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A cluster of globulars

Ags

By Ags
in Observing - Reports

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Ags

Ags

Posted
Posted

It was the first clear non-full-moon night since getting my new scope (150mm f5 newt) so I went looking for some fuzzy stuff. The gibbous Moon wasn't showing but  it must have been lurking behind some trees. Without the aid of electronics I found M13 (very easy), M3 (quite hard) and M92 (quite easy). 

The sky was quite white tonight so I could not see half the stars I had hoped to use for locating the objects. I overcame this with a bit of patience and systematic spiraling searches made possible with the slo-mo controls on the ES Twilight I mount. The 2.2° field of view of my 24mm hyperion helps too! I'm thinking about getting a 32mm Erfle which would show 3° of sky to improve these fumbling but ever-hopeful searches.

The globulars were all obvious at 31x in my Hyperion 24mm. At 80x in my 9.4mm Speer Waler they were partially resolved into stars giving a very satisfying view, while at 125x their structure was apparent with averted vision.

While viewing Jupiter I noticed that the planet was sharp on one limb but smeared on the other side (the top edge of the planet I think). I could correct this by putting the planet at the edge of the FOV so that coma would smear in the opposite direction. I've checked collimation so I don't think that's the issue. Also the scope was properly cooled. Perhaps the focusser is out of alignment? Perhaps the eyepiece has an issue?

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cloudsweeper

cloudsweeper

Posted
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Good report!  I too set out to spot half a dozen globs, but lack of sky darkness and poor transparency resulted in just three fuzzy patches (M3, 5, 13).  

Sombrero Galaxy - nearby star pattern spot on, but not a hint of the galaxy itself for the same reasons.

Not one of my better sessions, but that's the nature of the hobby!

Doug.

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Knighty2112

Knighty2112

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Nice report. :) I was looking at some globs last night too. Saw the usual supspects very easily, so wandered through a few more which came up well in my C8. Tried for a few galaxies too (Makarians chain, Leo triplet etc), along with Bodes and Whirlpool and was surprised that they popped out as good as they did as I thought the conditions were not that great.  

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Ags

Ags

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@Davesellars, I was using a TS Planetary HR 6mm @ 125x. It's a TMB Planetary clone if you are not familiar with it. The eyepiece seems to struggle at F5 and I want a little more mag so I am looking at an ES4.7mm purchase.

@faulksy, M5 is impossible from my site unfortunately. I tried a couple of NGC globs too but could not locate them. I'll try on a darker night where i can see more reference stars.

Based on my non-goto efforts so far, I'm pleased I went for widefieldness (150mm F5 on tripod) over aperture (200mm F6 dob) as the narrower field of the dob would have made finding objects much harder. Also the slo mo controls on my mount let me do very systematic scans, while with a dob I would just be nudging about hopefully.

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Stu

Stu

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35 minutes ago, estwing said:

can get it from Elan....its the clouds that stop me, Salisbury plain has been thrown into the hat...

Why not hit the coast? Low horizon, observing out over the sea...

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celestron8g8

celestron8g8

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Enjoyed your report , sounds like you had a good viewing time . During the summer when Scorpio was in good view I like viewing M107 , M80 , M4 , M19 and M62 as well as M22 . Some other nice targets are that are a big challenge are M54 , M69 and M70 in Sagittarius , between the bottom two stars of the Teacup . They are tiny but really neat to see !

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