Binocular Sky Newsletter, August 2017

[BinocularSky]

Your essential summer holiday reading, i.e. the August edition of the Binocular Sky Newsletter, is ready. As well as the usual overview of DSOs, variable and double stars, this month we have:

• Uranus and Neptune are available throughout the hours of darkness
• The Moon transiting the Hyades
• A lunar grazing occultation for southern England

(Also useful for users of small telescopes)

To grab your (free!) copy, or to subscribe (also free) and receive it monthly, please go to http://binocularsky.com and click on the 'Newsletter' tab.

[andrew63]

Some little gems there Steve. Don't forget this mag. 9 nova which could be visible in 15x70s.  

 

 

andrew

[BinocularSky]

Thanks, but it was announced after I'd finished the newsletter (which I had to do early, owing to impending broadband hiatus...)

[mattbee]

Thanks Steve. Nice to see Eddie's Coaster mentioned!

[BinocularSky]

2 minutes ago, mattbee said:

Thanks Steve. Nice to see Eddie's Coaster mentioned!

Also, Bob Mizon is putting it in the 2019 Stargazers' Almanac (which he's working on at the moment).

[SilverAstro]

Thank you Steve, very interesting as always. I have not yet read it all because I got fascinated by Eddie's asterism ( @Nyctimene may remember our discussion about another one some time ago )   and you say " you wont find it on any star charts ,, " Well I thought ! ,  after a bit of googling, he's right so we'll have to see about that lol! ( it is raining, again so what else to do  )

So if you if y'all look close inside Stellarium you'll be able to see this :-

but there is a teensy problem, some of Eddie's chosen stars have no HIP number so Stellarium constellation lines can not (yet?) be drawn to them - leading to a bit of a flatness in the ride

Perhaps I should be doing this in the Software section ? or in a new topic here to save messing up this one further   Does anyone want the details of how to mod. the "Lines" file in Stellarium ?

Anyway, nice one, thank you Eddie and Steve, it really stands out on the chart once getting one's eye in ! Now if only it would stop raining  , ,

 

[Nyctimene]

Thank you, Steve, and Silver Astro, for the hint! I've just looked up this asterism with SkySafari Pro, and it displays (in my eyes) more prominent than in Stellarium, and extending further to the east. Must give this a ride with the 10x50 Jenoptems; and I guess, once found, it cannot be made "unseen" any more, when visiting Cassiopeia (the same goes for the scope view of  the "Smiling Cyclops"  asterism in 869, the western cluster of the Double Cluster). One more fascinating target in this splendid constellation!

Here's a link to  a Sky and Telescope article about the "Smiling Cyclops" (3rd topic). Have fun!

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/hidden-gems-in-common-objects/

Stephan

 

[SilverAstro]

15 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

once found, it cannot be made "unseen" any more,

hahaa yes good point I had not thought of that - forever our eyes will be drawn to that bit of Cass., even if there is a cloud covering it 

[SilverAstro]

However : I tried to be a bit too clever by giving it a name in a names file, but managed to introduce a corruption that ended up with it being called Aquila ! (which is the first name in the names file, which is a significant coincidence-not !) and Aquila had no name at all so Eddie will have to wait a bit longer to see his name in lights lol!

[Nyctimene]

Last night, I spotted Eddie's Coaster through haze in an unexpected tiny cloud gap for half a minute with my 7x50 vintage Japanese "Pallas" bins. Enough time to show the asterism's lines quite clearly.  A nearby isosceles triangle of 5 mag stars (32 Cas, HR 342, HR 233 at the tip) just N was helping.

SkySafari displays  five open clusters along the coaster, giving occasion for fantasizing a little widefield scope scenery: westernmost King 16 (10.3 mag) as a father/helper, pushing the cart Berkeley 4 (10.6 mag) close by with children to the starting point; another cart, Berkeley 62 (9.3 mag), is bumping up with people enjoying the ride; to the east, cart No 4, NGC 559/C 8 (9.5 mag) has just finished the ride - and  below to the south, the last cart, Czernik 3 (9.9 mag), just had an accident and sprang off the rails..... I'll try to spot them all; they should be doable with the 80/400 frac and I hope they enrich observing Eddie's Coaster even more.

Have fun, and clear skies

Stephan

[BinocularSky]

22 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

 once found, it cannot be made "unseen" any more

Indeed so! Same goes for this :

Quote

when visiting Cassiopeia (the same goes for the scope view of  the "Smiling Cyclops"  asterism in 869,

I don't see a cyclops; I see the cyclops's "eye" as the nose of a bald old man, smiling, and  with a bit of a stubbly beard on the chin. Here's a crop from an image I took on film 20-odd years ago:

[SilverAstro]

I was not so fortunate last night, I got some cooperation from the clouds but either my eyes are not up to it (probable) or I need bigger binos (defo!) I was underwhelmed by the view in my 10x50 even though nelm was better than 4 not up to 5. Didnt have time to get the big scope anywhere near, the clouds closed in before I even got it out (++stars for binos)

I was also surprised at how light the sky was still at midnight thought someone said we were now in astro-dark ?

Will give it another go in the dark of winter, meanwhile anyone got some nx100 they dont want !!

[Nyctimene]

11 minutes ago, SilverAstro said:

I was also surprised at how light the sky was still at midnight thought someone said we were now in astro-dark ?

Well, the waxing gibbous moon, setting here 02h15min CEST, might have played it's part....

(I was observing at about 02h30min CEST, and the SW horizon still was lighted up). So I assume, that you don't have to wait until winter to spot the Coaster; spare your time then for looking at "Davis' Dog". By the way, what about the Blue Penguin - is it still pointed at the bird feeder...?

Stephan

[SilverAstro]

22 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

"Davis' Dog".

That was the name I was trying to remember thank you.

Ah! the moon ! lurking in the cloudy bit behind me, curses! I only had about 30% in the NE to play with.

It will be, that Penguin is safely packed away pro tem ready (she is not yet toddling ), but meanwhile I have acquired a second that was intended to be dismantled for its bits (*), which is just as well cos the dozy seller posted it to the wrong person (to one of her other purchasers!! would you believe !) badly packed so when it eventually got to me it was already part dismantled and the spider-arm twisted   but the mirrors and the eyepiece are intact and ready for a roundtuit.

(*) a lá Rudi? was it?

[Nyctimene]

1 hour ago, SilverAstro said:

(*) a lá Rudi? was it?

Yes, Rudi is his name.

Good luck with your DIY project; this poor penguin's guts will come to a better second life in caring expert's hands and will give you a nice widefield scope!

My Blue Penguin (a Skywatcher Infinity 76, for newcomers; tagged) is sitting obediently on a chair in the office room, and is giving now and then some neighbour's children a first look at the moon, together with the 80/400 frac.

Stephan

[Nyctimene]

This morning, 01h10min to 02h20 min I spotted Eddie's Coaster with the 80/400 FH frac at 20x.  Despite the bright moon (three days before full moon; NELM 5,0 mag), and partly clouded skies, the lines of the Coaster, now already familiar, could be seen easily. Two of the above mentioned accompanying open clusters, Berkeley 62 (9,3 mag) and NGC 559 (9,5 mag) were spotted using averted vision, and 50x mag (Baader Zoom 8mmf). Even with another vintage 8x40 bin, the asterism's lines were clearly defined, but very faint in the eastern part. So, I guess, in a moonless night with average or better transparency, the asterism can be seen with 8x30 bins.

A quick look at some Cassiopeia open clusters (M 103, Tr 1, NGC 654, 663, 457), the Double Cluster with the tiny "Cyclops" at 50x mag and the winter harbingers Pleiades, Hyades and, up from now, "Davis' Dog" finished the session.

Thanks for reading

Stephan

 

 

 

[andrew63]

It's nice and clear here. After a look at the nova - in a telescope I'd add as it's must be around mag. 9.5 now, I had a look at Cassiopeia with 10x50s.  In spite of the bright Moon I had a fine view of Eddie's Coaster which stood out well as a milky glow trailing under the brighter stars. The maps where a great guide thanks, will look even better under darker skies.

 

andrew