Sirius & the Pup with 130mm

[John]

Yippee !

Nice steady seeing tonight that seems to be holding up

After catching Venus at 4.4% illumination earlier with the Tak 100 I put the TMB / LZOS 130 out to cool. Good results so far on Orion doubles. E&F trapezium clearly defined at 120x. Pressed harder and 32 and 52 Orionis both really well split at 240x. So much better than a few nights back when the seeing would not support more than 100x with the same scope !

Then on to Sirius. Up to tonight I've only been able to split this very challenging star with my 12" dob but the 130mm triplet really did it's stuff and "the Pup" star is clearly popping out for good periods at 300x and 240x. Great stuff - really pleased to get this with smaller, allbeit somewhat more expensive (!), aperture 

Hopefully the night will stay clear and steady right through until Jupiter shows up !

[nightfisher]

Well done John, i could see Sirius just lurking out of a cloud bank, but not time to set up as i have a grueling day tomorrow, by time 120 had cooled i would be in bed 

[John]

It continues to be good ..... Zeta Cancri / Tegmine triple beautifully showing at 343x. The stars seem perfectly defined and the 1.1 arc second split between the A & B stars seems almost easy 

 

[John]

15 minutes after my last post ..... a fog bank has rolled in from the Severn Estuary

I can see just a handful of stars towards the zenith now, nothing lower down at all.

Must have jinxed it by posting early on here !

[Saganite]

Pleased that you had such good seeing John, and congratulations. I set up my big refractor early on this evening in great anticipation, but here I am getting somewhere between 2&3 on the Astronomical Seeing and Transparency Scales, and I cannot pick out E&F, much less the Pup. I hope to fare better as the night wears on.

[John]

19 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Pleased that you had such good seeing John, and congratulations. I set up my big refractor early on this evening in great anticipation, but here I am getting somewhere between 2&3 on the Astronomical Seeing and Transparency Scales, and I cannot pick out E&F, much less the Pup. I hope to fare better as the night wears on.

Hope it improves for you Steve.

Still fogged out here......

 

[FenlandPaul]

Great stuff, John.  Just come in from a couple of fun hours in pretty steady skies.  Managed to grab the F-star for the first time in the Trap (E was really obvious) and tried for the Pup as well, but no joy this time round.  Doubles were well-suited to the calm atmosphere.  Bagged comet 41P T-G-K near Ursae Major's feet as well.

Early night now!

P

[jabeoo1]

Nice work John!  Great stuff.

[JOC]

I've been out too, clear as a bell since dusk.  However, I can't resolve Sirius enough to see the Pup (I did try and I have seen that nice picture that shows how small it is), neither can I get more than four stars out of the trapezium.  I've had 4 beautifully tonight - I've had the magnification way up and got superb separation between them, but I'm quite convinced there are no more stars in there.

[johnfosteruk]

Where are you blighters getting all this clear sky from????

Great report John, nice job with the 130.

[John]

9 minutes ago, JOC said:

I've been out too, clear as a bell since dusk.  However, I can't resolve Sirius enough to see the Pup (I did try and I have seen that nice picture that shows how small it is), neither can I get more than four stars out of the trapezium.  I've had 4 beautifully tonight - I've had the magnification way up and got superb separation between them, but I'm quite convinced there are no more stars in there.

E & F Trapezium are quite a challenge but certainly can be done with your scope. You seem to need to find the "right" eyepiece to pick them up. I find that 8mm or 7mm is often the "goldilocks" focal length with my scopes. Enough magnification but not too much. There are some fainter ones as well - G, H1, H2 and I.

Here is where to look for the E & F stars:

 

[John]

1 minute ago, johnfosteruk said:

Where are you blighters getting all this clear sky from????

Great report John, nice job with the 130.

Thanks John. I'm completely fogged out here now. No stars at all showing. I'll leave the scope out for a while just in case it clears but I'm not too hopefull.

Good while it lasted though

[FenlandPaul]

3 minutes ago, johnfosteruk said:

Where are you blighters getting all this clear sky from????

Great report John, nice job with the 130.

It's making up for the 10 weeks of murk and cloud!!

[johnfosteruk]

Just now, FenlandPaul said:

It's making up for the 10 weeks of murk and cloud!!

same here and it's still ongoing. 

tell a lie, had a clear night on Sunday, but that's it.

[jabeoo1]

Useful diagram direct from Wikipedia.  The next few years are excellent times to catch the Pup. 

[John]

Thanks James !

Two new terms for me there: Periapsis and Apoapsis

 

[jabeoo1]

4 minutes ago, John said:

Thanks James !

Two new terms for me there: Periapsis and Apoapsis

 

Imagine trying to split them at Periapsis ! You would need a bigger aperture Refractor John

[JOC]

Hi John, that's useful, so I've got to look off of the corners of the group to pick them up, I guess I'll have to look at that diagram and turn it around in my head to accommodate the back to front image that I pick up with my reflector.  I tried my new TV 8mm Plossl tonight, but it is going to take some practice to use it - it was almost as though I had to more accurately look into the small viewing lens in order to see through it.  Instead I went back to my favourite current combination of my new Meade Super Plossl 15mm in my cheap x2 Barlow.  That was what I got the really good split of the 4 stars out of and I think it my current best candidate to go after E and F, but it will certainly help now that I know where I need to be looking.

[jabeoo1]

1 minute ago, JOC said:

I tried my new TV 8mm Plossl tonight, but it is going to take some practice to use it - it was almost as though I had to more accurately look into the small viewing lens in order to see through it.  

JOC: try it on Jupiter later, an easier target to settle the eye on.  The eye relief is bearable with some practice. 

[John]

13 minutes ago, JOC said:

Hi John, that's useful, so I've got to look off of the corners of the group to pick them up, I guess I'll have to look at that diagram and turn it around in my head to accommodate the back to front image that I pick up with my reflector.  I tried my new TV 8mm Plossl tonight, but it is going to take some practice to use it - it was almost as though I had to more accurately look into the small viewing lens in order to see through it.  Instead I went back to my favourite current combination of my new Meade Super Plossl 15mm in my cheap x2 Barlow.  That was what I got the really good split of the 4 stars out of and I think it my current best candidate to go after E and F, but it will certainly help now that I know where I need to be looking.

E will be seen more easily than F. The proximity and brightness of the C star tends to make F rather shy !

[laudropb]

That was a good session while it lasted John. No such luck here. Clouds and rain.

[chiltonstar]

Sounds like the seeing (while it lasted) was Alpha + where you are John. Goodish here, but not excellent and rapidly deteriorating. Nice to watch the GRS creep across Jupiter though, it really is a nice colour at the moment.

Chris

[John]

59 minutes ago, chiltonstar said:

Sounds like the seeing (while it lasted) was Alpha + where you are John. Goodish here, but not excellent and rapidly deteriorating. Nice to watch the GRS creep across Jupiter though, it really is a nice colour at the moment.

Chris

I was hoping to observe Jupiter later Chris but it was not to be tonight. Glad you got some nice views of it though

Even though my session this evening was cut short by fog, the TMB / LZOS 130 gave me some glimpses of what it can do and my goodness that has whetted my appetite for more 

 

 

[Saganite]

The seeing did improve a little, but long after Sirius had disappeared behind a rooftop. Lovely views however of Jupiter at 95X  and 152X on Lunar, through the binoviewer, kept me happy until 1.30am.

[alan potts]

Well done John, Sirius is all about conditions as I have said before, I am helped too by the 11 degrees I am further south. I can only imagine in parts of the world where it appears overhead it is not that difficult as I have split the star a good few times with fairly low power below x100. 

Alan