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First clear night in ... forever?

WiKi_KiKi

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WiKi_KiKi

WiKi_KiKi

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Well... it certainly feels like its been forever.

I wasnt expecting a clear night tonight, but I looked at my window and I saw Venus high in the sky shining brightly. I thought, bingo, let me try out the scope again this time properly with a good focus and eyepiece!

After setting up outside in my garden, I got Venus in my finder and looked through my eyepiece. Focused, and I saw a much better object than before. BUT, is that all I am actually going to see?

I got an image of a crescent - I saw some of Venus shaded, it was a slightly pale white color and I don't think I could get any detail of it at all. This was with the 10mm eyepiece. With the 25mm, it was roughly the same.

Is this all I will see with a target such as Venus? The skies are still glowing blue, gradually getting dark - they're nowhere near fully black. I assumed that it was because the skies weren't completely dark so it was affecting my seeing. But is this right?

My scope is still outside, so I hope I can get another go at looking soon.

Cheers,

Scott

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SionR25

SionR25

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That is all you see with venus, it just goes through phases like the moon. The planets you see detail on are jupiter saturn and mars, of which mars and saturn are in the south/south east tonight. You might also get to see the orion nebula tonight just below left hand star of orions belt.

Sion

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Marki

Marki

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Thats pretty much all I see for Venus. I think in really good conditions some very slight colour differention can be seen on the upper clouds surface. Also you may get lucky and see something called "ashenlight" on the unlit part of the disc (kind of like earthshine on the Moon - never seen it myself).

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WiKi_KiKi

WiKi_KiKi

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Thanks, well Im not disappointed with tonight at all :)

Got 2 planets seen, I think! Venus and Mars. I'm pleased with Venus' result, but Mars was ok. I saw a small red object, no real detail at all, but I think I saw a little bit of white at the bottom (ice). Is this what I am expecting to see? Even if it is really small? I expect to see bigger objects in my FOV, but always another night :)

And theres 3 stars in my horizon, underneath Sirius. I was checking Turn Left at Orion, and I'm not really convinced what it is. I was thinking it was the Orion Belt and I was looking to get a peak at the Orion Nebulae. What was it and how do I find the nebulae? :)

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pajr777

pajr777

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Washout here. Forecast clear from 1900, but a long thin band of rain cloud was just a few miles south of forecast, heavy rain and hail on and off all night. Opened the wine at 2130 and not looked out since on principle :)

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pajr777

pajr777

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Thanks, well Im not disappointed with tonight at all :)

Got 2 planets seen, I think! Venus and Mars. I'm pleased with Venus' result, but Mars was ok. I saw a small red object, no real detail at all, but I think I saw a little bit of white at the bottom (ice). Is this what I am expecting to see? Even if it is really small? I expect to see bigger objects in my FOV, but always another night :)

And theres 3 stars in my horizon, underneath Sirius. I was checking Turn Left at Orion, and I'm not really convinced what it is. I was thinking it was the Orion Belt and I was looking to get a peak at the Orion Nebulae. What was it and how do I find the nebulae? :)

Great, sounds like you're having fun which should always be objective #1 :(

Mars is tricky, it's small and a long away, so needs good atmospheric conditions to see well - if you saw a white spot that's the North pole - at the bottom in your upside down image in the eye piece. If you get to see it again around 2300 you might see a dark splodge in the centre - Syrtis Major.

Venus is bright but shrouded in clouds of sulphuric acid so we can never observe surface detail - it goes through phases like the Moon, because it's on a closer orbit to the Sun than us, if you saw a partly illuminated disc you're doing good.

If you're observing from England I think I can safely say that Orion's Belt is above rather than below Sirius. If you were out early then did you mistake Betelgeuse for Sirius?? Betelgeuse is Orion's left shoulder (or armpit :p )

A great piece of software that is free and runs on Mac or PC is Stellarium - input your location and time of observation and it will show you the sky. Well worth spending a couple of hours getting to grips with - an invaluable tool in both planning your observing sessions and dissecting them afterwards.

Clear Skies

Paul

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JamesM

JamesM

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I would second Mark's recommendation of Stellarium, free and a very useful piece of kit to help you find objects and also to help you identify stuff to.

Scott, just a further point regarding seeing detail etc. When you set op your 200P, are you allowing some time (30-40 mins) for the mirror to cool down? If you are taking it outside from a warm location, the glass that forms the mirror will be warm and will create a very slight thermal barrier across the front of the mirror as it attempts to reach thermal equilibrium with the outside temperature. It doesn't take much to diminish the view (over tightening the collimation screws is another one). Its not going to make a huge difference but thought I would add this comment so that you got the best out of your scope.

James

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nckjsmitj

nckjsmitj

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Saturn, oh yeah you bet yah! I've been trying catch a glimpse of this baby for yonks and tonight there she blew. Really great views too, the rings are angled just right so you get the planet and what looks like a highway running around the outside.... I know I'm going on a bit, but it's just fab :)

So yes, first clear night for ages and one that will stay with me for sometime to come. :)

N.

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ggreene1

ggreene1

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Quoting Wiki Kiki..."And theres 3 stars in my horizon, underneath Sirius. I was checking Turn Left at Orion, and I'm not really convinced what it is. I was thinking it was the Orion Belt and I was looking to get a peak at the Orion Nebulae. What was it and how do I find the nebulae?"

Wiki... I don't think Orions belt is below Sirius. When Sirius is due South, Orion is up and to your right. The 3 stars of Orions belt are pretty easy to see. I'm pretty new at this but I think Orion Nebula is below the left star of Orion's belt.

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Stargazer_00

Stargazer_00

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Had a good night in Herts, best seeing in a while. Started approx 9:00 and got until 10:45 before clouds rolled in.

Managed to spot Leo trio's M65 and M66 (not 100% on the NGC)

Also M81 and M82 looked amazing, actually managed some detail with slightly averted vision

Got my first ever views of M101 and M51 both good distinct smudges, no doubt about them

Caught Saturn, Titan and Iapetus as well, also could clearly see Saturns rings darker across its face

Was just going to start on the virgo cluster (yet to get into this bunch of galaxies) when a cloud bank rolled in overhead.

Very happy 90ish minutes :)

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Aronnax

Aronnax

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My evening was a bit of a bust. Got the scope out and the seeing was terrible. I could see stars with my eyes, but the wispy cloud was preventing any clear views.

In fact it looked worse through the scope than with my eyes, I couldn't even be sure what I was looking at! (Is that normal!?)

Then the clouds rolled in definitively before 22.00 and in I went having seen a total of: 1 satellite with naked eye early on, and pointed the scope at Mizar / Alcor to be greated by the sight of not much at all... (at which point the neighbour's zillion watt security light came on and I took it as a sign)

Curse you clouds. I just got the scope back out after a couple of years in hibernation.

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