ISON, Mars, Jupiter & the Moon

[TwoPi]

After a few weeks away from the scope (combination of hols, work & weather) I had an early start this morning so thought I would get up an hour earlier at about 4.30am and take a peak at what's to come later in the year, plus see if I could spot ISON for the first time.

Fantastic to go out and see Taurus, Orion, Gemini, Leo etc. all prominent in the sky, been a while since I've seen them!

With the Moon 20% illuminated, it still dominated the eastern sky but it was still easy to pick out M44 to the south, the double cluster in Perseus and the Milky Way to the west all with the naked eye.

I started with my first look at ISON - although the Moon and Mars made it easy to find the right spot, with the moon washing out that part of the sky it was a little tricky to see at first. But with a little patience it was just visible at 50x, becoming easier to see when I switched to 75x. Really still just a faint fuzzy though with the high background sky brightness but satisfying to see all the same - I am encouraged to haul myself out of bed early again next week once the Moon is out of the way!

I then had a brief look at Mars - I had fairly poor seeing (disappointing - this is my first early morning session since I got my scope last Feb & I was hoping for a stable atmosphere - hey ho!) and given this, there wasn't a great deal visible to be honest. As I was fairly short on time I thought I'd switch to Jupiter.

Despite a turbulent atmosphere it was a stunning sight - I never got bored of looking at it last winter. Beautiful line of all 4 Galilean moons: Callisto, IO & Europa on one side, Ganymede on the other. The equatorial belts were lovely; after a few minutes of observing I got the occasional tease of wispiness on the edges at 120x, tried 200x but it was too much. Hope to time my next observation for when the GRS will be visible.

Finally I thought I'd take a look at the Moon - not used to seeing the moon at night when it's this old so a little unfamiliar with the features, but think I could see Grimaldi quite easily and therefore behind it I assume what I could see as lines of mountains were the Cordillera and Rook Mountain ranges, though not 100% sure. Although I didn't have a lunar map with me it was a pleasure to just track along the terminator and enjoy the spectacle (usually I'm busy trying to correlate what I can see with a lunar chart to identify this, that and t'other).

All in all, well worth the early start!

[stevend]

Beautiful line of all 4 Galilean moons: Callisto, IO & Europa on one side, Ganymede on the other. The equatorial belts were lovely; after a few minutes of observing I got the occasional tease of wispiness on the edges at 120x, tried 200x but it was too much. Hope to time my next observation for when the GRS will be visible.

Finally I thought I'd take a look at the Moon - not used to seeing the moon at night when it's this old so a little unfamiliar with the features, but think I could see Grimaldi quite easily and therefore behind it I assume what I could see as lines of mountains were the Cordillera and Rook Mountain ranges, though not 100% sure. Although I didn't have a lunar map with me it was a pleasure to just track along the terminator and enjoy the spectacle (usually I'm busy trying to correlate what I can see with a lunar chart to identify this, that and t'other).

All in all, well worth the early start!

A similar session and sentiments to myself, though I found conditions improved by 6am when I had to finish. I really did not want to pack up, why is there always never enough time when you need it ?

[TwoPi]

Indeed, just when you're really getting into it, it's time to stop!

[andrew63]

Thanks for your observations - it appears a few of us were in that part of the sky !  I started early evening to have a look at a few objects before they vanish  M13 M57 and M15 - which has a really bright dense centre - must be a lovely sight in a big telescope. After an hour i came in planning for a early rise at 4.  The scene in the pre-dawn sky was rather nice as noted, with leo and mars the moon and a jupiter riding high..  I tried for the comets Lovejoy, Ison and Encke with little success in 10x50 binos.  Although Ison might well briefly sparkle - hopefully - i think Lovejoy, is going to be a comet slowly brightening and in a good region of sky for extended observation through the winter months - now  on the border with cancer - the Beehive Cluster is a fine sight in binos.

I found the seeing for mars and jupiter was not great - but the moon was glorious when i popped in an ortho.

andrew

[Special K]

Amazing how many had the same early morning idea!  Well done on those obs and good you spotted ISON.  I was in the right area, but didn't manage to discern it this time.  I'll have another shot as soon as possible.

[bambuko]

I did it the other way round   by staying up until 3:30 in the morning (by which time I was freezing) and had similarly great time with my two scopes observing the same things apart from ISON - couldn't see it, but that's just probably my lack of skill.

Hoped that Mars would be better... but at least I've seen it.

[andrew63]

I dont't use  laptop etc. outside but find this very useful alongside stellarium as it is very convenient for those following Ison.

Where is Comet ISON Right Now? Live Sky Chart, Current Position, Magnitude and Distance - The Sky Live

andrew

[mjpfc]

Similar story here on the IOW;     Up at 4:30 and out on a morning between the clouds and showers on 29th.

Ison was very faint, hard to see and is really still quite small,

Enke however is quite bright and with a broad fan behind - never fails thisun!

Mars bright but small, But at last the early mornings are showing Jupiter and family high enough for sharp views,

and whenJupiter is seen sharply it takes the breath away.

I was off that day so I got some Solar Observing done with white filter and pst Ha,,,,,,

Then out again mid evening looking at 10 tiny clusters (King 51 and others) in Casseopia.

When we get 16 hours of clear sky in amongst the recent muck its great to be able to make the most of it.

Clear skies all (Sunday morning looks like a window).

Mick

[TwoPi]

Hi Mick,

I've not looked Comet Encke yet, but given the moonless mornings next week I'm going to try again with ISON and Encke after your report.

This is what I love about SGL, just reading what everyone else has been looking at inspires me to search out new targets!

[mjpfc]

Out again this morning and the situation was reversed !

ISON is looking a lot better, with a long-ish tail seen with averted vision, and the False Coma about mag 9 - 9.5. Looking good now

Enke was hard to find, but I think this was because thin banks of cloud were moving eastward and piling up above the horizon

due to viewing angle. I Saw the bright false coma but not much else.

Jupiter had all moons to the east, and all far enough out so that they presented a straight line in the right order going out.

Mars is still very small of course but should be good in a few months.

Regards, Mick.

[andrew63]

Thanks for the info Mick - it's forecast to clear in the early hours - so hoping to have a look.

andrew

[Special K]

Mick, thanks for word on Enke, I hadn't tried this out yet.  Are you viewing ISON with the reflector or the refractor?  or both?  Just curious as I tried ISON a few days back with my 130P and didn't see any coma.  Might have missed the target somehow though.

I'm looking forward to Mars too!