At one with the dob...

[Davesellars]

So.... approx 4 months after my last session observing DSOs and with the dob (the weather really has been that awful!), finally tonight it was clear at 10pm and luckily opposed the forecast and stayed clear until I finished at 3:30am.

First things first, a quick check over... and then stuck on the Rigel Quickfinder that has replaced the Telrad which saves me 380g on the front end.  Collimated and off to the races..

So the idea for the night was just to get a whole bunch of objects in...  get used to finding them with the alt/az movment of the dob and generally just have a blast around the universe.

Lined everything up on Jupiter and had a decent look but the scope was still cooling down.  Shifted over to M13 to see a massive riot of stars.  The 10mm Delos providing a stunning view of the cluster.

The from Vindiamatrix I rolled in to the Virgo Cluster with Sky Safari at hand went from one Messier to the next and a load of other NGCs as well.  Markarian's Chain was a breeze.  It struck me how easy the 12" was showing the non Messier galaxies - they were just popping up all over the place!

Leo's triplet showed well and especially NGC3628 which has before been a really tough target with the 8" showed a very large swathe - I can see now why this is so difficult with no real core brightness and well spread out.

I hopped over to M105 and easily saw its two companions.  M95 and 96. 

Then I covered M53 which resolved beautifully with a fine speckled mess of stars down the core.  M3 surprised me being small a reasonable core and some stars resolved at the outside but pretty much forgettable. M64 nice right the dark eye in the middle of the core defined well.

M81 annd M82 next.  M82 is stunning with the aperture.  A lovely mottled texture and clear dark lane slicing through the middle.  NGC3077 showed easily close by.

M97 the Owl Nebula showed a decent size patch of circular fuzz.  Very clear without a filter. Close by, M108 is tough but obvious.

M57 the Ring Nebula got a good look in. No colour but really nicely defined ring with the 10mm.

I spent a good amount of time with Jupiter with the 6mm Delos (250x) this magnification was perfect.  Colour still there and the GRS was transiting.  The seeing was OK but at times arrived a period of clarity for a few seconds or more showing outstanding detail in the clouds.  The North band was particularly interesting i thought even more so than the South which has the GRS.  On the north band I could easily see 3 dark patches equally spaced and large swirls encompassing these. fascinating.  Nice colour on the GRS and bands.  I was really pleased with the definition and sharpness showing at times as for me it showed that the mirror was performing well and the collimation was good.

At one time I had to deal with dew on the secondary.  I simply hooked round a 2" dew strip above the mirror and switched it on full.  In 10 mins it had cleared completely. I could do with a bit better solution that is permanent.  My site is particularly dewy....  the primary mirror stated dew free though the entire session.  Everything else was sopping wet by the end!

I had a quick glance at Saturn.  Far too low really but nice to see.   Scorpius also rising.  Wow is that time of year already?

So, an awesome time in the end and happy with getting to know the dob that little bit more.

[Knighty2112]

  Nice report Dave. Glad you had a good session with the dob at last again.  

[John]

Great report Dave

When you get "in the groove" with a 12" dob under dark skies it's totally engrossing. You can just move from one galaxy to the next and loose track of which is which. Virgo and Coma Berenices are swarming with the things !

Sounds like you had some great views of stuff within our galaxy as well !

This is why I have a 12" dob. I've some lovely fracs but they just can't immerse you in the wider universe in the way that a large aperture dob can under decently dark skies

[Davesellars]

Cheers guys.

yes, I've spent quite a bit of time before in Virgo / Coma with he 8" SCT I had... lots of galaxies appearing with 12" directly would not show before / difficult / averted vision and I don't think the transparency was particularly brilliant last night. Awesome.  Needs to spend a much more serous session or two for he Herchsel 400 objects...  at least I've got my eye in now.  

[estwing]

Nice haul Dave it's great when it just comes together 

[Mark at Beaufort]

A great report Dave. You can view so many DSOs with a well collimated 12" Dob.

[Davesellars]

Thanks!  Yeah, looks like the 12" was a good purchase and upgrade from the 8" SCT.  Really love the Delos eyepieces with it.  Jupiter was simply stunning.

Looks like we may get a run of nights this week.  So hopefully should be able to cover much better Virgo/Coma for the Herschel 400 that remain.

[Paul73]

Great write-up! It reminds us why we own Dobs! I had nearly forgotten too. High haze has prevented any proper Dobbing for ages.

Paul

[faulksy]

don't know how i missed this. what a great report dave. sounds like you have found your life partner keep it up

[Davesellars]

Thanks Mike!  Yep, last couple of sessions with the 12" have been pretty awesome!  Also loving the Delos eyepieces with it and just bought the 17.3mm from another member.  Amazed really how much difference the 12" upgrade has made from 8". Now there's no stopping me hunting down those faint DSOs!!! (...... apart from the clouds!)