Pretty good haul of objects 02/03 January 2016

[John]

It's been a really nice, clear, cold night here and I've had one of my best sessions for a long time. The scope was my 12" dobsonian. Looking at my notes of the evening I'm amazed at the sheer variety of objects that I managed to see. Here is the list:

 

Solar System:

 

 

Venus @ approx 50% phase

Moon - nice crescent (naked eye)

Neptune - 2.3 arc second disk. Triton not spotted.

Mars - 5.7 arc second disk showed phase plus large dark marking = Mare Erythraeum perhaps ?

Uranus - 5.8 arc second disk. Titania and Oberon glimpsed with averted vision (mag 14 approx) at 450x

 

Pisces:

 

M 74 (galaxy)

 

Cetus:

 

M 77 (galaxy)

NGC 1055 (galaxy)

NGC 1087 (galaxy)

NGC 936 (galaxy)

 

Taurus:

 

M 45 + nebulosity around a couple of the brighter stars

Aldeberan and the Hyades (naked eye)

M 1 (Crab Nebula) good with no filter, better with UHC

 

Orion:

 

M 42 (Orion Nebula) Tons of it !!! and extended further with UHC

M 43 (nebula next door to M42)

A, B, C, D, E and F Trapezium stars

NGC 1977 (Running Man Nebula)

NGC 1981 (open cluster)

NGC 1980 (open cluster with nebulosity)

Rigel and 6.8 mag companion star Rigel B

Sigma Orionis - multiple star, 4 components observed

M 78 (nebula to N of Alnitak in Orions Belt)

NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula)

NGC 2023 (nebula around star HD 37903)

IC 434 (nebulous strip - very, very faint !) H-Beta helped a little with this

No Horsehead Nebula !!!

 

Ursa Major:

 

M 81 (galaxy - Bodes “Nebula”)

M 82 (Cigar Galaxy)

M 109 (galaxy)

M 96 (The Owl Nebula). UHC really boosts this one !!!

M108 (galaxy near the Owl Neb)

 

Gemini:

 

M35 (large open cluster)

NGC 2158 (open cluster in outskirts of M35)

NGC 2392 (Eskimo Nebula) excellent with no filter @ 318x. Inner core slightly more structured with UHC

 

Monoceros:

 

NGC 2237 (Rosette Nebula incorporating NGC’s 2237, 2238 and 2246) needs UHC to see the nebulosity and very low / wide EP.

NGC 2244 (open cluster in centre of Rosette Nebula)

NGC 2264 (Christmas Tree cluster) but no Cone Nebula

NGC 2261 (Hubbles Variable Nebula) good with UHC. Nice object, small but looks rather like some of the images.

Canis Major:

Sirius split and “Pup” star seen. Pentax XW 5mm @ 318x

 

 

Sorry about the font / format changes - the cut & paste from my notes had some odd effects !.

 

Anyway, I started this session at around 5:00 pm and finished at around half midnight. Definitely 7 1/2 hours well spent !

 

 

[Charic]

 weather here, windy and overcast.

 

[John]

13 minutes ago, Charic said:

 weather here, windy and overcast.

 

Sorry to hear that. I guess it will soon be the other way around and we will have the rubbish down here !

[Charic]

 now I'll  sleep better John.

[Chris]

Very productive session John  and 7.5 hours! You must have been frozen by the end! 

[alan potts]

Golly John what a list, we have stunning skies here at the moment, every night the same apart from midnight on NY eve when the fire works very quickly fogged everything. The trouble is it is firstly too dam cold at minus 14 and there is just too much snow down that has now frozen into a sheet of solid white stuff In can't clear. I have been out with the binos everynight for a while and the other night even took a glass of whisky out for a walk, by which time Triton was a naked eye object.

Alan.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Excellent session John - I spent just over 6 hours and covered some similar areas and I am pretty sure that I saw a dark notch where HH is located.

[John]

It was a long session but I have to confess that my observation site is about 2 metres to the N of french windows leading to a cozy dining room with supply of hot coffee and the occasional glass of Shiraz to keep me going !

@Mark: I suspected something where the HH is but I'm going to need more than that before I'm sure of the sighting. I'm starting to accept though that this will require a totally exceptional night (last night was A but not AAA+++) or an alternative location.

One of my New Years Resolutions was not to get obsessive about the hobby or any particular target - I'm going to get the maximum enjoyment and minimum frustration from it 

There were a few targets that I could not find / see last night but I didn't spend masss of time on them, just moved on to something else.

 

 

 

[alan potts]

35 minutes ago, John said:

It was a long session but I have to confess that my observation site is about 2 metres to the N of french windows leading to a cozy dining room with supply of hot coffee and the occasional glass of Shiraz to keep me going !

@Mark: I suspected something where the HH is but I'm going to need more than that before I'm sure of the sighting. I'm starting to accept though that this will require a totally exceptional night (last night was A but not AAA+++) or an alternative location.

One of my New Years Resolutions was not to get obsessive about the hobby or any particular target - I'm going to get the maximum enjoyment and minimum frustration from it 

There were a few targets that I could not find / see last night but I didn't spend masss of time on them, just moved on to something else.

 

 

 

John,

I consider that to be very good advice about obsessive behavior finding its way into ones sessions. I cast my mind back to when I was looking for the centre star of M57 and the hours upon hours I spent hunting it down. I now tend to think back and wonder with so many great skies wasted that it was a bit daft, I mean seeing it is hardly a life changing moment, I am sure the Horse's Head will be much the same.

Alan

 

[Moonshane]

Great night John. I have for similar reasons decided this year to concentrate most sessions on one or two objects and to make a sketch.

[scarp15]

Great session and yes similar encounter with M42 as you imply tons of it, nebulosity was immense with UHC and OIII filters.

[John]

4 hours ago, Moonshane said:

Great night John. I have for similar reasons decided this year to concentrate most sessions on one or two objects and to make a sketch.

I'm going to have sessions where I concentrate on just a few objects, or object types or a single constellation. I suspect "marathons" like the one I had last night will be the exception rather than the rule. The changeable weather often sees to that !

[FenlandPaul]

What a super session, John.  A lot of variety there.  I think marathon sessions simply come on those serendipitous evenings where transparency, seeing, alertness, comfort and frame of mind all converge; interestingly they rarely happen when they're planned that way!  I think the last one I had was around 18 months ago with a huge haul of galaxies (I think that coincided with a huge night for you as well).  

Thanks for writing it up.

Paul

[Size9Hex]

Fabulous report. I'd have lost all feeling in my toes being out in the frost that long. Sounds like it was worth it!

[jetstream]

Another great report John. Glad you are getting some good skies to view in. You know, picking a few objects and getting to know them well has many rewards, the Eskimo and Rosette are on my own list and never cease to amaze under skies such as yours, and then there's M42... you will see color (pink,red or orange) in it soon on top of the green.

Eagerly waiting more reports.