Some Moon, Some Widefield Bliss, Some Problems!

[cloudsweeper]

Not been out there for a week, so when conditions looked favourable, I set up the ST120 for a change in order to enjoy the spectacular widefield views of the sky even if there is no particular target!

The Moon - a tad past first quarter - was low in the south.  I decided to concentrate on a small region near the terminator, namely the N-S close row of similarly-sized craters comprising Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel.  The first has a craterlet (Ammonius) to the NE of its plain, the second has a central peak, and the third has both of these features (with the craterlet E of centre).  The Moon as ever served as an indicator of seeing, showing it to be rather unsteady, but this didn't detract from the views at x60 and x100.

I then swung away from Luna, E towards Cassiopeia - and had to hang an old bath towel on the line to block the neighbour's living room light.  Got Ruchbah, the main stars of open cluster M103, and a nice tight triangle of stars about a quarter of a degree away from M103 all in the same 4 deg FOV with the ES 30/82.  That heavy EP caused a bit of slippage in the Crayford at higher altitudes, but the counterweight it demanded (made from a weighted plastic box strapped on with Velcro tape) served well.

Still at x20, who could resist the Double Cluster again?  The wide FOV also took in a distinct chain of stars stretching NE from C14, and terminating in a dense starfield - lovely!  I wanted to go on to the starfields of the Heart and Soul to the east (nebulosity or no!), but thick cloud had other ideas.

A most enjoyable 90 minutes!

Doug.

[Astro Imp]

Sounds lovely, there is so much to enjoy in and around Cassiopeia, C14 is always a WOW.

Thanks for posting and let's have some more clear skies.