Littleguy80

The funny thing is that we could simply choose to go to bed and not observe. Somehow that option just never seems to occur to us when the skies are clear

I’m not expecting much sleep over the next few nights

That’s a proper throw back to my childhood. I was thinking about it when I selected the title!

Thanks, Iain. It was good to get some proper observing in. I wish I’d been better prepared but it didn’t lessen the enjoyment at all. You may well have seen this already but a good article on the little Veil: https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/summers-overlooked-deep-sky-objects-08072014/ The forecast for the next few days is looking good. Hopefully a return trip to the dark site will get me a bit closer to observing it

This is the story of two observing sessions. One from the suburban skies of my back garden and the other from my local dark site. For both sessions I used my 10" dob. Monday evening started with some planetary observing with my son and his friend. One of the pleasures of observing the past couple of summers is having friends over to share the views with. I've lost count of the number of people who have been wowed by seeing Jupiter and Saturn through one of my telescopes. After awhile the boys went off to the tent to enjoy some back garden camping. I didn't really have a plan of what to observe but decided to start in Ophiuchus. The large open cluster IC4665 made an excellent starting place. I believe this is sometimes referred to as the summer beehive. One of the Messier globulars came next, M14. I started sweeping around the star fields and happened across NGC6633 which is a really nice open cluster. A scan on SkySafari, showed that the planetary nebula NGC6572 was close by. This is a real stunner. At low power it is extremely bright and a very distinctive blue/green colour. It responds well to high powers too. I spent quite some time admiring this. I needed something special to follow the planetary nebula and M11, the Wid Duck Cluster was just the ticket. There are so many stars that the whole cluster just seems to glow. A real delight. I added an OIII filter to take in a few nebula, M16, M17 and M27. The Swan remains one of very favourite summer targets. It was time for something new. Following a recommendation, I found my way to the globular cluster NGC6934 in Delphinus. It's small but bright and improved further with high powers. An excellent recommendation. I went on to split Pi Aquilae which is also a new target for me. Caroline's Rose, NGC457 and the Double Cluster were all enjoyable despite the Moon which was now creeping about the roof tops. It was now late so I finished with a low power look at the Moon. It was really nice to take the whole thing as opposed to chasing more detailed views at higher power. Despite being a little tired from the previous night's observing, I couldn't turn down the opportunity for some observing at my local dark site. I knew it wouldn't be a late session with Moon rising fairly early in the evening. After arriving and aligning finders etc, I went off for to say a quick hello to my fellow observers while the scope cooled and the skies darkened. Knowing the time before the Moon arrived was short, I put the Lumicon OIII filter in with the ES82 30mm and headed straight to the Veil. The Western Veil jumped right out at me. It's been a long time since I've observed the Veil under good dark skies and I was stunned by just how good it looked. Pickering's Wisp was the best I've ever seen it. There was no straining to see it as I have on many previous occasions. The Eastern Veil was brighter still with small filaments of nebulosity. This was the first time that I really had that sense of looking at a black and white photo such was the detail on display. I decided to try for SH2-91, the mini Veil. This was a stretch target and I thought I sensed something by comparing the appearance of stars. A review of images this morning led me to conclude that I wasn't seeing it though. That challenge remains for another day. I continued onto the North American Nebula but was again taken aback by another sight. The Pelican Nebula was so much more noticeable and clearer than I remember seeing it in the past. I got a much better feel of the shape of it. The NAN itself occupied my attention for quite some time. I was left wishing I'd planned a bit better for the session so I could have targeted some specific features within it. Continuing my race around the nebulae of Cygnus, I went over to the Crescent Nebula. I'd been wanting to try my 25mm TV Plossl on this for awhile. I had a suspicion that the narrower FOV and a high transmission would work well. My suspicions proved well founded. I preferred the narrow FOV of the TV Plossl to the big ES82 eyepiece. The full curve of the crescent could be seen plus the central spike. Radically different views to the small section of the nebula that I can see from home. I now wondered if the Pacman nebula would also work well with this eyepiece/filter combination. The short answer was no. It was much more difficult to pic the Pacman neb up thought it was much less ideally placed than the Crescent. My eyes were feeling tired now so I took a break to eat some chocolate and just take in the Milky Way naked eye. Feeling refreshed but with the Moon now making it's presence felt, I returned to the eyepiece. I decided to revisit Caroline's Rose with the benefit of dark skies. The difference was astounding. There were so many more stars visible. I enjoyed following the delicate lines of the petals. I often neglect some of the brighter targets when on my dark site trips so I decided to observe M13. I observed this from powers of 133x up to 400x , with 240x seeming to be the sweet spot. Averted vision brought out the propeller. Neptune's moon, Triton has long been one of my challenge targets. Despite a lengthy attempt to spy it next to the ice giant, it still remains on my challenge list. I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent watching the small blue disc drift through the eyepiece. The Little Gem planetary nebula was to be the final DSO of the bright. Another bright planetary which benefits from higher power. Barnard's galaxy which is next to the Little Gem wasn't visible though. A quick look at Saturn nicely capped the end of another great session. Two very different sessions but I really enjoyed both of them. The benefits of dark skies make for incredible DSO views but a lot of fun can be had from a suburban back garden too.

Thanks Dom! For a first go with the smart phone adapter I think it came out well. Takes a bit of playing to figure out how to get the best out of it. You should have seen my attempt at M42. If I’d gotten one of the kids to draw it with crayons then it would have been more recognisable 😉

Great report, Dom. I’m just in from a really enjoyable session. As I was packing up, I actually thought of you and the fact that I hadn’t seen you post recently. Made it extra nice to see your report there just now. State of mind can make such a difference. I’ve forced myself out when overtired and just not had the same zest for it. Then I’ll have a night like tonight where I just cruise around enjoying various targets and everything just feels right. I think you were wise to take a break and come back when you felt the inclination to observe again. It’s just a hobby and should be enjoyed. p.s. you should share your Moon picture on here

Congrats on Zeta Herc, Stu. It’s those challenging targets that keep us coming back! I’m curious about the white oval on Jupiter. Do you know what it could be?

Thanks Iain. Those are some really helpful notes. I was thinking my TV 25mm Plossl might be a good choice for this target. Good to hear you also used that eyepiece. Reassuring that you managed an observation with the VX8 too. Gives me a bit more confidence in getting it with the 10”. Having Cygnus close to the zenith will be a big help too.

Why gives CDSA the edge, Doug?

I’ve seen a few doubles but haven’t seen many. I often ponder getting Double Stars For Small Telescopes by Sissy Haas to look up a few more.

Astronomical darkness is beginning to return to our skies so I find myself thinking of targets to go in search of. There are many well known targets, particularly within Cygnus and Sagittarius, but what are the less well known targets that you like to observe? I’ll offer up a couple of targets as a starter. Barnard’s E (B142/B143) It’s a good time of year for dark nebula. This target is in fact two dark nebula in Aquila. @scarp15 suggested this to me last year and I really enjoyed it. I found it with both my dob and binoculars. This year I’ll look for it in widefield with my refractor this summer. NGC 7008 (Foetus Nebula) I observed this planetary nebula, found in Cygnus, this week. Nice curving nebulosity around a pair of brighter stars with some brighter areas within it. I found a UHC was required for a clear observation. What are your favourite lesser known targets?

Similar to Luke, my skies were entertaining, just not in the way I hoped. I do love a good storm though. Best of my iPhone pics below.

Looks like a good widefield target, Iain. I can get up to 4.92 degrees TFOV so should have a good chance of seeing this under the right conditions. I was thinking, based on the top image, that this may be possible to see naked eye with sufficiently dark, transparent skies. I wonder if Gerry, @jetstream, as managed this?

Similar to John, viewing through some thin cloud. Seeing not great but enjoying the GRS none the less with the Equinox 80 and Nagler zoom

Totally agree. This is one of my favourite times of the year to observe.

Tried to pick up NGC 6235. No luck though. I can pick out some of the stars around it with Jupiter outside the FOV but no clear sightings of the glob.

The second festoon is more centrally places now and seems a bit clearer now. Not extending very in as a Stu said but a noticeable bump in the belt

I think see the festoons too. Coming up from the same belt as the shadow? With one very a third of the way across and the other roughly two thirds, may be a little less?

I just played chase the station with the dob and 9mm Lunt XWA. It’s so quick but can pick out the shape of the solar panels quite easily.

Io’s just clearing the limb now. This is my favourite part of the moon transits. That lovely 3D effect of the tiny moon and it’s shadow on the planet.

Thanks Mark. Got the GRS and Shadow with the dob now. Seeing isn’t bad. Getting good detail at 170x. Lovely and warm. Just in my shorts and t-shirt. Forecast looking good for the night. Edit: Both clear in the Equinox 80 too at similar magnification

Excellent Geof. I went out around 23:30 but lots of cloud around and the seeing was really poor. You did really well to get that image. A great way to mark the anniversary.

Great report Nick. I went out to test the collimation of the dob after being shown that the secondary was way out. Oh my days, Saturn loves a well collimated dob! Wonderful views. Threw in the double double, Cat’s eye neb and Izar for good measure. The clouds decided that was my lot but very enjoyable!

Thank you very much. Impatience got the better of me so l headed up to screw fix with an Allen key that was a bit too big. Turns out the little one is 1.5mm. Once I got that off I discovered that there are two 2mm grub screws that hold that on. Refitted everything and all seems to be working now