this? I put the numbers in, 1.75” (44.5mm) added and got a magnification factor of 2.7x. If 2x is giving you 500x then 2.7x would give you 675x. Details of the formula for calculating the magnification factor below: https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/downloads/dl/file/id/240/product/1062/calculating_different_magnifications_with_the_vip_barlow.pdf

Awesome report, Stu. The Sumerian working great under dark skies. It’s nice how knowledge is passed around on here. John introduces to the Veil which you went on to introduce me to. The NAN too. I still remember you posting tips and SkySafari screenshots to help me on my way to finding it with my 130mm scope

Excellent report, Damian and a great start to the season. Your description of the Blue Flash is much as I saw it. I wonder if shows more blue at lower magnifications?Looking forward to more reports as the skies darken

I think the one thing I’d like more than anything on a dark site session is a really experienced DSO hunter to look through the eyepiece and confirm what I’m seeing. I had that the second time I saw the Horsehead. It really helped to have confirmation plus the questions she asked about what I was seeing through the eyepiece actually led me to see even more detail. Having said that, my SGL mentors have brought me so much further than I ever thought possible

I’m pleased to hear you’ve had success with your 8”, Iain. One of the Astro society members commented that he’d tried and failed to see SH2-91 in his 24”. Did put some doubt in my mind about what I’d seen. His attempt was on a different occasion to mine though. These faint targets are very dependent on excellent transparency so it doesn’t seem that odd that a 24” could fail to pick it up. I’ll definitely be revisiting and trying to see more!

Thanks Franks. Sorry to hear you’ve not been well. Hopefully you’ll get plenty of clear skies now the season is underway. I don’t have an SQM meter but I think the skies at my dark site would be between Bortle 2 and 3 depending on conditions on the night.

Thank you, Gerry. haha SH2-91 seemed right on the limit but I'll give the tougher section a shot Very interesting comments on observing galaxies after nebula. The galaxies I did observe afterwards didn't seem to resolve well. The only faint one I got was Barnard's galaxy which was more like a faint neb than a galaxy. I put it down to transparency dropping off on the night. I observed Stephan's quintet last December. The 9mm BGO picked out 3 faint cores in a triangular configuration if memory serves. The circled section is what I observed. Is there further nebulosity to see?

Thanks Iain. Glad you enjoyed. I think familiarity is playing a part too. I’ve been using the dob with my widefield eyepieces for well over a year now. I know what to expect when I look through the eyepiece. Spotting things that are out of the normal, like the disturbance in the area of SH2-91, becomes a little easier. Three dark site trips in a week really helps to attune the eyes to observing too. Practise makes perfect as they say

I don’t who I thought I was kidding. Just had a nice little hour out with the frac. 6 nights observing out of the last 8!

So I sit here tonight, exhausted, having observed 5 out of the last 7 nights. One night was cloudy, the other night I spent with my wife. She looked out at bedtime and said "It's clear outside tonight and you spent the evening with me, you must really love me!" She knows me so well. It's clear tonight but I don't think I've got anything left in the tank. The grim reality of work in the morning is dissuading me from another night out under the stars. For those that are interested, I've written some observing reports from my sessions this week.

My third dark site trip of the week and I was feeling in good shape. I'd turned down clear skies Saturday for an early night. I arrived onsite nice and early giving me time to get everything set up, aligned, collimated and cooled before darkness arrived. A quick look at Jupiter and Saturn confirmed everything was ready for a night of nebulae hunting. Unlike my previous dark site visits this week, I'd had time to prepare for my session. Armed with a list of targets, images, sketches, star charts, as well as some challenges from Gerry @jetstream, I began the session in Sagittarius. I started with the Lagoon, M8, which had created quite an impression in my previous session. A quick filter battle between the Lumicon OIII and Astronomic UHC lead to a swift victory to the Lumicon. Once again the curving nebulosity creating a dark lane through the centre. I believe I also picked up the hour glass nebula which sits within the thicker section of nebulosity in the Lagoon. The Red Spider Nebula, NGC6537, was a new target for me. A lovely little planetary nebula not far from the Lagoon. I made use of the OIII on M16 and M17 before removing it to observe M24. The sky was dark enough now to enjoy the dark nebula, B92 and B93 in the star cloud. The Wild Ducks, M11, made a wonderful starting point for another new target. NGC6712, according to Interstellarum, it is known as the Weird Globular. I increased power and tried an OIII as suggested by Instellarum to try and pick out the dark lane within it but was unsuccessful. It's not unusual for details to go unobserved on the first observation so I wasn't too disheartened. It was now time for Gerry's challenges! The first challenge was to see the Lagoon naked eye. I got M8 back in the eyepiece and used the Telrad to see whereabouts I should be looking. Sure enough a faint glow within the Milky Way could be seen. Success on the first challenge meant I was in with a chance of succeeding with challenge two. Gerry had provided a sketch by Mel Bartels of the Veil. Just above the Eastern section is a small detached section of nebulosity. I'd inverted the colours on the sketch and had it with me as a guide. On the sketch are two stars, HD199374 and HD199358 which are roughly in line with target nebulosity. I used these as a guide for my observations. The Lumicon OIII was screwed back in and the hunt began. It's surprising how much further the Eastern Veil extends when you start to look for the fainter parts. I experimented a bit exit pupil and decided that a larger exit pupil with the ES82 30mm worked best for me. Slowly but surely, I started to get glimpses of the challenge nebula. After about 20 mins, I felt quite confident in the observation. Now was the right time to go even fainter. SH2-91, the Little Veil, is something I've been inspired to try for by Gerry and Iain @scarp15. I'd spent a lot of time studying images of this to give me the best chance of seeing it. I started by centring on Phi Cygni/12 Cyg. The same large exit pupil and Lumicon OIII were employed to search this out. What I observed was a faint line of disturbance running above 12 Cyg. It had an almost translucent appearance right on the edge of what I could see with averted version. Had I not known that SH2-91 was supposed to be there I would probably have dismissed it. However, repeatedly moving along the line of disturbance showed it to be something that was actually there and not some other artefact. It feels odd to call it an observation but I guess this is normal for something so faint! I went back to the Eastern Veil and found observing the challenge nebula even easier. My dark adaption seemed to have gone up a notch from the search for SH2-91. Perhaps transparency had improved over that time too. I was super happy to have pushed myself to the edge of what I could see. A brief viewing of the Crescent nebula before I joined the "Blue Flash Challenge". One of my fellow observers had been challenge to see NGC6905 in his frac. I pulled this lovely planetary nebula up in the dob. I then helped find it in the frac too. It was faint in the frac compared to the dob but most definitely there. A nice streak of nebulosity. I went back to Cygnus and the North American Nebula. The Pelican was showing well. Dark nebula were on my mind once again. B352 came quite easily but B353 took a bit more effort but was also observed. Transparency seemed to be dipping a bit now though. I dropped back down to Sagittarius and the Little Gem planetary nebula. Rather than increasing power on the little planetary, I went in search of Barnard's galaxy, NGC 6822. I'm not sure if it's just low surface brightness or that it's positioned quite low. Through experimenting with eyepieces, I was able to detect the faint glow of the galaxy. Another challenging target in the bag. A few more galaxies followed, Fireworks galaxy, NGC 891, NGC 7331 and a failed attempt at Stephan's quintet. My final challenge of the session was a comet. C/2018 W2 (Africano) is listed at mag 11.4. It took some slow scanning but the diffuse glow, that signified the comet, was seen in the APM HDC 20mm. I'm looking forward to seeing this brighten over the coming weeks. Things were getting damp so a light hearted tour of M31, M32, M110, M45 and NGC404 finished up the 4 hour session. What a fantastic week of astronomy it's been!

Good work, Doug. Ever the opportunist! I was tired and heading to bed at 11pm last night. Somehow that turned into 1:30am after a couple of hours out with the dob in the garden. Clear skies are hard to ignore. 4 nights observing out of 5 this week!

I do like a challenge Is it the small section just above the Eastern Veil in the sketch? I'm hoping to get back to my dark site over the weekend so will give it a go! I didn't see the Lagoon naked eye but have to admit I didn't have a concerted effort to see it either. Will also try for that at the weekend too.

Thanks Gerry. That sketch is stunning!! 25” at F2.8!!! What a scope that must be!

Thanks Stu Fingers crossed you get out with the 14”. You’ll have a great time with that under dark skies!

Second dark site trip of the week for me. I'd had a quick look at the Ganymede transit and GRS from home before loading up the car to head for darker skies. I arrived around 9:45. My fellow observers were both seeking targets in Sagittarius so I decided to follow suit. Looking up at the Milky Way I could follow it all the way down to the horizon. It's safe to say the skies were looking good! I pointed the scope at Sagittarius with no real plan of what to observe. The first target to appear in the RACI finder was M8, the Lagoon. A quick look through the eyepiece confirmed the target and the finder alignment. I decided to add my Lumicon OIII filter to pair with my APM HDC 20mm eyepiece. The view took my breath away. Seeing nebulosity within the Lagoon is nothing unusual, you don't even need a filter, but the amount I was now seeing was amazing. A thick patch around one end. A large curve of nebulosity coming around the thicker patch of nebulosity creating a dark lane through the center of the nebula. It was simply stunning. My observing buddies both came over for a look too. This was by far the best view of the Lagoon I've ever had and not one I will quickly forget. I went on to observe the Triffid. For the first time I was able to see the dark lines within it using an HB filter. These were quite distinct with averted vision. Going unfiltered onto M24, I picked out the dark nebula B92 and B93. The open cluster, NGC6603, seemed to glow within M24. The Eagle and Swan nebulae followed. I set my Equinox 80 up with Astronomik OIII and ES82 30mm for some widefield views in Cygnus. I went straight to the Veil. Seeing the Veil in a single FOV under dark skies has been on my wish list for awhile. I was very, VERY pleased to finally achieve this. A very different experience to the detailed views through the dob earlier in the week but very enjoyable. Some light cloud was starting to creep over the sky now. A quick tour of the NAN with the Equinox 80 followed by the Helix and Saturn nebulae in the dob finished the session. Despite a premature end due to the cloud, I was very glad I made the effort for those wonderful views of Magnificent M8!

Great report, Dom. I’m glad you found Caroline’s rose. It’s a great target and seems to grow in detail the longer you observe it. Thanks for the report

I’m sorry. I was just repeating words that my wife keeps saying to me. I thought it might make me sound intelligent