Out of the Stadium; into the Night

[Special K]

I had a lovely outing on Monday ( or Tuesday?!) in the wee hours. In our area Saturday and Sunday were both promising but I was unable to get in the session. But after a little shut eye Monday evening I was up and doing at 2am. One advantage of that is the eyes are really dark adapted to start with! A quick peek outdoors looked promising and cold. I decided to take the scope out to the neighboring woods to escape the harsh streetlights around our property. I usually don't do this because the trees are very high and it is hard to see much of the western half of the sky.

I started going after M108 and M97 Owl Nebula but still not getting them even though they were nearly overhead. M109 didn't reveal itself either and I've decided I better start hunting brighter galaxies from my local skies. Though the woods only give me mag 5 skies (same as my back yard) it was a very refreshing break from the glare of nearby lamps. I suppose it makes sense that the LP will be the same a mere 5 mins walk from the house.

After quite a bit of visual sightseeing (Boötes and friends) I went after M57 the Ring Nebula and wasn't disappointed! About 3:30 a half moon was starting to rise and I worked out where Saturn was in between the trees and low hanging branches; still not hard as it is near the scales in Libra. After an hour and a half out I was surprised that my secondary still wasn't dewed up. After a quick check on that, I slewed over for Saturn and was in for a real treat there! Those were the sharpest images I've had yet and felt a few hairs stand up on the back of my neck when first seeing it! I put in the 5mm which gave me max mag and was so clear. Cassini division was unmistakable and was certain the nearby dot was Titan. This prompted me to run back for the Barlow I had left behind and nearing the street I could see what a STADIUM I live in!!! With the Barlow there were a few moments of clarity but not near as sharp as at 130x so I spent the rest of the session at the lower mag.

Last year it was all about Jupiter for me and I really enjoyed it. I bagged Saturn twice in December in the early morning before sunrise and didn't want to admit that it just didn't thrill me as much. I know how much folk rave about it so kept my mouth shut! But this time around was magical! There's usually something in every good session that just grabs you.

[Double Kick Drum]

Thanks for sharing. M97, M108 and M109 are not the easiest Messiers. Stick at them.

M109 took me a few attempts but now I see it every time I try (in skies between mag 5 and 5.5). It is very subtle and quite large. M97 is better with a UHC-s filter but only marginally easier (IMO). M108 is probably the easiest of the three.

Glad to see the other sights made up for missing out on the above.

If you want an alternative galaxy (after M81 and M82) to hunt for in Ursa Major, I would pick NGC 2841. It is of similar magnitude to M108 but has a much higher surface brightness and will tolerate some LP.

Clear skies!

[Special K]

Thanks Martin I'll definitely give those a try. You are certainly in Galaxy Quest mode and comments are much appreciated!!! I've got a UHC from Santa so that might come in handy for the nebula.

[cotterless45]

Well done, neat. We've had more of the same old here....same old cloud, fog and rain,

Nick.

[Khw]

Great post specialk , for me the best thing about this forum is reading posts like yours and feeling the excitement too. I remember seeing Saturn for the first time using my first scope a Meade etx70 , I was amazed . Now got a 200 dob and simply can't wait to observe Saturn . Kev