Pixies

RACI's rule, they really do. Of all the 'upgrades' I've made this past year, that one had the biggest impact on my observing.

Lots of good reports tonight. Perhaps the last moonless night of proper darkness this year, so it's great that it's been so clear and transparent for a lot of us. This was my first trip out to a decent dark sky. Light pollution map shows it as 21.75 mag/arcsec^2 Wow. I'll go over what I saw in my 8" dob, tomorrow. But my highlights were: Beehive cluster naked eye Sombrero galaxy with dust lane 12+ galaxies in Markarian's chain Spiral arms in M51 M101 clearly visible Cygnus rising with the Milky Way Time to sleep first....

Cloudy patches here, last night. I didn't bother waiting up, as I wanted a good night's kip as I'm intending hitting a dark(ish) site tonight, for the first time. Forecasts looking good, too. Hopefully meeting up with another SGL bod - socially distancing, of course)

Keep your eyes on the used section here. Also UK Astro Buy&Sell

Excellent report! I have visions of you shaking your fist at owls! I'm desperate to try galaxy hunting from a dark site. Unfortunately the lock-down isn't over up here yet. I think the next new moon might have an hour or so of proper darkness.

Nice report. I started trying out an 'observing hood' (inside-out black t-shirt) during my last 3 sessions and it really does help! I wish I could observe the Sombrero, but it's just too low for my back garden and also in the direction of light pollution. I'm hoping to get to a dark site next new moon, before the bright summer skies, and that's my number one target. Shame you couldn't find M63. I must admit that I find it relatively 'bright' in my 8" dob. If you could see the M51 companion, I would have thought M63 would be easy. Perhaps the transparency had worsened. This stuff gets addictive, doesn't it? Shame that galaxy season is nearly over. I wish this run of clear transparent skies had come a little earlier!

Last night here wasn't as good as recent ones. The sky was a little 'milky' and not great for fainter things, even with the new moon. Seeing was great though.

I'm intrigued by that rising high pitch frequency you can hear from around 2:40 that goes on until around 4:00 that is displayed as a diverging line on the graph, at a fixed gradient.

I'm going to have another shot tonight. Just a quickie, though, as I'm knackered now. That's 5 clear nights out of 7 up here! And it even looks like we might have 2 more to come.

I recognize your avatar!

Ah - that sort of "off from work". I assume it's emulsion, not a landscape?

Nice report. You seem to be getting your eye in now. Up here, last night's transparency wasn't as good as the end of last week. The sky was jus a little brighter. I've been using M51 as a transparency check at the start of recent sessions and I couldn't see any 'join' last night. There are so many Messier objects in and around Virgo, I've actually started knocking them off a list. Looks like a little Messier-bagging work to do this year. Hopefully we get lots of further clear nights.

You asked for it! Another clear night, so I thought I'd try and finish off any remaining Messier objects in and around Virgo. The transparency wasn't great in the southerly direction tonight. Local light pollution. The galaxies were going to be faint. M98 - Very faint. Averted vision and dob-wobbling required M91 - Faint and averted vision needed. It's small core visible. M59 - Another bright one, visible in direct view. M60 - Ditto. M49 - Quite bright considering its location. Getting lower... M61 - Much fainter, this one. Averted vision required for this low target. Now for some darker skies nearer the Zenith: M108 - A long streak with direct vision. Some mottling possibly seen with averted vision. M109 - Just a faint haze, barely visible with direct vision. M40 - Bright double star. M102 (Spindle Galaxy) - Core bright with direct vision. Wider structure seen with averted vision. Finished off by checking the state of the Nova in Cassiopeia. It looks the same magnitude as it did last week. While I was in the area, a quick observation of: M103 - easy in the ST80. Just a small cluster of 3 or 4 stars at x13. Higher magnification showed a triangular patch of fainter stars.

April is turning out to be a good month (for a change). A little like last year, I remember. I've had more clear night these past 2 weeks than we've had since the start of the year! Some have had good transparency, and others good seeing, too.

That white plate is a proper Vixen SX dovetail plate, I believe.

Have a look in the recent thread in this section, about 'exit pupils'. A 32m eyepiece in your F6 scope will have an exit pupil of 5mm. This will make for a bright view - but that includes the background sky too. As your eyepiece power increases, the exit pupil decreases, and everything gets dimmer. However, for some reason (and perhaps someone else can explain why) the background initially appears to dim by a greater extent, and there's a sweet-spot where the contrast between the dim object and the background sky is at its greatest. This can vary - but in my 8" dob, I find it best between 12 and 8mm (exit pupil 2mm - 1.3mm). Too far and everything is too dim. Now - for me, this means my zoom eyepiece is my favourite for viewing faint fuzzies. Others might use a selection of different fixed focal-lengths. There have been lots of threads recently, discussing the pros and cons of zooms. IMHO, this ability to seek the best contrast on-the-fly is one of their greatest strengths. Of course, it's much easier to star-hop and find things with a low-powered eyepiece. I use my 30mm one normally. But once I'm in the right place, I'll use the zoom to get the best view of the fuzzy.

For those Messier bagging, what is the done thing for M102? Is it NGC 5866 (the Spindle Galaxy) that is the accepted target, or is this likely to start a fight?

Hi Andrew, I just did a search in SkySafari for galaxies/nebulae/clusters between 0-10 magnitude in each of the constellations in question. Hoping to get to a dark sky before astronomical darkness vanishes for the summer. I think there's one new moon left before that (2nd week in May). I lack a low southerly view from home, too. I quite fancy trying to find M104 (Sombrero) and thre Ghost of Jupiter

Your eyes are sensitive to motion. So sometimes, when a faint object is just on the verge of visibility, shaking the scope very slightly, so that the view moves in the eyepiece, makes the faint object stand out more. I found it very good for areas around the Virgo clusters, where you suspect there to be a few of the fainter galaxies in the view. Just slightly wobbling the scope makes them stand out.

Just working with the conditions. The seeing was poor but the moon was away. Last week the seeing was great, so it was splitting doubles then!

ANOTHER clear night, tonight, so tried to carry on where I left off. Also used an old T-shirt as an observing hood to try and help with the local lights. M88 - Core bright, even in light pollution M98 - Possibly. Very very faint. LP M99 (Coma Pinwheel galaxy) - Barely visible averted vision. LP M100 - core faint averted vision NGC 4450 - Faint averted vision NGC 4564 - Faint and small. Averted vision M86 & M84 (Markarian's chain - 2 main ones) - clear NGC 4438 & 4435 (Eyes galaxies) - Faint averted vision M87 (Virgo A) - Clear direct NGC 4486A - Very faint averted vision NGC 4478 - ditto M58 - Bright and small M90 - Fairly bright but indistinct M89 - Small and dense. Direct M85 - Bright. Direct Left it a bit late so the targets were well south and into a dome of light pollution from the local train yards. At times some high cloud didn't help, and at others it was very transparent. What really surprised me was how visible the 2 fainters galaxies around Virgo-A (M87) were (NGC 4486A and 4478). They are mag 11.3 and 12.1 but I could see them quite easily. I assume it's because they are small and dense and so their surface brightness is quite good. I had my best view yet of Markarian's chain, too. As well as the above, I could see lots of tiny faint fuzzy patches scattered around the views. I really fancy trying to get to a dark site next new moon, once the Scottish stay-local rules are relaxed, and attempting these targets again. I reckon that would be the last chance before astronomical darkness ends here for the summer.

Hi, ex Norwich here, but in Edinburgh for nearly 30 years. I'm on the other side of town though (Portobello). Hoping to get out and about again before the dark nights vanish. Only a couple more weeks until the 'stay-local' rules finish. I'm keen to get down to Whiteadder reservoir (Bortle 3) which is 20 miles south east of Edinburgh in the Lammermuirs.

It says 'telescope' on the side. 👍

Glad you're OK. With my old job, I've had my fair share of time out there. Harris, Lewis, Uist, Rum. But this was before my time even with binoculars. I do remember the skies though, when they were clear (which wasn't too often).

It was suggested not to bother requesting a shield before now, as the lamps are scheduled to be replaced. However, I have heard (anecdotally) that if you complain immediately after the new lamps are installed, the lighting team will be available in the area to fix any issues and install shields immediately. Edinburgh's street lights started being upgraded several years ago and they are slowly working their way around the city. Of course, my neighborhood is literally the last to be done! It was supposed to have been done by now, but it was delayed by Covid. The occasional times I have driven through upgraded areas in the dark, I have noticed a real difference and it does appear much darker. People are complaining about the new lights being too dim! 🙄 The council are saying that once the upgrade is complete, they will be able to control the timing and brightness of the streetlights remotely. Hopefully that doesn't mean they turn them up! I'm hoping they start turning them off late at night. I do see that my westerly view towards the city centre now has white light pollution instead of yellow!