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15" first light- "Goodbye summer"


RK93

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Hello!

This is my first report on SGL. 

Equipment:

I recently purchased a 15" truss dobsonian (wrote about it in my welcome thread) and had an opportunity to try it out. I used borrowed ES 24, LVW 17, LVW 8 and NLV 6, as I'm still completing my eyepiece collection.

Conditions:

I was observing from my backyard. The sky isn't really spectacular here, typical suburban/rural sky, I'd say. I was able to detect a 5.6m star in Sagitta quite easily with averted vision. M13 visible with averted vision, but with effort. M31- easy, even low above the horizon. 

Objects observed:

M57- extraordinary. In my 8", it was really dim in 200x. Here, even at 280x, it's just glowing. Really bright, ring is just obvious, asymmetry is clearly visible along with brightness irregularrities on the nebula. Central star not visible.

M27- same as above. Great amount of detail not seen before, really bright, a few stars visible across the nebula, along with the central star (visible with averted vision).

M71- angelfish shape detected really clearly for the first time. 

M13- no words to describe it. The view is unreal, almost like a photograph. Stars are pouring out of the eyepiece.

NGC6207- bright, elongated galaxy (~3:1), with starlike nucleus. 

M92- another beautiful globular. It seemed a bit elongated. A lot of stars at the outer edge of the cluster. Great object.

Double Double- always nice to see them. The best view at 280x. 

M56- another object in Lyra, not fully resolved at 100x, the core remained a bit misty, but a lot of stars surrounding the cluster are a beautiful addition in lower magnifications.

Then, really low above the horizon, Sagittarius:

M8- UHC-s filter helped a lot, made the dust lane visible. Big, great-looking object, but I will have to wait util the next summer to see its full beauty.

M17- completely different than M8, but UHC-s also helped a lot. Great contrast and a fair amount of detail in the nebula.

M16- only a faint mist surrounding the star cluster.

A few clusters popped into view while I was roaming around Sagittarius- M22 and a few open clusters.

I also observed clusters in Ophiuchus, including M14, M9, M10, NGC6356 and probably one or two more, which I don't remember. Unfortunately, due to their low elevation and light pollution, I didn't see much detail here. I also visited IC4665, but it was too large to fully appreciate its beauty.

Then I spent a surprisingly large amount of time looking for NGC6760 in Aquila- another little globular. 

NGC6934- my favourite object in this area. At 200x, it looks like M13 in a small scope. 

NGC7006- interesting object. Very distant (~136kly) globular cluster. Quite easy, but unresolved even at high power. A few stars seen at the edge using averted vision at 280x.

Cygnus Loop- even though I don't have an OIII filter, only UHC-s, it was a mind-blowing view. NGC6960 is just awesome, with sharp, pointy edge splitting into two parts, and detail visible between them. NGC6992- silver filaments filling the view. A lot of detail to study. 

Coming to an end, I looked at M31 with its satellites. Two dust lanes of M31 easily visible, but this galaxy is far too big, I need a Nager 31 for it :)

Then I pointed the scope at Cassiopea and spent a while admiring NGC457/437, M103 and M52. All of these clusters looked amazing with great amount of stars visible, but NGC457 is just mesmerizing. 

It was a great night. I am discovering the sky again, after 7 years of exploring it with my 8". The increase in detail, brightness and contrast of DSOs is just unbelieveable. I hope that soon I will be observing from a much darker place- then I'll try to find objects I haven't seen before. 

Radek

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Jumping up to large aperture is fun huh?  :grin: The extra image scale you get at the brighter exit pupils is just fabulous isn't it. 

Sounds like you had a great night.  You wait until you get it somewhere really dark  :eek:  :eek: place a cushion under your chin because your jaw is going to be dropping a long way.  :grin:

Enjoy :)

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My sky is about the same as yours (about 5.6 NELM) and I consider myself lucky to have it. I have a 10" and a 16" and using the 16" under these skies is brilliant. I tried recently to go to a really dark site at a star party, but the weather wasn't kind, so I didn't get a chance to compare it. Still, 15" and a sky with NELM 5.6 means there are many many truely gorgeous sights. Enjoy!

Barry

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Great report Radek, dark skies and a large aperture really do have an impact don't they!

Looking forward to hearing more of your experiences.

I must get my big dob out at home. I often think there's probably not much point, but with an OIII the brighter nebulae will be good, plus globs are bright enough to cut through a lot of the LP.

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Thank you all!

I will certainly be posting more reports.

My sky is about the same as yours (about 5.6 NELM) and I consider myself lucky to have it. I have a 10" and a 16" and using the 16" under these skies is brilliant. I tried recently to go to a really dark site at a star party, but the weather wasn't kind, so I didn't get a chance to compare it. Still, 15" and a sky with NELM 5.6 means there are many many truely gorgeous sights. Enjoy!

Barry

I live at the very edge of a small town (15k inhabitants), but after a 30-minute car drive I can be at a really dark rural area- I'm guessing 6.5 NELM or better- that area is black on light pollution maps, there are no nearby cities, just little villages, and these are no lights visible on the horizon. I will have to check that (I were there at dusk a few days ago, couldn't stay longer), but I think that will be a great site. Also, my 15" is really portable, I can assemble it on my own in a few minutes, and its fits perfectly in my car's trunk- I cannot ask for more :)

Still, there are places in Poland (like Bieszczady Mountains) where, during solar cycle minimum, people reported seeing M81 with the naked eye- NELM ~8.0. I was in that mountains twice, and that was amazing- I never saw that many stars, and Milky Way shining so brightly in my life- easily NELM 7.0. 

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Thank you all!

I will certainly be posting more reports.

I live at the very edge of a small town (15k inhabitants), but after a 30-minute car drive I can be at a really dark rural area- I'm guessing 6.5 NELM or better- that area is black on light pollution maps, there are no nearby cities, just little villages, and these are no lights visible on the horizon. I will have to check that (I were there at dusk a few days ago, couldn't stay longer), but I think that will be a great site. Also, my 15" is really portable, I can assemble it on my own in a few minutes, and its fits perfectly in my car's trunk- I cannot ask for more :)

Still, there are places in Poland (like Bieszczady Mountains) where, during solar cycle minimum, people reported seeing M81 with the naked eye- NELM ~8.0. I was in that mountains twice, and that was amazing- I never saw that many stars, and Milky Way shining so brightly in my life- easily NELM 7.0.

Sounds amazing! I've heard of M81 being a naked eye object at certain very dark sites too, that must be something to see!!

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