Playing amoung the lions and bears

[FenlandPaul]

It was a glorious Spring day here in Cambridgeshire and I'd spent a day off outside sorting out the sheds (how does it manage to take all day?!), with BBC promising a lovely clear night.  I got the dob and the AR127L out just before dinner and had found a place for my new pre-loved TV 11mm and 20mm Plossls in my eyepiece case.  Was looking forward to giving those a spin.

 

While it was still getting dark I spent some time with Jupiter, watching Io inching closer to the limb to disappear behind it.  This was a good opportunity to do some side by side comparisons between the AR127L and the dob, as well as between the TV glass and my budget Revelation plossls.  In both scopes, the equatorial belts were nice and dark, with some barge detail visible in the moments of clearer seeing.  The TV gave the better views but not by the margin I'd expected, at least in the AR127L.  That's a testament to the cheap Revelations really; I suppose the relatively slow frac is more forgiving than the fast dob.  In the AR127L, I couldn't get rid of a purply haze around the Jovian limb, which I found ruined the aesthetics but didn't detract from the detail that was visible.  In the dob I managed to push things to x272 using the 11mm TV and cheap x2 Barlow; the view was great, especially as I haven't collimated for a while.

 

I then wanted to try out the M81/82 star hop described by @ollypenrice  in a post the other day.  I plan to show the nice contrast between these two galaxies at Gazing on the Green in 10 days' time, but I've often struggled with the extension of the line from Phecda to Dubhe.  Anyway, despite the awkward "dob hole" altitude, the hop was really straightforward and I very quickly had this nice bright pair in the field of view, having first picked up a smudge in the finder.  

 

I tried sketching M82 at a reasonable power (x136) - first time I've ever hiked the power up on galaxies.  There seemed to be two brighter areas in the nucleus and the galaxy extended to the north significantly more than to the south.  The north seemed to be forked, though not sure if that is imagination.  By contrast M81 was relatively featureless; I always keep an eye out for the two foreground stars that formed a triangle with the supernova of 1993 or was it 1992?), which I remember hearing about on the Sky at Night Information line, which at those premium rates I used to record onto tape and replay several times to make sure I'd heard it all!!

 

Before moving away I took a look at NGC3077, also called The Garland, which I could just about fit into the same low power field of view as Bode's nebulae.  This was quite compact and round at x76, sitting nicely towards the bottom / thin end of a trapezium of brighter stars, the north-westermost of which is brighter and slightly orange.

 

I then pushed my luck on Coddington's Nebula, or IC2574, which should have been a short hop east of NGGC3077 past a neat triangle of stars.  Occasionally I thought I could see something in the space it should have occupied, but only fleetingly and never convincingly.  I think I was itching to get on to Leo!  But before I left the area I moved the dob away and then re-practiced the M81/82 star hop.  Bang on first time!

 

The Leo Triplet was next.  It's an easy hop down from Theta Leonis, via 73.  The view initially was a bit disappointing; it all seemed a lot fainter than I remembered.  It was this point I realised the sky had a slight haze to it and in fact it didn't seem to be fully dark, although that never really changed all the way up to 1am.  M66 was obviously rounder and M65 had a more pronounced nucleus.  NGC3628 was slender and faint.  I attempted a sketch at x46.  It was nice to start trying to sketch again, which I find really helps to pull out some detail but also consumes a lot of time.  I'm no artist, but I enjoy keeping a visual record as well as written.

 

Over to the "other" Leo triplet now, comprising M105, NGC3384 and NGC3389, which I hopped to from Regulus, via 52 Leonis and down a bit.  M105 and 3384 appeared as two brightish eyes in the darkness; 3389 was much fainter and appeared almost spirit-like, very ethereal.  The best view was at x76, when 3389 was slightly easier to see.  This nice tight triplet fits well into the field of view.  Tonight I preferred it to 65/66/3628.

 

Back to the dob hole now, and M101.  Amazingly I've never seen this, despite being an icon of the skies!  I think I've always been fooled by the low surface brightness and, like M33, I've just looked straight through it.  My star hop started at Mizar/Alcor and followed the wavy line formed by 81, 83, 84 and 86 UMa.  At x46 it seemed huge in the field, though initially very faint.  But the longer I looked the more obvious it became until it was quite obvious and I felt embarrassed for not seeing it before.  The large round blob was obviously brighter towards the core, but definitely not stellar at the centre.  Pleased to finally chalk this one up. 

 

Other side of Alkaid now, and a hop via 24 Uma to M51 and NGC5195.  These were two distinct round smudges with their own nuclei, and appeared to be joined although only with averted vision.  A nice view at x76, and with averted vision I am sure I could perceive a spiral nature to M51.  This impression remained even after looking away for a while and returning, so I am fairly sure it was real.  I wonder how easy others find the spiral arms in this jewel.

 

Finally, after all that faint fuzzy stuff I decided to give my eyes a break and I took a look at M13, just appearing through the branches of the leafless tree on the patio.  It was nice and bright and at x136 the brighter stars appeared to give a 3D effect against the backdrop of fainter stars.  It was resolvable right to the core and looked splendid.  I stared for a while, pondering what it must be like looking up from an earth orbiting one of the suns near the centre of this beast.  Quite a sight, I imagine.

 

By now I was tired and everything was dewing up at an alarming rate, so I called it a night.  Interestingly, after the first view of Jupiter I didn't return to the frac at all.  I suppose that's to be expected given my targets, but I find the mental gymnastics required to deal with the different field orientations, along with thee fact I find the dob just so intuitive whereas I'm still learning to slew the frac smoothly, just made me want to use a single scope.  Next time I will choose between the two, but not try both simultaneously.

[WobblySkipper]

A great read, very interesting. Thanks for posting.

Jim

[laudropb]

Very nice report. A most enjoyable read of a very productive session. Thanks for posting.

[Knighty2112]

Nice report. Spotted M65 & M66 the first time a few a few days ago. Where very clear in my scope, but couldn't see NGC3628 at all. Tried looking again at them last night, but the transparency was very poor, and could hardly make out either M65 or M66, so had an early night instead.  

[Stu]

Nice one Paul, a decent set of targets seen there. We were not so lucky with the weather here, clear but poor seeing and transparency ?

[Piero]

I really enjoyed breading your report Paul! Yesterday was a lovely day and evening in this area and I'm very glad that somebody from here managed a good session out!

 

[jetstream]

Very good report Paul, I like your description of M82- the fork is the end of the bigger spiral. Once your sky transparency comes together you will see the rest of it. This one presents the spirals a bit different than many. Great catch.

[Saganite]

Fine report Paul and I see what you mean by similarities to my observing. It seems we may have been lucky with the seeing, here in Cambridgeshire which to my mind was fairly good for most of the session. I take your point with regards to using one scope or other and I agree, there will be times when I will do the same, but I quite enjoy flitting from one scope to the other.

11 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

It was a glorious Spring day here in Cambridgeshire and I'd spent a day off outside sorting out the sheds (how does it manage to take all day?!), with BBC promising a lovely clear night.  I got the dob and the AR127L out just before dinner and had found a place for my new pre-loved TV 11mm and 20mm Plossls in my eyepiece case.  Was looking forward to giving those a spin.

 

While it was still getting dark I spent some time with Jupiter, watching Io inching closer to the limb to disappear behind it.  This was a good opportunity to do some side by side comparisons between the AR127L and the dob, as well as between the TV glass and my budget Revelation plossls.  In both scopes, the equatorial belts were nice and dark, with some barge detail visible in the moments of clearer seeing.  The TV gave the better views but not by the margin I'd expected, at least in the AR127L.  That's a testament to the cheap Revelations really; I suppose the relatively slow frac is more forgiving than the fast dob.  In the AR127L, I couldn't get rid of a purply haze around the Jovian limb, which I found ruined the aesthetics but didn't detract from the detail that was visible.  In the dob I managed to push things to x272 using the 11mm TV and cheap x2 Barlow; the view was great, especially as I haven't collimated for a while.

 

I then wanted to try out the M81/82 star hop described by @ollypenrice  in a post the other day.  I plan to show the nice contrast between these two galaxies at Gazing on the Green in 10 days' time, but I've often struggled with the extension of the line from Phecda to Dubhe.  Anyway, despite the awkward "dob hole" altitude, the hop was really straightforward and I very quickly had this nice bright pair in the field of view, having first picked up a smudge in the finder.  

 

I tried sketching M82 at a reasonable power (x136) - first time I've ever hiked the power up on galaxies.  There seemed to be two brighter areas in the nucleus and the galaxy extended to the north significantly more than to the south.  The north seemed to be forked, though not sure if that is imagination.  By contrast M81 was relatively featureless; I always keep an eye out for the two foreground stars that formed a triangle with the supernova of 1993 or was it 1992?), which I remember hearing about on the Sky at Night Information line, which at those premium rates I used to record onto tape and replay several times to make sure I'd heard it all!!

 

Before moving away I took a look at NGC3077, also called The Garland, which I could just about fit into the same low power field of view as Bode's nebulae.  This was quite compact and round at x76, sitting nicely towards the bottom / thin end of a trapezium of brighter stars, the north-westermost of which is brighter and slightly orange.

 

I then pushed my luck on Coddington's Nebula, or IC2574, which should have been a short hop east of NGGC3077 past a neat triangle of stars.  Occasionally I thought I could see something in the space it should have occupied, but only fleetingly and never convincingly.  I think I was itching to get on to Leo!  But before I left the area I moved the dob away and then re-practiced the M81/82 star hop.  Bang on first time!

 

The Leo Triplet was next.  It's an easy hop down from Theta Leonis, via 73.  The view initially was a bit disappointing; it all seemed a lot fainter than I remembered.  It was this point I realised the sky had a slight haze to it and in fact it didn't seem to be fully dark, although that never really changed all the way up to 1am.  M66 was obviously rounder and M65 had a more pronounced nucleus.  NGC3628 was slender and faint.  I attempted a sketch at x46.  It was nice to start trying to sketch again, which I find really helps to pull out some detail but also consumes a lot of time.  I'm no artist, but I enjoy keeping a visual record as well as written.

 

Over to the "other" Leo triplet now, comprising M105, NGC3384 and NGC3389, which I hopped to from Regulus, via 52 Leonis and down a bit.  M105 and 3384 appeared as two brightish eyes in the darkness; 3389 was much fainter and appeared almost spirit-like, very ethereal.  The best view was at x76, when 3389 was slightly easier to see.  This nice tight triplet fits well into the field of view.  Tonight I preferred it to 65/66/3628.

 

Back to the dob hole now, and M101.  Amazingly I've never seen this, despite being an icon of the skies!  I think I've always been fooled by the low surface brightness and, like M33, I've just looked straight through it.  My star hop started at Mizar/Alcor and followed the wavy line formed by 81, 83, 84 and 86 UMa.  At x46 it seemed huge in the field, though initially very faint.  But the longer I looked the more obvious it became until it was quite obvious and I felt embarrassed for not seeing it before.  The large round blob was obviously brighter towards the core, but definitely not stellar at the centre.  Pleased to finally chalk this one up. 

 

Other side of Alkaid now, and a hop via 24 Uma to M51 and NGC5195.  These were two distinct round smudges with their own nuclei, and appeared to be joined although only with averted vision.  A nice view at x76, and with averted vision I am sure I could perceive a spiral nature to M51.  This impression remained even after looking away for a while and returning, so I am fairly sure it was real.  I wonder how easy others find the spiral arms in this jewel.

 

Finally, after all that faint fuzzy stuff I decided to give my eyes a break and I took a look at M13, just appearing through the branches of the leafless tree on the patio.  It was nice and bright and at x136 the brighter stars appeared to give a 3D effect against the backdrop of fainter stars.  It was resolvable right to the core and looked splendid.  I stared for a while, pondering what it must be like looking up from an earth orbiting one of the suns near the centre of this beast.  Quite a sight, I imagine.

 

By now I was tired and everything was dewing up at an alarming rate, so I called it a night.  Interestingly, after the first view of Jupiter I didn't return to the frac at all.  I suppose that's to be expected given my targets, but I find the mental gymnastics required to deal with the different field orientations, along with thee fact I find the dob just so intuitive whereas I'm still learning to slew the frac smoothly, just made me want to use a single scope.  Next time I will choose between the two, but not try both simultaneously.