Ships and Stars

Excellent Stu. This sounds perfect. I didn't realise the Wizard Nebula, for example, was something like 25' across and quite faint to boot. I'll definitely study these links, many thanks!

Thanks Stu, wasn't sure how to go about that and felt too silly to ask, ha. Shall do some more research on the two DSOs and other similar ones before chasing them in the field with limited time.

Thanks Scarp! I should take some notes but often very time limited on observing. I'll refile this one under observing deep sky back home. I'd like to add an sqm-l meter to my arsenal. Many thanks.

Discussion moved to Observing - Deep Sky. Thanks.

Has anyone been able to observe either the Cocoon or Wizard nebula? I struggled to get much from them last night, even with a lot of aperture and a good H beta filter (Wizard apparently likes the OIII - will try that one next time). Just returned with the big dob after some DSO visual before the moon got too high. Quite clear here tonight and definitely cold, had my Swedish insulated coveralls on and a balaclava, nice and toasty. Forecast was for -2C by mid evening. Set up scope by 7:45pm at my Bortle 4 spot near home, 21.55 SQM and little artificial LP. Didn't have time to drive to the Bortle 2 spot, unfortunately. I'm still a novice, but my goal was visual on the Cocoon nebula. My first try using an Astronomik H beta filter on the 17.5mm Morpheus. I thought it would be a piece of cake with a 20" dob and the Milky Way clearly stretching across the sky...it wasn't. Scope did a successful align and I slewed to M57 to check. It was within inner 1/3rd of EP. I punched in IC 5146 and went over to the dark cigar lane, so I was definitely in the neighbourhood. After briefly studying AP pics of the Cocoon this afternoon, I think I had it narrowed down between two sets of stars, it should have been bang in the middle of the EP. There was at first a dark patch where the nebula should be, but no nebulosity. Thinking my alignment was off, I slewed around the cigar looking for something even remotely obvious. Nothing. After a break looking at other targets, I returned to IC 5146. Using the SW Synscan controller, I slewed back and forth repeatedly on rate 3 to slowly pan across the area using averted vision and finally picked up a fleeting patch of apparent nebulosity, but I mean it was seriously faint! This sucker is going to need Bortle 2 and top seeing conditions - or else I was, erm, looking in the wrong place. I think I was on the money however, and will call it a 'maybe'. Just to try, I swapped in the UHC and seemed to pick up an even larger area of nebulosity, but equally fleeting and faint. Hmmm....while I was in the area I had a brief look at M39, a nice star cluster. Anyway, after that battle, I revisited the Western Veil and it was simply magnificent through the 21 Ethos and OIII. I scanned back and forth for awhile and soaked in the view. I definitely want to try the Veil with binoviewers, don't see why it wouldn't work, albeit at relatively high mag. I then went over to the Blue Snowball, should have been an easy one, but I think my alignment was just enough off by this point to miss it, so I hunted for a bit. I know it's a small planetary nebula, but not convinced I found it in the 17.5mm, so I switched to the 9mm Delite with UHC and still didn't conclusively identify it. Must investigate the sky atlas a bit more and use a 2x barlow next time. Seems there are some fairly bright stars around it, so I probably slewed past it but no obvious small planetary leapt out... I then went to the Wizard Nebula, a very tricky one apparently for visual astro, and picked up another fleeing patch of apparent nebulosity using the Hb ,so the swapped in the UHC and encountered some fleeting 'wispy-ness', but will reluctantly call it another 'maybe'. In reality I should have used the OIII in the 21mm, but not sure the site was dark enough for a proper ID. I hear it's a hard one, or at least that's what I like to tell myself! The Crescent Nebula was an easy and enjoyable sight, but by this time the moon was above the horizon and a subtle glow quickly began to creep across the sky, so I called it a night and packed up... PS - before my eyes were dark adapted, M57 clearly had a striking iridescent blue colour to it (no filter on the EP by the way) - this is the second time I have seen this in M57 from decent skies in the 20", (not seen this in the 8" newt as I recall). Not a maybe or 'sort of' - it was definitely a vivid though subtle blue, so I have found it is possible to see some colour in DSOs besides M42, I think the trick is not being dark adapted, but viewing under relatively dark conditions.

Thanks all, fingers crossed!

Yes, I've insured both. They didn't tell me about the £50 limit on phones until I tried to claim. The NV tube is mostly covered, but I'll lose some on that one, assuming they accept my proof of valuation. I shall see... thanks for the DHL tip, that's two votes for them.

Vlaiv it's nerve wracking when expensive items go missing in the post. I hope this one makes it!

Thanks Richard, I'll give them a look as well. Can't absorb any more of these losses!

Thanks Don, DPD has always been brilliant from my experience. I've used RM primarily because they are very local. They've just opened a DPD drop off locally though. The middle man sites I'll start dealing with are Parcel 2go and Parcel Monkey. I don't ship the volume needed to open an account with any of the major shippers. Thanks again.

Bit of a rant here. I've had largely wonderful service using Royal Mail within the UK for many years. However, the last two items I have sent internationally were both sent to the wrong countries from the RM Langley sorting hub near London. The first was an £650 Thuraya satellite phone which was supposed to go to Austria. They sent it to Australia. After about six phone calls, RM insisted Australia post would forward it on to Austria. Australia post said it was an internal matter and only RM could request it back. I never saw it again. When I went to file a claim, RM said they only cover £50 max for mobile phones. I received £50 about two months later after losing hundreds of pounds. Fast forward to October this year. I sold a night vision tube to a fellow in Belgium. I used a waterproof label and everything was clearly marked. It went to Greece. RM claims they will send it on... can't do anything until the 26th of Nov. I'll have to reimburse the buyer and money is very tight at the moment. Another loss. I will be truly surprised if the buyer receives it. This will be the last time I use RM for anything international. Who do people use for reliable, accountable international? DPD? Fed Ex? I won't touch RM international with a barge pole anymore.

Along the sea the breeze should lighten humidity. I loved living there for a short period, miss the jungle in Taman Negara and so many other aspects. Enjoy.

Taman Negara north of KL is quite dark and definitely remote, worth a trip just to visit the rainforest, but LP is about as low as you will get in peninsular Malaysia. As Jeremy says above, outside of Mersing there isn't too much LP. Tioman Island is pretty dark, didn't make it there however. The biggest problem is that part of the world in general does get a lot of cloud cover and humidity is absolutely sky high. I was into photography at the time, not astro, but I recall the camera shops selling dehumidifier cabinets to store lenses and cameras to prevent fungus. It's always worth a try if you are going to be there but the atmosphere can be incredibly claggy and thick. I had decent skies once doing some star shots with a DSLR and 50mm f1.4 lens, but that was a sparsely populated island (about ten of us!) called Koh Adang in Tarutao National Marine Park off the W coast of Thailand, north of Langkawi Island. Awesome place. Let us know how you get on.

Hi Marvin, read the same article with interest. Weather here in NE Scotland not looking too promising, but it's still a few days out so a lot can change. Fingers crossed. Thanks!

I've had some decent nights hunting DSOs this autumn around Aberdeen, seems like most of the cloud/rain here lately (a substantial amount!) has coincided with the current lunar phase, so that rules out most DSO hunting for me anyway. Straying from the cloud cover topic a bit, I use https://www.mooncalc.org to determine what evenings (or mornings) I can start DSO viewing again (currently around Nov 21) and then religiously check Met Office, Ventusky, Clear Outside and perhaps Meteoblue (just started looking at that one) for a window of clear opportunity, even down to just an hour or two. With work and family life, if it is looking good that night, I'll have gear on standby ready to nip out. I can view from home if the weather window is dodgy and time is severely limited, but LP is simply awful from local businesses. I gorilla-glued 10cm velcro strips on top of their two closest 1,000 lumen flood lights (there are five which stay on from 3:30pm to 7am, seven days a week, even though they are only open very limited hours, mostly during the day, no one cares, trust me! This makes a considerable difference. We are the only house affected by these lights, and the business owners could literally care less, that goes for a number of issues which directly affect us, non-astro related. These businesses have not been good neighbours, they don't even use the area with the lights, and we are no longer on speaking terms unless I'm telling them off for blocking our drive, an almost daily occurrence. Anyway, I simply use Met Office most frequently. It can change considerably at the last minute, but at least they continually update it. Here are my LP shields for the 1,000 lumen flood lights I made from a heavy duty produce box from Lidl. Simple, quick to stick up and remove in seconds after my session is over, and if someone rips them down, I'm not out anything. Hope the cloud cover eases, it's still early days in the viewing season folks. Fingers crossed.

The fellow on the ladder? That looks like Mt Hood in the background. I'm definitely not sold on that ladder!

That is astonishing!! Need a shipyard to construct that!

Did you see the spotting scope on the one with the crazy ladder? Looks like a 10" newt!

Offshore wind turbine blades are technically transportable too, I've studied them carefully when police close the road for half an hour when they pass through town on some kind of super articulated 20 wheel lorry! 😄

Ah yes, I read about the German doctor's 107cm dob recently. The most amazing thing about that one is that technically it's quite transportable. A huge scope, the leap in size from 30 to 40"+ is astonishing.

Thanks Geoff, shall look that up now.

Hi all, Does anyone know roughly what are the largest DIY or professionally-made dobs in the UK astro community? I saw a fellow in Italy made his own 40"/ 1m dob (1016mm), including the mirror. I know there are a few 40"-50" dobs in the US, one 70" in Utah (using a US spy-satellite mirror with a minor chip on the edge bought at auction!) and another 70" nearing completion. Are there any 32"-36"+ dobs in the UK? I suppose the owners might not want to advertise it however. There is reportedly a 30" f4.1 dob at the Astronomy Centre in Lancashire, would love to have a look through it sometime, definitely worth a drive someday if it is accessible. Thanks for any info.

I think the only advantage is Pyrex = less expansion = less time to reach optimal viewing IF going from warm to cold. If the telescope is already stored outside and you are looking at temp swings between 2-4C over a few hours I don't think it will make any difference. I've heard the biggest improvement comes from a barrier fan which blows across the face of the primary mirror (not the back) where thermal turbulence is greatest. I'd just try it first without, personally speaking, and maybe later on try using a 'barrier fan' (my terminology). The other thing I understand is that Pyrex is harder to work and to figure than 'normal' glass, so takes more time to complete, hence part of the reason for the higher price. I would be happy with soda lime glass in the situation you describe above, the £450 could go for other equipment or stay in your pocket! I also do not think there is any increase in durability with pyrex over soda lime glass, but others may say differently. Will be interesting to see what others say, but I've been reading on this a fair bit lately. Happy observing in Sweden!

Hi there and welcome, I'm near Aberdeen. I'm a bit obsessive about dark sky conditions. If you haven't already, Google 'light pollution map' to get a better idea of what's available in your neck of the woods. I then usually look on Google Earth for a rural single track or car park for walkers (check walkhighlands website) for a place to set up. The Bortle scale (9-1, one being the darkest, nine basically any major urban centre) is a good indicator of light pollution. If you can get to Bortle 3 or 2 then you will realise most of your scopes potential, though there's lots to see under 4-5 as well if in a semi-rural area. Bortle 1 is a rare creature, though if you are SW Scotland then it's within a weekend trip, probably Mull or Inner Hebrides, Skye, etc. Loads of helpful people on here, I'm sure they can answer any questions. Happy viewing!

Ah right, in that case sorry! Yep that was me. I go in there with about ten seconds left and throw in my top bid and hope it sticks. I was pretty keen on the filter though, don't think many astronomik filters come up that often. I'd put a wanted advert our in several places and no replies. I'd be curious sometime to do a comparison test between cheap Hb and OIIIs Vs Lumicon/Astronomik. Their 2" filters are eye-wateringly expensive! The OIII is a good one, it enhances lots of objects, esp the Veil.