How is the sky over there?

[Piero]

It is nice and clear over here and the Tak is jumping inside his padded case, anxious to get some fresh air!  

Last night it was the same. The double cluster was visible naked eye. M31 was slightly detectable naked eye too. Here are the main targets I observed: 
- all the main open clusters south of Cassiopeia and Cygnus  [mainly docter]
- Albireo, M56, M27 (the line in the middle was easily visible), M71 [mainly docter]
- M11: the Nikon + barlow gave me a superb view. 
- the two large NGC open clusters east of 71-72 Oph  [35 Pan]
- M57: again, the nikon + barlow showed a lovely view 
- Veil nebula: no witch, no broom, slightly detectable central cascade of gas, BUT it's the first time I see the eastern side so well! there were ramifications everywhere, and that was great. I start liking this 35 Pan quite a lot. 
- M2, M15 [docter, nikon]

 

How is your sky after this rainy day? 

[John]

Cloudy, mainly, here tonight

Your list looks very good though

[Piero]

Thank you, John. 

I have to say that three targets completely exceeded my expectations: M11, M57, and the Veil (using OIII).

- M11. I expected many faint stars, but certainly didn't expect to see a so well defined global structure of the whole cluster. Also, I didn't expect to resolve so many stars! I went above 200x and the view was just stunning to my eye. 

- M57. Also this target took a lot of magnification. Even though no filter was used, some shade on the ring was detectable. Really interesting.

- Veil. The eastern side was intriguing with plenty of architecture to observe and study. Well worth spending many sessions on this! 

[Alan White]

Usual UK Piero, Cloud, with a few gaps and more cloud, the usual.

[ronin]

Cambridge was clear for a few hours Wednesday, cloud came in around 21:00, and same last night and tonight. Some moisture in the air tonight so not totally clear but reasonable. At least for Cambridge.

[Charic]

1 hour ago, Piero said:

How is your sky after this rainy day? 

Still raining (2215 BST)

[scarp15]

Sounds fabulous Piero, cloudy, occasional drizzle and generally cold here, quite a shock after spending nearly two weeks in NW Mallorca. Hoping it improves through early next week for a dark / transparent sky trip out and some challenging nebulae quests, such as sharpless 132, The Lion Nebula, large and faint emission in Cepheus a good one for a rich field scope I believe if you fancy a go.

[andrew63]

It was really nice here till after midnight - good enough to glimpse the expanse of the Eastern Veil also, unfiltered at x19.

 

andrew

[chiltonstar]

Cloudy.

Did have 10 mins of sky last night between showers though and as you found,  M31 was clearly visible naked eye, ditto the Double Cluster, although anything nearer the horizon such as the Triangular Galaxy was barely visible even through the bins.

Chris