revisiting some targets

[Piero]

After a long week of clouds and rain, the sky was finally clear this evening.. but sore throat and even a bit of fever.. nevermind, packed with paracetamol I went to the local field (which was a damp actually) for a bit of observation. 

My initial idea was to cover the Veil, Heart and Soul nebulae more in detail, but the sky was not very transparent due to light pollution and the high levels of humidity in these days. 

If one day next week will be clear, I might go to a place reachable by bike in South of Cambridge. There the sky should be darker.

Anyway, no new targets this time, but a gentle observation of already visited objects and to conclude, a nice wide field view through the milky way (or better where it is located!)

Have clear skies! 

Piero

Date 18/09/2015

Time 21:00-22:45

Temperature 11C (10 km/h)

Seeing 3 - Moderate seeing

Transparency 5 - Clear

NGC6960 Cyg SN Rem 15+OIII

Western Veil. Slightly visible near the star 52 Cyg. It appeared as a grey soft thin patch.

NGC6992 Cyg SN Rem 15+OIII

Eastern Veil. Easier to see with either averted or direct vision, although the border was not so defined. 

IC1340 Cyg SN Rem 15+OIII

Souther-Eastern Veil. At the bottom of the Eastern veil, it was possible to discern a swallen nebula moving inside.

M31 And Galaxy 15x

Andromeda Galaxy. Faint patch. Just the nucleus was visible. 

M15 Peg Glob CL 15x, 103x

Spottable at 15x. I pushed the magnification at 103x. No star was resolved.

NGC869/ 884 Per Opn CL 15x, 51x, 103x

Double Cluster. Lovely view at 51x. Both the complexes were in the same field. At 103x the two complexes could be studied separately. 

Stock2 Cas Opn CL 15x, 51x

Large and sparse open cluster, but still with a pleasant structure. Many stars of similar brightness.

M57 Lyr Pln Neb 15x, 38x, 69x + OIII

Ring Nebula. The ring was visible with averted vision at 38x. At 69x the ring was easily observable.

M34 Per Opn CL 15x, 51x

Nice open cluster at both 15x and 51x. 15-20 stars were visible.

NGC752 And Opn CL 51x

Lovely open cluster located at South of Almaak.

Gamma And Dbl Star 51x

Almaak. Main component is Orange. Second component seemed grey.

NGC1502 Cam Opn CL 15x

Located at the end of the Kemble's cascade, this object is part of the group of stars forming Kemble1.

Milky Way - Galaxy 15x

I spanned from Cygnus to Cepheus, Cassiopeia and finally Perseus. Rich star fields and many clusters were observable or detectable on the way.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great report. It is good to have these laidback sessions revisiting known stuff. Very relaxing

[Stu]

Nice session Piero, I often enjoy visiting my old favourites so this must have been fun

[FenlandPaul]

Nice report, Piero. I went for a walk at about 11pm and it was a reasonable sky with the milky way visible nicely in Cygnus overhead. Nice to see the Pleiades rising in the east.

Have you thought about cycling up the guided busway (or taking the bus!) to Fen Drayton lakes? It should be reasonably dark up there in the RSPB reserve, and you are accompanied by the wonderful sounds of the wildlife. My nearby dark site overlooks the busway between Swavesey and Longstanton and it's decently dark round this neck of the woods.

P

[Piero]

Nice report, Piero. I went for a walk at about 11pm and it was a reasonable sky with the milky way visible nicely in Cygnus overhead. Nice to see the Pleiades rising in the east.

Have you thought about cycling up the guided busway (or taking the bus!) to Fen Drayton lakes? It should be reasonably dark up there in the RSPB reserve, and you are accompanied by the wonderful sounds of the wildlife. My nearby dark site overlooks the busway between Swavesey and Longstanton and it's decently dark round this neck of the woods.

P

Thanks very much for your advise, Paul.

The area you suggested seems to be a very dark place for observation. Unfortunately I live on the other side of Cambridge and work at the opposite side of the place you suggested. I would really need a car to get there otherwise it becomes a really long way every time I want to go out.

I believe a good compromise between moderately dark sky and travelling is the area between Grantchester and Cambridge. Surely it is not as dark as your place, but would allow me to have a reasonable distance to ride, especially in the winter.

To be honest I wish I had a car.. The annoying thing is that I could also afford it as well as a Dob 10", but I don't know if I am staying in the country for a sufficient time, due to work mainly, so that these would be sensible purchases! Substantially, I don't want to have all these things to sell in a month if I have to fly away in a year or so..

Okay I'll stop here! Thankfully the beauties in the sky will be there tomorrow! Meanwhile alternative solutions!

[laudropb]

Nice report yet again Piiero. We had very good skies last night. Started off just looking around Ursa M and was pleasantly surprised how pin sharp the stars were. Down to M51 and got some of the best views I have ever had from my back garden. The Milky Way was also showing well around Cygnus and old favourites were a joy to observe. Like you I spent a nice session revisiting targets I had not seen well for sometime. Even tried a few sketches.

[Piero]

Nice report yet again Piiero. We had very good skies last night. Started off just looking around Ursa M and was pleasantly surprised how pin sharp the stars were. Down to M51 and got some of the best views I have ever had from my back garden. The Milky Way was also showing well around Cygnus and old favourites were a joy to observe. Like you I spent a nice session revisiting targets I had not seen well for sometime. Even tried a few sketches.

I am glad you had a nice evening last night!

Now that daylight is shortening, it should be easier to observe (weather permitting! ) . M51 is a lovely target! I still remember when I saw it with my 60mm under dark sky. I bet you had a wonderful view of it with you 200mm! I would be very happy to see your sketches if you decide to post them.