Kon

I managed a quick view through clouds. Not great and now it is pouring with rain😒 I managed a few snaps in white light but not worth to stack them since the clouds are coming through. A single snapshot at prime focus.

Great report and your perseverance paid off! It seems that galaxy season is upon us soon. I quite enjoy looking at the M97/M108 with a low mag EP since I can have both in the same FOV.

Fantastic report and what a session! It is about sky quality as well than just aperture. I managed the HH and Flame with my 8" Dob. I saw the Flame last night again without any filters. Looking forward to seeing some of your sketches.

That looks great, for a single frame. I noticed the next few passes are not great in terms of height but worth practicing different setups. I think your ASI will give you better results. How are you tracking? 2 out of 4000 is pretty low.

I had a good session tonight; transparency had improved a lot from earlier. I started with M42 (very nice extended nebulosity) with some colours and Flame was jsut about visible without a filter. I then did a 180 degree turn to Cassiopeia NGC654, C10 and NGC659. Moving further up, NGC957 and the double Persei looked stunning again. I put my OIII filter and took a look at the Heart and Soul nebulas nearby; nice nebulosity came through around the stars. They are both huge so i had to move around a bit. I moved to Cepheus and C4; this nebula has always been unimpressive. I did not try any filters. Cat's eye with its nice blue colour was very pleasing to see. I failed to see IC3568, but looking the map i was way off! Then it was the turn of the Owl and M108. That was my first proper nebula to see (after M42) when I got my Dob last year so it always excites me since it was the one that really ignite my interest in hunting these nebulas. It looked nice with and without the OIII filter; i refer the unfiltered view since i can have the M108 in the same FOV. The filter brought out some more features, darker patches. By the end transparency dropped and packed everything back. It was a great night despite transparency being on/off.

Well, your comment in the brackets pretty much sums it up. You could show him M42 and if that does not work then enjoy by yourself. Transparency is pretty awful at the moment but I will leave the Dob out just in case.

I had a cheeky look at the moon after I got back from work. Fairly stable seeing with some nice details. The best part was seeing ISS passing just below it (naked eye). It seems touch and go at the moment with clouds.

Sounds like an amazing night! You may have converted your mate into astronomy from the sound of the excitement.

You can go old school with a book, Turn Left at Orion is another excellent source for your planning since it breaks it into seasons/constellations. Online resources are also excellent, I prefer Stellarium and Skysafari, good old google 😀. It also depends what you are interested to see, that will also narrow down your observing list. Try read the Observing report section at SGL, and make a list of what others have seen with a setup or skies similar to you. I get inspired many times from other reports and their description and I add them to my list.

For me the whole of 2021 has been memorable in terms of astronomy with so many highlights. I only got my first ever telescope (8" Dob) in Dec 2020 so everything I observe is making me excited and I have written several reports here with the wonders I have observed. The best moments have been: 1. Seeing the rings of Saturn for the first time in the summer with my wife 2. I would put two side by side here: M42 nebula with colours coming through and Veil nebula with its intricate structure 3. Jupiter moon transits observed and discussed 'live' in SGL with other members who were observing at the same time

Nice report and descriptions and well done on bagging the Rosette!

I had a look at a shot I took on 27 Jan and the small scattered spots developed to 2936. So 2940 is looking very promising.

It was really stable seeing despite the wind. It has a less complex appearance compared to the weekend.

I had a quick look at the sun with my 8" Dob during my lunch break. There is a lot of new activity. AR2936 appears smaller, or at least the limbs seem to have disappeared, than the other day but the new spots AR2939/2940 are coming into view. It will be interesting to see how they develop in the next few days (they could be a treat over the weekend). I managed a few shots as well on prime focus.

To add another brand into the mix, I have the Televue Bandmate type 2 OIII filter, based on recommendation from experienced observers of the SGL forum with my 200P Dob. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/televue-filters/tele-vue-bandmate-oiii-filter.html At first, itt seems expensive for what it is but it has already paid dividends over the summer and winter months with several faint nebulas and I do not regret it. If you are into observing the faint DSOs then a high quality filter is a must. I usually prefer unfiltered views but in some instances they bring out more details or make them easier to pop.

Thanks. I was tracking looking down the finderscope (moving the Dob with one hand) and the other hand pressing the shutter; imagine a bit of contortionist. I had the camera on burst mode but the limitation becomes writing the files on the memory card so you need to be a bit tactical when to really go for it. I aim when it is around 50-60 degrees W. Unfortunately, when it is right overhead I lose tracking with the Dob but I picked it up quickly again as it moved towards E. My issue is getting a higher mag (in my setup i tried a 2x barlow but I cannot get it to focus). Your asi might be a better option but you will really need to have the finderscope and EP aligned perfectly since your sensor is much smaller than the DSLR; at least you can shoot movie and extract the best frames. If you go down the DSLR route, I would suggest the 1/4000s exposures; the iso depends on your camera. Looking forward to see your images if the clouds clear tonight.

That's my contribution from my 8" Dob. Seeing was really nice today.

I observed the AR2936 on 27/1 and 30/1 and as others have noted it has grown in size. Today's observation was much nicer than the Thursday one. I also took a few shots with my Nikon on prime focus (Baader solar filter and 8" Dob.); iso 200, 1/200s and stacked 100 frames using PIPP and AS!2.

Nice session. I was looking at the Eskimo as well last night with my 8" Dob, and the unfiltered views were much better. Likewise it took magnification very well.

I had a great night until the clouds rolled it and I stopped. I was out for the past 2.5hrs with my Dob. Started with ISS in the early evening, followed by M42 (it showed some nice nebulosity with some very faint greenish and reddish) but the colours quickly disappeared as transparency dropped. I realised that it was not going to be the best for the very faint nebulas tonight. I had a look at the Eskimo nebula, Pleiades showed nice nebula around some of the stars. Andromeda was the highlight of my night. I do not know it was the fact I collimated my Dob recently or the seeing was getting better but it was the best I have seen thus far; it was more extended and bright than before. M32 and M110 nicely visible as well. Some dark lanes on Andromeda were visible. Another highlight was NGC 404 (Mirach's Ghost); a smudge of light next to Mirach; it had a yellowish/orangy hue to it as the main star. Quite a few clusters as well, C28, I love the Persei double cluster and I tend to visit it quite often. M34, NGC 1746, NGC 1027, NGC 1647 and many more.

There was a break in clouds this afternoon and with ISS over UK at 1803, I managed a couple of hundred shots. I changed my processing from the other night by preprocessing in PIPP and stacked the best orientations in AutoStakkert. Prime focus with a Nikon D3200 and 8" Dob, iso 3200, 1/4000s. Seeing was not as good as the other night but nice details are coming through.

ISS before dinner, M42, Rosette, beehive cluster, Owl and the accompanying M108. Some light clouds kept creeping. A few open clusters as well.

My first attempt on making an animation of the ISS. Captured on 27/01/2022 with my 8" Dob at prime focus with a Nikon D3200 (iso 3200, 1/4000s exposure). Animation was generated in PIPP (200 best frames).

Thanks! Yes it was a good one tonight. 17.5" would have been amazing details. Next time

I did not use (do not have) an intervalometer but I was pressing the shutter on continuous mode. There is a bit of a lag of writing so many frames in the memory card.