markse68

After trying so many times without success, tonight I can finally say that it actually isn’t some grand truman-showesque hoax- the veil really does exist!

Took my scope with me when i visited my mum down in Surrey again- bortle 4/5 and lucked out with perfectly clear skies at last.  Big difference to my home bortle 8/9 skies!   So much so that despite a nearby very bright moon I actually saw it! I first went to 52cyg and there it was- the Western veil (well some of it i guess). Then moving up and left I found the Eastern veil which seemed larger. My scope isn’t ideal being an f8ish 1600fl but i could fit each of these parts mostly in my 40mm ep using my oiii (the astronomik 12nm ccd version) Couldn’t see anything when i tried with baader uhc though. The detail wasnt great what with the moon right there, but i’m dead chuffed i’ve finally seen it  Now i cant wait to repeat this once the moon is out of the way to get to see it properly.

Another highlight was Mars through my new (thanks @Robindonne) Eudiascopic 3.8mm. Fantastic! Sharp at 420x and a decent size with polar cap much diminished but still just there and lovely detail in the the subtle dark markings. Very little flare with this ep- not the best at the edge of field but lovely in the middle. I like it a lot so far 

Had some cracking views of various clusters with my new 7x35 bins- Pleiades and Hyades were beautiful through them. Then to round off the evening/morning I noticed what looked like and sure enough it was the twins Castor and Pollux rising over the horizon which must mean.. yes there was Betelgeuse! My secondary had fogged by now so i didn’t wait for Orion but it was fully risen by the time I got home. Had a quick look through the bins and there was the scabbard and M42!

Good times

Mark

Sounds like a good session Magnus- just had one myself- very rewarding

I agree re Almach

I keep forgetting Uranus and Neptune- next time

Couple of eps to add to the collection. thanks very much  @Robindonne for the 3.8 Eudiascopic- it looks really nice. Didn’t realise it had a built in barlow- looks great quality. It’s branded LichtenKnecker Optics, a Belgian optics company, but the letters  BAPL stamped into the barrel i think indicate it’s a rebranded Baader Planetarium ep. Can’t wait to try it out on Mars next ckear night 🤞

Interesting 🧐 

Fantastic! you’re not using an adc though?

Mark

Lovely sketch and great detail you’re picking out. Are you finding the detail getting clearer the later it gets- it’s still fairly high at 1am? You could make an animation when you’re done 😉

Tonight was a repeat of last night- forecast cloud but the satellite views showed a wedge of clear skies slowly parting the static clouds and sure enough by 11 it was pretty clear here- only this time i took the scope out for some much needed observing.

Jupiter was boiling away at low altitude but I did see the GRS and a possible shadow transit but it was too unclear to really make out.

Saturn a bit better but still poor seeing. Mars got better the higher it got and showed a horizontal dark band in the southern hemisphere.

The moon was drowning everything out so it would be rude not to give it a look. Being full is not really ideal but it was spectacularly sharp and somehow the seeing was very good for it with only marginal rippling of the limb. I noticed a string of crater walls protruding from the limb below Plato and slightly to the left of it (dob view)  They formed a hanging fringe and really caught my eye hovering below the limb like that. No idea what crater they’d be from but quite an intriguing sight against the inky black background. Upping the magnification to about 300x they revealed plenty of texture and detail with what looked like a dome structure amongst them. Quite intriguing and I’m glad I looked!

Edit: having looked at map it might have been the back wall of Hermite or Byrd depending on libration- that area anyway

rice ladle is a much better description than bear or plough!

19 minutes ago, Rob_UK_SE said:

Do you ever travel with your scope, Mark? If not, it might be worth considering heading south or west to some darker skies? Even just to see the Veil - it’s in a good position for a few more weeks to come. Some areas within the Isle of Sheppey appear to be Bortle 4 (20.85) and a trip down to parts of Kent or East/West Sussex would give you slightly darker skies than that (21+ in certain parts). I can see the Veil quite clearly from home (with an OIII filter) which is 20.68 according to the light pollution map.

I’ve been taking my scope with me when visiting my mum - bortle 4/5 but it’s been cloudy every time 🤦‍♂️ If it looks like we”re going to get a decent clear patch again I will make an effort as i really want to see it while i can

pretty poor! I think i almost won! No chance on the veil but brighter dso’s can be found. Moon looks good though 😉 as do planets, and double stars aren’t affected . And as others have mentioned this year is much clearer than last although this past month has been awful!

On 03/05/2020 at 08:56, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Starts with "s" ends with "t"

Bortle 8, can make out the main stars but that's about all 😢

Its hard to learn your way around when you can’t make out basic constellations isn’t it Baz! I can’t believe i took this long 🤦‍♂️ but i’ve only just discovered the joys of binoculars! Just some compact 8x30s make a world of difference in terms of what you can see and finding things! I’m really enjoying them!

Mark

22 hours ago, carastro said:

You have got a bar code on the box, perhaps Astronomik can identify it for you.

Carole 

yes i should email them! Thanks Carole

edit: They're quick to answer! (astro shop actually) Apparently it’s a 12nm c2013 👍

Hi, I bought this second hand Astronomik oiii filter a while back but wonder if anyone knows/remembers its specs? I think it must be an older version- it’s t2 mount but has no engraving at all on the housing and the case just identifies it as an oiii- no further details. Current production offers 6 or 12nm bandwidth but earlier production included 13nm. Just wondering which type this might be. Thanks

Mark

wish me luck...

do they do half price offers occasionally like SS do?

1 hour ago, Rob_UK_SE said:

If you have the 6nm OIII-CCD version, your filter really targets the 501nm OIII line, but not the 496nm part. It is much more narrow/aggressive and therefore less suited to visual observation.

 

if it’s the 12 though it should work ok?

My oiii is an astronomik imaging one- do you suppose that could have a negative impact on its use visually? I can’t remember which bandwidth version it is- maybe the 6nm. The imaging version maybe doesn’t have quite as high transmission. I know it’s my sky that’s preventing me see  the veil- one day i’ll get the timing right and have my mind blown i’m sure

On 19/08/2020 at 10:09, johninderby said:

I use the iPad version of Luminos which I found to be the best of any I’ve tried. Settings allows you to set it up to your lo your local observing location. I compared Sky Safai Pro and Luminos and deleted Sky Safari after comparing it to Luminos.

Think the iPhone version is a bit different but here’s a couple of screen grabs from the iPad version. 

Can you summarise what you found better than SS John? I read it displays stars more realistically when you zoom right in and doesn’t have the annoying comet tails that only Stu can turn off but it looks a bit glitzy to me- but that’s a very subjective opinion!

8 minutes ago, Stu said:

Whereabouts are you?

Not far from Greenwich. I don’t think i’ve ever seen Ursa Minor 😳😂 I shall have to look for it!

21 minutes ago, Stu said:

May be doable on a very transparent night Mark. I got it from here a few nights back with my 150p and a Lumicon filter. My skies were as good as it gets from here ie Mag 5, better end of Bortle 7. What are your skies like?

to be honest Stu I have no idea- nor how to judge. Do you just look for known mag stars and see if you can see them? I think the skies are definitely better than last year “thanks” to covid but i’ve had no luck so far. I’ve been taking my scope down to surrey when i visit my mum past few times but of course its been cloudy every time 🤦‍♂️ I thought we must have similar skies but I guess i’m a bit more central than you

1 hour ago, bish said:

My baader OIII means I can make out the veil in my very light polluted back garden. No chance without it . Of course under a dark sky it really pops out.

What aperture scope are you using to see it from Dudley Bish? It still eludes me from my similar bortle skies here in London with my 8.75” 

50 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

It's probably adjusting the image to strecth the dynamic range, is it on an HDR setting?

No i never use HDR. You’d think a camera sensor would measure the values as being the same but I guess there’s processing involved that like you say adjusting the dynamic range. Interesting though

40 minutes ago, Stu said:

It’s 1/4 wave, so not top spec but at least a known quality and diffraction limited.

I’ve no idea what mine is Stu but whatever it is it does a pretty good job on tight doubles and planets are alright too

almost tempted just for a spare mirror 😉

Hi Jeff, welcome aboard!

Do you know Teleskop-Spezialisten in Stockdorf/Gauting?

Karl the owner is very passionate and quite a character

Klare Nächte!

Mark

32 minutes ago, saac said:

Ps - It's ok Mark I found it  - Shift and the Ink Dropper together - wow they do indeed show as the same code!  So it must be a perception thing - the brain making a judgement and influencing perception.  These illusions can be so disorientating.

Jim 

I find it slightly amusing that it fools cameras too 😂