First session with Sky Safari

[davyludo]

First observation report so please be gentle. Had a really good session last night and wanted to vent my excitement 

I knew I was going to get a couple of clear hours last night so I had been trying to make a rough plan.... which basically went, start in Lyra and work East. Really thourough planning! Still trying to learn the summer constellations, so wanted to spend a bit of time trying to pick them out.

I was using stellarium and the book "illustrated guide to astronomical wonders" to plan my session when I decided to look at sky safari on the Android app store....£6.49? I'll be having a copy of that thank you very much! I'm sure it was more when I last looked.

Anyway about 11.30 I went out with my ST102 on the AZ4...plonked it down and was ready to go. Love this about my setup...hope I get on with the mak when it arrives. Could easily make out the summer triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair - however eyes hadn't adjusted yet and couldn't really make out too many stars. So I aimed for Vega and off I went....

First stop was the double double, could easily see epsilon 1 and 2, but no hint of their individual companions. I'm still not really getting the hang of doubles....find it difficult to know how much mag to use. Tried the BST 3.2mm but it made all the stars really faint. I think it's too much for the little 102 and this eyepiece will probably only ever be used for moon and planets (I know I know, not what the short frac is for). Was nice to see the double double though, used my new Vixen SLV 15mm with BST Barlow and got nice separation. Really pleased with the BST Barlow.

Got brave and moved down to M57 (ring nebula) using sky safari to help me navigate. Really easy to spot which I was surprised about especially under light polluted skies. Again I used the SLV 15mm (with and without the barlow) and the nebula was clearly visible both times. I wouldn't say the barlow had much impact on brightness, which I was a bit surprised about. Overall I was pleased with what I could see.

Hopped my way over to M56, again sky safari really helped here - could make out a "smudge" where it was. Tried SLV 15mm and x-cel 9mm, which showed me something, however with the x-cel 5mm it pretty much disappeared. Globular clusters....meh.

Could start to see more stars now so popped the 25mm in, hopped over to Albireo and had a scan around Cygnus for a wee while. Beautiful. Then once I'd lost myself for a while I decided to carry on moving East to Vulpecula, where I looked at Brocchi's cluster, M27 (dumbbell nebula), NGC 6830 and NGC 6823 (also looked at M71 while i was in the area). Brocchi's cluster was nice with both the x-cel 25mm (framed well with black) and the SLV 15mm (very litter framing) - could clearly see the "coat hanger". Again I was pleasantly surprised at my views of M27 (using the 15mm) could clearly see it and feel that with proper dark skies this might be quite impressive with the ST102. Will definitely be revisiting M27 in the future.

Eyes were well adapted by this point and I could see the square in Pegasus (dont know the name of the asterism). So I moved over there and worked my way down the "legs" and eventually to M2 and M15. This changed my opinion of "meh" about globular clusters immediately. I couldn't make out individual stars, but could clearly see a bit more than just the smudges that were M56 and M71. Really really want to look at these again under proper dark skies as I feel I might JUST be able to resolve some of the outer stars. Was surprised at the size of them. Although I couldn't see much, I really enjoyed having my opinion of globular clusters being proved wrong.

Oh dear....it's almost 3am and I'm still plodding about my mum's garden, bathed in red light from my tablet. I sat for a few more minutes and just absorbed some of the constellations that were new to me....hmmmm, what does Pegasus meet with? I'll consult sky safari. Andromeda?! Just peaking over the roof I could make out the stars of the constellation (my views to the north and Easy are very restricted from my viewing spot).

Popped in the 25mm and went straight to Mirach, then worked up to M31 - which I have never seen before. Slightly underwhelmed, could easily make out the core but I think I expected to see more surrounding it. Need to find a better place to view north as at the moment my view north means looking over the whole of Edinburgh....so I think L.P. is just killing it. Went in search of M33 and was definitely in the right area because I was comparing view with Sky Safari....however it was completely invisible to me  oh well, went and grabbed NGC 752 to finish and then I packed up.

All in all I feel it was a really good session where I saw a lot and managed to practice star hopping and judging distances in my RACI finder. Found Sky Safari REALLY helpful and preferred it to using my pocket star atlas. Really easy to navigate around and I found that it really helped when I tweaked the bar that controls the magnitude of visible stars, until the stars I could see at the eye pieces matched those on the screen. I don't think I Would have seen this much if I'd just been using the good old paper method. Well worth the money and will be used a lot in the future!

 

[John]

Some good successes there. M33 is a toughie though. The magnitude figure is really misleading because the actuall surface brightness of this large extended object is much fainter, making it much more challenging to see in a scope than you think it ought to be.

If you saw the core of M31 you probably also saw the fuzzy spot of M32 close by. There is also the larger but fainter oval of M110 in the same low power field on the other side of M31 as well but that one is easily drowned out by light pollution.

It's great that you have found a tool to help you find objects though

 

 

[davyludo]

10 minutes ago, John said:

Some good successes there. M33 is a toughie though. The magnitude figure is really misleading because the actuall surface brightness of this large extended object is much fainter, making it much more challenging to see in a scope than you think it ought to be.

If you saw the core of M31 you probably also saw the fuzzy spot of M32 close by. There is also the larger but fainter oval of M110 in the same low power field on the other side of M31 as well but that one is easily drowned out by light pollution.

It's great that you have found a tool to help you find objects though

 

Yeah I realised after some reading that the magnitude of larger galaxies can be a bit misleading. It's fine.... I'll keep trying!

Unfortunately I didn't notice M32... bit of a school boy error there. Will need to revisit M31 and see if I can pick out M32.

I think I'll still use paper sky atlas as well, but I was definitely impressed with the ease of sky safari and the fact that I saw more and found things quicker. I find the pocket sky atlas a but difficult to see at night, text is just ever so slightly too small. Might get the jumbo version 

I've not tried GOTO yet, but for me, part of the enjoyment comes from finding my way around and trying to hunt things down.

[Paz]

Nice report and you covered a lot of ground in one night.Ive had sky safari for a while and i will secretly admit it has reduced the number if occasions where I take star maps out into the field. 

[Stu]

A good session and report Davy. I am a complete SkySafari convert, I find it much easier and more intuitive than maps, being able to scale things as you want and set the magnitudes to match your view is a great feature.

As said, surface brightness is a useful concept to get your head around. M31s magnitude is spread over a large area, but quite concentrated in the centre. That means you only really see the core when in light polluted areas. Under a dark sky you really start to see the full extent of it.

[Paul M]

Nice report. I'm an avid SkySafari fan too. Upgraded to 5 pro recently. 

I spent hour after hour, year after year for decades searching for M33 from my back garden and my first spotting of it was only a few years ago from my dark sky get-away in Cumbria with my 10 x 50's and I thought "how did I ever miss that!" 

Now I can't miss it from that site, still never spotted it from home. 

[chiltonstar]

Nice report! I like SkySafari, although I prefer to browse "real" paper charts indoors beforehand. I used my 7" tablet with SkySafari last night to starhop to a few doubles, the odd galaxy and to M76  which I haven't looked at for years (it seems much brighter now I have a larger scope....). I followed up with Neptune - it's great to get accurate moon positions for the planets which can really help with the id.

Chris

[davyludo]

1 hour ago, chiltonstar said:

Nice report! I like SkySafari, although I prefer to browse "real" paper charts indoors beforehand. I used my 7" tablet with SkySafari last night to starhop to a few doubles, the odd galaxy and to M76  which I haven't looked at for years (it seems much brighter now I have a larger scope....). I followed up with Neptune - it's great to get accurate moon positions for the planets which can really help with the id.

Chris

Hi Chris, I think I'll probably be the same - I like to still flick through a book and look at maps on paper. I'd like to make an effort to still use both....so that when the tablet isn't charged, or the zombie apocalypse happens, I still have the skills required to have a good night out under the stars! 

Interesting point about the positions of moons.... does sky safari also have the ability to show when the GRS is visible on Jupiter? Hmmm, going to look at that now.

[chiltonstar]

3 hours ago, davyludo said:

Hi Chris, I think I'll probably be the same - I like to still flick through a book and look at maps on paper. I'd like to make an effort to still use both....so that when the tablet isn't charged, or the zombie apocalypse happens, I still have the skills required to have a good night out under the stars! 

Interesting point about the positions of moons.... does sky safari also have the ability to show when the GRS is visible on Jupiter? Hmmm, going to look at that now.

Re GRS - certainly does!

Chris

[popeye85]

great report-sounds like one of those dream nights that are oh so rare in this country!

I used to have ss 4 on my phone before it decided to go for a swim of the end of the habour! ( I think I was close to fallowing it after telling the missus...)

I must say though I don't miss having it out with me and am more than happy with using the paper charts. As great a program as ss is, part of the magic of astronomy or me is getting away from technology and phones and gadgets in general and just admiring the heavens. thats just me though!

[John]

16 minutes ago, popeye85 said:

.... part of the magic of astronomy or me is getting away from technology and phones and gadgets in basic and just admiring the heavens. thats just me though!

Not just you

[mapstar]

4 hours ago, popeye85 said:

I must say though I don't miss having it out with me and am more than happy with using the paper charts. As great a program as ss is, part of the magic of astronomy or me is getting away from technology and phones and gadgets in general and just admiring the heavens. thats just me though!

Nice read but I totally agree with the above statement and nothing like getting away from screens and bright lights. 

[Stu]

5 hours ago, popeye85 said:

great report-sounds like one of those dream nights that are oh so rare in this country!

I used to have ss 4 on my phone before it decided to go for a swim of the end of the habour! ( I think I was close to fallowing it after telling the missus...)

I must say though I don't miss having it out with me and am more than happy with using the paper charts. As great a program as ss is, part of the magic of astronomy or me is getting away from technology and phones and gadgets in general and just admiring the heavens. thats just me though!

A huge part of me totally agrees with you in that statement, but SS adds so much pleasure and such an ability to find objects that it is something I still use regularly. With the red light and white point brightness modes turned down it is probably dimmer than a map with torch anyway.

[Paul73]

 Really enjoyed the report. There is nothing like a setup that you can just pick up, plonk down and observe!

Paul

PS. Don't forget to turn the brightness down on your tablet. Even in red light mode it effects your night vision a bit.

PSS. I couldn't be without SS either. Yes, paper maps are ??. I use a combination of paper and electronic when planning. But, it is electronic all the way in the field. I don't like getting my books damp!!

[davyludo]

6 hours ago, popeye85 said:

I must say though I don't miss having it out with me and am more than happy with using the paper charts. As great a program as ss is, part of the magic of astronomy or me is getting away from technology and phones and gadgets in general and just admiring the heavens. thats just me though!

I can totally inderstand that - thats partly why im reluctant to get a goto mount, as for me a lot of the enjoyment comes from trying to navigate my way to an object. I was just really surprised at how much I was able to get round and how easily I managed to find things. I struggle a bit to read my pocket sky atlas in the dark, and having the ability to zoom in and tweak visible magnitude was really handy. 

Like I said, I can totally understand that it's not for everyone. And I'm still going to make an effort to use both. Pocket sky atlas jumbo edition is on my Amazon wish list 

[Paul M]

I rarely use SS under the night sky. For me it's best use is as a virtual sky during these periods of perpetual cloud cover and for planning targets for when it's clear.

Even for star hopping I can check in doors, remember the star field and go out and find my target...hopefully!

Strange how I can remember quite long star hops but some days I can't remember why I'm stood in the kitchen.

[davyludo]

46 minutes ago, Paul M said:

I rarely use SS under the night sky. For me it's best use is as a virtual sky during these periods of perpetual cloud cover and for planning targets for when it's clear.

Even for star hopping I can check in doors, remember the star field and go out and find my target...hopefully!

Strange how I can remember quite long star hops but some days I can't remember why I'm stood in the kitchen.

Yeah, I can't remember what I had for breakfast so I have no hope in remembering star fields! 

Definitely good to use for planning sessions. I've seen a video on YouTube of a guy who took a panoramic shot of his back garden and imported is as his horizon back ground. This would be useful to help plan what's visible from your observing location. Might try and work out how to do this....