Kon

It has been a while since we had a break from this weather. After I finished some late evening online meetings, I cooled down my 8" Dob for a bit of observing. Having the moon out I knew that nothing DSO would be really visible. I had a quick 1 hr out. I started wit the Beehive cluster (M44); a lovely cluster with spread out stars. It fitted nicely in my 25mm EP. I then moved to Sirius, and I think I managed to split it with my 8mm; I could see two stars next to each other blinking (sorry if i used the wrong terminology). I then moved to Mars to see what Perseverance was up to...not much really just sitting there 😂...jocking apart it is amazing to know that something is up there starting to explore soon. It was a nice orange disc with not much features in my 15mm EP; it did not take the 8mm EP magnification. M35 look sparkly with all the stars in whites and yellows. Finally, I had a look at the moon and it looked great at my 15 and 8mm EPs. I am familiar with some of the craters, Copernicus, Clavius, Atlas and Hercules, and I will probably need to have a read about the rest of them in my 'Turn Left at Orion' to learn the others. I also managed to get some prime focus shots using my DSLR (posted it in the Lunar imaging). Overall a very good night to be out to get my head cleared and get observing after a long time due to the weather, but it lacked the excitement of hunting DSOs. I hope by the time we have the new moon the weather will be more upbeat!

Nice you managed to get out even for the moon after such horrible weather we had so far.

Moon from 8" Dob. Prime focus using a Nikon D3200, iso 400, exposure 1/800 s. A bit of editing in Gimp.

Lovely image!

That's amazing!

Amazing capture. Excellent amount of details on the surrounding nebula.

It is hard but not impossible. I have an 8" Dob and I have managed M42 with a similar setup to yours. You will be limited to 0.625s before star trailing so you will need 1000s of images just to capture a few minutes of data. See my recent post on M42 here: I was planning to try some of the brighter clusters as well but we had crap weather recently. You will get some images to keep you happy but do not expect the same quality the AP get here.

I think that fully describes how we all probably feel when we try to describe to others what we saw. Words cannot describe what we feel many times! I love your description 'Being hit in my retina by the sheer, live, almost 3D brightness '. If i would use one word maybe 'mesmerising' or literally 'out of this world'.

Amazing details! That nebula pillar looks awesome! One of the best i have seen.

I do not have experience with this telescope but this might give you an idea of what it may look through it: http://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/

Very nice report. It sounds like a successful night wit some nice targets. I have managed M109 with the moon out (8" Dob) so it should not be washed out too much but I have also failed to see it when there is high altitude haze/thin clouds (not obvious by eye).

Very nice report and you made me jealous; i was on a social zoom for most of the clear sky last night, so I feel you, but you at least managed a nice session! Do you find your filters to improve things when the moon is out as well?

Impressive!

That looks great! Nice amount of details coming through the nebula.

Excellent report and good to see you persevere with your targets! My wife is the same, she prefers something easy and with many stars, and I call her out when I have found things but recently she prefers the warm indoors. You seem to have had an excellent night. Looking forward to more of your reports. I only managed a quick peak at the moon and obviously mars tonight due to work.Enjoy your well earned🍹.

Tonights shot of the moon using a 8mm BST and 2x barlow on an 8" Dob; photo using a smartphone. I love the amount of detailed capture just with a mobile!

Our satellite. Prime focus on a 8" Dob using Nikon D3200 iso 100, 1/50 s exposure.

Excellent report! I am so jealous, I have not had a clear night for ages! I will try M94 since you seem really amazed about it!

NGC 1647 near Taurus, M39 near Cygnus, NGC2129 Gemini.

Nice capture of the M97 and M108 in the same frame. I've seen them visually but nice to see details as well.

Another excellent report Joe! A lot of nice targets again. M78 alluded me as well for a while but after a few attempts with different star hoping i managed it (it was also during new moon so quite dark sky).

I have an 8" Dob without tracking or GoTo. I am a beginner and I have found it very easy to track objects even at high mag. Yes they move out of view within seconds but a small nudge brings back in. Even if you decide on a longer break, the earths rotation mens that you only need to nudge or maybe refund the target by swiping rather than full search around (I tend to take a break after i had done my observation so then i can move to the next target). In terms of finding targets you will learn more with manual and it brings that excitement and frustration but you will be looking forward to the next night. In terms of imaging, you can easily do some prime focus photography of M42 (see my post a few days ago) and you should be able to do some videos of planets for stacking later on. Finally, I have a 3 and 5 year old and they both enjoy the views through the telescope and are happy for items to move out of FOV slowly; i found that if i keep my eye on the RACI I can nudge it for them and it sort of stays in their FOV. Whichever option you go for you will have amazing views with a 16" Dob! )

It is great you managed some viewing tonight. I thought I might get break in the clouds but NO! I personally think it is worth writing since it gives us some material for thought and the hope of viewing soon even quick like yours.

Thank you for this detailed explanation, I really appreciate it! I will take these into account next time i observe DSOs.

Excellent report again and made me jealous that for the next week or so the forecast in uk is rubbish! Nice to read how your OIII has performed, can't wait for mine to arrive. could you explain why the short exit pupil had such an effect please (as you know i am a newbie so any info is very useful).