2nd April 2013 - Jeffrey's first light, part II

[KevUU]

M3

...

...

I'm speechless.

Other views have been a bit brighter or a bit bigger or a bit clearer, this one is just ridiculous.

How am I supposed to sleep when I can't stop shaking my head?

(I'll post my report properly tomorrow, I have to sleep now, if I can...)

[rory]

kev , did i forget to warn you that a large glob might blind you through an 8" er ?

seriously though, i was the same,the globs are very noticibly improved with aperture . my first view of m3,m13 made my draw drop compared to my old views through a 90mm.

i think thats one type of object that would bring on aperture fever without warning !

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Globulars are just great in an 8" (or bigger) scope. Stunning aren't they.

[KevUU]

Well here's the proper report, now I've gathered myself a little

I wanted to fill the two main gaps from yesterday's first light, namely nebulae and globs. I was too late out for Orion (it may be gone for the season, unless I can get to a better site), but figured I'd go M35 then M3.

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2145 - 2315. Approx NELM 4.9.

First to M35. There's better depth there with this scope! Totally fills the 8mm field and then some, good to just stare into.

Just next door should be NGC 2158, given in OITH as a compact oc of 973 stars, on the outer rim of the Mily Way so only appears as mag 8.6. I found a sparse bright-ish obvious group of stars with a reasonably distinctive bird-like shape but it didn't feel right; I dotted down the rough shape to look up later on, and noticed out of the corner of my eye a vague something above it... Sure enough there seems to be something there - a few minutes of careful aversion later (relax, but concentrate, but relax...) and I was sure, that's NGC 2158, lots of very faint stars are just dancing out of view. "Intriguing and tantalising" is what I scribbled down. I spent a little while longer looking for detail here, didn't get much but it was pleasing nonetheless.

I looked for IC 2157 nearby, but neither PSA nor TriAtlas have it in so it's hard to know where to go exactly. I thought I had something, but a later check of SkySafari+ confirms I was in the wrong place.

With Castor dipping his foot into the westerly glow it's time to move away.

M3 presented a conundrum - where to start from? I opted for going from Arcturus and star-hopping all the way in the finder scope, complete with the accompanying crick-in-the-neck...

At 30mm (x40) although it's a better size and clearer than it was in the ST80, I can't honestly say I could tell it from a galaxy in a line up. Moving to 8mm (x150) ...

...

Wow.

It takes a second to get your eye in, then WOW.

It's so dense, but I can make out soooo many stars. I'm tired so starting to find aversion a bit of a strain, but wow it's worth it. There's so much! Oh that's so nice.

That single view justifies the dob. Other views have been a bit bigger or brighter or handled the LP better than before, this is the first actual step change, and I'm just blown away.

I tried the stock SW 10mm barlowed but no way; tried the 8mm barlowed, odd moments of usable view but really not good. Feels like it could take some more magnification (or darker sky) to really bring it out. I'm pretty knocked over by it though!

(My comment in the ST80: "M3 gc small fuzzy blob! Couldn't get sharp with barlowed 8mm to look at detail" A bit of a difference )

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Does anyone have any observations on NGC 2158 to share? I'd be interested to know what others think.

I still need an achievable nebula, and it occurred to me that a planetary would be good too. Not sure about either at this time of year, any suggestions anyone? I know I need a filter really, UHC is on my list...

I felt like I could use a little more mag on M3, but I've heard people suggest 8mm is a sensible top end for this scope. I wondered about a 6mm, or maybe 12mm to give me an option between 30 and 8, and a better barlow so I get 6mm too?

Although, I also feel the front lens of my 8mm NPL is too small so I may look at getting something better there, maybe time for a wider rethink...

Lastly, although the star hop to M3 wasn't comfortable I did need the magnification of the finder, so I don't think Telrad/Rigel alone would do it. RA or RACI seems the way to go, although the temptation to try to co-mount my ST80 is still there! Not sure how I'd do it though, since tube rings would add even more weight.

Anyway, I hope you all had fun last night too Thanks for reading.

[KevUU]

kev , did i forget to warn you that a large glob might blind you through an 8" er ?

seriously though, i was the same,the globs are very noticibly improved with aperture . my first view of m3,m13 made my draw drop compared to my old views through a 90mm.

i think thats one type of object that would bring on aperture fever without warning !

Globulars are just great in an 8" (or bigger) scope. Stunning aren't they.

Really was blown away last night, as you may have noticed, sorry about the surprise attack of over-effusion

But yes, really astounding!

rory, I'm concerned about your drawers dropping

[Double Kick Drum]

Does anyone have any observations on NGC 2158 to share? I'd be interested to know what others think.

This (below) is as much as I have for IC 2157 and NGC 2158. I could not resolve either but the NGC is denser and slightly smaller than the IC.

I moved back to the Gemini - Taurus borders, to find Ceres again but found I got side-tracked when I found M35, a very rich open cluster. Two more open clusters were close by. NGC 2158 was very obvious to the Southwest and even IC 2157 further West again seemed reasonably easy to pick up, all be it slightly larger and more diffuse than NGC 2158.

With the extra light collection, you may be able to partly resolve some stars. Your scope should be capable of an extra 0.8 of a magnitude in like for like skies.

Hope that helps.

[KevUU]

Cheers DKD