Kon

Nice haul of targets there. By thew way, if you are using the free version of Stellarium on your phone it does not show M108. If you do not want to pay for the app you can try the web version of stellarium or download skysafari (the free app lists M108).

Great images. I really like the details on the first image (small craterlets) and the very natural look of the last one.

Nice report. Seeing clusters by eyes only is great (I have bortle 3 skies and see them often). The galaxy you saw is M108; you can frame it with the Owl in a lower mag EP. In your Dob, the pup should be around 4-5 o'clock.

Very nice report and great set of targets. I like your sketch as well. Your transparency seems to have been a lot better than most of us.

Nice report and you managed to bag quite a few targets considering that conditions have not been the best recently. NGC3628 was hard even on my 8" Dob the past week (usually nice and "bright"), due to that awful haze.

Ps, are these single frames or a movie with the DSLR?

Great effort. Have you tried stacking the latter ones? The initial sequence is low resolution due to the low altitude, I think. I found that unless it is 60 degrees up I get a lot of turbulence and poor resolution. I completely messed it up tonight. I forgot to lock the focuser and I accidentally pressed it down and everything was out of focus.

Absolutely! You made it hard for us with this question. 🤣

Old favourites probably since you will have more time observing them since you will know roughly their location, so more likely to make good use of the skies. I would revisit the same site another day for option 1.

I decided to shoot ISS with my Nikon at prime focus rather than the ASI120mc-s. I found that due to theNikon's larger sensor, I can capture more details since the Dob has time to settle from vibrations whereas with the ASI120mc-s i am chasing ISS to keep it in the imaging window. I feel i am pulling more details and I want to get a barlow that will allow me to reach focus with the DSLR to get higher magnification. Exposure 1/4000s, iso 1600. PIPP, Autostakkert and Astrosurface for sharpening.

I captured some images on the sun spots AR2975/2976 this morning. Seeing was quite good. 8" Dob, asi120mc-s, 8000frames (manual track) , stacked the best 25% in Autostakkert ad some editing in Astrosurface. I also added a UV/IR cut filter despite the camera having one just to see if things maybe better? (I forgot to get some images without to compare, maybe tomorrow).

It was just about there, a very faint smudge. I tried for Sombrero but my low S horizon had awful haze; I saw it last year and it was amazing.

No it is not a typo, milky sky indeed not Milky Way. The past couple of weeks seeing seems to be ok but transparency awful for faint fuzzies. I was out at ~745 to image ISS with my 8" Dob and I then turned to Leo for some galaxies. I could hardly see the triplet so i thought it is not worth my time. I moved to Auriga and took a look at the open clusters M36 and M38, NGC1778 and finally NGC1893. At this stage I was getting frustrated that the transparency was awful and I had an early finish with the Persei double cluster. I was on my way to bed around midnight when I noticed that I could see more stars than earlier, so transparency had improved. I do not know if it was a coincidence but it also got colder. I got the Dob out again and Leo was positioned really nicely on my S view. The Leo triplet looked a lot better than earlier with M65/66 and NGC3628 in the same FOV. Transparency was ok since NGC3628 was barely visible. A quick look on M105 (no sign of NGC3384) and M96. I then moved to Markarian's chain. A speeded view even under the milky conditions. The brighter galaxies were showing really nicely and you could make the chain of galaxies as I was moving the EP around. Moving to Come Berenices, the transparency seemed to have improved. I easily spotted the NGC4494. I was no hopeful but I tried the galaxy C38. OMG moment. I had not seen it before and despite being a mag 12.8 galaxy it was showing under the conditions. At log mag I could make the needle shape of the galaxy and when I upped the mag it made the background darker and it popped with some more features. C36 above looked ok without much structure to it. Further up, I had a look at Whale galaxy (C32) and Hockey stick (NGC4656/57). At high mag the NGC4627 above the C32 was showing nicely. The Hockey stick showed a dispersed light with a lighter and fainter sides. I was very happy wit these observations. It was 130am at Hercules was rising from E. I had to have a look at M13. At low mag I could see fuzzy ball of stars and the NGC6207 (barely) in the same FOV. Going up with the magnification, stars could be resolved in the core. With averted vision I could make some stars extended from the core at around 11 and 2 oclock Dob view. I also remembered a discussion in this forum about Herschel's hair. I think I could just about make it in the core (looking a bit like a Y shaped feature) but I want to verify under good seeing. I finished my session with M92. Some stars could be resolved but coming from M13 is not as spectacular. So despite the milky sky, I managed a fantastic session at the early hours of the morning. I think my highlight was C38 since it was a new target to me but also with more experience looking at M13.

Transparency improved around midnight and I managed a nice session with some galaxies in Leo and Coma Berenices, and open clusters in Hercules. I will write a report in the morning.

The transparency is awful again tonight. I could barely see the Leo triplet. I spent half an hour at the Auriga clusters and finished off with the Persei double cluster. Not worth the frustration under these conditions.

I setup my Nikon with the 18-55mm lens at f3.5 to capture ISS in widefield tonight. I had set it at 20s exposure so I could not have the full ISS pass in the frame but it is cool to see ISS going 'past Pleiades'. My efforts with the telescope were not great since the orientation of ISS did not show much of the panels.

He is loving it with back to back imaging sessions and looking down the telescope as well.

Sorry for yet another ISS picture 😇. This week I have been spoiled with clear skies (although transparency is not great) and opportunity to shoot ISS and experiment with camera settings. ISS made a nice pass at ~80 degrees max tonight. Same setup as before, 8" Dob, asi120mc-s, 2x barlow and a 7 year old assistant. Asicap exposure 0.7ms, gain 45 at 37fps. PIPP, Autostakkert and Gimp for editing. If transparency was better, I think the images would have been sharper.

I am also out and see if I can get some decent photos

Out with the little man to capture ISS again.

Very nice and your perseverance paid out!

They will look similar to the Leo Triplet , some similar size some smaller. Seeing has to be pretty good as for the Leo triplet.

Good you moved it here. As I said earlier, you will know you found Markarian's chain with all the little fuzzies, no sharp points of light, 'everywhere'; it will look great in your ES24.

Same here. I agree they are excellent EPs. I bought the ES 82 series, 6.7 ,8.8 and 14mm, soon after I got my ES24 (68degrees); i prefer to stay with the 1.25" format. And now I am contemplating the 100degrees but cannot justify the cost, yet 🤣.

@PeterC65excellent report. I have the ES24 and it is one of my favourite EPs . For Markarian's chain, you will know you found it with all the little fuzzies , I personally find it mesmerising panning around the area. And yes move your report as a new thread, it's great writeup and observation!