Observing report - 2/2/08 (early saturday morning...)

[spacemonkey]

Hi everyone. I posted this on our NAS yahoo group, but thought you might like to see what I was up to after the snow passed. Some of the intro won't be relevant here, but I've been typing for about 4 hours and am losing the will to live, so haven't changed anything.... ;o)

Observing session – 2/2/08

Hi people.

It seems like the snow kept most of you away from the AGM on Friday night, and those who did go seemed to leave quite early, but as predicted (although it didn’t look very likely at the time), the clouds did eventually clear around 02.30. By this time I was at home and ready to go to bed, but after a quick peek outside, realised that it was too good an opportunity to miss as it was very transparent and steady, the earlier gales had died away, and this (apart from a couple of quick looks through broken cloud) would be the “first light” proper from my new country estate.

So I set up the TV102 in a sheltered spot on the lawn, made a flask of tea while the scope cooled down, and picked up the “Bible” – my IGTAW (if you’ve got one, you’ll know what I mean. If not, wait for the next Cygnus!)

The TV102 has been “pimped” since my last report – it’s now got a Feathertouch dual-speed focuser, and my 3-6mm Nagler zoom has arrived. This has made SO MUCH of a difference, particularly for all those luvvly little double stars and planetary details that have eluded me in the past.

The usual format applies – all numbers quoted are NGC first; for double stars, Flamsteed number first. The notes are necessarily brief and businesslike as I find it easier to write them in the book at the time. I would love to be able to describe my night’s work like Andy’s wonderfully written reports, but it’s better than not recording at all. Like I used to. Learn from this people, you will get more out of this hobby if you at least note down what you have observed, even if that’s all you write.

And now to business –

Start – 03.00

GEMINI –

2168 (M35) : Large and bright at 46x, no central concentration, edges blend into milky way background. 2158 seen also, more condensed, not resolved. Better at 88x.

2371/2372 : Quite faint and difficult at 46x with UHC, just an out of focus star, better at 88x, but no sign of bi-lobed shape even at 146x. More power wipes it out in the 4”.

2392 : Small but easy at 88x, brighter towards center, takes power well – up to 220x, just enough to resolve central star from surrounding nebulosity.

55-delta : Primary bright white, secondary yellowish but very faint at 146x, easier at 220x.

66-alpha : Castor. Brilliant white primary, hint of yellow in secondary when defocused at 146x.

CANCER –

2632 (M44) : Easy naked eye, massive at 25x, almost fills field. No concentration, with imagination main stars trace an ‘S’ shape, with a triple star near center. Nice in binoculars as well.

2682 (M67) : Small, dim, partially resolved at 46x. Hint of dark voids in center.

16-zeta : Triple, but unable to resolve AB pair even at 293x. AB-C separated at 146x. AB yellowish, C white.

48-iota : Easy at 146x, can split at 88x too. Yellow primary, bluish-white secondary. Looks like “the Scottish star”, but fainter.

LEO –

2903 : Easy at 88x, very faint halo, large core, stellar nucleus. How did Messier miss this?

3351 (M95) : Fainter than 2903, uniform brightness at 88x, slightly brighter core at 220x.

3368 (M96) : In same field as M95 at 88x, similar appearance and orientation, very slightly brighter though.

3379 (M105) : Quite small but easy at 88x, circular in shape, brightens towards core.

3384 : Same field as M105. Similar appearance at 88x, but fainter, with smaller nucleus.

3521 : Difficult to find as few nearby stars, but easily seen when in general area. Uniform brightness oval shape, but obviously off-center stellar nucleus seen at 88x and 220x.

3607 : Small bright circular patch at 88x, very small faint halo at 220x. Stellar at 25x.

3623 (M65) : Quite large, long oval haze at 88x. Stellar core and small bright nucleus at 146x.

3627 (M66) : Rounder than M65, larger nucleus, slightly mottled appearance in outer halo seen with averted imagination(!) at 146x.

3628 : Very thin, faint streak at 88x, uniformly bright, with faint stellar nucleus.

32-alpha : Very wide at 88x, primary (Regulus) brilliant white, much fainter secondary seems yellowish, but probably contrast effect from brightness of Regulus.

41-gamma : Very nice, similar brightness, close at 88x, better at 146x. Both stars yellow-white.

54 : Easy split at 88x, defocused to show colours – primary pale yellow, secondary bright white/bluish white.

BOOTES –

5466 : Fairly easy at 46x, looks same size as M13 but much fainter. Averted vision helps a lot. Uniform brightness, no obvious core. Looks like a Palomar glob. through bigger scope.

17-kappa : Easy separation at 88x, even at 46x . Both stars white.

21-iota : Very wide triple at 88x, yellow-white primary and secondary. Wider tertiary star very faint even with averted vision.

29-pi : Another wide triple, but all components easier than above at 88x. Primary & secondary blue-white, tertiary too faint even defocused.

36-epsilon : Triple system again, blue-white primary, yellowish secondary split at 220x, nice colour contrast. Very wide tertiary glimpsed at 88x, but very faint.

37-xi : Very confused quadruple system, AB easiest at 146x, yellowish primary, orange secondary. Not sure which is CD pair, as two close doubles in field. I think it may be the fainter pair.

49-delta : Easy split even at 46x, yellowish primary, much fainter white secondary.

51-mu : Nice bright pair, split at 88x. Yellowish primary, white secondary (which is itself a close double - split at 293x). Looks a bit like epsilon lyrae.

URSA MAJOR –

2841 : Quite faint at 46x, fairly uniform but slightly brighter towards core at 88x, faint star on N edge looks like supernova.

3079 : Bright, bean-shaped core at 88x, very faint extensions double size of core with averted vision.

3031 (M81) : Very large and bright at 88x, gradually brightens toward stellar nucleus. Extends in size with averted vision.

3034 (M82) : Bright cigar shape at 88x, dark central lane suspected with averted vision at 146x – 220x.

3184 : Large, uniformly faint circular haze, tiny slightly off center stellar nucleus seen at 88x.

3556 (M108) : Small and quite faint at 88x, slightly irregular shape, but uniform brightness.

3587 (M97) : Small, faint circular haze shares field with M108 at 46x, seen better at 88x with UHC, which gave hints of dark “eye” holes.

3992 (M109) : Not easy at 88x, very faint and small outer halo seen with averted vision, bright stellar nucleus easier.

4026 : Tiny bright streak of light at 88x, almost stellar nucleus, no increase in detail at 146x.

4088 : Slightly irregular shape at 88x, but quite faint, difficult to see nucleus.

4157 : Small, faint and thin at 88x. Extends slightly with averted vision.

3877 : Difficult to pick out in glare of 63-chi Uma. at 88x. Very small and thin, slightly brighter around area of nucleus.

3941 : Challenge to find, but quite easy once in field of view. Small, but uniform brightness at 88x, slightly more graduated towards core at 146x.

M40 : Could be anything, but I found a mag 9 double star near Megrez (the star, not a Williams Optics scope!). That seems as good as anything else in the area.

4605 : Quite large and bright at 88x, distinctly brighter and well defined core area, fainter halo easy with averted vision.

5457 (M101) : Very large, but quite faint at 88x, averted vision and imagination gives a hint of spiral structure, but only very short “arms” suspected.

79-zeta : Mizar and Alcor. Been there, done that. How many times have I shown this to newbies as an example of a double/triple system? Easy split at 46x. All components white.

By this time, I was cold, and the sky was noticeably brighter towards the east. That suggested sunrise would not be far off, so it was time to call it a night. A quick look at Saturn finished off the night nicely, those rings are now very thin, difficult to see the Cassini division (in a 4” at least – I suspect Andy can still see the Encke gap at 1000x or something in the Mewlon!).

Finish – 06.00

All in all a superb, and unexpected, few hours work. It all helps towards my next goal – the NAS Herschel Observers certificate to go with the Messier one!

Cheers,

Dave Howes

[asteria]

Hi - great report - many thanks. This is a standard to aspire to!

Ed

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Blimey Dave, I'd have sore fingers from pressing the goto and no time to have a peep at anything! That's a lot of targets covered.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[Vega]

Nice monster observing session there Dave. Up until pre-dawn observing almost 50 objects... now thats hardcore!

Matt

[jgs001]

Dave, nice report and viewing session. I def need to document better, just need to figure out the best way to do it. At the moment, I'm just noting down what I find, and occasionally the time.

[Casus belli]

I rely on my failing memory (and hopefully finding a working pen and bit of paper as soon as I come in)

Excellent report Sm. I must try harder.