3 nebulae, 3 clusters, 5 or 6 galaxies ... and 3 filters - 7/3/08 report

[Andrew*]

Went out with Eli (partner) at 7.30 to 50% cloud cover. Started walking back inside and stuffed my hands in my pockets in resignation. My fingers fell upon my new OIII filter and I stopped. I was fully geared up, and Orion was in the clear patch. It had to be done. Kissed Eli goodnight and went and took off the cover of the astro station (PLEASE help me with the name!!).

30 minutes later the entire sky was clear with excellent seeing and transparency (to the South at least).

M42/3 was glorious as usual. The chap who sold me the OIII filter (you may know him - Steve Wellstead - great chap) claimed the folk at his AS reckoned they had the best views of M42 with it, so I had to verify this. I can confirm that without the filter the main arc was visible, but when I put in the filter, contrast improved significantly in the bright areas, and some extra nebulosity was revealed - it was quite a sight to behold 8).

Moved over to my third nebula M1 (is it cheating to call M42 and M43 two nebulae? ). Interestingly, I realised an easy way to slew to M1 from M42. You just loosen DEC. They are only 1 degree apart in RA. This is quite a nice target, and I've found it every time recently. Tricky to get out those faint filaments and it's usually just a blob. The OIII filter again improved contrast, but it's quite aggressive and didn't reveal any more detail.

While I was in the vicinity I moved over to Mars. For some reason M35 interfered with this, and I ended up spending some time on this lovely OC. There's an almost pentagram-shaped void in the middle of the cluster which is really... cool somehow. While viewing M35 (IIRC) I noticed, at the edge of the cluster, another glob-like patch. I can't find anything resembling this in Starry Night except possibly nearby OC NGC 2518. This is still not resolved (excuse the pun) but it added a mystery to the session.

Mars got my attention briefly. The disc is small, even at 333x (seeing was excellent), and I couldn't get anything in the way of detail. I tried the OIII just for kicks, but it made it decidedly faint and green.

Now to my second cluster. Back to Sirius and find M50. Used Turn Left at Orion for this, and eventually found this very pretty cluster. I doubted that I had even found it, because TLAO suggested that there were only a few dozen stars (or was it even just a dozen?) to be seen, whereas I saw a really rich cluster packed with stars. Very pleasing indeed, and another M object off the list.

And finally cluster number three - the elusive (to me) Beehive (M44). This time I found it, with TLAO's aid (BUY THAT BOOK!!). Another nice cluster - more open and bright, but unusual, in that it's not quite as random as e.g. M50 and seems to be built in pairs and triplets. Does anyone else get this impression of M44? Another M ticked off!

Now for galaxy time. Leo had cleared the wall and the worst of the LP and I had to find that triplet, once and for all. Used TLAO again, but it never showed up . Okay, we'll try for M51 instead, which was still in the LP. Searched and searched with my 32mm and eventually saw a very very faint patch. That had to be it. Popped in the 20mm and could confirm that it was M51 as there was a bigger patch and a smaller one. Tried the CLS and UHC-S filters and interestingly, the latter gave a clearer view of the galaxy. The CLS was too harsh and much faint detail was lost. The UHC-S did a good job of tackling the LP, while not obscuring the galaxy, thereby giving improved contrast. Still, I can't say I saw a lot in there - one diffuse larger patch, and one more concentrated and smaller. No lanes and certainly no bridge, like were clearly visible at SGL 3 (dark skies and 12" aperture).

Flushed with galactic success, M81/2 were my next targets. Found them after a short search. These were in a better position than M51, but still not ideal. Keeping the UHC-S in, M82 appeared the brighter. Perhaps this is due to it being more compact than M81. I love the contrast between these two galaxies. No specific detail seen...

Only minutes to spare, as I was due in for duty at 9pm, but I was desperate to have another crack at the Leo Triplet. A little rather eccentric swing around with the telescope finally revealed two clear patches of light. A little jig was performed, and then I popped in the 20mm and trusty UHC-S. Two were easily spotted, and not a lot to differentiate the two. Desperate to complete the triplet, I searched around, and swear there was something else off to the left of the FOV. I still don't know whether I saw number 3, but either way I was chuffed to bits, ending the night in quite a high that will stay with me for some time!

Packed up quickly and rushed to my duties. Only 5 minutes late!

Andrew

P.S. Really should have proof-read this post - full of mistakes - sorry!!

[DaveGibbons]

Great Report Andrew. I didn't go out last night(well just to the pub), just read your post and I was there!

Very entertaining , atmospheric and accurate.

Thanks

Dave

[blinky]

Nice report Andrew, thanks for the tip for M1. I could not ifnd it last time but will give your 'method' a try!

[Andrew*]

Thanks chaps!

Some reflection:

It's such a good feeling to get to know where another object is. Especially one you've almost dreamt about...

For me it's not only about ticking it off the list (although this is very a good feeling). it's about seeing what's there one night, knowing where to find it the next, and seeing if there's anything more in there under different conditions. Eventually it becomes an M42 and you know you're going to find it. This makes you feel really clever!

Andrew

[blinky]

Thats the reason I am trying to hold off buying the Pro upgrade. I know it will make all the diffrence to imaging with the autoguiding ability but I also know I will just start to use the goto and I do enjoy the satisfaction of hunting down those faint fuzzies.

[algol]

great post, awesome report.

that m1 method is quite interesting as i have been unable to find the thing yet, maybe i'll give your way a try

Cheers

Steve

[lunator]

Andrew

well done on bagging the triple.

I have only managed once from London - when it was very clear & cold

Cheers

Ian

[Sam]

While I was in the vicinity I moved over to Mars. For some reason M35 interfered with this, and I ended up spending some time on this lovely OC. There's an almost pentagram-shaped void in the middle of the cluster which is really... cool somehow. While viewing M35 (IIRC) I noticed, at the edge of the cluster, another glob-like patch. I can't find anything resembling this in Starry Night except possibly nearby OC NGC 2518. This is still not resolved (excuse the pun) but it added a mystery to the session.

Yep NGC 2158 sounds like that! great report too!

[Andrew*]

Thanks Ian and LB!

Yep NGC 2158 sounds like that! great report too!

Thank you!! :notworthy:

I will look out for it next time. The only think is that it looked much more part of the cluster, whereas SN shows this:

(click to enlarge)

Cheers

Andrew

[Andrew*]

Meant to mention a rather important aspect of my observing session were a number of "travelling bodies" that I saw.

One, when I got centred on Mars, just before focusing with the 6mm eyepiece (166x), a bright satellite passed throught the FOV! Quite cool!

Two, a really bright fireball that happened to catch my eye. No trail, but it must have been mag. -5 or so. :shock: Unfortunately it was just in the corner of my eye and by the time I had turned to it there was nowt to be seen.

Three, another satellite passing through the FOV. For some reason I really like seeing this. While you've got your head in outer space, the world goes on around you...

And one unexplainable. While my back was turned there was an extremely bright flash which lit everything up very briefly. No idea what it was, but it must have been another fireball.

Andrew

[John]

Andrew,

Thanks for a great report - it has really fired up my enthusiasm and I'm making lists of target DSO's for the next clear night

I was very interested to read about your experiences using the OIII filter. I have a Baader OIII filter on it's way to me to compliment the UHC-S - I'm looking forward to using it with my 8 inch dobsonian.

I must have a stab at the Leo triplet as well

I did not think a filter would help much with galaxies but I have found that the UHC-S improves the contrast of M31 / M32 / M110 - I'll give it a go now with M81 and M82 and see what it can do with those.

Thanks again for a great report

John

[jgs001]

Andrew, great report, I enjoyed reading it, keep them coming.

[Andrew*]

Andrew,

Thanks for a great report - it has really fired up my enthusiasm and I'm making lists of target DSO's for the next clear night

Thanks John, I tried doing that a few weeks ago. Totally got side-tracked!!

It's worth doing a bit of preparation though if you're a little low on imagination. Otherwise you'll just cycle through the same old ones and not get any new objects on your repertoire.

Talking of which...

Cheers

Andrew

[barkis]

A very descriptive account of your nights observations Andrew. Wasn't it fortunate you changed your mind about terminating early.

I agree with you about Goto retarding your ability to locate objects, you will become less adept at that particular skill.

Advocates of Goto will argue about the time saving aspect, but that argument is only valid when there is a queue waiting to share the observing.

Your seeing must have been quite good also as NGC2158 at mag 12 is not always apparent.

It's great to see the station operating, and I am sure everyone using it, now and in future, will appreciate the work you and the lads put in to create it .

Keep the reports coming in, they are a very encouraging ingredient on SGL.

Well Done Mate.

Ron. .

[Andrew*]

A very descriptive account of your nights observations Andrew. Wasn't it fortunate you changed your mind about terminating early.

I agree with you about Goto retarding your ability to locate objects, you will become less adept at that particular skill.

Advocates of Goto will argue about the time saving aspect, but that argument is only valid when there is a queue waiting to share the observing.

Your seeing must have been quite good also as NGC2158 at mag 12 is not always apparent.

It's great to see the station operating, and I am sure everyone using it, now and in future, will appreciate the work you and the lads put in to create it .

Keep the reports coming in, they are a very encouraging ingredient on SGL.

Well Done Mate.

Ron.

Thanks a lot Ron. Yes indeed I'm glad I persisted with the triplet - one I've been meaning to view since seeing a recent pic on SGL (jcm's perhaps).

I still don't know about NGC 2158 - whether that was what I saw. The most annoying thing about it all is that I didn't write it down, and this glob-like patch could have been in M44 or even M50... I'll have to go through those 3 objects again and see if I can pick it up this time, perhaps even image it.

Cheers

Andrew