Dark site dust and gas

[Size9Hex]

My local spot isn't exactly super dark, having light domes in the west and particularly the south, but up near the zenith it's very good indeed. Last night was something special with the Milky Way becoming ever more spectacular as the city lights slowly turned off and the transparency improved.

The Cygnus Rift was there of course, and the Northern Coalsack, which normally seems to me like a gap in the Milky Way, appeared as a complete void in the universe. The sheer brightness of the entire rest of the sky showed it as a intriguing absence of everything. Never seen anything like it. Two dark bands (not void-like, but still dark) washed away on each side to form the wings of the Dark Swan constellation (the Rift being the neck). The brighter region around Gamma Cygni was cut with a large dark band and a couple of small dark notches. The bright NAN patch around Deneb was also cut through with dark bands. The dark Funnel Cloud beyond was very prominent, as was a large straight bright prominance reaching up into Cepheus. I've never seen the Milky Way stretch so far from side to side either; An absolutely enormous glowing region extending out into normally empty sky near the wing tips of Cygnus. So much to see.

Thrilled to pick up the Andromeda Galaxy M31 in naked eye direct vision. Couldn't help but gasp as I followed a long sweeping dust lane which brought the galaxy to life. More the M31 of images than the usual smudge! The lane was visible in the 24mm eyepiece but clearer in the 14mm. It was no thin hairline scratch as seen (or glimpsed) in other galaxies. The glow of the core ended abruptly across the side facing M110. This constituted one "bank" of the dark river that was the dust lane, with a super faint glow forming the distant opposite bank. I'll use this abrupt edge to the core again as the first step to seeing the dust lane before looking for the faint glow beyond. A quite odd observation too; The core appeared distinctly lop-sided, dropping down off axis on the opposite side from the dust lane. The DSS image shows this side of M31's core partially obscured by patchy dust. Although these patches weren't seen, I wonder if they may be the reason why this region appeared dimmer to me and caused the brighter region below here to appear more prominent and give the impression that the core was bent. Really cool :-)

The Triangulum Galaxy M33 was somewhat in the light dome from town, and I'm not sure I would call it in naked eye averted vision, but I placed the finder scope where I thought I'd glimpsed something... bang on target!

The North America Nebula was stupidly bright with UHC filter in the 24mm. Just a delight to cruise easily up and down the coast rather than needing to muster all my skill and cunning just to glimpse the thing! Florida, Mexico, a dark sweep through the south USA, brighting again towards the west coast. Hudson Bay and a dark splotch around the Great Lakes. The Pelican too, clearer than I've ever seen it. The 24mm misted up at this point and needed waving around in the air to clear it. I was evidently over excited with my eyeball pressed onto the lens!

The Veil stood out very clearly with no filter. The Eastern Veil a beautiful broomstick with the UHC filter in the 14mm. A dark region down the centre of the handle and wispy bristles behind. All set for a game of celestial quiditch! I think I caught the large bright triangle in the Central Veil, but I'm still learning my way round and this area was nowhere near as bright. The Western Veil, loaded heavily with impressive hooks, filaments and knotches.

The Gamma Cygni Nebula too, as two bright swathes of light with a dark pool between.

The Crescent Nebula, with the bright crescent (which is consistently visible from home in part, and fleetingly visible in full) sweeping round from the keystone shaped asterism, but also filled in with a fainter interior glow for an overall shape like a brain.

I recently wondered whether an eyepiece longer than my 24mm might help with some of these big nebulae, but my experience last night was often the opposite. The 14mm beat the 24mm on a number of occasions. Dark skies allowing more magnification before the contrast fizzles out perhaps?

Lovely to see the Coathanger pop out to the naked eye too, not just as a fuzzy shape, but as a proper coathanger shaped sparkle.

Finally, I had a really long go at the Pillars of Creation... Various EPs from 14mm to 4.7mm with and without filters. At various points I realised I was looking for something black on a black background. Backing off to 14mm unfiltered gave a brighter view, and I wondered if I glimpsed a shadow in the right location within the nebula. My confidence in this is extremely low indeed (definitely in the "not seen" category), but I had the feeling it was one of those targets that was almost there. I honestly don't know whether this is a feasible target in a 10" scope, but I'll certainly give it another go from a different site with a darker southern horizon. I'd love to see it one day.

Hope everyone else had some good skies too.

[laudropb]

A lovely report on one of those rare sessions where everything falls into place and makes it all worthwhile.

[Stu]

Yes, wow, sounds like you just had a night of superb transparency which come along every now and then! Glad you were there to enjoy it, fabulous report too.

[Davesellars]

Great report!  Must have been pretty dark to see M33 naked eye!   Many thanks for sharing the experience and some good objects observed.  Not sure what aperture is really needed to see the "Pillars" though...

[cotterless45]

Always enjoy your reports, feel as though I'm being whisked away to dark skies. Just one word stands out , "contrast". You can fight for it, but dark skies just keep giving,

Nick.

[Piero]

Another great report, Paul! Glad you spent a nice time out!

[Size9Hex]

3 hours ago, Davesellars said:

Must have been pretty dark to see M33 naked eye!   Not sure what aperture is really needed to see the "Pillars" though...

Thanks Dave! I'm undecided on M33 whether I glimpsed it or just got lucky on target. M31 in direct vision is a first for me though! For the Pillars, I'm really hoping 10" is enough. Should be fun finding out though :-)

[Size9Hex]

1 hour ago, cotterless45 said:

Always enjoy your reports, feel as though I'm being whisked away to dark skies. Just one word stands out , "contrast". You can fight for it, but dark skies just keep giving,

Nick.

Thanks Nick. Likewise your own reports. I'm just bimbling round enjoying whatever I happen to bump into! It's nice to read your reports from someone who really knows what's up there!

It's so true about the dark skies. Those tricky targets from home are just handed to you on a plate under rural sky. Even a couple miles up the road can make a big difference.

[alan potts]

A really nice report Paul, thanks for posting! I enjoy many a night with M33 last year and it too is naked eye from my garden on good nights but nights when it's is not so good it is a trial to see even with a scope.

Alan

[jetstream]

Great report Paul!

[Special K]

Very nice read, Paul!  There is something immensely satisfying to get good views of that dust and gas way out yonder!  The contrast question is a running experiment with EPs and filters and can differ from session to session in my limited experience. You've had some great results on those mentioned, and the trip to a darker site sounds worth it.