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cotterless45

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Everything posted by cotterless45

  1. Excellent ! Can't beat sharing the views , Nick.
  2. Superb ! As soon as Io and shadow hit the limb , clouds rolled in ! Excellent seeing here , Nick.
  3. Brilliant Stu ! You deserve decent skies , get cracking and keep us updated ! Nick.
  4. That's a superb report ! You can't beat a 4" frac ! I always try to include some of Caroline Herschel's discoveries , NGC 225 being a delight in Cassiopeia. It's a bit like reliving history , https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/in-caroline-herschels-footsteps/ both Saturn and Jupiter have given great views, Nick.
  5. Ace report mate ! Lovely to hear of and observe these treasures, Nick.
  6. What to show a guest while waiting for Saturn and Jupiter ? I set up the manual CG5 with Vixen 102 old school on the grass . Patbloke arrived and we had a couple of useful hours before it was planet kick off. I kept to the Neq6 and C6r. Nice to compare views. Globular included M3, M5 and M15 off of Enif. Not much contrast , so switched to the very pleasing "Blue Snowball" NGC 7662. What lovely blue views. Camelopardalis gave NGC 1502 (" skull and crossbones cluster" ) with the blue oyster of NGC 1501 nearby. Over to Cassiopeia for cluster fest , NGC 7788, NGC225,NGC 7788, the owl 457, NGC 654 and a very sparkling M52. Serpens gave the huge scattered "Graff's cluster", a sparkling sight some two full moon diameter. M27 gave an amazing summer view, without filter , showing its shape and brighter end. M11 gave a poor sparkle of stars and I struggled to get M17 swimming on the star field. Transparency wasn't great with no stars of Capricorn showing . However Saturn was sitting there and gave stunning views with the clear Cassini and a darker outer band on the wide open rings. We spent some time here. Jupiter climbed above the roof tops and the seeing improved to give multiple bands including a thin equatorial. The darker northern belt gave filaments and ripped band areas. The best view came from a 13mm Nagler in a x2 Vixen triplet Barlow ( old school). Pat used his Meade 5000 Hd set to great effect. Getting great views with a 3.5mm at about x280. Views settled at x200-x240 . Just let the sharpness come through without fiddling with focus. We had further company with scurrying hedgehogs. A mighty warm night , with the bonus of shared superb views added. Careful now , Nick.
  7. Brilliant ! I was wishing that everyone with a scope was tuned in ! A bit of drawing helps relax the eye , don't strain and ease off the power gradually increasing until you enjoy a clear view. Something for the gibbous moon and warm nights ahead , Nick.
  8. Very very appealing ! Anyone who can should set up and get up for Jupiter. It's huge ! Some 47" across. Tonight it climbed after midnight to get above the roofs at 1. It easily took x240 with a steady view of a pin sharp Ganymede shadow. Views began to bubble up as it passed over the town. Plenty of belt detail made it absorbing viewing. Saturn with its rings fully opened acted as an entre to the main course. Hold your focus and let the views come. I counted six belts including the equatorial. Enjoy and well worth getting up for ! stay safe , Nick.
  9. Great to observe so much action , nicely caught . https://gong2.nso.edu/products/tableView/table.php?configFile=configs/hAlpha.cfg Nick.
  10. NGC 6572 is a beautiful sight , constantly amazed that M27 is so good from town, nice report , Nick.
  11. Sledgehammer to crack a nut time (again!) C6r (150mm Frac) with 25mm BST. Gave the split clean at x48 , that was with great seeing . That's with LeeB also viewing who gave a "woooh", Careful now , Nick.
  12. That brings back memories ! I bought a 102 SP on the same mount , but with RA and Dec motors. It had all been most poorly kept and the lovely Vixen green was a grunge colour ! The tripod was a bit lightweight. I took the legs off and filled them with wet mortar mix. When set , they were most sturdy but blooming heavy. The eyepiece bowl was missing , so I drilled out a round oven tray with anti slip rubber on top and fitted it to the middle of the tripod arms. It was the most beautiful mount to use , a bit of rust didn't worry me in the dark. I later bought an ADM puck and vixen saddle to fit Vixen dovetails. https://www.admaccessories.com/product/vsad-sp-v-series-saddle-fits-vixen-super-polaris-mounts/ Although the original fixing was great with that scope.Everything engineered to tolerance , like the sweet dust cap on the ôta. Then like a complete idiot , I sold it. Kept the ôta ( thankfully) . Don't make the same mistake. There is more joy in fixing up the unloved than buying new stuff and being afraid to tinker with it . careful now and darker skies ! Nick.
  13. Blackfordby is a bit further away from civilisation and on the edge of the National Forest . The area around the National forestry centre (Rosliston )has darker skies than home. That applies to the cycling trails at Hicks Lodge as well. We're on the edge of town and although it's variable , some nights are great with signs of the MW. before they put in led street lighting . Folk should adjust their observing to what is enjoyably possible .Plenty clusters , binaries and bright nebulae around . I use a phone app.Last reading was +19.14 on the 19/4/21 at 22:09. We go to Skye every year where the Skye sky will blow you away , if the winds don't ! Nick.
  14. Thank you for the kind replies , for those who asked , I'm using a Celestron C6r. That's 150mm at f8 with a Baader semi apo 2" filter in the diagonal. Yard cannon's do vary in quality , but this one's very very good. For more colour I prefer the Vixen 102 SP , old school . There have been some wonderful nights , especially when the air settles and normal folk are asleep with lights off ,asif, Nick.
  15. Try a factory reset , you'll have to enter all your details again. Check your power 90% of problems are power related . Nick.
  16. Err, are you observing from a fairground !!?
  17. Probably one of the best observing nights ever. Memorable for the challenging light sky views , the stillness and warmth. Cygnus. A tour around binaries , still bright enough not to catch anything deep sky. But wait ... Σ2741,Σ2609,ψ Cygni,Σ2624 and S738 fell open , showing the seeing so good to get down below 2". Looking to the south west and the Yeds of Ophiuchus led back to this giant constellation. M12, the more expansive M10 and the fainter M14 were picked out. IC 4665 , the "summer beehive" buzzed with stars. Unusual in that it's 15 degrees out of the galactic plane. Serpens and a stunning view of IC 4756, "Graff's cluster", twice the size of the full moon. X30 came in useful in the yard cannon. A rather wide view of M5 and a glimpse of the open cluster associated with M16. Spotted the rich carbon star v Ophiuchi (SAO 159916). NGC 6572 gave an intense blue of the " blue racquetball "and an averted glimpse of NGC 6309, " box nebula". Scutum and a view of the wild ducks of M11, a summer classic. Hmm strange groups of stars low in the south west , Scorpius , Sagittarius and Libra . Graffias (β Scorpii) gave a really bright wide pair. ξ and Σ 1999 gave a lovely view .I'm sure that the orientation of V Scorpii has moved might be my eyes ! The wide view gives a pair of stars , but increase the magnification and it blows open into two pairs. Vulpecula and a really superb view of M27, one end appeared bright and the field was full.A superb view of M39 behind Cygnus, nice to sit and sketch. Sagitta and a faint view of M71. Down to Sagittarius and even low down a view of M17, the swan gliding along star fields . Cassiopeia was climbing higher in the north . Had to look at NGC 457, the owl. Andromeda was up and a check on M31 and a lovely view of the "blue snowball" NGC 7662. Coming up to 3 am , so reluctantly packed in . Very surprised to observe such views on the first gorgeous night of summer. careful now and here's to darker skies ! Nick.
  18. A few nights ago I was out , the brightness of a super moon and summer made observing challenging . Bring a great fan of Cygnus I spent a happy hour and was very struck by , NGC 6811 the "hold in the cluster", just a lovely ring of stars. NGC 6819 , like powdered glass at higher (x90) magnification. Other super clusters , NGC 7039 , NGC 6872 and in Vulpecula, NGC 6882, 6885 and 6940. Very surprised how bright and clear planetary nebulae here were . Especially NGC 7027 (+9) and the "blinking planetary" NGC 6826" .Both of these really blink well. Others here are much fainter , awaiting darker skies . That's NGC 7026, 7048 and 6884. Didn't leave the area without M29 , "Piazzi's flying double" 61 Cygni (SAO 070919) and the colourful feast of Albireo. Here's to darker nights and brighter days , careful now, Nick.
  19. Not being negative , as I always grab every opportunity to observe . Just wondering if you've experienced , challenging (!) if not worse observing weather and forecast ? worse light pollution since led's have replaced sodium lights ? Personally , I've had to adapt observing away from anything faint and get used to observing whatever the moon , breeze or early hours, careful now , Nick.
  20. At this time of year , before M11 rises, I try to remember to look at the few low stars of Libra. They hold HD 140283 (SAO 159459. Ra 15h44m12s dec. +13 48') , known as the Methuselah star due to its great age . Formed after the Big Bang , judged to be of around that age. It's an easily observable lone star of +7.2, but think of its age. A bit more digging will show the background of this glorious relic. careful now , Nick.
  21. Beautiful area , rich in binaries , enjoy the exploration, Nick.
  22. Well worth getting , he gets away from the well trodden path of same old targets, Nick,
  23. Brilliant , the eastern veil is a must see ! careful now , .Nick.
  24. What a life ! I remember the family gathering around the TV and watching the landing . Nick.
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