12th April 2013 - Auriga clusters and new toys

[KevUU]

I was quite surprised when the forecast clear spell actually materialised on Friday night! I have a shiny new 12mm BST StarGuider and a Rigel QuikFinder to play with, and I'd seen a lovely thin crescent moon against the darkening sky while wandering down the road earlier, so plenty to get me out there

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2200 - 2345. Clouds have cleared for a few hours, but lots of neighbours' lights on in various directions. Approx NELM where I'm looking (not at zenith) 4.3.

Put the dob in the car park to have a look at the 2nd day moon - the thin crescent hangs beneath the full Earthshine disc, really nice naked eye. In the scope there are maria visible on the un-illuminated part, and nice detail on the crescent.

Used the moon to align the Rigel, very quick and easy to do. Then into the garden to setup properly.

Started with a look at M37, first time with Jeffrey. The depth is much clearer than the ST80 and makes for a nice view. The 12mm BST gives a nice crisp, wide view and feels very easy and comfortable to use. The 8mm Vixen NPL really doesn't feel nice after using the BST! The barlowed 12mm rectifies that - although it's very hard to find focus, but worth it once you do. Very pleased with the BST so far.

Next I had some unfinished business with IC 2157 near M35 in Gemini, so I put the Rigel to the test hopping around a bit. It proved so simple to use, I don't have to get out of the chair (bearing in mind the elevation was reasonably low) and with the finder everything seemed very easy. For most targets I was able to keep the 12mm BST in (0.6* fov), and it's so much nicer not changing ep twice for every target!

M35 is very nice in the 12mm.

NGC 2158 was easily found now I recognise the more obvious little baby flying dinosaur asterism beneath it, but no easier to see detail in. One for darker skies.

ICs 2157 and 2156, cotterless pointed me at this DeepSkyPedia page, and this link from it told me what to expect here so I was able to find them without much faffing. They're both fairly nondescript but the faint patterns match the descriptions so I'm happy.

NGC 2129, there is detail coming through from behind, but really this is just a small faint oc.

In a similar vain, Collinder 89 is a thoroughly uninteresting loose wide oc.

PSA shows IC 444 here, all I could see were a couple of medium mag stars. I didn't realise it was a nebula I was looking for, no chance as this area is dropping lower and towards the edges of Bristol skyglow.

Now for C39, The Eskimo Nebula. Just a fuzzy star at 30mm, and a clearer furry star at 12mm. 8mm and the barlowed 12mm add no detail, and using my new UHC filter blackens the background but adds nothing. I think I expected this to be larger and more detailed, so a little deflated.

Getting very tired now, but I can't resist a hit of M3. Oooooh The 8mm is fogging too quickly to use now, but the 12mm BST is really earning its keep. Barlowed it's again very hard to find focus but very worth it, lovely view. I really have to get this from a darker site

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I'm starting to realise that, although my OITH observing bible has many objects, some of them are loose and nondescript open clusters. It's still nice to have the variety, and some of them turn out to be quite interesting, but sometimes you get a run of them together and it can be a little dull! At least with the Rigel I could get through them quickly

You may have gathered I was very happy with the BST; I think I will buy the 8mm and am debating the 25mm too. Re barlowing, can anyone tell me if the tight focus issue I see in the 12mm barlowed would be better with a straight 6mm?

Happy Hunting

[Stargazer_00]

Sounds like you had a good run and a chance to test our your new kit. the 100x offered by the 12mm BST is a nice useful magnfication sweet spot I think and the 200x equally so for planets and moon and maybe some DSOs if you choose

[Double Kick Drum]

Now for C39, The Eskimo Nebula. Just a fuzzy star at 30mm, and a clearer furry star at 12mm. 8mm and the barlowed 12mm add no detail, and using my new UHC filter blackens the background but adds nothing. I think I expected this to be larger and more detailed, so a little deflated.

Great report.

NGC 2392 (the Eskimo) is easy to find and see but i've never eeked out any detail. It's not the biggest planetary nebula, just one of the brightest..

Loads of variety in the other targets. All good stuff!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great report. I must say I agree with your assessment of the Collinder cluster. Many in that catalogue are described as "anaemic" in my notes, and Cr89 is no exception. Still, another DSO bagged.

[Special K]

You may have gathered I was very happy with the BST; I think I will buy the 8mm and am debating the 25mm too. Re barlowing, can anyone tell me if the tight focus issue I see in the 12mm barlowed would be better with a straight 6mm?

Hi KevUU, I've got a 12mm BST and that is maybe a little harder to focus combined with the Barlow than using my 5mm BST alone. The 5mm plus the Barlow is the hardest combo I've got to focus (unless you throw in the UHC filter as well!). I love the BSTs too but don't have much knowledge of anything else... 8mm sounds like a good EP! Thanks for the report.

[KevUU]

Hi KevUU, I've got a 12mm BST and that is maybe a little harder to focus combined with the Barlow than using my 5mm BST alone. The 5mm plus the Barlow is the hardest combo I've got to focus (unless you throw in the UHC filter as well!). I love the BSTs too but don't have much knowledge of anything else... 8mm sounds like a good EP! Thanks for the report.

Hmmm, thanks. I only just realised there is no 6mm BST but a 5mm one. I've heard tell that 8mm is about the limit for the 200p, although I've had some luck with 6mm (12mm barlowed); does anyone have an opinion on whether 5mm (x240) would be usable for DSOs eg globs, or is that definitely a step too far?

[cotterless45]

5mm is definitely one for very stable and clear seeing in the 200 dob. Although it'll give you x240, tracking is a nightmare. You're going to be pushing it too close at f6.

The 8mm should be your weapon of choice and will give a useful x150, which will do you well with planets/ lunar and smaller planetary nebulae and globular clusters for which you'll need clear skies,

Nick.

[KevUU]

Cheers nick, I rather suspected that. I have wanted the barlowed 12mm a couple of times already though, and would prefer a dedicated 6mm, if only BST did one... Maybe I should wait to see how much better the BST 8mm is than my current one, maybe with that I won't feel the need for more.

[Special K]

Having looked up your focal length I can now understand why a 5 is maybe too much. Shame they don't do the 6 for you as that would put you at 200x. With exceptional conditions it would then be feasible to Barlow that to get to the extreme edge of the scopes capability? Please disregard that last bit if I'm being stupid. Not sure if newts are different than dobs but had read that any mag up to the same figure as your aperture is in the feasibility zone given proper seeing conditions. Up to twice the figure of your aperture should be an absolute max and would require fabulous conditions. Not often enough, granted! It would probably be unlikely you could successfully Barlow the 5 ever. I have to admit that given half a chance I like to Barlow the 5 just to see if it produces results and there are times when I haven't been disappointed. But to get back to the original question, the 8mm sounds like a winner at a practical 150x. Then you can push it to 300x with the Barlow when you get the urge!