lunator

Excellent image, lots of fine detail 😀

Cheers

Ian

Hi bugdozer,  very nice report glad you got out for a bit. 

Cheers

Ian

Hi Martin, very good pic. Some excellent detail in there 😀

Cheers

Ian

The seeing isn't too bad here. Having another look at the GRS. 

My Step-son has joined me and we are having an in-depth discussion of the luminosity distance relationship 😁

Also had a look at Uranus, a couple of fainter doubles, M42 and the Moon.

Cheers 

Ian

It looks similar to Aladdin/Simbad.

It is fun to whizz around some view.s

Cheers

Ian

AL1 enjoy the southern sky😬. I have yet to see it so I am envious. 

Agnes, glad you managed to dodge the clouds for am little bit.

It was supposed to be wall to wall cloud here but when I got home at 10 last night there was a clear patch so I grabbed the Binos and had a little sweep through Orion and Auriga. All the usual sights but it was nice to catch a few photos 🙂

Cheers

Ian

It was supposed to be cloudy tonight but between 6.30-7:30 it was clear. I saw on sky safari that the GRS would be transiting during this period. I set up the 8" dob and started observing at x150. It was fairly steady so I took the mag up to x240. The GRS was very clear even the white edge where it touches the SEB was clear. It was probably the best I have ever seen it. 

I did hope to see some Geminids but the final score was GRS 1 Geminids Nil.😄

Cheers

Ian

I was hoping to see some Geminids tonight but it a totally clouded over now. There was a clear patch around Jupiter for some time so I watched Europa disappear behind Jupiter.

It s not looking promising for the next few days....

Cheers

Ian

Hi Voxish, the magnification used is more affected by conditions rather than focal length.

I have a 1200mm scope and last night I was observing Jupiter at x150 (8mm) as the seeing wasn't very good. A week or so ago I was observing it at x300 (4mm eyepiece) as the seeing was very good.

Paul Couteau who was a professional astronomer that specialised in observing double stars maintained that the "resolving magnification" for tight doubles was twice the aperture. So for my 1200mm F6 newtonian (200mm aperture) I would need a 3mm eyepiece to give x400. 

This would be focal ratio/2. 

I usually don't use that level of magnification as it is a dobsonian x400 would be a tracking nightmare 😁..

Cheers

Ian

John I am not that far from you and seeing is going from average to poor. Jupiter is showing some detail but nowhere near as good as the last session.

Cheers

Ian

It is supposed to be completely clear here. I have had a fairly decent view of Jupiter. But it is 95% cloud and raining at the mo....

I popped out for a short session with the new spotting scope. There was a reasonable gap in the clouds between Cygnus and through Pegasus. Split albireo and then swept the Mikky Way. The clouds then rolled in after 20mins. 

Cheers

Ian

Hi Malc

I have the zoom and I am very happy with it. My fixed FL can give wider FOV's but the convenience of one eyepiece combined with decent views means the zoom gets used a lot.

Cheers

Ian

Very good images. I would be pleased if they were my first images 😊

Cheers

Ian

Here is the output from Simbad.

Have a look at the Aladdin mapper as it may show something.

C.D.S. - SIMBAD4 rel 1.8 - 2023.12.07CET18:14:07

coord 0 01 40 +64 38 00 (FK5, 2000, 2000), radius: 2 arcmin

-----------------------------------------------------------

Number of objects : 29

# |dist(asec)| identifier |typ| coord1 (ICRS,J2000/2000) | Mag U | Mag B | Mag V | Mag R |Mag I | spec. type |#bib|#not

--|----------|-----------------------------------|---|---------------------------------------|--------|---------|---------|---------|------|---------------|----|----

1 | 13.49|[HDF2018] 084.12.517 |* |00 01 39.9109194801 +64 37 46.507794987| 3| 0

2 | 21.66|UCAC4 774-000210 |* |00 01 37.7853342389 +64 37 43.636096266| ~ |13.285 |12.741 |12.672 | 2| 0

3 | 26.76|Gaia DR3 431769286999326080 |RR?|00 01 37.6462594752 +64 37 37.892766900| 1| 0

4 | 27.75|RRF 1141 |Rad|00 01 37.0 +64 37 40 | 1| 0

5 | 28.52|Gaia DR3 431769286999326848 |* |00 01 37.6921949518 +64 37 35.617629927| 2| 0

6 | 38.77|SIM 105 |Rad|00 01 42.4 +64 37 24 | 0| 0

7 | 40.50|Cl Stock 18 |OpC|00 01 35.8 +64 37 30 |  20| 0

8 | 48.53|Gaia DR3 431769115205779712 |* |00 01 47.1349396278 +64 37 44.181036890| 1| 0

9 | 48.62|LS I +64 11 |* |00 01 34.8812619933 +64 37 24.162863072|9.99 |10.482 |10.036 |9.975 | O9.5V | 12| 0

10| 50.58|** MLR 79B |* |00 01 34.5866629371 +64 37 23.253401484|  2| 0

11| 51.55|[HDF2018] 246.12.094 |* |00 01 37.9176041176 +64 37 10.205164110| 3| 0

12| 52.05|Gaia DR3 431769183925258496 |* |00 01 36.9095407618 +64 37 11.874156921| 2| 0

13| 54.29|UCAC4 774-000196 |* |00 01 33.7279427328 +64 37 23.603500164 |15.37 |  2| 0

14| 58.02|IRAS 23589+6421 |IR |00 01 31.0 +64 38 06 | 2| 0

15| 60.94|[RAG2007] Sh 2-170 3 |* |00 01 33.50 +64 37 15.6 | B2V | 1| 0

16| 61.36|[GS55] 284 |ISM|00 01 42.0 +64 37 00 | 1| 0

17| 63.52|AKARI-FIS-V1 J0001312+643829 |IR |00 01 31.2 +64 38 29 | 1| 0

18| 65.00|Gaia DR3 431769321364194688 |* |00 01 31.5801468028 +64 38 36.061797911| 2| 0

19| 72.42|BD+63 2093B |PM*|00 01 50.2512034512 +64 37 29.978704776| ~ |12.21 |11.34 |  0| 0

20| 74.03|BD+63 2093 |** |00 01 50.472432 +64 37 29.23428 | 10.44 |9.82 |9.63 |G5 | 22| 0

21| 74.16|BD+63 2093A |PM*|00 01 50.4907053528 +64 37 29.180472384| ~ |10.97 |10.14 | 1| 0

22| 86.04|UCAC4 774-000186 |* |00 01 29.2365470157 +64 37 08.798449882| |14.598 |14.007 |14.013 | 2| 0

23| 94.76|Gaia DR3 431769046486312320 |* |00 01 52.0889786040 +64 37 05.793486168| 3| 0

24| 94.82|UCAC4 774-000173 |* |00 01 25.4552959048 +64 37 43.917738869| 13.427 |12.902 |12.838 | 2| 0

25| 95.75|LBN 117.62+02.29 |HII|00 01 28.7 +64 39 03 | 38| 0

26| 96.43|Gaia DR3 431768977766839168 |* |00 01 42.3012950111 +64 36 24.711669072| 2| 0

27| 98.40|GPA 117.66+2.29 |Rad|00 01 52.9 +64 38 53 |1| 0

28| 116.72|AKARI-FIS-V1 J0001577+643734 |IR |00 01 57.7 +64 37 34 | 1| 0

29| 117.82|Gaia DR3 431768943401996544 |RR?|00 01 39.9105079368 +64 36 02.169603864|  0

================================================================================

Cheers

Ian

Keira, what eyepieces do you use? A small field of very can make finding things very hard.

From experience a 1° field of view will give you a reasonable chance of finding things.

Cheers

Ian

Hi Rob, if you got the 15*70s would they be tripod mounted? I have a fair selection of Binos acculumated over the years. I do like my 15*70s but your arms can get tired quite quickly. The 10*50s or 8*42s are ideal daytime binos. 

I would try and get the best I could afford 10*50s for everyday use and maybe consider a secondhand 15*70s for those longer Aston sessions.

Cheers

Ian

Very good sketch 😀. You were right to trust the process.

They are a lovely pair of galaxies to observe.

Cheers

Ian

I've never had an issue with focus in my OO F6 newt. It has some coma with the 2" eyepiece but as I use that as a 'finder' more than for anything else I don't worry about it. 

Hopefully you can get the best solution Nick.

Cheers

Ian

Very interesting read. Congrats on getting a decent result. The BAA variable star section might prove a useful resource as well. 

Look forward to reading more reports.

Cheers

Ian

Very good animation. It was amazing to watch the shadow catch up with the GRS 🙂

Cheers

Ian

These 8" scopes are excellent. I had superb views of Jupiter last night. The level of details on the bands were probably the best I had seen. I agree on the RACI. I am going to fit one to my scope as I am sure it will be an ideal upgrade.

Welcome to SGL.

Lovely images.🙂 I have just moved to Bortle 4 skies and I after looking at your pics I still have dark sky envy 😁.

Cheers

Ian

Very good video

Fascinating to watch the waves of colour.

cheers

Ian

Tonight was my first night at my new location with the Bortle 4 skies and the Moon slightly out of the way.

I had set up Mr Dobbie and had a few doubles on the list (Old habits die hard 😁) I thought I would start with Jupiter and when I first l9ked at it at x50 I could see a clear dark dot. I took the mag Upto x200 and could clearly see a Jupiter Shadow transit and  the GRS. I hadn't realised this was happening but was very pleased to be able view it. After the transit had ended I took the mag up to 300 and the detail on the belts was amazing. 

I decided to move onto some other targets.

.STF25AB Avery tight pair elongated at x150 split at x200 in moments of good seeing. Primary is white, secondary pale blue. C component (~mag 13) seen with averted vision.

My next target was STF41 which is quite close to M31. As I looked up I realised M31 visible naked eye!!! This is not something I'm have seen since being a teenager in SW London. Maybe my eyes aren't as rubbish as I thought 🙂.

M31/32/110 were easily seen in the 24mm at x50.

STF41. A wide pair of uneven magnitude the primary is orange the secondary pale blue. Split at x50.

The final pair were STF64, a close pair of white stars. Split first at x150 and just at x75. Part of a chain of faint stars between, v And and HD4902

All in all a very good session before the high cloud/mist rolled in.

Cheers

Ian