Ships and Stars

Thanks Stu, it was a long time coming! Feels like ages ago already. I can't afford a bigger scope, nor could I transport it, so I think from here, EEVA on the 20" is the next leap forward. I would love to have made out substantially more detail on these, but also quite happy to have detected some of them in the first place.

Hello all, a challenging end to the 2020-21 observing season here at c.57N. A delayed report here due to work and family - this was on the night of April 11th into the wee hours of the 12th. Apologies for my brief descriptions of each HCG below. This was my last shot to take the 20" dob out to dark skies in the Cairngorms before astro darkness was lost for the summer. I haven't had a decent night with the scope in quite some time. Bitterly cold (by UK standards) in the region of -6 to -8C in the remote Scottish glen that night, but very clear out despite the so-so forecast. Good thing, considering how much work it took to get there. Still, it was a lot colder than I anticipated. Setup to observing took about 30 minutes or less. GOTO alignment quite good. Extra 1.5kg on top of the supplied counterweights. SQM-L readings consistent throughout the night between 21.68 and 21.70, so quite good, certainly no complaints there, though I've had readings of 21.85 from this spot. Once eyes dark adapted, Auriga was initially lost in a sea of stars, equally hard to make out Leo at first, then everything fell into place. Amazing. My goal - Hickson Compact Groups of galaxies, as many as my greedy eyes could find! Got seven HCGs - not a bad result I suppose, some were surprisingly good, others were incredibly faint on the very limit of detection (to my eyes anyway) and not a great deal to say other than the faintest of elongated smudges with averted vision, but still a great night. Been wanting to see some of these for several years now. HGCs 44 (Leo Quartet), 51, 57 (Copeland's Septet) 59, 61, 79 (Seyfert's Sextet) and HCG 92 Stephen's Quintet (just, and I mean just barely) -------------------------------- Eyepieces: 13mm APM to locate (153x), then 9mm APM (222x) to move in or 10mm BCO (200x) for the really challenging ones. I didn't get on very well with it when I first bought it, but the 10mm BCO is proving to be the top dog in my eyepiece case for the most challenging galaxies and PN, though with the 10mm BCO's miniscule FOV, it's a lot easier to locate tiny objects first using the 13mm or even 20mm APM, then dive in with the BCO. The suspects: HGC 44 aka 'Leo Quartet' - I've seen this cluster before, but it was coming through loud and clear. By far the brightest of the bunch. HGC 51 - 6 galaxies in this one, but no way I could resolve them. The view was an extremely faint, almost circular glow coming through the eyepiece. Still, a hit. HCG 57 - Copeland's Septet (6 galaxies) Seemed quite similar to 51, almost a circular ring of a.) slightly brighter sky, or b.) extremely faint fuzzies, take your pick! Wish I could have resolved more here. *Update - Reiner Vogel is saying 57 is essentially a lot easier to see than Seyfert's Septet, so there is a reasonable chance I missed 57 altogether and picked up some obscure galaxy in the neighborhood... Must revisit!! HCG 59 - Probably the faintest of the lot, after some time poking around the area, I could make out two extremely faint fuzzies, but that was it. HCG 61 - aka 'The Box' Now we're talking! After seeing some of the others, this one make me shout out loud at the eyepiece. Four beautiful galaxies seemingly set at right angles to one another, all shining brightly. Good stuff. Highly recommend! HCG 79 - Seyfert's Sextet - this one in photos looks amazing and one of the galaxies has a 'tidal tail'. I could resolve two of the galaxies (one might have been two superimposed galaxies) and the faintest of 'swishes' which may have been another galaxy, most likely PGC 56578, a mag 15.17 - 15.36 SBc galaxy. I'd need either a bigger scope, EEVA on the 20" or something like a 20" binoscope to confirm that. In other words, silly money I unfortunately don't have! HCG 92 - Reached its highest point in the sky c.3am. The famous Stephan's Quintet. I'd love to say it was an explosion of fireworks with an choir of angels in the background, but it was fairly low on the horizon 23-26deg max, and it was simply the faintest of smudges... another one to revisit based on Reiner Vogel's comments, the galaxies in here are pretty bright with some at mag13/14 so again, I may have been off the mark with whatever I saw and goto may have put me off just enough to make it a goose chase... next time! Definitely want to revisit all of these again someday and tease a bit more from them, but quite happy with the results here. ---------------------------------- Meant to add, about halfway through the night, just to compare, I swung over to M101 and M51 with the 9mm APM at 222x to see if my eyes and scope collimation etc were up to speed. M101 - stunning, with clear spiral arms gradually fading away from the core. *WOW* M51/51a - TREBLE WOW. Near astro-photo quality. In greyscale of course! I could have spent ages staring at this. So yes, things seemed to be optimal. A very good, challenging evening to say the least. I hope to revisit some HCGs again as soon as possible. As crazy as it sounds, the 20" felt like the minimum to even begin to tease out detail, but maybe it's just my eyes. I could easily imagine a 28"- 36" dob under pristine desert skies being more in-line with easy, direct observing of some of these. EEVA on the 20" would also be a more realistic option, hmmm.... One final note - I recently bought a super cheap £28 pair of small 'Kylietech' 12x42s to throw in the van for work, etc. I wasn't expecting much to say the least, but they are surprisingly good! I was able to make out M51 as a faint, tiny object with them lying on my back, couldn't believe it. That's dark skies for you. I think rebadged versions of these are sold by Celestron etc in the £90 range. Anyway...M51 with a cheap pair of tiny binoculars, good stuff... Cheers all! 👍

Just returned home! I made it back to the mainland for a long weekend, much needed break. A lot of driving through. Yesterday I was puttering around, checking the weather, thought I'd missed the clear spell in the eastern Cairngorms, but a lucky break, forecast was quite different. Was supposed to cloud over but remained clear with the odd cumulous drifting past as a dark patch. There are many 'passing places' in the Uists, but now you mention it, roundabouts are a rare creature! Brake pads are a definite wear item there, especially when a lorry comes steaming around the corner. A wonderful place, if a bit quiet for most people's taste. Suits me though. I'll take the 15x70s back again and see what I can spot.

Sorry, wrote a longer reply but mobile data keeps dropping here! HCG 44 I've seen, but great views tonight. Nipped over to M51 and 101, just amazing. I'll do a quick report asap, some of the HCGs were just extended smudges, but several were really good 👍

HCGs 57, 79, 61, 59, 44 and 51. Waiting for Stephen's Quintet c.3am if weather holds😎

I'm out tonight with the 20" at last. 21.70SQM, ticking off Hickson Compact Groups, can't believe it! Some seriously faint fuzzies.... Report coming soon.

Excellent, I've not been to Rum or the Inner Hebrides, but sailed past them several times. I'm on South Uist again soon, we've had 60+mph gusts, sleet, you name it, but only one night with clear skies, and I was doing 12hr days... Still wonderful to scan the sky there, I love the Western Isles. Hopefully I'll have another go with the big dob this weekend, but have to replace van radiator tomorrow and bleed cooling system and refill gearbox, the cooler went two weeks ago and pumped all the ATF out in about 15 seconds! I'm looking at selling both my old van and car and buying a newish Grand Vitara or RAV4. Need 4wd, but also something big enough to hold the 500p without having to shoehorn it in the boot! Such is life... Hope everyone is happy and healthy.

Hi all, I've realised I disappeared off the pages here for a couple of months - everything is going reasonably well at home, a few wobbles though. I struggled with good weather, lockdown and a string of unexpected van and car repairs in my attempts to get out with the big dobsonian to my dark sky spots, then worked fortunately picked up, so I've not been able to devote much time to astronomy. I am hoping to slip away Saturday night for a late night observing session before we lose astro darkness for the summer. I'm lucky enough to be working in the Western Isles in some relatively remote places since February now, so I took my 15x70 Apollos and filters, but the weather hasn't been playing along much. However, when conditions are right, it's dark-sky heaven there, literally out the back door of my accommodation, on the Light Pollution Map, the SQM reading is an unequivocal 22.00! I had one night very late I popped my head out and it was clear and as amazing as you'd expect. I was offered a job there with a local contractor, but don't think the wife is keen on remote Hebridean living... I was very tempted though! My brush with dark-sky heaven Hope everyone is well and I also hope to post another observing report this weekend if things work out. Cheers all!

Great report Gerry! I've been off the page for a while, the weather here...well you've probably heard about our snowfall. I think I've seen stars momentarily one night since my last observing report Jan19th. We 'only' managed -23C at Braemar, not far from some of my fav viewing areas, though I haven't been for ages with lockdown and weather. Tomorrow night might be ok until midnight, but the moon is setting around then but might drag the 12" out and blow the dust off. It was looking and feeling arctic here until yesterday, temps rising dramatically along the coast, perhaps 8 or 9C soon. I love M42 now with the OIII filter, if you've used GIS, it's like turning different overlays on/off when I use different filters. A lot going on in that one.

Under 21.5sqm I had an excellent view of the Rosette with my 15x70 Apollos using a combination of UHC/Nebustar II filters or OIII/Nebustar II, can't remember which pair worked best, but it was right there and a lovely sight. Just popped right out. A large object! The first time I saw it with a 20" dob and 20mm APM 100deg eyepiece and 2" OIII filter, that was astounding, but couldn't fit it in the entire FOV. I think my 12" dob at 1500mm focal length with just squeeze it all in. Seeing it in filtered binoculars really gives you a good impression of overall size, but the darker the skies, the greater the reward. I've managed it from home, c.20.4sqm, but it wasn't a show stopper. Past 21.00sqm with corresponding transparency, it gets better and better the darker it gets though anything with filters. One of my favourites.

I have a ton of 18650 batteries, one of those would power a DIY mini-dew heater with some resistors wired in-line for the 20/40x100 bins, there's plenty of room to strap stuff to the top or side That's a rainy day project though after I've sorted the 50 other rainy day projects...

The Giottos blower is really good, has a valve to prevent dust getting sucked in and you can wash the inside by popping out the spout, plus the bulb is made of real rubber, so it works in all temps and doesn't split. I use mine on all sorts of stuff, bought it back when I did photography daily, but it stays on my desk, very handy. The front dew strip elements would be good for my obsy bins!

Nice one! I finally see some names I recognise, haha M1 in the moonlight is a real challenge, well done. It can be tricky or underwhelming even on dark nights with my 12". Auriga is an all-around interesting constellation. There is IC405 The Flaming Star nebula in Auriga. You'll see an asterism at the bottom (would that be the top for you?) that I call the Auriga Ladder, it's official asterism name is the flying minnow. Just next to the ladder is IC405. You'll need an OIII filter, but if you are out in whoop whoop (my kind of place!) on a clear moonless night you should be able to bag it pretty easily. It's fairly large. I haven't done much star splitting, but with the moon up, I'll try it tonight if it's clear enough. PS have a look at Virtual Moon Atlas, you can flip the moon to match the upside down view from a dob and it shows the terminator accurately so you can identify individual features and it gives crater diameters! I got down to around 4km last night at 300x, very unusual to be able to use that much mag here, but you should be able to do that much more frequently with your dob in WA. Cheers

I use a Giotto rocket blower one of the squeeze blowers for camera lenses. The Giotto is larger than most at 60mm/dia and really pumps the air out. It's a bit pricey at £15-£20 but I haven't shopped for lowest price. I've had mine for probably 10 years now, I can even blow light dust off my 20" primary and I've successfully used it to quickly demist my secondary - it's saved me on a few occasions without a dew heater. It clears eyepieces or binocular oculars easily in my experience and they tend not to fog so quickly after that.

It's a mess. I think shipping times will improve slightly, but that's all. The trade deal will have to be completely renegotiated.

I sent an important parcel 48hr on the 11th to an EU country with the required paperwork in quadruple as requested via a normally fast and reliable courier. It's still in the UK distribution hub. Businesses are apparently being told by HMRC reps over the phone if they don't like it, they can relocate to an EU country. Between shipping and charges, this effectively halts purchases of astronomy equipment from the EU unless you are happy to pay a third more or it's under £39. Without saying more, I'll let people decide if this is a good thing for the UK, especially with our economy in its current state.

Great job! M101 is hard enough for me to see with a large scope and no moon. The skies here tonight have the best seeing I can recall since I started a few years ago. Moon was tack sharp at 300x.

Nice! I have to get a 3D printer, there are so many things I want to make. Nothing like a layer of dew to cut short an astro session, these look like they will definitely do the job.

Welcome, I'm jealous of your Nevada night skies, I have Loveluck NV on one of my clear skies app just to see how many clear nights there are. The answer - a lot apparently! This is a good group, very friendly and helpful. Have learned a lot.

No haven't seen this, thank you. I'm imagining the views in the 24", with all these galaxies hanging in space! Wonderful. Thinking about it, I haven't done any late winter/early spring galaxy hunting with the 20" from a dark site, we were in lockdown last year in March I think, and may be again. I'm hoping to return to this site near home again during next new moon. Switching from mainly nebula to galaxies now! Leo is coming up quickly here and UMa is right there as well. PS great website! Cheers

Cool, I'll have a go at that! Did you see the elongated edge on galaxy just left, below the bear paw? I caught it on the computer. IC2233 or something like that. Could be interesting? Looks unusual...

Definitely Hubble's variable nebula, need to go back through reports to see if I was confident on the Cone. I had the 20" that night and conditions were really good, but don't recall much about the Cone! Suggets I may have passed on it. We're in full lockdown here, you can travel for outdoor recreation, but it's not recommended. Not sure how the police would react with me carting the dob around at 3am. Probably ok going to my local site, but who knows...

I'll try ARP6, is it very faint? I'll break out the 10BCO or barlow the 13mm. I can cruise through the NGCs in S&T Atlas, but HCG55 threw me for a loop last night. I spent 30 minutes looking for it. I checked ocular view in stellarium first, then flipped the view over to match that of a reflector, not realising in my fatigue that Stellarium already did that for me! So I was looking in the opposite direction with the 13mm and 9mm. It's hard to find things when you're moving the scope away from it!! PS it's hard to use a lot of magnification here most of the time. Last night would have been good, it felt like great transparency and seeing. Hickson 55 looks like it would want a lot of mag as well.

I've had hints of IC434 in binoculars from a really dark site, but that was very optimistic. I think I saw the Cone a while back on a really good night, that was late 2019 I think from a hilltop site near me. Near Hubble's Variable Nebula? I'll have to go back through reports, if it's that challenging, I may not have seen it?? I got the HH from home the other night in the 12" but it was very, very subtle with the faintest glow from 434. The flame that night was actually ok from my LP locale. Friday or Sat night. I tried for HCG55 last night from home with the 20", NGC3735 next to it was an easy one, but things started frosting up about that time. Still, don't think I'd be able to bag it from here. I'll try again on that and HCG57, and on M42/3 again if I get a chance, setting quickly now!