Jump to content

NLCbanner2024.jpg.2478be509670e60c2d6efd04834b8b47.jpg

Awkward Skies

JamesF

By JamesF
in The Astro Lounge

Recommended Posts

JamesF

JamesF

Posted
Posted

Not sure what to make of things this evening. A clear sky was forecast, but there's an awful lot of "lumpy" cloud around to spoil things and Altair is twinkling madly, a sure sign that the seeing isn't as good as one might hope when it's as high in in the sky as it is at the moment.

On the other hand, the Milky Way is clear and bright even with having stood outside with the house lights on for less than thirty seconds.

My plan for this evening was to do a bit of comet hunting and get some wide field shots of the Milky Way around Cygnus and Cassiopeia, but that's not really on if cloud keeps drifting around. I quite fancied having a pop at M77 later too, to bring my "unseen Messier" count down to two.

Not sure what to do now though. Trying to star-hop when cloud keeps blocking the view until nothing is where you left it is most unrewarding, so I need to find something else to try. Perhaps I'll take the Mak out around the back of the house later and see if I can do some imaging of Jupiter. That's not exactly reliant on long clear periods.

James

Link to comment
Share on other sites
James

James

Posted
Posted

Hmmm... here in south east Devon it's been mostly clear but I've had a spell of rain from a clear sky at about 10pm :mad: and enough clouds keep coming over that imaging's not really going to happen... just as well I'm testing kit tonight :smiley:

James

Link to comment
Share on other sites
John

John

Posted
Posted

I'm testing kit too. It's clear here and transparent so quite good for faint DSO's. The seeing at higher powers is not so good though. I can't get satisfying star tests due to the conditions rather than the scope I think. Tight doubles seem less distinctly split than usual for the aperture. Jupiter is OK at 120x or so but looses sharpness and contrast as I push above that. The same scope is comfortable at 200x + on a good night.

I've had some nice views of the "usual suspects" DSO's at 60x with my 20mm Nagler. M57 looked particularly striking against it's star field tonight :smiley:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
euphony

euphony

Posted
Posted

I was only out until about 10:30 as I had an early start this morning, but I found the conditions odd. There was a lot of cloud that kept popping up, despite the forecast being completrely clear, and things seemed to go in and out of focus regularly without me touching anything or moving my eyes anywhere, which I thought was strange. I could make out some objects with ease; M81, M82 plus a few of fainter NGC galaxies up to mag 11.1, but I couldn't for the life of me see M101 (when I've seen it before fairly easily). it was if there was cloud cover but when I looked through the finderscope it seemed clear, I couldn't quite figure it out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
leelee970

leelee970

Posted
Posted

I too had a lot of cloud - in fact I almost went back inside.

But suddenly it all moved away. The temp was around +9°C at the start and only dropped to +8°C by the end of my session a few hours later.

Milkyway was very clear, a few satellites and "shooting stars" - just wish the Army helicopters would buzz off. :mad:

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.