Marvin Jenkins

On 04/01/2021 at 10:16, Nik271 said:

Indeed, beyond 10x magnification it's a good idea to support the bins somehow, I tend to use a monopod but apparently even a kitchen broom has been known to work

As for getting a stiff neck the only solution for me is to use a lounge chair. In the summer I would just lie down on the grass but obviously not a option for winter.

Some high end big binoculars also come with 45% diagonals to make it easier when looking high, but these tend to cost more than telescopes. 

You could try pointing the spotting scope or bins at the Orion nebula. It's never more than 31 degrees above horizon in the UK so the bins will be reasonably close to horizontal for comfortable viewing if you can support them somehow. 

Great advice. I started with a five inch newt and realise now I should have started with bins.

As you say bins need support, at least in my hands, and I laughed when I realised how obvious a broom would be of use. I wish I had thought of that.

In my other life I enjoy a spot of angling. A landing net handle with a spreader block is excellent as a binocular mono pod. A landing net handle is a five ish foot fibreglass pole with a screw tread in one end. The screw thread is for the bit that holds the net, that fish, too heavy to be swung in go into.

A cheap carp landing net (discard the net) would be very cheap. Some are telescopic so can be adjusted for height.

Marv

+2. 

3 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

I wonder .. stellarium I think is of French origin ? Maybe there's some national pride in Guillaume being expressed by including his discoveries , even if they may have proven dubious ...

Quite possibly TC. I saw a news report recently saying that France was the world leader in telecoms! Despite never having mobile signal and all of us in the sticks walking around with tin foil hats to get mobile signal. 
Its not bad, but ‘world leaders’ I think a lot of countries are indulging in self promotion at the moment. 

M

1 minute ago, bottletopburly said:

I am still unclear what IC110 and IC111 refer to in the picture as there is no circle like the distant galaxies.

Thank you for the picture by the way, some of those NGC objects were the reason I found IC110 in the first place.

still don’t understand why it is of unknown origin or make up if it appears to be a star. We have billions of dollars of kit in space mapping all that and more.

Marv

The thing I really don’t get now is why it is on Stellarium when it has not been seen since 1880 something.

I am aware that some variable nebula disappear and sometimes reappeared but after 140 years? 

Marv

2 minutes ago, bottletopburly said:

 still dont know what im lookin at though https://theskylive.com/sky/deepsky/ic110-object

That was what I got on Google. The description is so odd.

Brilliant! Bonfire night. That would explain a few things. My late father in Law was cremated on bonfire night. A few people asked if was going to be a diy affair. You know how sadness and passing can bring out humour to lighten a moment.

If it was a double star then he must have been mistaken by observation or position or it would be known by now.

What does IC mean. I thought it was International Catalogue. If so, and it didn’t exist then I would have thought it would be stricken by now.

Marv

Ten minutes observing the moon last night and three past through the fov. As mentioned before, the first time is wow, now it’s getting boring and a distraction.

On the flip side I can access my moon app on 4G via my iPhone in the garden right by my scope, so at least I can identify that crater!

Problem is I could do that with a flip out map and a head torch and not have people WhatsApp me at the EP about work!!!

Marv

Thank you Tiny Clanger. So we are still none the wiser! Oh the mystery. Seriously though I think it was just because I was looking at faint collection of mag 13 galaxies and noted the odd one out ‘orange circle’.

Unfamiliar with this I clicked on it and realised there was a non object there, a lot of the usual tech info on the left was missing and the description was the first of that type I had seen.

Short lived SN remnant?

M

Didn’t really know where to post this so mods, if you have other ideas feel free. Due to lack of clear skies for what seems like months now I have been trying to wear out Stellarium with research and needless searches.

Last night I stumbled across a new ‘one’ for me. IC 110 in Pisces with a description that says the following “Object of unknown nature”. 
I took this to be just data missing from the program but I have just googled it got a similar ambiguous answer.

Now I am led to believe that we are still in discussions about the nature of quasars as an example so not knowing is not new. However there was a lack of info on the object too, and not knowing has never stopped astronomers from coming up with ideas.

Can anyone give us more. Is there a Hubble picture? Any data on composition?

Marv

Actually looking closer might just have the other but from my view point they were both obvious bright points.

M

To all on this thread. I was observing the moon last night at 18:00 uk time (I am one hour ahead at 44 degrees lat.

The moon was a fantastic crescent and I could observe two illuminated peaks next to each other well past where the point of the southern illumination ends.

I believe  #paulastro  ‘great photo’ has picked up one of these. Does anyone know what these two peaks are? as they appear beyond the terminator.

I read today that it is possible to see more than 50% of the moon but I am unsure of the mechanics.

Marvin

Hi Paul. Forgive me if you are ahead of me in the equipment stakes, if so then some of the following will be irrelevant. 

Absolutely 100% right #pixies, how could I forget Markarians chain. Although the main point of M81/M82 is that it is not seasonal (other than the weather)

I have imaged MC once and this is the result. I have added these pictures to show what can be imaged, with below what is considered entry kit for AP. My DSLR is not modded, my mount is not guided and I am using an NEQ5 not HEQ5. I am limited to 60 sec exposures. I hope that is a help to anyone newer to AP than myself.

Marvin

I am very much a beginner at AP but I would say M81 M82 depending on your kit. M81 Bodes is a face on and M82 cigar is an edge on, so is a text book picture of galaxy types as viewed. With the right gear you can see M82 has large hydrogen structure at it's core. Both are also very bright 'for galaxies' so give them a go as two galaxies in one picture. As a beginner framing both in the one shot seemed a challenge but with a little effort is well worth it. I have attached a pic from my first try so you have a reference.

They are circumpolar so no seasons to ad hear too. It just so happens that at this time of year certain constellations with concentrations of galaxies are well placed. Leo triplet would be the one that springs to mind as it clearly shows galaxies in different orientations. The second attached pic is for you to use as reference, again my first effort from the back garden.

Good luck and happy galaxy hunting and don't forget what you are trying to do is incredibly difficult, despite how easy some of the members on this forum make it look, so be patient. I had a lot of help from a far, advice and encouragement which I will never forget. 

Marvin 

Brilliant! A session of WOW for sure. I follow these threads because I find the faint, not often looked at galaxies fascinating for the very reason that they are not often looked at. This on the other hand is like a giant bold slap in the face and I love it.

I had to laugh when you describe NGC 3726 as quite small, at, 85.000 lys across. Only 85.000 lys ! hardly worth a mention😆 Still, the size and distances of objects in our beloved past time blow my brain apart.

Bravo

Marvin 

Every now and again a post by a member like yourself really takes me back, just a few years, but the first time effect makes me write this.

That whole hunt for the target in your post is almost the most important thing, just behind the capture.

You are so right about how valuable the experience of seeing a galaxy, whether it is for the first time or the 100th. If an observer really understands what they are looking at it is a humbling experience. To try and explain that view to the ‘non astro’ is a very hard road. I have worn out shoes.

Great photo by the way. You have captured some core on M82 Cigar. You are dead right, we are all very lucky to have the night sky and have the tools to one degree or another to look at it.

Great start. I look forward to reading many more posts in the years to come.

Marvin

Olly! Terrible self advertising🤣 Too hard to resist when it is the truth. I think I have a great spot but yours is a few levels better at the minimum.

I am planning a trip to the Pyrenees in a few months to see how altitude and dark skies and being in a mountain range effect things. You are Alps?

Marv

4 minutes ago, George Gearless said:

I've got 2 hours to an almost completely dark site (1hour drive, 1 hour ferry). My parents have a summerhouse on a small island with no public lighting.  It's so dark, that on humid nights, I can see upstreaming lights from the nearest town 11 km away over the sea.

Since I don't have a permanent setup, I pretty much pack everything I have. It's quite a luxury to have mains access on such a dark site so I don't have to leave stuff behind on account of power requirements. I mostly go there in the winter (ofcourse) and the other nearby houses rarely have any occupants that time of year. I'd say I go there 2-3 times a year. It's only when the weather forecast is particularly good for several days that I go there. And ofcourse it has to coincide with my days off from work.

This year I've been quite unlucky, since we've had a long stint of overcast weather here in Denmark. The few days that were not, unfortunately did not coincide with days off from work.

Oh you are a lucky man indeed. To have access to site like that would be something really special.

Please post a few observing reports from there when you have the opportunity. Too many members on here have to battle light pollution and would love to hear what a truly dark site can give.

Marv

Didn’t want to do an edit so I decided to add a sentence. I was so side tracked trying to identify the short lived sunspot I just totally overlooked the whole video/image. I took a step back and just thought wow.

Marv

I was very hesitant to post any reply being so new to solar observing (white light) it took a little while for me to realise what I was seeing, but once I did... Bravo.

I am at a loss when it comes to your set up. I have just made a tape and cardboard Badder filter for my 150 and was thrilled by the views. Your setup seems quite unique and will draw many questions I am sure.

I hope you continue to post your observations as solar is another angle of astronomy I find fascinating and posts like this make me ask questions.

Marvin

I do not have a faithful and verifiable way of accurately deciding Bortle scale. In some cases it depends on local factors, for instance, in the winter, my nearest village has local soccer under flood lights, so Friday night before midnight is B6

My garden/field is B4, might be B3 but we have terrible humidity/dew thanks to two huge river’s nearby that give a ghostly horizon 360 deg light up effect.

I consider that I have a dark sky site in my back garden compared to suburban dwellers, but the Pyrenees mountains are just over an hour down the road and Spain is just the other side. Dell boy once said “The world is your Lobster”.

If ten miles makes a difference, then it is worth it. Is it people on CN that say “the best accessory for your scope is a tank of gas“.

Marvin

Now I know I started this cat dog conflict but not a mention of the lagoon nebula!

I was quite surprised by how bright and obvious it was. I went back through my observing diary to two years ago and my first sighting of this incredible nebula.

I wrote ‘star cluster with some nebulosity next to it’ ! Wow I am a descriptive fellow, is that it? In all honesty I don’t think I even knew what I was looking at.

And just to prove dogs are better than cats here is a picture of one half of the team that took me to the lagoon and back.

I woke at 05:30, up by 06:00. My dogs Marvin and Lixy (french thing) pronounced Lexy to anyone, knew something was different.

Anyone who has a dog knows there is no better alarm clock, mine are set for 07:00 so anything earlier is a surprise.

I took them up the lane in total darkness which gives a great elevated view to the south. I had my 10x30s as the sky was clear and realised two months of bad weather means Hydra has passed at that hour.

Scorpio was showing nicely although low in the horizon, and I spotted a patch slightly east using averted vision. If you will pardon my adhoc description method, it looked a little like the three stars of The Great Orion Nebula. The difference, it is lying on its back.

I checked Stellarium and it is the Lagoon nebula! Now I have to check my notes, but I think I have seen this before with a scope and may have missed the object due to a narrow field of view. I think I recorded an unremarkable star cluster!!!!

I noted on Stellarium that Triffid was just there, but from my bins in the five minutes, it did not jump out. Who would have have known that such delights can come from small mag bins.

Can you imagine a cat going along with a freezing cold jaunt, looking at the sky at 05:30 UK time? By the way it was -4

Marv

13 hours ago, SuburbanMak said:

Thank you - I like that element of the hobby too & it’s something that really is enabled by the online forum. Reading observing reports on here certainly gives inspiration to get out there under the stars. 

I am still a little bit in target-bagging mode, like a kid in a sweetshop - want to go back and spend a bit more time observing some of these objects. 
 

I had a few tries a finding M1 from the back garden when I first had the scope in December and Taurus was well placed in my narrow Easterly slice of sky.  Couldn’t see it even though I low I was theoretically pointing at the right but of sky - you’ve reminded me though and I’ll have another shot now I’ve got a bit more used to how small & faint some I’d these things are. 
 

Whereabouts in France are you? 
I am lucky enough to get to spend some summers in the Perigord & the dark skies there are pristine! 

After three years observing I too are still in bagging mode, but trying to slow down and take my time.

Look at my signature! Just M68 in Hydra to go and months of clouds or Fog.

I don’t dare start the Caldwell catalogue or that’s the next two years gone. If anyone says Hershel 500 my head will explode😱

Many a childhood camping holiday in the Perigord, Good memories.

I am a bit farther south in the Midi Pyrenees in a very rural environment. 
My nearest light pollution is 3k away and the village turns all that off at midnight🙏 
I count myself very lucky. On a clear night the milky way is so clear I can see the coal sack with ease.

Marvin

I use a bog standard energizer head torch with a switch that if pushed left turns on the red, I have trained myself to always think left and it is now automatic.

As for brightness I go for as little as possible. When first venturing out my head torch seems pointless but after adaptation it is where I need it. I get it really dim by saving up all the mostly used batteries from other items and just run the last of the power from them.

It is amazing how little light you really need out there and how much we actually use. There is enough light pollution without bringing our own.

Marv