davhei

First evening with a good moon in a long time forecasted to be clear from sunset to sunrise. Haven’t had my dob out since mid october but this was a great night to drive to my dark site. Very transparent skies but fairly poor seeing. Cold and crisp, minus seven celsius.

Spent some time collimating and started off at Gamma Andromedae at x44, my lowest magnification. Gold and blue clearly split, sparkling jewels.

Proceeded on to NGC 891 which was barely discernable, quite large though. Slender edge-on shape. A bit disappointed that it was so faint, compared to say the needle NGC 4565, but to be fair it was in a sector of sky with a disturbing light globe from the city.

Nearby M34 filled most of the eyepiece with a smattering of stars. Very nice open cluster.

Star hopped my way beyond Mirfak in Perseus to NGC 1528 & 1545 set near a bright triangle asterism. What a great pair, like a little double cluster with NGC 1528 looking spectacular.

Went through the Auriga clusters and enjoyed M37 especially. Familiar sights but I’m always happy to come back to them.

Then the showpiece, the great orion nebula that was really looking its best to my dark adapted eyes, extending its wings to fill the eyepiece. Took an extended tour to NGC 1980 and Iota Orionis, M43, NGC 1973, -75, -77, all showing nebulosity.

Lastly I increased the mag to split a few nearby doubles, Iota Orionis, Struve 747, 754 and 750 with Struve 754 looking especially captivating with the clearly blue companion shimmering next to the primary. Beautiful contrast that held my attention a long time.

Very glad to be out with the dob under dark skies again. Cold winter evenings have a certain magic to them. Large ice crystals on the OTA were sparkling in starlight when I packed it up in the car.

Welcome from yet another swede! 😄

One day the skies will be clear.

I have the TS 80mm f6 triplet with fpl53 glass and use it solely for visual to complement my 10” dob.  Have it on a SW AZ5 mount and Berlebach Report 212 tripod.

Really like the setup and how it complements the larger scope. It provides surprisingly satisfying views when used from a good dark site.

Edit: I considered the doublets that @vlaiv mentions but went with the triplet in the end. Main reason was the focal length and my criterion to be able to fit the east and west veil in the same field of view using my existing eyepieces. Which it does. Barely.

Welcome Joacim, I also do my observing from Sweden but judging from your temperatures I’m probably a bit further south.

Enjoy the telescope and clear skies.

No luck for me.

Attempted visual observation with a voice memo recorder ready to get as good a time reference for the occultation as possible. Did not see any changes in the star’s brightness though.

However, I was observing from a position 75 km from and perpendicular to the central line passing through Uppsala, Sweden so it seemed like a longshot to begin with.

Had fun preparing and it was exciting to look for nevertheless.

Started actively observing with 10x50 binos. About a year later I upgraded to a 10” dob.

I have a 10” dob and an 80mm refractor and my most used in both is the 27 Pan. I like the relatively modest size and weight for a wide field finder EP and the 68 degree FOV pairs well with the Delos line I think. Nice and comfortable with good eye relief.

Next would be the 6mm Delos, my planetary and faint star-buster of choice for both scopes. I did a comparison in the dob of the Delos 6mm (1.3 mm exit pupil) and Delos 4.5mm (1 mm exit pupil) using a 15th magnitude star at a good dark site. If there was a difference in perceived contrast and detectability from the higher mag I failed to see it. Both EP’s would comfortably go a few tenths of a magnitude deeper I’m sure. Preferred the 6mm for the larger and more relaxing field of view and tad sharper stars. It is great.

Third eyepiece… toss up between 10mm and 14mm Delos. Lets say the 10mm then. Good on many DSO’s.

Having recently gotten my hands on an f6 80 mm refractor to complement my trusty 10" dob for visual work, I must say that when I first gave it a proper go at a dark site star party (SQM 21.5) I was blown away.

It offered wonderful views of all the brighter DSO's I looked at such as showing M31 close to three degrees in the EP, never seen it extended like that ever before. Core of M33 was distinct with lots of nebulosity visible. Veil nebula, both east and west in a single field of view and the best views of the double cluster that I ever had. Resolved masses of stars in M13 and a few on the outer edges of M15. Great views of Jupiter, GRS and detail in the belts. Was very surprised, certainly surpassed my expectations.

Here's the interesting thing though, back home at my normal dark site (SQM 21.0 or thereabout), granted with poorer transparency than the first session, the same objects were decidedly underwhelming. Closer to binocular views as you described it.

Conclusion, dark skies make a big difference and a small scope can really deliver under good conditions.

My main use for the small scope is doing brief sessions from my home, carrying it quickly in and out to observe variable stars, check out brighter open clusters, lunar and the planets. Very happy with it. But I am also very pleased that I found out its capacity under proper dark skies. Certainly validates its use as a light travel setup when the dob is too much to bring along.

4 minutes ago, Stu said:

I doubt a bit of searching will cause any problems, just avoid leaving it for longer periods uncapped when not observing, should be fine.

Sometimes you need a bit of reassuring or a sanity check at least. Would hate to give up on sharp solar views now that it is becoming more active.

11 minutes ago, Stu said:

I still think that is fine as the light is still reaching the eyepiece, not clipping the sides. Where you may want to be careful is actually beyond that, where you lose the image from the eyepiece because then there is a potential risk of it clipping the baffles. I don’t think it’s likely to cause problems as I doubt the light would be focused, but I always cap my scope when not using it (as you should for safety anyway), but this at least stops any issues as the sun drifts beyond the fov.

Best not to idle too much when finding the sun at the start of the session. I find that even after my best efforts to align the scope using the shadow I may still require some searching at the eyepiece before I can acquire it.

Seems reasonable.

Just to be clear, it is primarily when the sun is off axis that concerns me. Say you let it drift and it starts to come near the edge.

Hi everyone,

I have an 80 mm f6 apo triplet that I have done some white light solar with using a 1.25” Lunt solar wedge with ND3 filter and a baader continuum filter at the eyepiece. Got some very crisp views in august and early september with granulation effects (macrogranulation i suppose) and groups of sunspots and faculae during perhaps a dozen sessions. Great!

The scope is aluminium and the focuser is metal, something I took care to confirm prior to using it as a WL solar scope. The other day I started thinking about the baffles though, and the manufacturer confirmed they were plastic.

So. Stop or don’t stop.

What makes me uncertain is the fact that the heat sink on the wedge hasn’t gotten warm during my sessions so far, indicating that the beam at that spot anyway isn’t searing. And since the beam narrows to a point the closer you get to the focal plane it should be less concentrated further up the OTA towards the objective lenses.

What are your thoughts on this. Should I stop using the scope for solar with a wedge? Obviously don’t want to burn the baffles, but on the other hand, being overly cautious would prevent me from using the nice gear I have sitting around.

Hi @Photonic Nights,

Have had that exact same scope for a couple of weeks now and had the chance to try it out on a few occasions, mostly from my fairly light polluted suburban home but once from a proper dark site. I do visual observations only and got the scope to complement my first and until now only scope, a SW 10” dob that I have used for a few years. A great scope that continues to serve me well but I found myself wanting a lighter travel setup as well as something for quick set up and tear down at home. Also found myself curious about widefield observations, my max TFOV with the dob is 1,5 degrees.

Anyway, that’s some background.

First impression was the qualitative feel of the thing. Solidly built, OTA as well as the robust focuser. Reassuring heft while still being very manageable. Checked collimation with the lens cap on and a cheshire/flashlight. Almost spot on which later was confirmed by the crisp views of stars and planets.

I must say I was very impressed by the performance from a dark site on an SW AZ5-mount. More than I was expecting from a modest aperture scope. It should be said though that as I started out my observing career with binoculars, perhaps it influences me today still in that I am easily awed. I dont know. But it certainly beat my expectations.

Honestly offered the most breathtaking view of the double cluster I have had. Just fabulous in a wide field of 3.5 degrees, the dense smattering of stars nicely framed by the background star field. The Veil readily visible with OIII-filter, both the east and west sections fitting in a single field of view. M13 resolved into many many pinpoint stars, wasn’t expecting that! Lovely. M15 less so, stars here and there and on the edges, a lot more nebulosity from unresolved stars though.

M31 filled almost the entire field of view, nebulosity extending nearly edge to edge about three degrees. Never seen the Andromeda galaxy on such a scale before, really gave you a sense of the full size that you simply can’t get with my dob.

Quickly picked up M81/82, M33 with the core and misty disk, M27, the Auriga clusters. So easy to find objects, no need for a finderscope, I just aimed along the tube ring screws and the wide field allowed the pick up of targets so easy just by sweeping around. A joy.

Planetary performance was very satisfying, at x107 jupiter showed more vivid colour than I had ever seen before, crisp detail of equatorial as well as temperate belts and even at x160 giving a 0.5 mm exit pupil the image detail was excellent. The GRS conspicuously transiting as I was observing.

Spent most of the evening with the refractor even though the dob was rigged just beside it. Really like how they offer different perspectives on classic objects.

As a bonus I also did some white light solar with a herschel wedge and a baader continuum filter. Crisp views of sunspot groups with faculae and surface granulation patterns clearly visible.

Have the scope and the basic kit stuffed into a plastic case meaning the time between deciding to go out and being at the eyepiece is just a minute or two. Certainly lowers the threshold.

Can’t say I have found anything that has let me down yet and would definitely recommend, especially as they have it in stock at the moment. I had to be patient and wait a few months before taking delivery.

14 hours ago, Andrew_B said:

That orange case is smart looking and not a bad price. Less likely to fall over it in the dark than a black case as well.

I've also been looking for a travel case for my little scope and the Peli 1525 seems to be the best option but it's quite pricey. It's surprising how many protective cases are almost carry-on sized but are ever so slightly too big in one dimension.

I thought so too and just this afternoon finished picking and plucking to fit my travel/grab and go setup into a Peli 1525 case. Nice size that swallowed an 80mm f6 refractor, diagonal, three EPs, barlow and filter with room to spare. Perhaps for a fourth eyepiece or something.

Slightly apprehensive regarding air travel. Like you said, it is just below or just over carry on size depending on which airline you choose. Oh well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

I’m sure it will work well for carrying necessities for garden sessions and stowing in the back of the car for family trips where a bigger dob would take too much space.

Sorry, this was supposed to be a non-Peli thread but there you go. To stay on topic I’ll add that I use an orange Nanuk 923 case for eyepieces and other kit when out with the dob. Great case, well built and sturdy while cheaper than Peli.

PG 1634+706 revisited:

Observed this object back in 2019 from my regular dark site and wrote a report a few posts further back.

This year I packed my 10” dob into my car and took the ferry down to the island of Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea. Rented a room up on Fårö (a favourite of Ingmar Bergman’s) and set up for a few days of dark sky observing.

Given my last try on PG 1634+706 which was a strain to say the least I was almost apprehensive. Will I really be able to see it? And if not, did I REALLY see it the last time or was it just wishful thinking? It was really on my limit then, so much so that I wasn’t entirely certain I actually saw it.

Waited until close to 1 a.m. with the sun -17 degrees and started star hopping. Switched up to x267, about 1 mm exit pupil and was almost stunned at how readily visible it was. What a difference to how I remember it!

Switched down to x200 which was almost better with the stars a tad sharper and easier to pick out. Using an AAVSO chart I estimated it at mag 14.4 and could even pick out a mag 15.0 star for comparison without too much effort. Limiting magnitude was probably a bit deeper still. 

Was really thrilled and spent some time pondering the vast scale of it all. Remains the object with the highest redshift (z=1.337) I have yet observed.

Can’t beat a good dark sky!

2 hours ago, Pixies said:

Quick check last night. Mag 6.6 for me - equal to HD220819 

Agree, also estimated it at mag 6.6 as at 23 July 21:47 UT.

@Fraunhoffer that is fantastic! I was observing the shadow transit as well, maybe a little earlier as the GRS was just about to disappear from view. Lovely to see the very same view put down on paper by a fellow enthusiast, I do enjoy this sense of community. Great work!

Welcome Osvaldo. Enjoy the new setup!

Had me chuckling when reading about the terrifying experience of being alone on the moor. Chuckling because I can certainly relate.

It reminds me of one time when I was observing at a site quite similar to where you were, the outskirts of a nature reserve with low vegetation and open land. Very dark skies, at least by my standards. I had expected to have the company of some other amateur astronomers but for one reason or another I ended up alone. Having driven for a good many hours I was determined to make the most of it regardless and set up.

Felt a bit eerie when I was ready and everything became silent, but I got to it and spent a while scanning the sky. Suddenly I heard a sound that seemed to come from close by. Jumped in my chair and looked around, to no use since I couldn't see very far in the dark. Listened intently and there was the sound again. Odd, I thought. It sounded almost like munching. Someone munching on something. Figured it was animals grazing nearby (behind fencing!) and felt relieved.

Kept at it for a few hours and every now and then the sound would make me jump, but after a second I recognised the familiar munching and it was fine again. Whatever was munching stayed with me for the whole session, never saw what it was, but towards the end it felt almost comforting hearing the chewing from someone having a midnight snack.

Towards the end, fog started rolling in from the sea. It looked incredible actually as the fog stayed no more than two meters or so from the ground, making it possible to see the stars but barely seeing more than one meter to the side. After a while I had enough though, packed up and said good bye to my unknown friend.

7 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

Just in from what I’ve named “Nova Night”. Started with the Nova in Cassiopeia. Still holding it’s brightness well. I could see straight away that the transparency was very good. Next was another visit to the Supernova in NGC 3322A which seems to be maintaining brightness well too. Finally onto SN2021 hpr in Draco. The host galaxy, NGC 3147, is quite bright so that gave a good anchor for searching. At 120x, I got glimpses but wasn’t totally convinced. Went to 240x and got it much more clearly. It was exactly as per @davhei’s sketch. One of the nicest SN’s I’ve observed with the host galaxy being so bright and clear next to it. Really pleased. Lots of other nice targets observed. Once again, thanks to @davhei for the heads up and superb sketch. 

Well done! Sounds like a really good evening. Wasn’t it just amazing to see the SN on the outskirts of a relatively visible galaxy? Makes you appreciate the brightness of the thing, seeing the galactic core and getting hints of the areas outside it.

Glad the sketch was useful!

Excellent report and it makes me glad to hear the sketch was useful. Well done!

@Littleguy80 in fact, the record depth with my 10” has been the Draco quasar PG 1634+706 that I recall you and I pursued two years ago in another thread.

That was really pushing it. Made quite an impression that one.

4 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Another excellent sketch, @davhei ! Looking forward to having a go at this one  

Thanks!

I have long thought that magnitudes beyond 14 were really hard to reach given my dark site sky conditions, but I was surprised the mag 14.2 reference star was quite readily visible at x200.

I attribute it to observing near zenith, really makes a significant difference as far as depth goes.

Conditions weren’t even that great with thin haze reflecting the light pollution from Stockholm a bit.

Turned the telescope to SN 2021hiz afterwards. Great to see two SNs in the same session. Really enjoyed this! 

Observed SN 2021hpr in Draco with a 10” dob this evening near zenith. It’s on the edge of NGC 3147 which makes for quite a striking view.

Estimated the visual magnitude at 13.9.

3 hours ago, John said:

Yes, I've just been looking at it with my 12 inch dobsonian and it seems around magnitude 13 still.

 

Agree. Observed it this evening and estimated the visual magnitude at 13.0. Possibly slighty brighter.