25 July - Nebulae and UHC second light under a bright moon

[AndyWB]

So I went out last night to do a little observing of, well, whatever was around…

I split Sarin (delta Herculis) 'cos Astronomy Now made me wonder if I'd been mistaken before - I hadn't. I quite like it as a double - the magnitude difference is interesting, but it still seems fairly visible. Also split the Double Double as a test of optics, and had a go at Izar. I don't know why, but I do find it difficult; don't think I really managed it.

Then I decided, before the moon became to high and bright, to have a look at M27 and M57. I know nebulae under a nearly full moon isn't the best idea, but I'd wanted to try my still fairly new Baader UHC-s filter. The Dumbbell nebula looked, well, just like a fuzzy patch without it, but add in the filter and I could see structure - to be honest, an H shape, kinda like a dumbbell or possibly bow tie. Good to know that Herschel and I are on the same page. Despite the bright skies and light pollution, this was my best view of M27 so far.

Then I had a look at the Ring nebula. The fact that I could centre it in the eyepiece at x80 using the RDF alone suggests I've looked at it a fair bit! Without the UHC filter you could just about make out its ring shape in averted vision, but mostly it looked like a blob. Add in the filter, and it's ring shape became clear and I could see that it's slightly oval - I didn't see that before. Again, despite bright skies and a moon I still had my best view of this too.

So, good result for the filter! I mean, it isn't magic - but it really does make a difference.

Finally, I finished off with the moon. I still don't really know my way around it that well! The Mare Crisium was dramatic, though - like a bite out of the moon. You could see it's rim, but nothing within it, except for this tiny gap in the rim which let the sunlight pour into the crater floor. It was quite spectacular, but I've not been able to find out if that notch has a name; it was kind of between Yerkes and Proclus. Might post a question about it if I can't find it with Google.

Oh, and the whole evening I had shooting stars passing through my FOV. I'm guessing they're the Delta Aquariids? There were more than I expected - I must've seen 5 or 6 in the hour and a bit I was out. That was an unexpected bonus!

[swamp thing]

It's great when you start to see some real structure in DSO's isn't it.

Nebula filters can really pull some detail out.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Good report on UHC filters. Wait til M42 shows up again and that should really let you know the filter performs.

[AlexB67]

Nice report Andy and good to hear about the filter. Two nights ago I was almost tempted but the clouds were getting worse so abandoned plans, a pity because where there were gaps that looked really dark, without even being dark adapted I could see a lot of stars right above that normally would take a little while to see, the ring would have been good, but too many clouds were building quickly. Nice thing with the Heritage is you can get it out so quickly for a quick session like that. I am getting withdrawal symptoms already not having gazed for a while now.