Ed in UK

Thank you to everyone who has replied, your input is greatly appreciated.

@globularThanks for the link, looks like the test that guy has done seem quite comprehensive. I'll have a proper read through over the weekend and hopefully get a better understanding too.

Trying to find a filter that will help me see nebulas and planetary nebulas a little more.

Getting a little confused by it all TBH.

Will a UHC Filter allow me to see more detail in nebulas like M42 and will the work just as well on objects like the Crab and Owl Nebula?

Or are they do they require two different types of filter?

What are the better makes of these filters ?

I'm sure this question has been asked 100's of times before, so sorry for repeating it.....

Thanks in Advance

31 minutes ago, jjohnson3803 said:

👍  I used to loathe the moon, but decided I might as well embrace it rather than fight it.  I still don't observe when it's close to full, but it's become one of my favorite targets.

Likewise I need to do the same. Loads to see and learn about. Like you say may as well embrace it. 😁

I had a great session last night.

Started with another good look at Pleiades, no nebulas seen around the stars this time.

Then I moved over to 32,33 Tauri  didn't try to split 33 Tauri just happy to locate them last night.

My alarm went off ready for the Ganymede eclipse over on Jupiter so watched that until Ganymede had gone.

Then back to 36,37 & 39 Tauri. Again didn't try to spilt these (understand they are all doubles) or look for colour just happy to locate them for now.

Moved across to HD25201/STF 479 which was an easy split to make even at with my 25mm (x36) could just see the double. 

Then to finish off moved over to Andromeda for M31, M110 and unexpectedly M32 as well.

Really pleased that I found everything that I'd planned to find.

Need to revisit some of these and have a proper look at them.

10 hours ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Hmm. I can see Ganymede 15 minutes before it said it should appear. SS was wrong

I watched Ganymede go into eclipse last night, according to SS it should have gone around 8pm, it finally disappeared for me at 8:15pm.

Well, I managed a session last night. 

I started on Jupiter and just missed the Io & Europe Occult, for me Jupiter very washy again although occasionally got a clear view and could see more banding/detail on the planet. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the GRS Transit, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. 

Some may call it optimistic, some may call it stupidity but my second target (and fail I may add), was the 12P/Pons Brooks, but everyone loves a tryer...... I was in the right area looking at the stars in the eyepiece but noting seen. 🙄

Next onto M29, managed to bag that one quite easily to kick start my Messier Marathon.

I tried to get M33 next, although the star hop seemed to have me scratching my head a little for some reason I arrived in the area to see no M33. Again stars pointed to being in the right area. Later read it can be very easily affected by LP.

Over to M42 next and a good look again at the Trapezium, A to D showing really well, but no E or F for me.

I was going to move on to M45, but have read a magazine article about some other stars in the area worth a look so thought I'd save that for another night.

High level cloud started to roll in about 9pm so called it a day.

Very happy Bunny. 🐰

I got up early this morning and took a drive to the beach with the plan of watching Mercury rise. Didn’t take the scope as I didn’t want sand anywhere near it, plus the forecast was for strong winds. 

I live in the Lincolnshire Wolds, in a valley, so struggle to see anything low in the sky.

I’ve never seen Mercury before so took the opportunity seeing that the sky was relatively clear. I arrived just in time to watch it inch above the horizon. Couldn’t get any photo’s of it on my phone. Managed to watch it for just over an hour before a combination of cloud and the sky getting light made it disappear for me.

Pretty windy and cold on the coast this morning.

Photo below of the lovely sunrise that finally greeted me.

Being stuck over towards the east coast is proving a bit frustrating at the moment.

Hopefully tomorrow night I'll finally be able to get out.

@Mr Spock Hopefully clear skies for you too 🙂(Finally). 

Glad to see that someone, somewhere is having clear skies.....

I found this video on YouTube a few days ago showing another method that we seem to have not touched upon.

For me it's using Sky Safari 6 to plan an observing list. I usually look at Star Hops in advance either on my phone or tablet to make sure there's enough stars to guide me.

Outside with scope set up find the brightest star close as close as possible to my target and star hop using SS6 as my guide.

I found SS6 a game changer for me as I could flip and invert the display to show what I could see in the scope and adjust the magnitudes to again match the view in the EP.

I really struggled with charts and pretty much always failed to find anything I was hoping to see.

Planning is a big part of helping me and not to have too many targets to view in one night. 

I also use magazines to compile observing lists (again in SS6).

I did think at the start of taking up this hobby about paying the extra for a Goto but decided against it. For me it's better to look and learn via trial and error, more satisfaction then when you reach your target.

Owning horses, I have a number of jobs that need to be done outdoors in the dark at this time of year. I like to take a few minutes between jobs to look at the sky and become familiar with the layout of the constellations etc.  

With regards to Star Hopping, I use the RDF onto a visible star closely then use Sky Safari 6 as my guide to hop towards my target.

Sounds sad, but I normally sir done with Sky Safari prior to the session and look for the best hopping route and practise it on the tablet so I know roughly where I’m going and what too look for.

Sure I get lost and it may take several attempts to finally get to the target, but it makes the sense of achievement much more greater and rewarding.

I deliberately didn’t invest in a GoTo scope so that I could learn more about the sky.

Hopping thread sounds good to me.

This post is a bit late as it wasn't last night, but the night before 😳.

Out for a couple of hours and spent most of that on Jupiter. Still the same for me, Fuzzy disc with the occasional clearing showing the banding quite clearly.

After that moved on to Aldebaran and a looked around Taurus.

Followed by a look at Mirfak and the stars close by. This was the first time I've looked at Perseus and kicked myself a little for not compiling an Observing List from the Astronomy Now magazine which had an article on this constellation in the December issue.

This was also the first outing for my RA Motor which worked really well. Nice not having to fiddle the RA control and then wait for the scope to settle again.

Wind buffeted the scope a bit couldn't go beyond 12mm (x75) due to the movement from buffeting.

1 hour ago, mikeDnight said:

 Very often there's more in the image at the eyepiece than first meets the eye, and as some have already said, taking your time to observe Jupiter really will allow you to see more. Keeping accurate focus is critical, and so you may need to regularly check you're still in true focus. As the planet rises for example, you'll be looking through different depths of atmosphere, and as this changes, so will the critical focus point of your telescope. I'm forever twiddling with my focus knob when observing the Moon and planets! 

 Another way to help you to see more of what's on view is to sketch what you're looking at. This can be a challenge at first, as controlling a scope while holding a sketch pad and pencil and drawing in very low light takes some getting used to. But even if you're not particularly artistic you'll soon find it beneficial and a great way to record observations.

 Often, observers studying Jupiter will make a full disk drawing, but you can just as easily choose to study just one point of interest, for example the Great Red Spot. Alternatively you can make a continual sketch that shows the belt and zone detail of Jupiter as over time as the planet rotates. The longer you look the more you'll usually see! 

Below are a couple of Jupiter sketches, and a timelapse sketch as examples. It's important to remember though, that the detail shown in a sketch is an accumulation of information over time, and not necessarily what you'll immediately see when you first look through the eyepiece. Hope this is helpful in some way! ☺

 

 

Thanks @mikeDnight.

Wow those are some pretty cool sketch’s and way beyond what I could achieve.

I have literally started to sketch what I see as a form of a reminder for me and also to make me look closer at subjects to record the details. As you say it is hard to get to grips with it. I have just invested in a RA Drive motor to help not only with the sketching but also to help stabilise the scope when viewing at higher magnifications. Less vibrations when the motor drives the scope compared to me twiddling with the RA flex control…….

Thanks for the guidance  

Thanks @bosun21.

2 hours ago, Franklin said:

Try loosening the RA motor bracket just a very small amount, not so it's loose, just so it's held rather than tightened right up. Small differences in the gears can cause this binding as the tolerances on these kind of mounts is not great. I doubt it's the grease but if you do want to strip, clean and regrease, use lithium grease.

Thanks @Franklin,  I was advised not to over tighten the ‘T’ Bolt that holds it in place. I have it just nipped up. 

Point taken on tolerances though, not thought of that 👍.

Do any of you ever grease/oil the worms/gears in your mounts, if so what are you using?

The reason for asking is on my EQ2 mount, on the RA axis/control there seems to be a point where it's a little tighter/harder to turn/rotate than other positions. Never really noticed it before, it was only fitting an RA drive motor that brought it to light.

Has I was chasing the cat into the house last night I looked up to pretty much clear skies which was most unexpected.

Scope out and onto Jupiter just as cloud started to arrive....😡 Just missed the start of Europa Occultation.

Spent probably about an hour on Jupiter, with about 3/4 of that time tracking it through the cloud. 🙄

NEB & SEB far more visible tonight when cloud and atmosphere allowed.......

13 hours ago, Bugdozer said:

One thing not yet mentioned in this thread is what these features actually look like compared to the rest of the planet. It helps to know what it really looks like. 

The GRS is not the big dark red blob you imagine it to be. It's a pale salmon pink colour and crucially it is very close in brightness to most of the rest of the surface, it's mostly the colour that differentiates it rather than the brightness. However, it does push into the darker south equatorial belt, so the easiest way to spot it is that it makes the belt appear narrower at that point. 

Shadow transits look to me exactly like a very tiny black pinhole on the surface, easiest to see when they're not right by the edge. 

I can see these things in my 125mm scope at around 130x magnification, although depending on seeing a higher magnification can show more. As others have said, letting the scope cool properly makes a difference, and so does practice at observing these things. Over time you will see more. 

Thanks @Bugdozer.

Thank you for your explanations, really useful.

I'll keep plugging away and we'll get there one day..... lol

Thanks @John and @PeterStudz

1 hour ago, PeterC65 said:

My advice is to keep trying. The more you observe, the more you tend to see, I don't know why, but it is definitely a thing. The conditions affect planetary observing, different conditions on different nights and variations on a single night. Try observing on different nights when the seeing will be different, and spend an hour just observing Jupiter, maybe coming back to it a few times. It still surprises me how the detail can suddenly jump out at you for several seconds.

 

Thanks Peter.

Yes, I recall my first sighting of the belts on Jupiter and it took me a couple of attempts to see them.

Of recent I've been spending more time looking at just one target which really does help. As you say "The more you look, the more you see".

My last session included about an hour on Jupiter, all I got that time was a fuzzy cream disc with occasional equatorial belts for a second. I did wonder off on to other targets for that night with the plan of returning at the end to see if it had improved. Unfortunately got clouded out before I could return. 🙄

I'll keep trying.

Thanks for your support. 🙂

1 hour ago, dweller25 said:

Your scope and BST eyepieces are fine 👍 it might be best to avoid the supplied 10mm

Your scope must be well cooled and collimated for best results.

X150 to x180 is about perfect for Jupiter

Best time to observe is when it is due south at it’s highest

Try to avoid observing over warm rooftops

Thanks David, greatly appreciated.

Sometimes it's nice just to get a second opinion and have it underlined that you're heading in the right direction.

10mm EP went pretty much straight away, hence the move to the BST EP's. Still use the kit 25mm as that seems fine and reviews for it were ok too.

Viewing wise, I guess I'm lucky. I'm at the end of a run of houses and my view is out of the village across open fields. Street light re my main obstacle. 

I'll keep at it. 👍

Wondered if I could ask for a little guidance please on observing Jupiter.

I've been reading loads of great reports on here of people watching GRS transits, reporting on what they see in the equatorial belts and moon shadows transits etc.  

I'm struggling to see anything like this, I can make out the belts buts seem to fall short on seeing detail. It would be nice to see a little more before Jupiter becomes too small again.

I'm not sure if this is just down to experience (lack of in my case), or is it a case it's probably beyond the limits of my kit (listed in my signature).

Greatest magnification I can achieve is x225, (8mm EP + 2x Barlow). Not too sure if greater magnification may be pushing my scope too far, or if magnification is my answer, but I also understood the Jupiter doesn't respond well to higher magnifications. 

It's been a little challenging for us all of recent with the poor weather so getting time at the eye piece hasn't come easy, happy to keep plugging away though.

Not about to give up just curious as to whether I'm trying to reach for something beyond my limits.

Any guidance gratefully received.

TIA.

Ed

Managed to pop outside last night with the scope. Not 100% clear skies but enough to get a couple of hours in.

Jupiter, really mushy. Even with low magnification (x36) couldn't see the banding at all. Had an occasional moment(s) where I could just make out banding before back to fuzzy cream disc.

Moved across to M45, had a nice wonder around the brighter stars for a while. Nebulosity showing around them all. Not really seen this before, it's only reading about it on here that made me stop and look closer. Pleased to have seen it.

On to M42, nice view of the Trapezium and finally up to Altinak just as the cloud arrived to bring my session to an end. 

Might help ???

You can get back in the house from the Dog House. 🙂