A few reports from my holiday in Italy

[Piero]

Here's a collection of reports for my astro sessions when I was on holiday in Italy. No visit to the Dolomites this year, but still some nice session at home. Considering the amount of light pollution around Venice area, I must say that the sky was not as bad as light pollution maps show. To tell the truth, the abundance of trees and leaves in this season played a crucial role in reducing the effect of street lights. Clearly not a place for galaxy hunters, but for someone like me who is used to a 60mm refractor, the sight of some stars in the brightest globular clusters and the faint detection of some galaxy with a 200mm telescope reveals a lot of joy!  

 

Date 25/08/2016
Time 21:00-0:00
Lunar Phase Waning Crescent 39%
Temperature 24C (E 0 km/h)
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing
Transparency 5 - Clear
Darkness 19
Telescopes SW 200 F6

M11 Sct Opn CL 40x, 96x, 192x
Nice to observe. Many stars were visible. High powers supported.

M15 Peg Glob CL 40x, 96x, 192x
Fuzzy. No detail.

M2 Aqr Glob CL 40x, 96x, 192x
Resolved stars on the borders.

M72 Aqr Glob CL 40x, 96x
Almost invisible.

M34 Per Opn CL 40x, 96x
Great view.

M30 Cap Glob CL 96x
Visible but no granulation.

M31 And Galaxy 40x, 96x
Large nucleus at 96x.

M32 And Galaxy 40x, 96x
Obvious at 96x.

Uranus - Planet 40x, 96x, 192x, 266x
Grey disc. No feature.

Neptune - Planet 40x, 96x, 192x, 266x
Blue disc. No feature.

Gamma And Dbl Star 40x, 96x
Almaak.

 

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Date 26/08/2016
Time 21:00-23:00
Lunar Phase Waning Crescent 29%
Temperature 26C (E 0 km/h)
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing
Transparency 5 - Clear
Darkness 18.8
Telescopes SW 200 F6

M3 CVn Glob CL 96x, 192x
Resolved some star.

M5 Ser Glob CL 96x
Resolved some star.

M13 Her Glob CL 96x, 192x
Great view due to the high position in the sky. A few stars were resolved. Majestic at 192x.

M92 Her Glob CL 96x
Great view. Resolved a few stars.

Saturn - Planet 96x, 192x, 266x
Cassini division and equatorial belt were visible. Titan, Thetis and Rhea were also visible.

Mars - Planet 96x, 192x
Syrtis Major was detectable. Mars was around 10 arcsec now.

Venus - Jupiter - Planet 96x
Very low in the sky. The two planets were overlapped.

Alpha UMi Dbl Star 96x
Easy split. Nice.

Alpha UMa Dbl Star 96x
Easy split. Nice.

Gamma UMa Mlt Star 96x
Nice view.

 

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Date 28/08/2016
Time 21:00-23:00
Lunar Phase Waning Crescent 10%
Temperature 21C (E 0 km/h)
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing
Transparency 4 - Partly clear
Darkness 18.71
Telescopes SW 200 F6

M11 Sct Opn CL 96x, 192x
Wild duck cluster. I think I could identify the duck shape at 192x: stars make a contour of a duck shape. The right wing is quite distinct on the left.

M2 Aqr Glob CL 96x, 192x
Resolved some star.

NGC7009 Aqr Pln Neb 192x + OIII
Saturn nebula. Disk shape, ring with averted vision.

NGC6790 Aql Pln Neb 192x + OIII
Star shape. Brightness largely enhanced with OIII filter.

M22 Sgr Glob CL 96x, 192x
Granulation was detectable with direct vision.

Gamma Del Dbl Star 96x
Due to light pollution the two stars showed the same colour.

NGC6934 Del Glob CL 96x
No star was resolved. It appeared as a little cloud.

Gamma And Dbl Star 96x
Almaak.

M31 And Galaxy 40x
Core well visible. No other detail.

M32 And Galaxy 40x
Easily detectable.

NGC869/ 884 Per Opn CL 40x, 96x, 192x
The red star located between the two clusters was easily visible.Great view.

 

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Date 31/08/2016a
Time 0:10-1:40
Lunar Phase Waning Crescent 0%
Temperature 20C (E 8 km/h)
Seeing 2 - Slight undulations
Transparency 5 - Clear
Darkness 19.01
Telescopes SW 200 F6

Uranus - Planet 144x, 375x
Grey - green disk. No moon was detected.

Neptune - Planet 144x, 375x
Disk was distinct but no sign of Triton. Not sure if I manage to spot this faint moon.

M45 Tau Opn CL 96x
Superb!

M38 Aur Opn CL 96x
Stars nicely resolved.

M36 Aur Opn CL 96x
Stars nicely resolved.

Zeta Per Dbl Star 96x
Lovely double star. One faint, one bright. One of my favourite.

 

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Date 31/08/2016b
Time 21:00-1:00
Lunar Phase Waning Crescent 0%
Temperature 19C (E 0 km/h)
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing
Transparency 5 - Clear
Darkness 19.1
Telescopes SW 200 F6

M55 Sgr Glob CL 96x, 192x
Finally spot this globular clusters which is quite low even from here near Venice. Not an easy target under a light polluted sky. M75 is trivial in comparison. I reached this target from the teapot and from the arrow of 4 stars located between Capricorn and Sagittarius. The latter way was easier. The arrow is just in between M75 and M55 and is visible with the finder. M55 is very elusive from here: just detectable at 96x with averted vision, easier at 196x with direct vision. Only few faint stars were detected.

M75 Sgr Glob CL 96x
Some granulation was visible. The target was much easier than M55.

NGC6818 Sgr Pln Neb 96x, 192x +/- OIII
Little Gem nebula. It looked very good at 96x and 192x. An OIII improved noticeably at high power enhancing a kind of little ring.

NGC6822 Sgr Galaxy 96x, 192x
Barnard's Galaxy. Invisible.

M30 Cap Glob CL 96x
Some granulation was visible. Really nice!

M72 Aqr Glob CL 96x
Although not easy, M72 was still feasible (and much easier that M55!).

M2 Aqr Glob CL 96x
M2 was amazing showing a rich portion of stars.

M15 Peg Glob CL 96x, 192x
M15 was glorious! So many stars!

NGC7293 Aqr Pln Neb 96x, 192x +/- OIII
Helix nebula. Not sure I spotted this target. It appeared like a bright start with an OIII filter.

Neptune - Planet 144x, 375x
No moon was detectable.

Uranus - Planet 144x, 375x
No moon was detectable.

M33 Tri Galaxy 40x
Barely visible. Grey smudge.

 

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Date 02/09/2016
Time 12:00-12:45
Temperature 27C (NE 3 km/h)
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing
Transparency 5 - Clear
Telescopes Tele Vue 60 F6

Sun - Star 80x, 144x
Group of 8 medium size sunspots in the Southern hemisphere. Each of them was surrounded by penumbra region. Eyelashes in penumbra regions were visible at 80x and 144x. On a slightly separated group, a large facula was detectable.

 

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Date 07/09/2016
Time 0:30-2:40
Lunar Phase Waxing Crescent 33%
Temperature 19C (NE 10 km/h)
Seeing 2 - Slight undulations
Transparency 5 - Clear
Darkness 19.2
Telescopes SW 200 F6

NGC253 Scl Galaxy 96x, 192x
Sculptor galaxy. South of Beta Cet (Diphda). Invisible. sb: 13.42.

NGC288 Scl Glob CL 96x, 192x
South of Beta Cet (Diphda). Invisible. sb: 13.26.

NGC246 Cet Pln Neb 96x, 192x
Skull nebula. North of Beta Cet (Diphda). Invisible. sb: 14.38.

Ceres - Asteroid 96x, 192x
Dwarf planet. Quite bright. Not sure a disk was detectable at 192x or the increased shape was simply the effect of Airy disk.

M77 Cet Galaxy 96x
Cetus A. Clearly visible as a little cloud.

NGC1055 Cet Galaxy 96x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 12.90.

M33 Tri Galaxy 40x
Located near the zenith, it showed a large faint shape with undefined contour.

NGC536 And Galaxy 40x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 12.83.

NGC529 And Galaxy 40x
Fuzzy shape.

NGC513 And Galaxy 40x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 11.83.

NGC517 Psc Galaxy 40x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 12.50.

NGC499 Psc Galaxy 40x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 12.68.

NGC495 Psc Galaxy 40x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 13.04.

 

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Date 08/09/2016
Time 0:30-1:30
Lunar Phase Waxing Crescent 42%
Temperature 19C (NE 7 km/h)
Seeing 2 - Slight undulations
Transparency 5 - Clear
Darkness 19
Telescopes SW 200 F6

NGC410 Psc Galaxy 40x, 96x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 12.48.

NGC499 Psc Galaxy 40x, 96x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 12.68.

NGC513 And Galaxy 40x, 96x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 11.83.

NGC392 Psc Galaxy 40x, 96x
Fuzzy shape. sb: 12.21.

 

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Date 09/09/2016a
Time 0:30-1:30
Lunar Phase First Quarter 52%
Temperature 22C (NE 0 km/h)
Seeing 1 - Perfect seeing
Transparency 5 - Clear
Darkness 19
Telescopes SW 200 F6

NGC752 And Opn CL 40x, 96x
Wonderful open cluster near Gamma And (Almaak).

NGC890 Tri Galaxy 40x, 96x
Very faint.

NGC925 Tri Galaxy 40x, 96x
Very faint.

NGC969 Tri Galaxy 40x, 96x
Very faint.

NGC891 And Galaxy 40x, 96x
Very faint.

NGC956 And Opn CL 40x, 96x
Not very intersting. Few stars.

M34 Per Opn CL 40x, 96x
Spiral cluster. Lovely.

M36 Aur Opn CL 96x
Nice one at 2mm e.p.

M37 Aur Opn CL 96x
My favourite of the trio. Nice one at 2mm e.p.

M38 Aur Opn CL 96x
Nice one at 2mm e.p.

M77 Cet Galaxy 40x, 96x
Easily visible.

NGC1055 Cet Galaxy 40x, 96x
Faint.

M74 Psc Galaxy 40x, 96x
Invisible. sb: 14.13. I have no idea how Messier spotted this galaxy. Might he have spotted NGC660 instead?

NGC660 Psc Galaxy 40x, 96x
Faint.

 

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Date 09/09/2016b
Time 21:20-23:30
Lunar Phase First Quarter 52%
Temperature 23C (SSE 21 km/h)
Seeing 2 - Slight undulations
Transparency 5 - Clear
Darkness 18.8
Telescopes SW 200 F6

M13 Her Glob CL 96x
A bit difficult with the moon out. Some star were resolved.

Mel179 Oph Opn CL 96x
Summer Beehive cluster. Close to the Moon.

M57 Lyr Pln Neb 96x +/- OIII
Ring easily detectable.

M56 Lyr Opn CL 96x
Dense open cluster. I could not resolve the stars due to the Moon.

Saturn - Planet 96x, 192x
The seeing did not allow 192x. No Cassini division.

Mars - Planet 96x, 192x
Too small and low to see features.

Moon - Satellite 96x, 192x
Lovely view at 96x.
 

... and after these sessions I am seriously in love with Dobson telescopes!   Hope to manage to observe the sky again with it soon!  

 

[BGazing]

Great log, very detailed. I must admit I started skimming to M 15 Peg...saw 'no detail' and only then realized that it was SQM 19.  I know that kind of sky, 8 inch can punch through it, but with the results as reported.

 

[scarp15]

An interesting, varied and successful run of sessions with your dobsonian Piero. Keep going at the Helix, this object is large and of low surface brightness and (due to its low elevation in North UK) has often frustrated myself either because of low lying cloud cover or, depending on where I am observing, distant light dome.

[Stu]

Great set of reports Piero, nice to hear of you having some aperture at your disposal for once

One point, the Wild Duck Cluster is more named after the V shapes formed by flocks of flying ducks than after a single duck. It took me ages to finally 'get' the shape, but I do now. Images of it tend to show too many stars so you loose the distinctive V shapes.

Hopefully you will see this too when you next look at it.

[chiltonstar]

Che bello!

Chris

[FenlandPaul]

Great set of reports, Piero - you certainly packed it in when you were over there.  There's a nice variety of targets too.  Capturing Syrtis Major is a real achievement with Mars being the size it is right now - not sure I'd stand a chance of that from here at the moment, but that might be because it's so low down in the murk.  The seeing you had sounds enviable.

I'm sure you could find room for a dob somewhere here in the UK.  Those bike trailers that people put their children in come up for sale a lot so transport wouldn't be a problem..... 

[DHEB]

I also have no idea how Charles Messier managed to spot M74. It is so faint, and with his small 17th century scopes! Granted, he enjoyed much less light pollution, but also likely suffered from bad transparency arising from all cooking and heating home fires. In fact his report tells us of the difficulties:

October 18, 1780. 74. 1h 24m 57s (21d 14' 09") +14d 39' 35"
Méchain: (21d 17' 00") +14d 36' 00"
`Nebula without stars, near the star Eta Piscium, seen by M. Méchain at the end of September 1780, & he reports: "This nebula doesn't contain any stars; it is fairly large, very obscure, and extremely difficult to observe; one can recognize it with more certainty in fine, frosty conditions". M. Messier looked for it & found it, as M. Méchain describes it: it has been compared directly with the star Eta Piscium.'

From http://messier.seds.org/Mdes/dm074.html

[YKSE]

Very nice sessions you had there

Sky conditions you had are about as in my backyard, not optimal for faint fuzzies. Some interesting NGCs you've tried/bagged are on my hunting list in the coming weeks, such as 253, 288, 1055.

[Piero]

11 hours ago, Stu said:

Great set of reports Piero, nice to hear of you having some aperture at your disposal for once

One point, the Wild Duck Cluster is more named after the V shapes formed by flocks of flying ducks than after a single duck. It took me ages to finally 'get' the shape, but I do now. Images of it tend to show too many stars so you loose the distinctive V shapes.

Hopefully you will see this too when you next look at it.

Thanks Stu

That's interesting! I think I saw a big wild duck in the main V shape. Light pollution might likely have contributed in "shaping" this furthermore by hiding some faint stars.  

 

3 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

Great set of reports, Piero - you certainly packed it in when you were over there.  There's a nice variety of targets too.  Capturing Syrtis Major is a real achievement with Mars being the size it is right now - not sure I'd stand a chance of that from here at the moment, but that might be because it's so low down in the murk.  The seeing you had sounds enviable.

I'm sure you could find room for a dob somewhere here in the UK.  Those bike trailers that people put their children in come up for sale a lot so transport wouldn't be a problem..... 

Thanks Paul! Depending on a few things, I might get a car this winter. If so, a dob is on my list!  

 

 

2 hours ago, Cinco Sauces said:

I also have no idea how Charles Messier managed to spot M74. It is so faint, and with his small 17th century scopes! Granted, he enjoyed much less light pollution, but also likely suffered from bad transparency arising from all cooking and heating home fires. In fact his report tells us of the difficulties:

October 18, 1780. 74. 1h 24m 57s (21d 14' 09") +14d 39' 35"
Méchain: (21d 17' 00") +14d 36' 00"
`Nebula without stars, near the star Eta Piscium, seen by M. Méchain at the end of September 1780, & he reports: "This nebula doesn't contain any stars; it is fairly large, very obscure, and extremely difficult to observe; one can recognize it with more certainty in fine, frosty conditions". M. Messier looked for it & found it, as M. Méchain describes it: it has been compared directly with the star Eta Piscium.'

From http://messier.seds.org/Mdes/dm074.html

Indeed! I never spotted it with my 60mm under 20mag and using much better optics than they had. Assuming they really spotted it, either they had better eyes or their skies were noticeably darker than mine.  

[Tzitzis]

Wow you did exploit your time in Italy really well Piero! Great reports. Hoping for more to come!

[alan potts]

Nice book of reports Piero, you have been having the same clear skies we have had here though we really need rain as the water situation is not at all good.

Like yourself I find the Moon takes the shine off the globulars, don't do much for galaxies either, even the bright ones.

Alan

[Special K]

That's a fantastic tour de force Piero and you must have been well pleased with a big scope on Southern targets!  A fine mixture of all sorts of objects there. 

[Piero]

3 minutes ago, Special K said:

That's a fantastic tour de force Piero and you must have been well pleased with a big scope on Southern targets!  A fine mixture of all sorts of objects there. 

Thanks Kev!

It was a nice holiday indeed! Although almost three weeks I wish it were longer! Sometimes people miss their country!

[cotterless45]

Not me mate ! Given enough money I'd just keep going ,

lovely report, still pouring over the detail,

Nick.

[Davesellars]

Great way to spend your holiday!  Lots of clear nights and some really nice targets!  Many thanks for the report.

[mdstuart]

That NGC 253 is one of my nightmares. I could not see it last time...

It is supposed to be bright and a binocular object???

One to keep trying!

Mark

[YKSE]

2 hours ago, mdstuart said:

That NGC 253 is one of my nightmares. I could not see it last time...

It is supposed to be bright and a binocular object???

One to keep trying!

Mark

For us northerners, it's mostly likely because of it's low declination. its almost half-moon size should make it a binocular object for southerners.