Pixies

The nova in Cas and the work that went on in the forum posts here to help people locate it. First proper dark sky visit with the dob. Observing a moon transit on Jupiter on a night of exceptional seeing.

@clafann1 May I ask what 114mm scope you have?

A clear night was promised - the first one for weeks where I haven't been dog-tired, so I was looking forward to it. The wind from Storm Malik had died down, too. The skies looked nice and clear, so I thought I would try and knock-off some southerly Winter Messiers that I hadn't seen from my back-garden before. That direction is blighted by light-pollution, but since the local street lights have all been replaced by LEDs recently, I thought I'd give it another try. But first some regulars\; Rigel B was seen easily at x75 (in the 8" dob). Moving over to the Orion Nebula, it wasn't as bright as it had been recently, which was a pity - but the Trapezium was lovely and clean and both E and F were there at x150, the latter on-and-off. Sigma Orionis was equally good; with the dimmest of the 4 components (C) clearly visible at x60 Now for the southerly Messiers. I started with the 2 lowest that I had a possible chance with from the back garden. I was going to have to use the binos (10x50) as they were too low for the dob. M41 just just visible in the low murk, only a few stars showing in the confirmed location. Likewise, M93 was just visible, this one more a faint brightening with AV. Neither were 100%, so I'll have to keep trying them. Back to the dob: M50. A large open cluster - a scattering of blue and white stars but with a single bright red one to the south. A red giant apparently, but happy I noticed it before knowing what it was. M47. Another large bright cluster. This one would be much better in a properly dark sky, I'm sure. M46. Another cluster. Fine and faint at x40 but better contrast with higher magnification, probably best around x100 for me. The planetary nebula that appears within M46 was not visible unless I tried again with the lower-powered EP and the Oiii filter, where it appeared as just a faint smudgy dot. Finally M48. Another large open cluster, filling the view with my 30mm NPL. Denser at the core, around an 'S' pattern of brighter stars. Getting cold and tired, I thought I should pack up. However, I thought I wanted to try a few targets in a darker part of the sky. So set up for M51 (Whirlpool). Found it easily enough but at a higher magnification, it wasn't as clear as I expected. Looking up, some high clouds were rolling in. So back inside now. Glad I tried for those southerly Messiers. I haven't been able to find them from the back garden before, so I this new street lighting appears to have been a big improvement.

HI Sparta! Welcome to SGL. Can you point the scope at a plain white/pale wall rather than that foil? It makes it hard to see what's going on? Cheers.

@Kon How are you taking the pics on the D3200? It doesn't have an intervalometer, does it?

Wow - I'm inspired. Just need to nick/borrow my daughter's D3200!

Listening to an audiobook version of "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" by Neil deGrasse-Tyson. It's free on the Audiobook Booklover podcast on Spotify. 3 1/2 hours narrated by the man himself. It's great for an overview of latest theories plus the history of Astrophysics. It's not background listening, though - it requires some attention as things are covered quickly. Great for commuting!

I'll PM you

https://astrocamp.awesomeastronomy.com/booking/onsite-booking

Are you on Facebook?

Oh! Japanese boxes! Exciting! Nothing that exciting, I'm afraid! One, rather splendiferous Vixen OTA bag: and some Vixen Super Polaris spares:

I remember my teenage son coming out from the kitchen one night, with no dark adaption - looking through my dob at M42 and saying, "Cool! Pink and green!". I had been observing it as grey for over an hour! Also, with Neowise last year, he could spot it straight-off in a summer night sky, when I needed to scan with binos to find it.

Excellent. See you both there! Pitch 47 here.

This video provides quite a good explanation and I think it's very useful for those initially struggling with an EQ mount. It's a different make and model, but I don't think that matters. But be aware that he mixes up the terms 'longitude' and 'latitude' at one point. When you are first setting up the altitude for polar-alignment, you set it according to your location's LATITUDE.

Anyone here going to the Spring Astrocamp 2022 in Cwmdu this year? The Awesome Astronomy one. My first star party of any kind - as long as the rust-bucket/Bongo can make it down there in one piece!

Hi, Here's a recent thread with the same question, although your budget might be different: And a sticky thread with some good advice: Although that latter thread was from a while ago and I think the advice about getting a barlow is not so important to owners of fast scopes, as 'budget' eyepieces can now be found that don't suffer from really tight eye-relief or tiny lenses - such as the ubiquitously recommended BST Starguiders. Sorry, but I can't answer your question about that missing piece.

This is the North American version of an annual British classic: https://www.amazon.com/2022-Guide-Night-Month-Month/dp/0008469865/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1642849258&sr=8-1 it's an inexpensive pocket guide, but very useful.

Another pro for a zoom is for hunting out faint objects - nebulae, galaxies, etc. Their visibility is determined by contrast, conditions, the observer, the object, etc. But contrast varies depending on magnification, so having a zoom means you can quickly adjust the focal length and find which magnification works best for getting the most contrast of an object. If you are spending an evening on the hunt for faint fuzzies - and galaxy season is nearly upon us - zooms are a really useful tool.

Sounds good, but I'm just so tired after last night plus an early start this morning... 😴

Ooer! Snap - I was typing out my comments on the same thing as you typed yours!

Spent a little time on the moon. There were thermals rising from the roof that affected the view, but the further seeing was good. I could get up to x300 magnification quite easily, but with a manual dob that meant a lot of nudging. x150 and the 8mm Vixen LVW was the best view, to my inexperienced eyes. I spent some time observing the terminator around Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility). The side-lit Messier and Messier A craters with 2 sharply pointed shadows directly opposite the pale rays were striking. I found an image that appeared similar (taken from a photo by Chen Sir on Cloudy Nights) Also, the side-lit craters Isidorus and Capella (with the Vallis Capella cutting through it) looked like Yin & Yang:

Ah - M37 is the best of the 3, IMHO. Hopefully you'll get a chance to observe it again soon. NGC1664 is nearby (in the vicinity of Capella) and one of my favourite open clusters. Called the 'kite', I think it looks like a stingray. Is it too far North for you? And I've never been able to observe any nebulosity in Auriga from my light polluted skies.

Cold and clear here. The seeing was pretty reasonable but not as great as everyone else seems to have had recently! Started with Rigel - easy split at 8mm (x150) in zoom. Backing off, I could still see down to 18mm (x66). Then on to M42. The poor transparency and moonlight meant the nebulosity wasn't up to its usual standard. The 4 main stars of the Trapezium were steady but no sign of E or F. I watched and waited for a while, with varying magnifications, but nothing. Iota Ori (Nair al Saif) was an easy split at x50 Sigma Orionis was fantastic. The seeing was improving (and the temperature rising slightly). All 4 components visible and stable at x60, with the dimmer 'C' star a faint but distinct pin-prick. After that success, I went for Sirius B. No luck! Lower down and to the east, it was still over houses and suffering from the rising thermals. 7 Tauri? I gave it a go, but just a possible slight elongation. Back in to warm up a bit. I'll head back out shortly for some moonage daydream.

Congrats @Stu. Under what name is out listed in SkySafari? I can't find it (plus version).

I have a nice spot near the back door, for the dob. I think I might even be able to fit a 12" in there?