lunator

Hi Paul 

Not a problem. I'll dig them out. 

Cheers

Ian

Hi Paul it is my 8" F6 newt. On a homemade Dob base. 

Cheers 

Ian

Paul, very nice report

you got to see some great doubles.

Cheers 

Ian

Yep 2500÷ pairs observed just another 100k+ left 😀

Cheers

Ian

For most of my observing life I have lived in pretty bright skies but now I am in Bortle 4 I am aiming to see my shares of galaxies 😀.

I am still at the phase of enjoying seeing the faint fuzzies but will aim to get better at teasing out detail. 

At the start of the session I focussed on some doubles in Sextans, the report is in the double star section. 

As Leo cleared the tree to the East I wanted to start to view the galaxies but when I looked up M44 was as bright as I had ever seen it, so I took a quick detour to M44 & Tegnine. I was hopeful that the view of M44 would be a good sign for the galaxies.

I switched from the baader Zoom to the 24mm Baader so I had about 1.4 degrees.

I started with 2 galaxies that I have observed recently M65/66, they are both quite obvious in my darker skies. Seeing them well gave me the confidence that fainter targets would be visible. 

My next target was NGC3872. It is a fairly faint galaxy near Denebola. You can use the 2 bright stars below Denebola to track it down. It is an elliptical galaxy of magnitude 11.81 so I was pleased to see it.

I moved onto M98/99 as you can follow the line from Chertan through Denebola to 6 Com and M98 and 99 are either side of it.I also spotted NGC4302 am 11.15mag spiral galaxy.

If you head east from 6 Com there are 2 fairly bright starsbthat lead to M100 a nice fairly bright spiral.

Starting from 6com again. Follow 3 stars south and then a 4th star to the east, follow that line and you will find M84 and 86. 2 bright galaxies. I also saw NGC4438/4435 2 close galaxies know as the 'eyes galaxies' they are close but NGC4435 appeared fainter to me. 

Heading south you come to M87. A bright elliptical galaxy. It is very close to the star HD108915. I didn't see any of the NGC galaxies nearby.

I headed back north to M86 and then the Markarian chain upto M88 and M91.

I returned to look at the fainter galaxies of Mararian chain.NGC4461/4473/4477. They get progressively fainter as you move along the chain north eastwards.

Overall I was pretty happy with my first foray into the Virgo /Coma realm of galaxies. Although I confess I had a quick peak at Porrima as old habits die hard. 😀

Cheers

Ian 

The title isn't strictly true as the Auriga pairs were observed on the 22nd. 

The Dob had been cooling down since late afternoon. The forecast was mixed but I thought it was worth the effort. 

I had some doubles in Sextans I wanted to view and then move onto some Galaxies in Leo/Virgo. I also got sidetracked by Tegmine, Porrima and M44 😀

STF599AB w/b A wide pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary pale blue. The 3rd Component is faint.Magnification x50 separation 10.5 Prinmary Mag 8.7 Secondary Mag 10.1  co-ords 04 51 44 58

STF658 w/b A close pair of uneven magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary pale blue.  x100   5.8  9.0  10.3   05 17 39 03

STF1404 w/o A neat pair of stars just split at x50. Best view at x75. The primary is white, the secondary is slightly orange. Part of a circlet of stars. x50   6.4  9.1  9.7  10 04 S01 42

STF1412AB o/nc A wide pair of uneven magnitude. The primary is orange. The secondary can be seen with averted vision. Visible at x60 but x150 brought it out well. x60  30.7  8.5  12.1  10 10  03 10

STF1412AC o/o A very wide pair fairly evenly matched. Both stars appear orange.  x50  90  8.5  8.7  10 10  03 10

STF1433 w/b A wide pair with a large diiderence in magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary is a blue grey dot visible at x60. Shares a low power field with orange star 27 Sex (HD90485)  x60  23.7  8.4  11.8  10 26  S04 03

STF1440 w/y A neat pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary pale yellow. Part of a rectangular asterism with 3 bright stars.  x50  14.8  7.8  9.2  10 30  S03 55

STF1464AB w/b A fairly close pair of uneven magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary is pale blue. The ‘c’ component lies some distance way. x50  5.8  8.3  10.3  10 42  S00 16

STF1464AC w/nc A very wide pair. The ‘C’ component is similar in magnitude to the ‘B’ component.  x50  66.7  8.3  10.5  10 42  S00 
16

Cheers 

Ian

I had a pretty good session last night. Several doubles in Sextans and a bunch of galaxies in Leo, Virgo and Coma Berenices. M44 also really stood out. 

I'll write a full report soon.

Cheers

Ian

I had a look tonight in the Dob, I hadn't planned to but M44 looked very good so after viewing it I hopped over to have a look. It was clearly resolved but not split at x150 and x100. 

Cheers

Ian

It really depends on what areas you would like to investigate first.

There are many resources. A good starting point might be Google Scholar. 

Cheers

Ian

Very nice sketches. 😁

As noted above find West first by watching the star drift. I like the idea of using "where Polaris is" as away to find North.

I usually just move the scope manually to confirm direction. 

Cheers

Ian

Hi Josef

Very nice sketches. 😀

I have only seen this comet once. I am hoping to see it again if the clouds clear...

Cheers 

Ian

I am hoping to observe some Galaxies in Leo, Virgo and Coma Berenices. 😀

Good pics 😀

I did see Mercury yesterday but didn't take a pic. 

Cheers 

Ian

Welcome to the forum. 

I have never used a filar micrometer to measure doubles. I have used a Celecstron microguide piece. I look forward to seeing how things progress.

Cheers

Ian

Paul

Good pic considering the conditions.:)

I must try and get a look at his grouping of Sunspots.

Cheers

Ian

I had a reasonable view of Mercury walking the dog yesterday evening. It appeared out of the dusk glow around 7pm. I had taken my spotting scope with me so had a look through that as well. Mercury was clearly a disc and seemed to have a yellow tint. 

After the walk I set up the Dob and had a look at some doubles and clusters in Auriga.

Cheers 

Ian

In reverse aperture order. Ones I have available. 

OO OMC250.

OO Europa 200 F6 Newt 

ST80

ETX70. - broken mount but use it for solar.

I also have a couple of Bimos etc 

I have lent out 

ST120 

Celestron 114mm powerseeker. Not a great scope but good if you want to just use a telescope to learn the basics. 

Cheers

Ian

Hi John

I am going to give this a try if we have some clear skies when the Moon is not in the sky. 

Cheers

Ian

This is a tricky one but I have kept my OO 8" F6 since 2005 so I think it would be the one I keep if I could only have one scope. 

I would add a push to system and an equatorial platform 😁

Cheers 

Ian

It didn't clear here until 8.30 last night. I only had a short session as I had been up since 5am. Saw a few more doubles in Hydra and then several galaxies in Leo. A mixture of Messier and brighter NGC ones.

Despite the fairly bright waxing cresent Moon I got down to galaxies of around 10.5 mag. Fairly happy with that. 😀

Cheers 

Ian

I am looking forward to this. Hopefully it will be when the weather is generally better

Yes I am enjoying better access to the Southern part of the sky with my new location

I have only managed a few observing sessions this year. I have also been enjoying looking at fainter things thanks to my darker skies. I have not stopped observing doubles and here are a few from Gemini and Hydra.

I was using my 8" Newt and magnification between x50 - x200

Gemini STF1035 w/w A neat pair of creamy white stars. Can be split at x50.

Gemini STF1047AB,C w/b A wide pair with a noticeable difference in magnitude. The primary is white, the secondary pale blue. Shares low power firld with 51Gem.

Gemini STF1068AB w/w A close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. Both stars appear white.

Gemini STF1070AB w/w A tight pair with a moderate difference in magnitude, with both stars appearing white.

Hydra STF1243 w/b A close pair. A white primary and a pale blue secondary. A moderate difference in magnitude. Hint of a split at x150. Better view at x200.

Hydra STF1260 w/w A Close pair of white stars with asmall difference in magnitude. Just split at x50. Best view at x75. Shares low power field with A (6) Hydrae An orange giant star.

Hydra STF1261 y/b A wide pair of uneven magnitude. The primary is yellow, the secondary is pale blue. Shares the field with STF1260.

Hydra STF1264 w/w a close pair of even magnitude. Both stars appear blue-white. A triangle of stars to the South.

Hydra H 6 107 w/w A wide pair South of STF1264. The pair are of uneven magnitude. A third star (HD74123) lies some distance away. Making the triangular asterism.

Hydra STF1270 y/b A fairly close pair with a moderate difference in magnitude. The primary is yellow, the secondary is blue-white. Best view at x60.

Hydra STF1281AB w/w A wide pair of uneven magnitude. Both stars appear white although the primary has a warmer tint. Faint chain of stars to the East.

Hydra STF1290 y/b A close pair of uneven magnitude. The primary Is yellow, the secondary is a small blue dot. Just spit at x150.

Hydra STF1292 w/w A neat pair of white stars with a small difference in magnitude. Part of a right-angled triangle asterism.

Hydra STF1295 w/w a fairly close pair of white stars with a small difference in magnitude. There are a few bright stars in the field.

Hydra STF1308 o/b A neat pair with a small difference in magnitude. The primary is orange, with a blue-grey secondary.

Hydra STF1309 w/w A neat pair of off-white stars. Evenly matched, a lovely sight.

Hydra STF1316AB y/w A neat triple with a yellow primary and 2 companions either side. TOK63 The Aa,Ab pair not split.

Hydra STF1316AC y/w A neat triple with a yellow primary and 2 companions either side. The BC pair are split by 14.2”.

Cheers

Ian

Very nice sketches Richard. 😀

Is the notepad A5? 

I tend to use a 5 cm circle, are yours slightly smaller.

Cheers

Ian