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Oh what a night.....

Caz

By Caz
in The Astro Lounge

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Caz

Caz

Posted
Posted

.....and early hours, I have excitement bursting from every orifice, well veins.... :lol:

It was a clear night alright, the moon was washing out most of the fainter stars, but that didn't stop me spotting nearly all of the targets.... :( :( I have to say, I've worked harder because of the moon, but efforts have paid off.

There was hardly any atmospheric interference, well I'm no expert on this, but viewing was really steady, even with my 10mm ep with x2 barlow, it was quite still.... :(

Anyway onto my observations:

Orion's Head - 8.20pm onwards, ep used, 10mm x 2 barlow

Lambda Orionis - very easy to spot, clear view of double star, blue in colour.

Phi 1 - Single star, blue white in colour.

Phi 2 - Another single star, colouration seemed more yellow, not sure on this, perhaps someone could confirm that for me?

Auriga - 8.55 onwards Atmosphere steady, ep used 10mm & 25mm

Theta - I spotted this star, but couldn't make out a double?

M37 - Took a little time to find, but got there eventually, I've had trouble spotting this one in the past, chuffed I found it this time :(

Spotted M36, and 35...... :lol:

So nearly a clear run with those..... :(

I could find Leo, but thats as far as it went, really struggled to find M66 & 65, identified Regulus. Couldn't even see Leo Minor, moon far too bright..... :(

Canis Major - 11.25 Still very clear and still

Spotted M47, its another one I've been struggling to find, so thats a bonus, wasn't even on my targets list. Used 25mm ep.

Gemini - 11.35

Very close to the moon at this point, but I decided to have a go at spotting M35, and yet again another success.... :(

Arcturus, its the first time I've seen this star, and what a sparkler it is too, it has a Ruddy orange colour, couldn't use scope on it, trees causing me probs..... :(

Saturn tonight, seemed larger, I could clearly make out the division in the rings, and colouration on the sphere, viewing was really steady, used the 10mm and x2 barlow, 3 of the moons were visible to.

I can't imagine how much more I would have seen, if it wasn't for the moon.... :( dark adaption was an issue, it became quite annoying.

From not spotting very much, to a night full of exploration, my confidence has doubled from all this, and I'm starting to have faith in my own ability, and about bloomin time to.... :lol:

So all in all, I'm very happy, but there were some down points, I don't like the taste of tea from a flask, and I dropped half of my twix, and I look ridiculus in a beanie hat..... :D but as my mother alway says, 'theres no such thing as fashion when its cold'.

I'm shattered... :sleepy2:

Oh and one last thing, I didn't have to turn my charts upside down.... :D:lol:

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lunator

lunator

Posted
Posted

Caz great report.

Glad you got your targets.

Theta Auriga is a tough one the difference in magnitude 2.7 and 7.2 and the closenest 3.8" (arc seconds) make it really hard. The secondary being west of the primary may put it on the defraction spike and so it is hidden.

One way to get round this is to defocus the primary and see if the blur is not round but has a lump on one side.

I'm glad you got out. I watched Saturn on T4U astrocam as the clouds refused to break.

Cheers

Ian

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Ambermile

Ambermile

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Posted

Sounds like you had some fun there Caz. Have you thought about that "Must Have" fashion accessory for viewing when the Moon is up? An eyepatch will keep your viewing eye dark-adapted until you need it. You could maybe even get one to match the Beanie... :lol:

Arthur

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mark RD

mark RD

Posted
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Great one Caz thats inspired me to work alittle harder to find new stuff and not stick with what I know, your not the only one that does that :lol:

Not a good night for us here in cambridgeshire I noticed alittle clear sky just finished my tea and was about to drag the beast out when :lol: I noticed no more clear sky so waited until 12.00am until I gave up :lol:

Mark

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The Warthog

The Warthog

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Glad you had a good night. Looks like you're hitting your stride. I had a very clear night, but it was -5, and there was a howling wind that would have had the scope shaking like a, well, like a..., I dunno, something that shakes, er, I know! A gogo dancer! Oh, they don't have gogo dancers any more. Well, there were these girls in the 60s, who used to get in cages...

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daz

daz

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Yes Cas it was me. Mine was rigid plastic one that did not do the trick. I'm off to the opticians tomorrow to see about a cloth version. I'll let yo know my findings :lol:

>waves hand in front of WH face..... no, he's back in the 60's :lol: <

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MartinB

MartinB

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Well done Caz! While I was tripping over lap top cables trying to sort out my gain, set my shutter speed and organise my file capture size you were seeing stars :? Oh what a voyage of discovery it is and to think these things have twinkling down on us all this time :lol:

Martin

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lunator

lunator

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Well done Caz!  While I was tripping over lap top cables trying to sort out my gain, set my shutter speed and organise my file capture size you were seeing stars :?  Oh what a voyage of discovery it is and to think these things have twinkling down on us all this time :lol:

Martin

The joys of imaging :lol:

I am thinking about going the next step in imaging but we've had so few clear nights I'm having trouble completing my current project without taking on more. I'll think I shall just enjoy the fantastic images that get posted on SGL.

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CELESCOPE

CELESCOPE

Posted
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thats the trouble Ian , trying to learn a new process can take months maybe a year , with this weather , its hard , and many fall beside the roadside , give up , but its a challenge , he.s me sitting here with a £1200 camera and i cant even get out to learn how to use it , so i just sit back and read all i can on it and different processes for when that time comes , dont let it put you off mate , we all get there in the end ,

Cheers

Rog

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lunator

lunator

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Rog

I am the sort of guy that once I decide to do something I will see it through and do it well. My main passion is Double Star observing & measuring. I am still refining this and I want to really master it before I try something else.

I do have registax on my machine an use it for some processing of the AVI's & jpegs from my point & shoot camera but at the moment it is just something I am dabbling in.

Cheers

Ian

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mark RD

mark RD

Posted
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All I can say is WOW!

Now I know I've got to get one of those telescope thingys.

How do you like yours?

Would you have the motorised mount?

Thanks for the report

If you want to use it for astro photography then you will need a motorised mount for sure IMHO

Mark

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The Warthog

The Warthog

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Yes Cas it was me. Mine was rigid plastic one that did not do the trick. I'm off to the opticians tomorrow to see about a cloth version. I'll let yo know my findings :lol:

>waves hand in front of WH face..... no, he's back in the 60's :lol: <

:lol: I didn't realise it was plastic Daz, I've had a look on ebay, and come across this, I'm going to give it a try....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SATIN-PIRATE-EYE-PATCH-EYEPATCH-FANCY-DRESS-COSTUME_W0QQitemZ5460207156QQcategoryZ86207QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have a bit of experience with eyepatches. I suffer from thyroid eye disease, which causes my left eye to not move through its full range, so I get vertical double vision most of the time. It also makes it impossible for me to use binoculars or bino-viewers. I thought I'd save money by buying a monocular, but a monocular is about 85% of the price of a pair of identically matched binoculars. The reason I am wearing sunglasses in my picture is, that day my eyes were obviously pointing in two different directions.

I used to wear an eyepatch in daylight, but I have been having great difficulty finding a comfortable one, so am not wearing one until I can get one made. I miss having an eyepatch, because it's really great for scaring difficult children.

I had a plastic one. It is really made for holding a dressing in place, and is too small to wear on its own. The cloth ones, for the most part, sag into your eye, and make it uncomfortable by rubbing against your eyelashes and eyelid. There are some made of card, coated with cloth, or not, which are OK until they lose their rigidity, and collapse into your eyelid (see above) Most of the drugstore eye patches are supplied by a rack supplier, and no thought at all is given to the selection of eye patch for these racks. Usually they have an elastic which is suitable for a baby suffering from anencepalopathy, but are too small for anyone with a real head. And they have a cone shaped, cardboard patch.

There is a company on the internet that supplies tooled leather ones, at US$90 a pop. No thanks.

I need to find a leather worker who can make me an eyepatch the size and shape of the bowl of a soupspoon, in hard leather that will stay off my eye. Then I'll get a contract for them from her, and resell them on the internet and bring them to star parties with me.

BTW the ebay one is a typical drugstore eyepatch.

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