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A cracker of a session ! 30/31-08-2011

John

By John
in Observing - Reports

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John

John

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August has been a very poor observing month, at least where I'm based in the SW of England :)

Tonight though the month redeemed itself. It had been another day of continuous pale grey cloud cover and I was not expecting to take the dust covers off a scope to be honest. At around 11:30 pm though the clouds parted and stars were showing well so I put the Skywatcher ED120 onto the AZ-4 mount just to have a "quick look" at Jupiter as it rose above the rooflines to the east.

3 hours later the scope is still out there and I'm just taking a break from the best observing session I've had in ages and the first serious one I've had with the ED120 :)

I was also using my Revelation 15x70 binoculars to complement the refractor.

I doubt I can recall all the objects / features I've viewed so far but the highlights have been:

Jupiter: 6 belts plus the Great Red Spot plus lots of structure in the NEB and SEB plus a darkened N polar area plus the 4 Galilean moons of course, showing noticeable variations in apparent disk size at high powers.

Uranus: First time I've picked this up this year. Classic non-stellar "pale blue dot" which took high magnification quite well without revealing any detail other than a larger disk !.

Comet Garradd: Now just past the "tail" of Sagitta. Nice and clear in both 15x70's and the ED120. Still magnitude 7 I'd say. Seemed elongated in the ED120 with a little averted vision. I must get my 10" newtonian on this one soon.

M31: Naked eye visible tonight :). 15x70's show M32 and M110. M33 also picked up fairly easily with the binoculars a little lower down. Actually the 15x70's are my preferred viewing tool for this group of galaxies tonight. M31 does show loads of elongation with the ED120 though - right out of the field of view on both sides, even with the Nagler 31mm in the diagonal.

The Veil Nebula complex: Absolutely stunning with the ED120, the Nagler 31mm and my Astronomik O-III filter :) The Broom, the Veil and Pickerings Wisp segments all very obvious with delicate, curving filamentary structure being picked out in the Veil and the twisted river of nebulosity forming the "handle" of the Broom widening into the "bristles" as it passes the star 52 Cygni. The icing on the cake ? - I was just able to see the brightest of the 3 segments (the Veil) with the 15x70 binoculars without a filter. I've read this is possible but never expected to be able to achieve it from my back garden !. It was oh so faint and needed averted vision but I'm positive I was seeing that loop of nebulosity high overhead in Cygnus. Now that was a first :(

The North American Nebula: This has been a tough one over the years for me but I've now worked out where it is, it's size and the ED120 with the O-III filter showed parts of the nebulous "coastline" clearly tonight. The 15x70 binoculars were also picking up contrast variations in the same area although not as pronounced as with the scope.

I'd end this report there as Jupiter is getting higher and I'd like to take another peek before turning in. The Great Red Spot will have disappeared around the limb now but I'm sure Jupiter will have other features to show off !.

Update: Someone has stolen the stars !. I popped outside just after typing the above para and it has clouded over - only Jupiter plus 2 or 3 brightest stars can be seen poking though the murky layer above me now :)

Oh well, at least I had 3 hours of great viewing - that's refreshed the enthusiasm I hope :)

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John

John

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Congratulations on bagging the NA nebula sounds like your observing site is a good-un.

Regards Steve

Thanks,

It's good in parts Steve - we are 300 feet above sea level which might help a bit. Last nights clear patch was unexpected which made the session that much sweeter :)

It's a pity that Ursa Major is so badly placed ATM - it would have been an ideal night to try for the supernova in M101 although I reckon I'd have needed to break out the 10" newt to stand a chance.

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John

John

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Great report, a lot of detail on Jupiter...6 bands..WOW..

No Supernova report in there though!

Mark

No Mark :( - M101 was badly placed in the Newport "murk" during this session.

The "Wow" for me was picking up the eastern Veil segment with my 15x70's :)

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JamesF

JamesF

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You lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, errm, thingy.

I thought it was looking like a good night, then when I went out at 11pm there was total cloud cover, so I decided it give it an hour or so. Midnight came and went without respite from the opaque fluffy stuff, so I had a swift drink with my mate Jack (Daniels) and retired.

And of course I have now ensured rubbish weather during the day, as my solar panels "go live" tomorrow. I imagine the weather gods will now be on the horns of a dilemma over whether to send lots of cloud during the day or the night.

James

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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Sounds fantastic, John. Sounds like you're really making the most out of the scope and your skies. The Veil unfiltered... with 70mm... wow! What are you using to mount them? In my experience binoculars can do so much if they're just mounted properly.

I haven't been out in months but I'm just egging to try my own ED120 in the new location. Lovely scopes, aren't they?

Andrew

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John

John

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.... The Veil unfiltered... with 70mm... wow! What are you using to mount them? In my experience binoculars can do so much if they're just mounted properly.....

Well that's just it Andrew - I was hand holding the 15x70's as they came out as a bit of an afterthought. I agree that the views would have been even better with a tripod but this was a spur of the moment session.

I'm very impressed with the ED120 on the basis of my limited viewing with it so far. It's clear here again now so I'm hoping to repeat some of last nights fare with the 6" mak-newtonian :)

I'll really need to get both scopes on the same mount though to compare them with any degree of thoroughness.

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John

John

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...Yes, that would be a fascinating comparison indeed if you can sort out the mounting - can you not put one on each arm of the Ambermile mount?

Thats the plan Andrew but I need a bit more time to setup such a session. Soon hopefully :)

The mount would cope fine - the ED120 is not a particularly heavy OTA, as you know :(

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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Yes, it's a bit of a balancing act with those mounts, and takes time and patience to set up right. I find my ED120 on one arm of my AE Giro mount is a wee bit stiff in azimuth without a counterweight, but still sensitive to unlevel ground. Lovely to use when it's up right though :)

Sorry, straying a bit from the report now...

It's got me inspired to get back into observing, and certainly the Veil will be one of my first targets... :(

Andrew

Thats the plan Andrew but I need a bit more time to setup such a session. Soon hopefully :)

The mount would cope fine - the ED120 is not a particularly heavy OTA, as you know :)

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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great read John - I was there with you! (not literally obviously as that would have just been weird, appearing from nowhere in your garden).

I'll also be very interested in your comparisons between the two scopes.

looking forward to having a go at the Veil etc with a short frac on the way to me today.

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John

John

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Thanks for the comments folks :)

I tend to "wax a bit lyrical" if I've had a good observing session and this one had taken it's time coming so I was especially motivated by it :)

Not very scientific of course but the Universe is such a beautiful place on a clear night that it's hard to remain unemotional :(

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