off road

[Piero]

On Halloween people often do weird things, so I took my bike and went to the countryside.

Equipment had to be extra light due to the distance. Therefore I took my TV-60, a selection of three ultra-wide eps (Pan24, Nag13, Nag7), two nebula filters, and my lighter tripod. Total weight ~3.5kg. I broadly searched for this place on google maps and the place was eventually reasonably dark. The thing that I somehow did not consider (I think it was because I felt quite enthusiastic about the idea of going to a darker place than usual! ), was that half of the path to get there was very dark too! 

So, a nice experience to cycle in the middle of the dark with a little light! I don't suggest you to do it, but if you want, go for it!

Anyway, this parallel road to Babraham road leads to a countryside cycling / walking path which was quite an adventure to cross it. I stopped when I almost reached the M11 (about 10km away from Cambridge) and there I started observing. Milky way was nicely visible and Cygnus was just gorgeous. The return was much easier via Babraham road instead! 

Time 19:00-20:30

Location Babraham (countryside off road near M11), Cambridge, UK

Altitude 12m (?)

Temperature 12C (6 km/h)

Seeing 2 - Slight undulations

Transparency 4 - Partly clear

Telescope Tele Vue 60 F6

Eyepieces Panoptic 24, Nagler 13, Nagler 7

Filters Astronomik UHC, OIII

M31 And Galaxy 15x, 28x, 51x

Core plus the peripheral region next to the core were visible.

M32 And Galaxy 15x, 28x, 51x

Visible at 15x, but a much better view was at 51x.

M110 And Galaxy 15x, 28x, 51x

Visible at 15x, but a much better view was at 51x.

Mel20 Per Opn CL 15x

Alpha Per Moving Cluster. Amazing cluster. 

NGC869/ 884 Per Opn CL 15x

Double Cluster. Gorgeous. The darker background sky made it even more impressive.

Stock2 Cas Opn CL 15x

Nothing really new here.

NGC281 Cas CL+Neb 15x+UHC

Pacman Nebula. A patch of soft nebulosity was detectable but not pacman shape.

IC1848 Cas CL+Neb 15x+UHC

Soul Nebula. Patch of soft nebulosity was visible.

IC1805 Cas CL+Neb 15x+UHC

Heart Nebula. A patch of nebulosity was visible.

M29 Cyg Opn CL 15x, 51x

Nice target at 51x. I could only see the brightest stars, but this tower is pretty.

NGC6992 Cyg SN Rem 15x+OIII

Eastern Veil Nebula. Very distinct shape in the sky. 

IC1340 Cyg SN Rem 15x+OIII

Bottom of the Eastern Veil Nebula. The hook was clearly visible.

NGC6960 Cyg SN Rem 15x+OIII

Western Veil Nebula. The nebula contour was well defined. Soft vertical nebulosity was detectable in the North-centre of the nebula.

NGC7000 Cyg Neb 15x+UHC or OIII

North America Nebula. Continent was clear with both a UHC or OIII filter.

Milky Way - Galaxy 15x

Milky way was visible from Aquila to Auriga. I spanned through Cygnus largely and saw the numerous NGC objects located on the Cygnus body.

M27 Vul Pln Neb 15x, 51x

Dumbbell Nebula. Nice view at 51x. 

M57 Lyr Pln Neb 51x

Ring Nebula. The ring was easily visible at 51x.

M45 Tau Opn CL 15x, 28x

Pleiades. Still low on the horizon, but impressive. At 28x (2.8 deg fov) it was really impressive.

[John]

Super report as usual Piero

Amazing what a modest aperture can do under a really dark sky. Lots of folk will be struggling to see some of those objects with much larger aperture from their back yards !

[Stu]

Very nice Piero, sounds like another great night, and a bit of an adventure too [emoji3]

[cotterless45]

As always, you can't beat dark sky ,

Nick.

[chiltonstar]

Even with the Moon coming up, it's amazing what you can see with a small frac in a dark place!

Chris

[FenlandPaul]

Great report, Piero, and glad you got some clear skies. You certainly seem to get the most out of that TV60!

IT was forecast here yesterday but the mist seemed to settle very early and there was a high haze; the Summer Triangle shone through but not much else. I guess you would have had a few metres of precious extra height over there.

Paul

[Mike73]

Great report Piero. 

As much as I like bigger scopes I'd still love to see what the views are like through smaller aperture, you really do put your TV-60 through its paces.

I also like the 'adventure' of heading off to dark sites, never tried it on my bike yet but that could be a bit tricky with a 12". 

[Piero]

Thanks everyone for your kind words.

I was lucky that the haze turned up when I was already back in Cambridge. There was some low mist just over the fields, but I was surrounded by trees so that didn't affect the observation. I generally look for places near trees as these also work as good dew shield beside limiting straight lights.

I believe the cycle path is nice in the day. It goes a bit up and down hills but it is straight once you got in. The tricky thing is that it is really dark inside as it is surrounded by trees. Therefore some care was needed!

[scarp15]

What a great incentive Piero to combine cycling as a means to get the best from your Televue 60, I am still digesting all of those targets. I have just received a Televue Pronto and have been considering how I could incorporate this into some kind of adventure travel to a dark destination (as far away from Newcastle the better!). Could I ask what did you use to transport your TV and mount, a standard yet padded rucksac or a specialist Camera type rucksac, panniers, rack pack? 

[laudropb]

Very nice report. As always your reviews are a joy to read. It was certainly worth the time and effort to find darker skies.

[Piero]

What a great incentive Piero to combine cycling as a means to get the best from your Televue 60, I am still digesting all of those targets. I have just received a Televue Pronto and have been considering how I could incorporate this into some kind of adventure travel to a dark destination (as far away from Newcastle the better!). Could I ask what did you use to transport your TV and mount, a standard yet padded rucksac or a specialist Camera type rucksac, panniers, rack pack?

Congratulations for your TV pronto! I only read very positive comments about that telescope!

I put the TV60 in its own bag (thankfully televue made a padded bag for the TV60!). Inside, there is room for a diagonal, filters, and three eyepieces. Then I put this into my backpack. As this is unpadded, I cut a couple of rectangles from a camping foam mattress (the same one can use for making a dew shield) and put these at the bottom of the backpack.

My lighter tripod only weighs 1kg and was sold with a light padded soft bag. I simply held this on one shoulder.

Cycling so light is fine and I reckon one could go as distant as wanted. What matters is to cycle slowly as you certainly don't want to sweat on the way and then remain wet outside for hours!

Newcastle.. I spent more than five years over there and I miss both the city and the people! At the time I used to observe in the town moor park as it was easy to reach by walk from work in the night. Not very dark but sufficient for seeing a few targets.

For curiosity, can I ask you where you are planning to go, broadly?

[scarp15]

Thanks Piero

The TV Pronto also came with the soft bag as you describe and yes this can be carried by hand or into a suitable backpack. As you will likely know as you had lived here, there are extensive cycle networks, Sustrans routes for accessing the countryside. An additional option would be to use the Newcastle Carlisle train, which is cycle friendly and start out at one of the Tyne Valley stations. There are plenty of places to head to for an observing location, along for example the Hadrian Cycle Way, which follows the river, alternatively head to a bothy if planning on stopping over night. I have aspired to a backpacking trip into the Cheviots, so establishing an observing point on high ground, initially I had considered taking binoculars and monopod but this option would be manageable. 

I don't live so far from the Town Moor in High West Jesmond and I have observed on Cow Hill, a popular spot when for example, there are comets around. My allotment space (which I occasionally use) merges onto the Town Moor so there is a good amount of landscape that is undeveloped. Cycling across is great, just mind the Cows, I know of one or two cycling back from the pub having a near head on in the dark.   

[Size9Hex]

Thanks for posting Piero. I've been meaning to pedal out to a site near me for a while. You've spurred me into doing it sooner rather than later. Beats leaving the car parked at the bottom of the hill, and hoping it's safe.