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Magnificent Veil Nebula and Milky Way

GavStar

By GavStar
in Observing - Reports

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GavStar

GavStar

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I'm back on the Isle of Wight and am again having one of my best ever observing nights. Getting a bit more used to the 'too many stars' view I get here!

Since I started the astronomy hobby in 2013 I've effectively just focused on winter observing - what a mistake! Summer is much more comfortable to view given the nice temperatures and some lovely new objects are now on my radar.

Given my lumicon oiii thread I decided to give this filter a whirl for the first time. Target - the Veil Nebula. So with the Tak FC100DF, ethos 17mm and oiii filter I lined up to broadly where the veil should be and BANG there the eastern section was covering the full fov of the ethos. Amazing milky curve through the eyepiece. Went westwards and the western section was less clear but still very visible. And this was without much dark adaption of my eyes. After a few minutes more of the Nebula gradually appeared and a bit of averted vision helped even more.

After a while I stepped back from the eyepiece and just looked up at the sky. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that for the first time in my life I realised I was seeing the Milky Way spread across the night sky. Just wonderful...

The only problem is that the views tonight and previously on the iow are just indicating to me that observing in London (as I normally do) seems a little pointless.

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GavStar

GavStar

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Just keeps on going. Turned to Andromeda. Nice bright oval with a long swath of light either side. I've never got anything other than a small fuzzy ball in London. M32 and M110 clearly visible as well. Also viewed the whirlpool galaxy for the first time but I was a bit underwhelmed with this one tonight - quite faint with no real structure. 

The Tak is giving me lovely views but I'm itching to get one of my bigger fracs down here. Might need to do some negotiating with the missus!!!

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Stu

Stu

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Great stuff Gavin, sounds fabulous. I love the widefield views of the Veil under a dark sky.

Have you tried for the North America Nebula? That's another corker, might need a 31 Nag for that :).

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Stu

Stu

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3 hours ago, Gavster said:

Since I started the astronomy hobby in 2013 I've effectively just focused on winter observing - what a mistake! Summer is much more comfortable to view given the nice temperatures and some lovely new objects are now on my radar.

My favourite time of year is late summer when the MilkyWay runs overhead at a good time of the evening, there is decent darkness and the targets in Cygnus are well placed. The Cygnus rift also looks fab naked eye from a dark site, should be great down there.

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cotterless45

cotterless45

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Super report, everyone should experience pristine dark sky and too many stars ! Not only is star hopping so easy,  but the views are sublime. Don't fret about coming back to light pollution, just adapt your observing to acheivable targets,Nick.IMG_4841.thumb.JPG.f9566013b0f6e03dd2f104c1b279c592.JPG

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GavStar

GavStar

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3 hours ago, Stu said:

Great stuff Gavin, sounds fabulous. I love the widefield views of the Veil under a dark sky.

Have you tried for the North America Nebula? That's another corker, might need a 31 Nag for that :).

Not yet Stu. I'll add it to the iow viewing list!

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laudropb

laudropb

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Lovely report Gavin. Truely dark skies really do make all the difference. I was lucky enough to have 6 nights of large dark skies at Confolens in France earlier this year. The skies were so stunning that a spent much of my time just sitting back in a comfy chair observing with a pair of bins and my mark 1 eyeballs..

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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10 hours ago, Gavster said:

 

The only problem is that the views tonight and previously on the iow are just indicating to me that observing in London (as I normally do) seems a little pointless.

Well, you'll get no argument from me on this one ;) 

There are some places on the south downs that are not bad. It's cheaper than going to the IOW for a quick dark sky fix :thumbright: Dunno where you are in S.London but it takes me around an hour and a quarter from Sutton to the downs ;)

 

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Stu

Stu

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2 hours ago, swamp thing said:

Well, you'll get no argument from me on this one ;) 

There are some places on the south downs that are not bad. It's cheaper than going to the IOW for a quick dark sky fix :thumbright: Dunno where you are in S.London but it takes me around an hour and a quarter from Sutton to the downs ;)

 

I'm really trying to get my group to the South Downs late summer and Autumn Steve, welcome to join us if you fancy.

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GavStar

GavStar

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5 hours ago, swamp thing said:

Well, you'll get no argument from me on this one ;) 

There are some places on the south downs that are not bad. It's cheaper than going to the IOW for a quick dark sky fix :thumbright: Dunno where you are in S.London but it takes me around an hour and a quarter from Sutton to the downs ;)

 

Fortunately we have a house on the south coast of the Isle of Wight which makes it cheap to visit and I can be in bed within 5 minutes of packing up since the garden has a good aspect for viewing.

It's been a great day today on the beach and swimming in the sea with my daughters.

However, I hope to join Stu on his South Downs trip - I've certainly got a taste for dark sites now!

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bish

bish

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You can't beat the veil. I can just make it out from my orange sky back garden with an LP filter, but it's better with the Oiii.  Decent scope and a dark sky it has to be one of the best targets.

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Stu

Stu

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1 hour ago, estwing said:

Exmoor any good?

Yep, it's great in places. I think the southern part of the Isle of Wight is pretty good but expensive to get to. Any place outside the towns on the South Coast gives you a great sea horizon to the South.

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