Epick Crom

Nah mate, you haven't derailed it at all! I do love a good read, I will find this book and read it 😄👍

😄 all good! Everyone calls me Joe as well. What is Kafka?

Hi Josef, thanks, yeah it was a very nice tour. Actually I had a jumper on while observing, some spring nights can get rather chilly here! My full name is Josef too 🙂

G'Day all! I had a fantastic observing session last night using my 10 inch dobsonian. The transparency and seeing were very good. With the wanning gibbous moon not due to rise until 10pm, I had a 1.5 hr window of "dark" skies with observations starting at 8:30pm local time. The only bane is the omnipresent light pollution from my bortle 7 backyard. I started the night by targeting Sagittarius, which is slowly going out of season. Using the star Albaldah (Pi Sagittarii) as my anchor, I slowly swept out from it, exploring the region of sky in that area. Reaching the star Xi2 Sagittarii, I found two rather large open clusters, NGC 6716 and Collinder 394. These two clusters are within 40' of each other. NGC 6716 has a rather interesting shape. Collinder 394 is more spread out without any discernable shape. Starhopping to nearby star Nu2 Sagittarii brought a delight right close to it, the globular cluster NGC 6717. Beautiful sight with the yellow Nu2 Sagittarii and the globular cluster nestled close together in the same field of view! I got a nice close up view of NGC 6717 using 480x magnification. At this power I could start to resolve some of the fainter outer stars. This globular appeared slightly elongated and fairly small. A wonderful sight! M 22 was nearby so I paid it a visit next. Stimulation overload! Big, bright and well resolved in my 10 inch. Splendid. I moved up to the open cluster M 25 next. Lovely cluster with an interesting patern of stars in the centre of the cluster. Next up was the starcloud M 24. A little bit washed out compared to when I saw it last owing to my bortle 7 skies and being lower than last time but still a special sight. Not far from M 24 is Polis (Mu Sagittarii) a nice unequal double star with components of magnitudes 3.8 and 10.4. This star is a brilliant white colour. Completing this satisfying session I moved into neighbouring Scutum and tracked down UY Scuti, one of the largest stars known. It appeared as a faint red star, not impressive visually but impressive mentally knowing how massive this star is. I also had my best ever views of Saturn and Jupiter, I watched Ganymede and it's shadow slowly leave the face of Jupiter. A big wow! It was a fantastic night, just goes to show there is much to see even in bortle 7 skies. Wishing you all clear skies and bright eyes!! Joe

Another first sighting for me on the Moon a few minutes ago, Catena Abulfeda. Thin and surprisingly straight crater chain of tiny craters. Awesome sight!

Just came in from my early evening session. Tried splitting Enif in Pegasus but failed once again. This is a tough one! M15 was partially resolved using averted vision. The waxing crescent moon was happier hunting, looked stunning at 48x with Dschubba in the same field of view 31' away. I saw Rima Cauchy for the first time, it looks like a slimmer version of the Straight Wall. Lovely 30 min session!

Nice image Kostas👍. I Like how you got it so large!

I hope you have an enjoyable doubles session Mr Spock!

Hi Kostas, yes I was back at my dark site about a month ago ( I drive semi trailers up to Mt Magnet occasionally for work). It's 600km north east of Perth in the Australian outback. I had my 10x50mm binoculars this time, let's just say I had my mind blown!🤯

Nice report Peter 👍. Keep trying with Mars, it's very temperamental! It will improve as we get closer to it's opposition in December.

That must have been a spectacular sight Magnus, lucky you!

Thanks Kostas. I hope my reports help you guys "visualise" these southern objects that are below your horizons, same way yours help me visualise objects not seen from here. Living vicariously through each other😉🙂👍

Hi fellow astronomers! I finally had a chance to do some observing last night on equinox night after a terrible run of cloudy nights. Not the best sky conditions from my backyard, seeing was 3/5 and transparency 3/5. Bortle 7 to 6 estimate. Nevertheless I'm not one to ever pass on a clear night so I brought out my 10 inch dobsonian at sundown in preparation for the night ahead. These are the following objects I observed: M4 (Scorpius): Very nice view, it's central bar of stars showing nicely. Albireo (Cygnus): Beautiful colour contrast! Among the night skies best doubles. M7 (Scorpius): This is a stunning open cluster, bright blue stars arranged in a box shape. Photos can't do it justice! M6 (Scorpius): Another stunning open cluster. This cluster lived up to its nickname "Butterfly Cluster" as it did look like a butterfly using 70x. NGC 6187 and 6188 (Ara): This is an open cluster (6187) within a nebula ((6188). The cluster is fairly bright with an eye-catching double star at its centre. The nebula is large and faint. I think I just about glimpsed NGC 6188 using averted vision. Alpha Centauri (Centaurus): The closest double star to us looked beautiful. Two bright light yellow spotlights! Very wide gap separating them at 686x. NGC 6231 (Scorpius): Very beautiful open cluster. Bright and shaped like a bunch of grapes! I scanned around the vicinity of this cluster at low power and it was a fantastic sight to behold. This whole area in the "Table of Scorpius" is very rich. M27 (Vulpecula): This is one of my favourite planetary nebulae. Big, bold and bright, I made out it's pinched central region for the first time. NGC 104 (Tucana): This was my final DSO observed for the night. What a special sight! Also know as 47 Tucanae, this globular cluster rivals Omega Centauri in absolute splendor! This was the best I've ever seen it so far in my limited time as an amateur astronomer. Incredibly bright core, with countless streams of stars radiating from it. I just kept muttering "wow" at the eyepiece! In addition to those and other DSO'S, I also observed comet PANSTARRS, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Nothing like a fine observing session to recharge the batteries! Wishing you all clear skies. Joe

+1 for the eye patch! It works very well for me and enables you to see more clearly and with more comfort. Plus my wife says it makes me look cool 🤣

G'Day Ratlet. Nice report, that group of stars close to Bellatrix has caught my eye in the past too. It is the open cluster Dolidze 17. Wishing you clear skies!

Another fantastic report Israel! I like how you describe the objects using different magnifications. M13 is a treasure for sure. Thanks for posting 👍

I was observing the nearly full moon last night and identified a new to me feature, " Miyamori Valley". It looks like a straight dark line joining the craters Lohrmann and Riccioli. A fantastic sight at lunar sunrise.

Fantastic image Kostas👍

Fantastic report Steve! Regarding the Ring Nebula, it maxes out at 20 degrees above the horizon here and I see it as a light blue colour through my 10 inch dob in my bortle 6 backyard. A fantastic ghostly sight!

I enjoyed reading your report, congratulations on picking out a very tough object, Andromeda's Parachute!

Nice work bringing in more people to our incredible passion ( err hobby!) 👍👍

Last night I continued tracking the progress of comet C/2017 K2PANSTARRS. It was in conjunction with Dschubba (Delta Scorpii 42' away). Adding to the scene was a 10th mag star very close to PANSTARRS coma. God I love this hobby!

Fantastic report @wookie1965.I will have a go at some of the doubles you listed. Thanks for posting!

Just observed the conjunction between Graffias ( Beta Scorpii) and C/2017 K2 PANSTARRS. Splendid view, with the double star and comet 43' apart. They shared the field of view at 70x using my 68 degree Saxon eyepiece.

Good job taking advantage of gaps in the clouds! The Sagittarius region is one of my favourites. Glad you got to see some of its highlights 👍