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July 26-27, 2014: Great night with a big dob at Olly's place

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Somewhat belated my first report from Etoille St. Cyrice, when I visited Olly on the nights of 26-27, and 27-28. We were camping at the nearby camp site in Orpierre, and had already suffered communication breakdowns caused by thunderstorms severing phone connections and local mobile internet which seemed to require an intermediate stage in cuneiform, a reliable technique in itself, but the latency caused by drying of each clay tablet is bothersome. I therefore cycled over (quite a short ride, but with a stiff climb at the end) in the afternoon, and I got a tour of the extensions Olly made since I was last there (three years back). In the evening of the 26th I returned by car with most of my kit, but ultimately I only used my EP case and 15x70 bins. Conditions were good, although there did seem to be the odd strand of haze around.

The big 20" Dob (sir Isaac) had cooled down nicely, Gordon (Gedan) and Olly were doing various checks and mumbling various spells from the dark side, so I had the big dob to myself for a while. I first checked out Mars and Saturn, both low in the east, but the seeing was not good enough to allow any detail to be seen. They did allow me to tweak the position of the finder scope a bit. I moved to M11, always a nice one, even when the sky is not fully dark. I tried the 24mm MaxVision, which performed admirably in the F/4.1 scope, only showing some astigmatism and field curvature towards the edge of the FOV. The 22T4 was clearly better, but then at over five times the price that is to be expected. Besides, MV only rate their 68 deg EPs to F/5, so F/4.1 is pushing it well beyond its envelope. The WO Zoom would not come to focus (needed a few mm more inwards travel), so no test here. I then checked out M4, which was nice, but is never my favourite globular.

As it was now dark, I started on some proper galaxy hunting, starting with a couple I managed from Tuscany last year, just to confirm I was not seeing things. NGC 5885 immediate showed up in the 20" dob, rather than being a ghostly apparition as in my C8. The surprise pair from last year NGC 5915 and NGC 5916 where similarly easy, except being at the very edge of detection. NGC 5878 followed, and this time I could find NGC 5892, the first new object of the session. I checked out NGC 5796 and NGC 5728 nearby, and bagged IC 1055 quite easily. More eastwards and north I found NGC 5937 and NGC 5990, along with Tuscan finds NGC 5970 and NGC 5957. Three more new objects followed in quick succession: NGC 5984, NGC 6012, and NGC 5996, complemented by two older finds NGC 5962 and NGC 5921. As expected, the big scope was just hoovering up galaxies.

Gordon and Olly seemed to have concluded part of their black magic, and I gave Gordon a bit of tour of the summer sky. M51 was the starting point, and the view through the scope was just stunning. The detail in the spiral arms was nearly as good as in images. M11 followed once more, now a box of jewels in the darkness. M8 was awesome without any filter. M20, the Triffid followed, and again, I was gobsmacked. The level of detail in the dust lanes was the best I have seen. M22 was superb as ever.

To combine the sky tour with something new, I had a go at M57, with the ring showing really brightly. Inserting first the Nagler 12T4 and then the XW10, I could just make out the central star, a first for me. I then moved to M101, and again, was stunned at the level of detail. H-II regions NGC 5461 and NGC 5462, bright knots NGC 5447 and NGC 5450 were clearly visible, along with a host of detail. I have never had a view even approaching this.

I then turned to some companions of the great spiral, and picked up NGC 5477 and NGC 5473 (a Herschel 400 object), which had eluded me so far. Once spotted, I understood why: the former is very diffuse, with very low surface brightness, and the latter is very compact. I may have mistaken it for a star at the lower magnification I use in the C8.

We then turned the big scope south again, aiming for M72 first (not that impressive) and NGC 7009 (Satrun Nebula) later. The latter was stunning in the intensity of its blue-green colour. Olly thought I had inserted an O-III filter, and I pointed out I hadn't, as the stars all had their normal colour. Staying with planetaries, I swung to the Helix, NGC 7293, and was again treated to the best view I have had of that object.

Back to galaxies NGC 7507 was an easy spot near Formalhaut, and swinging the scope far eastwards we had a look at M33, which was brilliant, distinctly showing its spiral structure. I then moved to Andromeda, picking out NGC 891 with its dust lane so much more easily than with my C8. A less known little gem of a galaxy (although very different) was NGC 404, the Ghost of Mirach. Easiest possible star hop: Start from Mirach. Done :D.

We finally payed our respects to M27, before scanning the Milky Way with bins, both my 15x70 Apollo and Olly's 8x42 Leica. I spotted M31, M32, and M110 quite easily, along with NGC 7000 and a glow where the Pelican should be. The Eastern Veil was visible as well.

Turning back to Sir Isaac, we had a look at NGC 7331 (stunner in a 20"), and at Olly's suggestion turned to Stephan's Quintet (NGC 7317, NGC 7318a, NGC 7318b, NGC 7319, and NGC 7320). The set of five galaxies glowed beautifully (best in averted vision) in the FOV. Five more galaxies bagged!! We then went for NGC 247 as a staging post to NGC 253, the Silver Coin galaxy. I only spotted this once in 15x70 bins, and the view through Sir Isaac did not disappoint. Lovely near side-on galaxy, with good surface brightness (despite low altitude). NGC 288 is a globular even further south, quite sparse, but easily picked up (another Herschel 400 object bagged)

Gedan and Olly then went back to their dark arts, and I stopped by NGC 246, which is one of the weirdest, blotchy planetary nebulae in the sky, towards a little galaxy hunt of my own. NGC 255 was first up, an easy fuzzy patch. NGC 309 was next, quickly followed by the lovely pair NGC 274 and NGC 275. NGC 337 was the last one I managed, and nearby NGC 337a was a rare failure.

I decided to called it a night, driving off to the campsite grinning all the way. As I entered the campsite, a roe deer and young were on the road dead ahead of me. I braked well in time, and gently gave them room to make their escape. A nice final observation to a great night.

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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Thanks all!

Great report Michael!

Dark skies and big dobs = nothing better in astronomy! :)

Well, perhaps not quite, perhaps I would personally prefer an EQ mounted SCT, RC, or Dall-Kirkham of say 16" (or more, of course :D). Without wanting to knock the experience one bit, I found that I am so used to equatorial moves while star hopping that the fuss of having to rethink a map in RA and Dec to alt-az moves was tiresome. By contrast, I found working with a straight through, inverted image finder less of a hassle than I expected, after my long experience with the 14x70 RACI I built (the latter is definitely better than the 9x50 I was using, but the 9x50 straight is still very good). I also found swapping EPs was much more bothersome in the Dob than in my EQ mounted tracking (!) C8. There were cases in which I might have liked to change magnification but didn't. Zoom EPs would definitely be for if I get a big dob. A big dob and a Leica Aspherical zoom under dark skies would suit me just fine, I suppose, especially if I attach my 14x70 finder

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Scott

Scott

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Wow Michael, If I keep reading reports like this, the imaging rig will end up collecting dust. I'm embaraced to say that I think you saw more in one night than I've managed in my 2.5 yrs of astronomy. I sincerely hope Gedan realises how lucky he was to have such a knowledgeable guide that night. couple that with his imaging mentor and it may well be the best night he is going to have for a good few years :). 

Thanks for the great report, I'm off to observe the lovely glow of stoke on trent tonight ;).

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