Cloudless moonless fun.

[Size9Hex]

Superb session last night with the moon and clouds both absent, and having ironed out a few more collimation issues on the new scope since I last used it. All in all, it led to the best session so far with my best ever view of all sorts of things, plus a few new objects.

Double Stars.
Went for a few double stars while my eyes cooled down to the ambient temperature. Double Double, Albireo, Almach, Delta Lyrae (not a true binary, but lovely to view). The highlight was Struve 2470 & 2474 in Lyra (the "other" double double). Not a true quadruple (just two doubles in the same field of view), but easier to split and a lot more colourful.

Uranus.
Seemed paler in colour than last time I saw it (across from a moon bright enough to read by). Couldn't see any moons (at 120x), although a nearby mag 12.3 star was barely visible so a mag 14 moon was pushing it. Darker skies needed perhaps.

Comet C/2013 X1 (PANSTARRS).
One of the main targets for the night. Very hard work, requiring persistence, averted vision and jogging the scope. Easier at high mag (120x) with a darker background. A small grey blob, which came and went (but mainly went), although it did seem to be consistently in the right place each time it briefly appeared.

Open clusters. M103 (Cassiopeia), Owl Cluster, Caroline's Rose, M52 (Cassiopeia), Double Cluster, M34 (Perseus), Starfish Cluster, Pinwheel Cluster, M37 (Auriga), M35 (Gemini)
The other main targets for the night (trumping other choices that might be better when, hopefully, a filter or two turns up for Christmas). I won't elaborate on each one individually. Impressed with the variety though. Big/small, resolved/speckled. some dominated by an asterism of bright stars, others more formless, some well bounded, others blending away into the surrounding sky, linear swirling trails of stars, dark lanes, pin points of different colours. Interesting to compare the 48x and 120x eye pieces which each brought out totally different details, and using the combination of the two led to a better picture than either individually. I've previous bagged a lot of these in binoculars but only as a token tick in the book. Fantastic to finally see them in spectacular detail.

At one point while observing the above, I had a sudden change of perspective. Almost as if I had been looking through a microscope, and suddenly realised the true scale of it. Quite dizzying. I guess with binos, it's obvious you're facing straight up into open space, whereas with a scope you lose out on this and can feel less connected. Although the scope was facing the sky, light years away, I was facing the side the of the house just a few feet away. Weird sensation.

Andromeda Galaxies.
Located the large faint M110 companion for the first time, and detected the direction of the elongation. Easier at higher mag with the darker background. M32 much smaller, rounder, brighter and easier. Tried to find some detail in M31 itself using both 48x and 120x, but couldn't (beyond the obvious bright center and oval shape). Spotted a straight line of mag 11 stars marching across the front of it though, which I suppose shows how faint it actually is away from the core. If I was pushed, I'd say the the side nearest M110 had maybe a sharper change in the brightness than than the side nearest M32, but hard to say. Really hoped I might have seen some structure.

At this point, it was no longer just getting cold and late, but had definitely got there, so I made the brief obligatory look at Orion, and then headed in.

[John]

Nice report of a good session Paul

I found that the brightest of the Uranian moons (Titania and Oberon) were right at the limit of my 12" dob and needed 400x plus to spot them and even then they were mostly seen with averted vision.

Tough objects !

[Size9Hex]

Nice report of a good session Paul

I found that the brightest of the Uranian moons (Titania and Oberon) were right at the limit of my 12" dob and needed 400x plus to spot them and even then they were mostly seen with averted vision.

Tough objects !

Thanks for this. Experienced advice is always very welcome indeed. Looking at the angular separation of the moons from the planet, I'm surprised so much magnification was needed. Checking just now, they're 5 to 10 times further apart than the double double in Lyra which I just about managed at 120x. Is the light from the faint moons lost in the glare of the planet to make it harder or is some other factor?

I may still have another crack at it from a darker site. A naively optimistic approach sometimes pays off!

[laudropb]

Nice report of a very productive session. I enjoyed the read.

[Paul73]

Great report.

Seeing also plays a big part in spotting the two moons. I have managed to bag them with a 10" and 200x under nice steady dry sky with a NELM of 5.5.

Other nights (ok - most nights).....nothing!

Paul

[estwing]

some nice targets there Paul...well done...

[Size9Hex]

Great report.

Seeing also plays a big part in spotting the two moons. I have managed to bag them with a 10" and 200x under nice steady dry sky with a NELM of 5.5.

Other nights (ok - most nights).....nothing!

Paul

Cool, thanks that's encouraging to know. Different experiences for different folks, but it sounds like I might at least have a bit of a chance. Seems the only definite rule is that you won't see something if you don't try!