A nice night out!

[Piero]

After a while I finally had a session out! 

It was a good evening with a quite stable seeing and basically moonless. I didn't plan anything and actually my idea was not to have a `hard-core` session. Eventually I had the surprise to spot M65-M66 in Leo and this using a high power eyepiece for the TV60. 

A short comment on eyepieces.. The Naglers T6 are really good eyepieces. If one also considers their size as a feature, well, they are little gems for a person not wearing spectacles I would say. Somehow it makes me wonder whether all our buying/selling extra equipment is actually due to the limited time that we can dedicate to this hobby because of the weather. Recently I have been thinking to replace my three Naglers with a pair of Delos eyepieces. I really should get a second hand one and compare it with my eye to see whether this replacement / investment is justified. After a session out like this one, if the real superiority of Delos eyepiece is mainly the longer eye relief and, let's say, 5% of optical improvement, I wonder whether contact lens could actually largely solve the problem for most of the people wearing spectacles. Possibly a silly thought, dunno.. 

 

Date 10/02/2016
Time 19:00-23:00
Location Cambridge, UK
Altitude 12m
Temperature 2C (W 13 km/h)
Seeing 2 - Slight undulations
Transparency 5 - Clear
Telescopes Tele Vue 60 F6
Eyepieces Panoptic 24, Nagler 13, Nagler 7, Nagler 3.5, PM2.5x
Filters  

M42 Ori Neb 28, 51x, 69x, 103x, 129x
Orion's Nebula. I saw this target through this session. Possibly the best view I had tonight was at 69x. I tried to spot E and F in the Trapezium, but did not succeed.

Beta Ori Dbl Star 28, 51x, 69x, 103x, 129x
Rigel. Airy discs visible at all magnifications. The dimmer companion was detectable at 51x with difficulty. At higher magnifications this was obvious instead.

NGC1662 Ori Opn CL 28x, 51x
Open cluster of medium-small size located on Orion's shield. It shape is similar to an m letter.

M25 Tau Opn CL 15x
Hyades. Large open cluster dominated by Alpha Tau (Aldebaran).

M45 Tau Opn CL 15x
Pleiades. Wonderful open cluster formed by blue young stars. I could not spot the reflection nebulosity near Merope.

Alpha CMa Dbl Star 15x
Sirius. Just a quick look at this bright star.

M41 CMa Opn CL 15, 28x
Located at South from Alpha CMa (Sirius), this is a nice medium size open cluster. Worth a look.

Eta CMa Star 28x
Alundra. South East from Sirus. White blue star.There is a companion, although this is not a real double star. Quite pretty.

M31 And Galaxy 28x
Andromeda galaxy. Just the core was visible due to the light pollution coming from Cambridge.

M65 Leo Galaxy 28x, 51x
Leo triplet. Star hopping from Theta Leo (Chertan). After 20 minutes spent observing HIP55262, the closest bright star, I managed with difficulty to spot M65 and M66 with averted vision at 28x. Both of them appeared as elongated faint objects. My thought was that more aperture was required for these targets or at least a far darker sky than my current one. Couterintuitively, I decided to increase the magnification at 51x (1.2mm exit pupil), and both M65 and M66 were more distinguishable than earlier. I moved slightly away from the area and then returned for 6 times. Every time I spot them. This was not straightforward, but it was much more feasible than at 28x. The third galaxy forming the Leo Triplet, NGC3628, was simply invisible. I never managed to spot this. Likely a darker sky is required.

M66 Leo Galaxy 28x, 51x
See M65.

M81 UMa Galaxy 28x, 51x
Bode Galaxy. After spotting the Leo Triplet, or better Leo Doublet, I was curious to apply a high-ish power eyepiece on this target. Already at 28x the view was very pretty. An oval shape was clearly visible via direct vision, and I also had the impression that its core was distinguishable as a bit brighter than the rest. At 51x, it was a very nice target. No really more detail in it, but the increase in magnification made the object just a hint more appreciable.

M82 UMa Galaxy 28x, 51x
Cigar Galaxy. As for M81. Its structure was clearly elongated although its shape reminded me of a rectangle. At 51x, the image was very suggestive.

Jupiter - Planet 69x, 103x, 129x
Four moons visible, two equatorial belts clearly distinct whereas other two belts at the poles were just detectable. No GRS spotted if present. Wonderful view at 129x. The moons still showed a reduced Airy disc, and the belts were well defined.

[jetstream]

Excellent report Piero!

Do you miss your dob yet?

[John]

Super report Piero

It's been a great night here as well tonight and I've managed the best session with my 12" dob I've had for months, very invigorating !

 

[Stu]

Nice one Piero. I managed a quick session too tonight but just with binos.

[FenlandPaul]

Nice report, Piero, and interesting comments on eyepieces.

I managed the first session of any length for weeks last night - a beautiful sky.  I'm in the midst of some challenging times at work and nothing clears your head like an evening at the eyepiece!!

Paul 

[cotterless45]

Super report mate. I was squeezing the most out of 90mm,

Nick.

[mdstuart]

Well done on those galaxies. High power does help on many galaxies even though as you say it seems counter intuitive.

That third galaxy in the Leo triplet has a low surface brightness. A dark sky is they key to spotting it.

Try ngc2903 in Leo sometime. It is one of the brightest non messier galaxies.

Mark

[Piero]

7 hours ago, jetstream said:

Excellent report Piero!

Do you miss your dob yet?

Aha! I do! Certainly for faint targets! 

On the other hand, it always surprises me how much a 60mm can show! I wish you could have seen with your eyes how Jupiter was beautiful last night at those 'low' magnifications! No false colour, but just a well defined clear image.

 

50 minutes ago, mdstuart said:

Well done on those galaxies. High power does help on many galaxies even though as you say it seems counter intuitive.

That third galaxy in the Leo triplet has a low surface brightness. A dark sky is they key to spotting it.

Try ngc2903 in Leo sometime. It is one of the brightest non messier galaxies.

Mark

Thank you Mark.

Noted! I will certainly try it! Trying to spot these faint lights with a small telescope is quite pedagogic I would say. Really a way to train the eyes, get confidence with eyepieces, learn dark adaptation at the eyepiece, and optimise the angle for the best averted vision.

I look forward to trying the target you suggested. Hopefully it is reachable under this moderately light polluted sky. Thanks again.

Piero

[laudropb]

Great report Piero. I agree that buying new equipment is directly proportional to the boredom of clouded skies.

[YKSE]

A very nice session Piero a somewhat bigger G&G scope should certainly bag much more galaxies with the larger image scale.

[Piero]

6 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

Nice report, Piero, and interesting comments on eyepieces.

I managed the first session of any length for weeks last night - a beautiful sky.  I'm in the midst of some challenging times at work and nothing clears your head like an evening at the eyepiece!!

Paul 

It is indeed! A proper night out observing the sky surrounded by Nature noise is so peaceful and refreshing that one can really feel better afterwards. Somehow, a natural anti-stress and pleasant therapy! Glad to read that this has worked out well for you! Wish you all the best with your job and that those difficulties will be sorted out soon. 

Piero

 

[Pondus]

I like Your reports. I also liked that you included observations of a single star in Your report. Unfortunately Aludra is below my horizon.

 

Rune

 

[alan potts]

Piero,

I can see I am going to have to pull my socks up, a realy superb piece of work and very nicely planned out, you write reports whereas I tend to write stories. When I lived in Hull my mate often telephoned and asked if I fancied a session but he was talking about a night round the pubs.

Keep it up and many thanks for taking the time to post it.

Alan

[Size9Hex]

Cracking stuff. Good to see you got out, and great to read about it.  My experience is limited as you know, but it seems like you're getting some challenging targets in the TV60. Well played.

[Piero]

2 hours ago, alan potts said:

Piero,

I can see I am going to have to pull my socks up, a realy superb piece of work and very nicely planned out, you write reports whereas I tend to write stories. When I lived in Hull my mate often telephoned and asked if I fancied a session but he was talking about a night round the pubs.

Keep it up and many thanks for taking the time to post it.

Alan

Thank you Alan

Your reports are excellent and certainly among the best here on SGL. Mine are possibly a bit more organised, but on the other hand I feel they don't express much feeling about what I see, whereas yours and those by other members do. Eventually I think it's about feeling and pleasure that each of us is looking for when observing. The ability to fluently express these emotions is very precious as it can have the effect to rise similar emotions in others. I do love reading your stories and technical reports. Besides the experience and knowledge contained in them, there is a pure description of the scene which vaguely reminds me the way A. Chekhov presented a picture: so real that a reader could almost feel to be there.

In my case I do not master English so well for such descriptions. I feel my reports would be very different if I wrote them in my native language. They will improve with a bit of time, but at the moment, I prefer to write them so, rather then using words or deep thoughts that I do not master or explain properly, sounding artificial or even silly. 

Hope you see your mate and have a pub evening when you go back to Hull sometimes! I find a night out in a pub with a friend very nice even if sometimes one can have 'a few' beers. It is certainly better than drinking alone.

[alan potts]

Peiro,

Thank you for the kind words, I've gone red

I find the different styles we have from the people that contribute is what makes SGL the Forum it is, long may it continue.

Alan

[Paul73]

Great writup as always.

It always amazes me what can be seen with a decent little scope and a bit of perseverance.

Don't forget to put details of the moon phase / height on your session conditions data at the start. Far more use than altitude.

Paul

[F15Rules]

On 11/02/2016 at 00:54, Piero said:

After a while I finally had a session out! 

It was a good evening with a quite stable seeing and basically moonless. I didn't plan anything and actually my idea was not to have a `hard-core` session. Eventually I had the surprise to spot M65-M66 in Leo and this using a high power eyepiece for the TV60. 

A short comment on eyepieces.. The Naglers T6 are really good eyepieces. If one also considers their size as a feature, well, they are little gems for a person not wearing spectacles I would say. Somehow it makes me wonder whether all our buying/selling extra equipment is actually due to the limited time that we can dedicate to this hobby because of the weather. Recently I have been thinking to replace my three Naglers with a pair of Delos eyepieces. I really should get a second hand one and compare it with my eye to see whether this replacement / investment is justified. After a session out like this one, if the real superiority of Delos eyepiece is mainly the longer eye relief and, let's say, 5% of optical improvement, I wonder whether contact lens could actually largely solve the problem for most of the people wearing spectacles. Possibly a silly thought, dunno.. 

 

Date 10/02/2016
Time 19:00-23:00
Location Cambridge, UK
Altitude 12m
Temperature 2C (W 13 km/h)
Seeing 2 - Slight undulations
Transparency 5 - Clear
Telescopes Tele Vue 60 F6
Eyepieces Panoptic 24, Nagler 13, Nagler 7, Nagler 3.5, PM2.5x
Filters  

M42 Ori Neb 28, 51x, 69x, 103x, 129x
Orion's Nebula. I saw this target through this session. Possibly the best view I had tonight was at 69x. I tried to spot E and F in the Trapezium, but did not succeed.

Beta Ori Dbl Star 28, 51x, 69x, 103x, 129x
Rigel. Airy discs visible at all magnifications. The dimmer companion was detectable at 51x with difficulty. At higher magnifications this was obvious instead.

NGC1662 Ori Opn CL 28x, 51x
Open cluster of medium-small size located on Orion's shield. It shape is similar to an m letter.

M25 Tau Opn CL 15x
Hyades. Large open cluster dominated by Alpha Tau (Aldebaran).

M45 Tau Opn CL 15x
Pleiades. Wonderful open cluster formed by blue young stars. I could not spot the reflection nebulosity near Merope.

Alpha CMa Dbl Star 15x
Sirius. Just a quick look at this bright star.

M41 CMa Opn CL 15, 28x
Located at South from Alpha CMa (Sirius), this is a nice medium size open cluster. Worth a look.

Eta CMa Star 28x
Alundra. South East from Sirus. White blue star.There is a companion, although this is not a real double star. Quite pretty.

M31 And Galaxy 28x
Andromeda galaxy. Just the core was visible due to the light pollution coming from Cambridge.

M65 Leo Galaxy 28x, 51x
Leo triplet. Star hopping from Theta Leo (Chertan). After 20 minutes spent observing HIP55262, the closest bright star, I managed with difficulty to spot M65 and M66 with averted vision at 28x. Both of them appeared as elongated faint objects. My thought was that more aperture was required for these targets or at least a far darker sky than my current one. Couterintuitively, I decided to increase the magnification at 51x (1.2mm exit pupil), and both M65 and M66 were more distinguishable than earlier. I moved slightly away from the area and then returned for 6 times. Every time I spot them. This was not straightforward, but it was much more feasible than at 28x. The third galaxy forming the Leo Triplet, NGC3628, was simply invisible. I never managed to spot this. Likely a darker sky is required.

M66 Leo Galaxy 28x, 51x
See M65.

M81 UMa Galaxy 28x, 51x
Bode Galaxy. After spotting the Leo Triplet, or better Leo Doublet, I was curious to apply a high-ish power eyepiece on this target. Already at 28x the view was very pretty. An oval shape was clearly visible via direct vision, and I also had the impression that its core was distinguishable as a bit brighter than the rest. At 51x, it was a very nice target. No really more detail in it, but the increase in magnification made the object just a hint more appreciable.

M82 UMa Galaxy 28x, 51x
Cigar Galaxy. As for M81. Its structure was clearly elongated although its shape reminded me of a rectangle. At 51x, the image was very suggestive.

Jupiter - Planet 69x, 103x, 129x
Four moons visible, two equatorial belts clearly distinct whereas other two belts at the poles were just detectable. No GRS spotted if present. Wonderful view at 129x. The moons still showed a reduced Airy disc, and the belts were well defined.

Superb report, Piero, thanks for sharing that!:-)

 

Dave

[chiltonstar]

Great report! Fantastic that we've had a couple of decent nights at last to catch up on our night-sky fix after all the rain and cloud. I had my new 180 Mak set up alongside my little ED80 until the frost started to form on the front optics!

Chris

[Piero]

1 hour ago, Paul73 said:

Great writup as always.

It always amazes me what can be seen with a decent little scope and a bit of perseverance.

Don't forget to put details of the moon phase / height on your session conditions data at the start. Far more use than altitude.

Paul

Very good advise! You are right! I will add it to AstroJournal as soon as I can. Thanks!

[Special K]

Nice one Piero!  Lovely report. We got 2 nights of pretty darn good weather at last.  I had a bash at the Leo Triplet as well and came home with only two again, with the 6".