Nik271

I just don't get this 'internet rom the sky for the masses' project. It's expensive to put up and maintain, do they really think the poor people will benefit from it? A solar flare can potentially disrupt it far more than the terrestrial network. I think it's just a pet project fuelled by ego and cheap money.

I used the mobile version of Stellarium on my phone. Interestingly I just loaded my desktop version of Stellarium and it gives 7.80 for the same star They must be using different databases. Or perhaps the mobile version gives a compensation for the atmosphere?

I was watching the Moon as well, Rupes Recta was showing as a straight edge of darkness, lovely! I spent a lot of time on Deslandres and followed some of the catenas on its floor. I believe the seeing did not support above x200 but I only had a 9mm EP left in the scope giving me x300 and did not want to get up to the house and trigger the security lights next door, so I stayed at this magnification. There were a few short moments of clarity which made it just about worthwhile. I spotted several of the tiny craterlets around Triesnecker: G H and J I believe. Wikipedia lists them as 3km in diameter, so good performance from the Skymax 180.

I had a lucky cloudy free evening and had a look at the nova around 11pm. I would put it at mag 7.7, it looked just a bit brighter than HD220770 which is mag 7.94

I have some sunny spells this morning and decided to image the new sunspot group 2824. 127mm Skymax with Baader solar filter. best 15% of 4000 frames cropped. I think it's shaping to be a very nice sunspot.

Your light pollution situation makes observing faint DSOs impractical but fortunately there are other choices to observe. You are right to focus on planets, perhaps also double stars as these are very resistant to light pollution. I think a Dob will not work for you, best get a good quality refractor or a Mak on an alt az go to mount. This will be easy to transport, quick to set up and the go to will make finding objects easier in the light polluted sky.

Finally managed to spot the new Moon last evening after several days of rain and cloud. I had a quick look with my Skymax 127 and the 15mm EP left in the scope from the solar observing earlier. The moon was 3 days old with Petavius and Langrenius very prominent in the south. I could easily see Vallis Palitzsch and the two crater rims of Petavius, In the north Mare Crisium was fully illuminated with the crater Cleomedes on the terminator just north of it. Further north Endymion still half in shadow. The sky was quite bright so contrast was poor, by the time it got darker more cloud had arrived. A short but rewarding session.

I have taken some good images with the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 on Canon 250D so the answer is yes, it can be done. At these focal lengths the image scale is very forgiving, so you can take 40-60 second exposures unguided. The only thing to watch is for the abberations of the lens itself, it may have distortions and astigmatism near the edge of the field. Vignetting can easily be corrected with flats. I think the main reason people don't use telephoto lenses is that for equivalent focal length and aperture a refractor works out much cheaper - most modern lenses have image stabilization and focusing motors which add significantly to the weight and cost. But of course if you already have the lens, it's a good alternative to a scope.

That was a great read! I'm pleased to see the 127 SW Mak doing so well on DSO. I haven't taken mine beyond the garden which is SQM20 (Bortle 5) and it has shown me brighter galaxies but struggles on dimmer stuff. Should take the little fellow to my next dark sky holiday, whenever that is.

I managed to take 20x 2sec images of the Nova last night (10 May) around 10:30pm with my DSLR and 85mm lens at F2.5 and stacked them. Here is the slightly cropped result: It is much brighter than a few weeks ago. Based on my binocular observation and this photo I will put it at 5.3: a bit dimmer than 4 Cas itself, which is mag 5, but brighter than the nearby HIP 115395 which is 5.6. Definitely in NE visibility territory, just not NE visible in my skies yet. Very exciting development! Nik

I had excellent clear skies all the way to the horizon last evening and Mercury was well placed at 9pm. I believe it was 10 degrees in altitude and very prominent. I managed to observe it with my Skymax 127 at 100x and could easily see the crescent shape. The seeing and dispersion into rainbow colours did not allow higher magnification. Finally around 9:30 I finished with a parting shot: On Thursday it may be even better with the new Moon next to it but the weather forecast for me does not look promising. Cheers, Nik

Just found this on Youtube. It's nice to see this giant telescope in use. As far as I understand it's closed now and its future is uncertain...

There is also Saturn coming up in the morning sky and later in the summer Jupiter. Admittedly still low in the sky but better than last year!

I was lucky with the clouds today and had a longish (30 mins) session observing Mercury over the houses next door. First I found it with 10x50 bins just before 9pm and by 9:15pm it was easily visible naked eye. I even had time to snap a few pictures: around 9pm, when it was not easy to see: And by 9:15pm it was obvious:

A great example what a basic entry level telescope can show to the experienced observer! This reminds me, Charles Messier used a refractor of similar aperture (3.5 inches?), perhaps of inferior quality, and look how much he saw with it

PS. Just realised that se8 is not your postcode but your telescope In an 8 inch you should be able to get very good views of globular clusters even with light pollution. Make sure it is properly collimated and the object is high in the sky, the higher the better. It makes a huge difference how many stars you can see.

Well done! Its not easy to see the 4 stars of the keystone in light polluted skies. At this time of the year (late spring/early summer) the best views of M13 will be after midnight, when it's properly astro-dark and M13 is high in the sky.

I recently learned that Dubhe (Alpha U Ma) is actually a close double. Consulting Stelle Doppie shows that the separation is close to the maximum of just over 0.8'' and will increase a little bit until 2023. The orbital period is 44 years and the components are currently about 30 AU apart. I thought this will make an interesting challenge for my 180 Skymax since the Big dipper is now close to the zenith in early night. I'm just worried that I may be setting the bar too high for a 7 inch scope. At this separation the secondary will sit right in the first diffraction ring. I'll be interested to hear what scopes people have used to split Dubhe. My guess is that a 6 inch refractor is probably the best tool for the job...

You should be able to see Polaris B without a problem, for Eta Draconis you will need very good conditions, first try something easier while still challenging, for example Izar (Epsilon Bootis). Have fun!

I had success last night at Eta Draconis, again with the 127 Mak but this time I was testing a cheap 7-21mm zoom I recently purchased. It works very well in my super slow scopes (at F12 probably any EP looks good ). There was plenty of cloud but in the gaps the seeing was excellent, the stars were perfect points with textbook diffraction rings. I started with Castor which was split already at 21mm (75x) and then chased the gaps in the clouds. Mars looked good but smallish, I think its only about 4 arcseconds now. Theta Aurigae was a good catch, first time with the small Mak, I had to go down to 200x to get a clean split. Then the eastern sky cleared up and I moved to Polaris first. As Dave @F15Rules said the companion was obvious even at my lowest mag (74x at 21mm). Finally it was clear enough to look at Eta Dra and I started to see a blue dot southeast of the primary at about 200x. It was more consistently visible that last time, beyond the diffraction rings as the seeing was way better. I didn't have time to try STF 2054 as some more cloud filled the gap. I'm actually very thrilled by the success of the small Mak, it just keeps giving. The small zoom (cheapest of the SVbony line) also performed very well. It is sharp almost all the way to the edge (probably not a great achievement with a narrow FOV - 40 to 55 degrees) I will keep it in my arsenal for double stars. Should be less cloud tonight, I hope the seeing stays good! Nik

My favourite small scope is my 127mm Skywatcher Mak, it comes in its neat bag when not on duty, and when on duty sits on a EQ5 mount which I can carry from the house to the garden in 60 seconds. Actually some days I just leave it outside all night/day long under a sturdy BBQ cover. Having said that I did purchase the big brother, the 180mm Mak too and I use it regularly but it lives in the shed, not in the house and at 7.8kg is more of a pain to carry around. I absolutely agree with @Stu that a big part of the enjoyment is to push your scope to the limit, no matter how big or small it is.

That's an early rise! I'm tempted to try early morning observation too, to view Saturn for the first time this year. I think around 4:30-5am should do it right now but from next month it has to be earlier and earlier Mizar was the first proper double I saw, with an Astomaster 130, I still remember the excitement of these two close dots in the EP, it's still a favourite of mine.

High magnification requires some sort of solid (= heavy!) mounting which defeats the main purpose of binoculars which is to give wide views and to be easy to use. I would say a magnification of 10 times is about the maximum an average person can hand hold and still have a steady view. You can still see the planets in 10x50 binoculars but you won't be able to resolve any detail. But you will be able to see the four main moons of Jupiter and the moon Titan of Saturn, which I found quite exciting.

This is a very nice report, thank you! A big city sky presents unique challenges, I did some stargazing from London for a few weeks last year and can relate to your situation. You've covered a good range of targets for a 70mm scope in Bortle 8 sky. I can recommend using some kind of filter for full Moon (natural density or try even sunglasses). There are some features which show best in full moon: the subtle shading of various maria or craters' ray systems for example. Here is a useful resource for the names of various Moon features https://quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/

Thanks for these. Nick! I will check a few on the summer list with my 20x80 binoculars at the next opportunity. As you said the colours show very well in smaller apertures.