wibblefish

Aye I was dubious about spending the same amount on the mount as the 102ED itself but it was definitely the right decision and should hold any other scopes further down the line if I get anything bigger! (though the wife will likely murder me if any more astro kit arrives)

Just to comment since I see a recent flurry of posts I am pleased with the Skytee. Its totally rock solid on the steel legs and holds perfectly even pointed at zenith. Other than it being a bit rough and ready particularly a slight bit of slow mo play on one axis its a good heavy lump of metal  I did the saddle replacement that is suggested everywhere to ADM and glad I did as it feels more substantial than supplied ones.

Thanks @mikeDnight thats really helpful I guess I will have to feel it out in regards what to sketch but I like the ideas with notation and markings!

Thanks both, I might invest in a little reading light. Good tip on finishing off indoors my feet get cold enough! Looking forward to trying it after being inspired by the ones here though I doubt mine will be as good should be fun and get me to sit and observe a target in more detail than just locating it I hope

25 minutes ago, John said:

I could just about see the Owl Nebula and M108 with my 120mm refractor last night without a filter. They were both in the same 1.8 degree field of view, on either side of it.

The challenge is that using a filter such as a UHC or O-III, while doing wonders for the visibility of the Owl Neb, causes the galaxy to become virtually impossible to spot.

 

Yeah I had to remove the filter for the galaxy for definite as it was just a slight shaped different colour to the rest of the skyglow in my 105mm! Will be rechecking both targets next time out for my own sanity!

1 hour ago, SuburbanMak said:

Not that easy - I tracked down the Owl a few nights ago but failed to find the galaxy , have a few to locate in UM which will keep me busy for the next few weeks  

Interesting, the Owl was amazing literally nothing to see until you pop in a UHC or better with an OIII

1 hour ago, SuburbanMak said:

Great report & nice work on the Owl & M108!  

Thanks! M108 I read is one of the brighter / easier way ones to find in Ursa Major so I am a little confused if maybe it wasn’t what I saw.

11 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Definitely something we have to take on board, must be nice to live somewhere you can just do this hobby almost anytime you wish and do other stuff whenever, in UK it is a matter of Oh no clouds lets get out there 🙂 
Also when imaging I have it all automated and can leave it outside doing its stuff but sleep does not come easy as I keep waking and checking out of window for rain.
I so long for some sort of Obsy, even if not automatic roof and all that its just a matter of rolling the roof back and doing a bit and then if rain or clouds come shut it and off to bed.

Steve

Ah I feel for you folk doing astrophotography must be even more frustrating than visual!

3 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Yes your right easiest way is to get off my backside and take a look  🙂 , I did look last night as well, again late around midnight as I took the dog out and although not totally clear there were plenty of stars but oddly enough it was raining on me so no way I would get my gear out.

Steve  

I lugged all my gear out the other night in a clear sky, started observing and struggled to focus then looked up into a huge cloud bank 😕 Fortunately waiting about 10 mins or so and it cleared for the rest of the night but Ive had plenty this season where its been clouded by the time I am ready and then had to pack up! Seems to be a UK astronomy feature!

Hopefully the right place to ask apologies if not!

I am going to try (being the operative word with my limited drawing skills!) to do some sketching at the telescope this year I hope.

I thought I’d have a go last night but my current red light torch was so strongly reflected off the white paper it partly dazzled me.

Does anyone have any recommendations for how to provide a minimum of light to see the page whilst not obliterating ones night vision? 

30 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Even got 2 clear nights up here but I was so sure January was a write off I missed the first night on Tuesday and it wasn't till I took the dog out just before retiring to bed at close to midnight I saw it was clear but I needed my bed by then as had a hard day so just caught the Wednesday night.

So added to my resolution list to be more aware what the weather is doing as I need a much better year than 2021. here's hoping 🙂 

Steve

I use s combo if apps, clearoutside / scopenights and meteoblue on the web seems to be good (https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/outdoorsports/seeing/london_united-kingdom_2643743). Ultimately sticking the head out the backdoor at around 9 usually does it 😛

I did look out about 1am last night when I got up and it was clear but I don’t really have the enthusiasm to go out at random times of the night! 

40 minutes ago, DhamR said:

Same, incredible numbers of clear days this week. 

Wish I could see the number of galaxies you can, even andromeda disappears if I look at it. Might need a night of galaxy spotting and leaving the moon and Orion alone for a bit. 

Good luck to you, I am in quite light polluted bortle 5  fuzzy hunting is good fun!

On 07/01/2022 at 08:15, Nicola Fletcher said:

I got a copy of the Pocket Sky Atlas directly from Sky and Telescope (https://shopatsky.com/products/pocket-sky-atlas-second-edition). It arrived about a week ago - delivery was reasonably fast. Including postage and customs it cost about €45 which I think is worth it for such a great little atlas!

I did the same to get the jumbo pocket atlas and the double star charts which are ludicrously priced in the UK. Well worth the investment as the jumbo pocket atlas is great for at the telescope! 
 

That said I use Stellarium and Skyview on my phone and both are excellent.

A good two nights of astronomy this week which brings me to 3 nights since  I bought a new telescope back in Novemeber! The UK weather has been particularly cloudy this season alas. 

I went on a bit of a Messier list tour ticking off several ones that I haven’t been able to see before mostly as I didn’t have a lot of time to plan and those are easy to look for with a phone app!

Starting both nights with some fantastic observing of my favourite winter target M42 (Orion Nebula) south of Orions belt. Using an OIII filter (this isolates certain wavelengths of light) it allows revealing of some fine, almost ethereal, detail of dust lanes and gas that make it up.

Moving on to M81 (Bode’s Galaxy) and M82 (Cigar Galaxy) in Ursa Major. Both of these can fit into the same view with M81 the brighter showing as a large gray patch with central core and M81 as a thin grey patch as it the galaxy is edge on to us.

The next one, M97 (Owl Nebula) in Ursa Major, was so faint as to be invisible to my eye. As this is a planetary nebula it appeared straight away as a diffuse cloud when I added an OIII filter.

I also think I glimpsed M108 (Surfboard Galaxy) which is near M97 but it was so faint as to only be a elongated patch only slightly discernible from the background sky. Will need to revisit another night to see if I can ascertain if I spotted it correctly.

On the second night I decided to pursue a more local target and had some good views of Uranus. It appeared as a small disc with a slight blue colouration, it was very bright even with some higher magnification.

I had a go at M52 (Open cluster) in Cassiopeia but unfortunately it was lurking behind a tree trunk!

My final targets were the open star clusters M36, M37 and M38 in Auriga.

These were all great, bright and packed with stars. 

The telescope mount (Skytee2) held well even with these being extremely high in the zenith so the OTA was almost vertical! The Nirvana 16mm continues to impress me and is quickly becoming my primary sweeping though its not as comfortable as my BST’s in terms of eye relief.

All in all some great viewing despite the usual skyglow and neighbourhood street lights in all directions. The main thing that ended my nights was simply cold feet through the layers of socks! 

Congratulations!
 

I got to play with the new telescope a week or two ago finally and did alot of Orion spotting. One of the nicest this time of year, I found some new depth with UHC / OIII filters which enhanced it even more.

I also love the Pleiades cluster, totally magic  

1 hour ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

A big investment for me too... I was interested particularly in your use of the OIII filter. I have a UHC, but believed the 'not in small aperture' advice/mythology about the use of an OIII. What brand do you have and do you think it is worth buying to compliment UHC?

I bought an Astronomik one, very expensive and a Svbony UHC. I haven’t been able to use them till now so I can’t really say however give me a few more nights snd different targets and I might be able to venture an opinion though just on the orion nebula I am impressed so far lol that was using both a 16mm nirvana and a 12mm bst for reference though it is a very bright target!

2 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Great report Wibblefish and I am most relieved you are happy with the Starwave! 😬

I am to, big investment for me on astro kit so I did worry but it’s looking good so far

5 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Yes, I did the same when I got an ED, but mine is an FPL51 so there is still a bit of CA at high powers on bright stuff. So I got another semi-apo filter which I use for skyglow as well as any residual CA. It's a good all purpose filter in my book, good for planetary contrast as well, better than all those coloured filters anyway.

Aye mine is a FPL51, I haven’t noticed any CA yet but with only one night under my belt with it I haven’t maybe tried it at high mag on brighter targets

Oh well I will see what to do as I continue to play with it! 

Just now, Franklin said:

Baader semi-apo is a Neodymium filter with an added minus violet element, both are great filters.

Ah that’s interesting I sold it with the achro as I now have an ED which shouldn’t need the fringe killing

52 minutes ago, Philip R said:

I think the Baader Neodymium would work. That said, I have not tried both the UHC & Neodymium, (i.e. one in the diagonal and one in the eyepiece), combined for a long time and the Neodymium is my most used filter. My sky is between Bortle 6 & 5.

Yeah I keep reading reviews of them and wondering. I used to have a semi-apo in the filter of my old achromat 90mm and that did alot for both the scope and skyglow so maybe the baader may work out.

10 minutes ago, Pixies said:

You're joking?! More!

If you can see M110, it's worth having a shot at nearby M33. Both are pretty faint, so your skies should be reasonable?

 

Did you get a chance to use the filters on the dumbell nebula when it was higher earlier in the year? That always benefits from either and shows a good difference.

M110 was really a faint smudge of grey with averted vision that I barely could ascertain, so I need to revisit and reconfirm though the star placements did look correct. I shall have to try M33 next time 

Alas I only got the filters recently but I will bear it in mind for when I do have it as a target thanks!

+1 for the backyard astronomers handbook

I also can recommend Nightwatch (also by Terence Dickenson) though its less “telescopey” than the backyard one.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask….

I finally got to mess around with the telescope and tried out a uhc and oiii filter which were great.

One of the most noticeable parts I felt was that it darkened my normally bluish bright sky and made the stars stand out more. I live in Bortle 5 but it is very bright in the middle of the town and I have street lights and security lights ina few directions.
 

It got me thinking is it worth investing in some sort of filter to sit in the diagonal to decrease the skyglow? What might be best? UHC-S(I think that might be the one Ive heard about), standard broad light pollution filter, Baader Neodymium?  Would a 105mm refractor lose to much light to fuss over?

Any advice appreciated

Thanks @John I wasn’t aware of them I will add them to the list! Alas a number of targets were to low as Im in a built up area surrounded by trees! I fear I may have missed the Veil Nebula this year

Thanks! I stuck to ones I knew as all the weather had said full cloud cover. I usually like to plan things a bit better if I have time