Jump to content

NLCbanner2024.jpg.2478be509670e60c2d6efd04834b8b47.jpg

Observing report 13/1/2012 - Start with a planet, end with a planet!

Moonshane

By Moonshane
in Observing - Reports

Recommended Posts

Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
Posted

This was the first serious session I have managed for what seems like months. Looking back, and mainly due to the weather of late, it's the first time I have really spent some time with my large 16" f4 dob (with Paracorr) since Peak Star Party at the end of October 2011 - shocking.

Jupiter is almost always my first port of call and tonight was no exception. It was quite high in the sky and positioned between houses etc so fewer problems with heat plumes. Seeing was reasonably good although my best images were with my 12.5mm BGO at around 150x, I managed some good observing at around 180x with my 10mm Radian; best images coming with the scope masked down to 6.7" f11. All four Galilean moons were observed and there seemed to be an orange tint to what I presume was Io, close to and below the planetary disc. Up to six planetary belts were observed and a single barge. The GRS seemed to be approaching the limb and coming into view as the planet went out of view behind houses. Venus was prominent in the south but I rarely bother with the scope for this target.

Next I had a look for Messier 1 the Crab Nebula in Taurus and this was readily located as a faint smudge with no filtration. A UHC filter revealed no further detail but increased contrast. Also, in Taurus, I can never resist a look at Messier 45, the Pleiades Cluster. I cannot squeeze all of this into my field with the big scope but the effect is not diminished at all with bright blue stars against dark sky.

Up to Cassiopeia, I tried to find the Pacman Nebula, NGC281 but even at the zenith, with Oiii and this aperture, this seems invisible in my home sky. Moving down to Perseus, the Double Cluster NGC884/869 always appeals. Although some observers seem to prefer this with less aperture, suggesting it makes the objects more obvious against the background sky, I have never enjoyed this more than with more aperture, it's simply outstanding. As I was in the area, it seemed rude not to have a look at a beautiful double star, Almach in Andromeda. This to my eyes anyway rivals Albireo as one of the most impressive double stars in the sky.

Gemini was now well positioned and the obvious target here is open cluster Messier 35. This showed well in the field of view and we also managed to locate the 'associated' visually smaller, tighter and fainter cluster NGC2158. Stars were readily resolved in this at 140x. This smaller cluster is actually larger than Messier 35 but much more distant; it vaguely resembles a loose globular cluster. Planetary Nebula NGC2392 is also known as the the Eskimo Nebula and appears as a well defined and large PN with a bright central region and fainter outer region. Really quite blue in colour. Having located this I then moved over to another PN in Gemini, NGC1900. I am pretty sure I located this as the star demonstrated the 'blinking' feature as the Blinking Planetary NGC6826. Has anyone else seen this and observed the same? There seems to be very little online about this object.

As the Oii filter was in I had a look over in Ursa Major at Messier 97, the Owl Nebula and we were seeing definite hints of dark patches within the body of the fuzzy ball. I have high hopes for seeing the 'owl eyes' from a dark site.

Now to my main target area of the evening, the constellation of Orion. Through this sort of aperture, many objects look refreshed and 'new again' and I had high hopes of this for Messier 42 even from home where there's lots of light pollution. With the UHC filter and 13mm Ethos, this was simply a stunning sight. Nebulosity filled the field of view and there was wispy twirls of detail within the clouds right into the Trapezium area. The 'fish mouth' was a dark chasm and the space around the Trapezium really black. There was clear separation between Messier 42 and 43, even more so with averted vision. All six main stars of Theta Orionis were readily observed with direct vision. Needless to say I spent a while on this object and continued to return to it during the night.

I looked for the Running Man Nebula, NGC1977 to no avail and did not think to look for emission nebula Messier 78. Once ahain, I tried for the Flame Nebula NGC2024 but could not resolve it. I noticed a patch of stars at the head of Orion which I had never really paid attention to before and this turns out to be star cluster Cr 69. It's actually better in the finder than through the eyepiece but is a rather nice grouping and worth a look at lower powers. A last look at some double stars such as Alnitak, Mintaka and Rigel but also Sigma Orionis, a lovely 'bus queue' of four stars. Waited a bit for Betelgeuse to explode but it didn't :D.

From Orion I thought it's not far to search in Lepus for the wandering globular, Messier 79 which I have never found. Conditions were about as good as they get and I just managed to locate it before it sank below my garden fence. It was in the murk and light pollution but certainly there and clearly a glob. Individual stars were resolved with about 140x magnification.

The moon was starting to rise now so I looked at a couple of star clusters around Canis Major and found first of all Messier 41, just below the shining disco ball of Sirius. I also found Messier 50 up into Monoceros, being two very similar open clusters. Less well know open clusters NGC2343 and NGC2335 were tracked down as we were close. The latter needed averted vision to see well but the latter was quite obviously a cluster. These were located by careful comparison with a star map and the finder image.

Up above me was Auriga and the main three Messier objects, Messier 36, Messier 37 and Messier 38 were my next 'prey'. All are open clusters easily seen in a 50mm finder and I managed to see them all quickly and easily. Messier 37 is always my favourite and with the background peppering of stars observed at this aperture, there's always hints of there being so much more there than you can ever see!

I then went in for a quick brew and a warm up waiting for my last target of the night, Mars! The planet just came into a viewable position around 1.30pm, having cleared my neighbour's trees. Despite the fact it was above the rooftops and very small, I could readily detect some good levels of detail. A around 180x and with the aperture mask at 6.7" and f11 and using my Baader Neodymium filter, the north polar cap was easily seen along with the collar of dark greenish material which contrasts nicely with the planetary brick red. I am also fairly sure I detected Syrtis Major. Anyone else see this at about this time and date? Great to see the red planet back and hopefully the views will improve markedly towards opposition.

The moon was just over 50% illuminated and showed wonderful detail at about 150-200x (again masked aperture). The Hadley Rille was seen along with many other features during a half hour scan of the terminator and areas just in.

This was a great night and it's brilliant to be back out again after such a long period. Here's to more nights at a dark site. The appearance of Leo, Bootes and a hint of Virgo as I packed up reminded me of the galaxial treats in store at Springtime. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DarkerSky

DarkerSky

Posted
Posted

Wow! That is an awesome session, Shane. Fantastic report and great to see you got some time out with your 16". What is the limiting magnitude of your sky? I have seen the eyes of M97 with averted vision plus some variations in the intensity of the disc material in my 16" with a neodymium filter. My sky is about a 5.5 limiting magnitude.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nightfisher

nightfisher

Posted
Posted

Excellent report Shane, i like the remark about beltelgeuse, but on a more serious note i looked at this star naked eye on this night and thought it looked a little different, maybe slightly larger, i had been viewing it last week as i used it to try out my bahtinov mask

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Good report! I picked out the running man with my ST80 last night, admittedly pretty faint. I'm sure it was a genuine spot because I had forgotten it was there until I saw it!

good one Ags. I reckon it's possibly one where light pollution plays a big part albeit I think you do suffer?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Double Kick Drum

Double Kick Drum

Posted
Posted

Great report and an impressive list of targets. With a 5" scope I have never had a dark enough sky to see M97, the Flame or the Running man - best nights are around the 5.3 mark.

I can't wait for a good night to test out my new UHC-S filter on the Crab nebula.

ps. I looked up NGC 1900 in CdC to see if it was a viable target and it turned up in Dorado. Did you mean the planetary NGC 2371 (13th mag)?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Great report and an impressive list of targets. With a 5" scope I have never had a dark enough sky to see M97, the Flame or the Running man - best nights are around the 5.3 mark.

I can't wait for a good night to test out my new UHC-S filter on the Crab nebula.

ps. I looked up NGC 1900 in CdC to see if it was a viable target and it turned up in Dorado. Did you mean the planetary NGC 2371 (13th mag)?

cheers for that - it seems I had bleary eyes. I see now it is J900 Telescope Reviews: Finally saw J900 planetary nebula! will have a go again in a bit but reading the thread seems like I may well have had it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ags

Ags

Posted
Posted
good one Ags. I reckon it's possibly one where light pollution plays a big part albeit I think you do suffer?

Normally I have appalling LP, but this week I was observing from the jungles of Nepal... :-)

I'm headed into the mountains next, so I will have a go at spotting the Flame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Nice report Shane. Good to read your getting a bit of time with the big Dob.

The hours just fly pushing them round the sky huh?:D

Regards Steve

cheers Steve, they certainly do!! (ask my wife :))

Normally I have appalling LP, but this week I was observing from the jungles of Nepal... :-)

I'm headed into the mountains next, so I will have a go at spotting the Flame.

ahhh, that explains it then :D good luck matey!

Really nice report of a great session! Cr 69 is a nice group. Just to its east is NGC 2022, a nice little planetary I recently bagged. Well worth a visit.

thanks Michael - I'll certainly check it out next time out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
  • Author
Posted
cheers for that - it seems I had bleary eyes. I see now it is J900 Telescope Reviews: Finally saw J900 planetary nebula! will have a go again in a bit but reading the thread seems like I may well have had it.

I tried again for this PN (J900) last night but the seeing was really terrible. Even with my 26mm Nagler and 2 hours of cooling, eveything was still a bit mushy. It's not going anywhere so will get it next time I can push the mags a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sulaco

sulaco

Posted
Posted

Great repost there, I also finished on Saturday night with Mars and had a really sharp view of the polar cap, I couldn't have been more happy having had a duff time doing my first attempt at wide field photography with my new Canon eos550d.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.