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3 clear nights!

Littleguy80

By Littleguy80
in Observing - Discussion

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Littleguy80

Littleguy80

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If the forecast holds then I've got 3 consecutive evenings of stargazing ahead of me. Tomorrow night, I should be able to go to the dark site too :D Even better still, no moon! What's everyone planning on viewing? I should have the time to try some new targets!

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Hayduke27

Hayduke27

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I was out for a nice dark site session last night.  I got hooked on NGC 7331 and trying to spy all 4 of the satellite galaxies surrounding it.  I could see 2 for sure with averted vision, not sure I ever made out the other 2.  I also spend a considerable amount of time scoping M81+M82, two of my favorite galaxies to view.  M33 made a lovely target as well.

 

The blinking planetary nebula, the blue snowball nebula, and the cat's eye nebula also made nice targets.

 

I got a nice view of the M15 cluster as well!

 

Have fun out there under those clear skies!  Hope you get some great viewing in!

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Littleguy80

Littleguy80

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4 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Well Neil, I've just set the 8SE up, and am planning on a short session exploring a few doubles - an interesting class of targets I have not gone for very much over recent years (being a fan of clusters).

Doug.

Sounds fun, Doug :) Hitting a particular constellation for the doubles? Any clusters you'd recommend taking a look at?

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cloudsweeper

cloudsweeper

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Yes Neil - Cygnus, Lyra, and Hercules regions for doubles.  There are lots to choose from, some easier (and more attractive) than others.  We'll have to see.

Clusters? - again there are lots to choose from.  The Messier ones are of course well discussed.  You could try NGCs 6910 and  6871 in Cygnus, or NGCs 6823 and 6940 in Vulpecula.  NGC 7209 in Lacerta is another I was very pleased to linger on!

Have fun!

Doug.

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scarp15

scarp15

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Incredible, new moon and the forecast for here to presently is for three consecutive cold, clear sky evenings, almost hard to believe. Tonight looks particularly promising, it will be Friday or Saturday night before I can plan to hopefully get away for a dark sky trip and will most likely aim to continue where I had left off from last Saturday.

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mcrowle

mcrowle

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I've got hopes for tonight and Friday here in mid Cornwall :)

Unfortunately, the local youth club have had floodlights installed in their yard and left on throughout the hours of darkness (since Monday night anyway). The southern sky is now decidedly orange - like in the days of the old low-pressure sodium streetlights. On the plus side, they are not shining directly on my garden, and my deep sky filters should reduce the effect. An imaging session tonight should be informative!

Anyway, good luck everyone with whatever observing (or imaging) time you get over the coming nights! :) 

Regards, Mike.

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mcrowle

mcrowle

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Beautiful clear night here, too, after some early evening cloud :).

Fortunately those floodlights I mentioned were off by the time I started my (imaging) session at 9pm (they were still on when I got home at 7pm and had been so since Monday night). I now hope they'd been left on in error. 

Early start tomorrow - so won't be doing a lot more tonight, sadly.

Regards, Mike.

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Littleguy80

Littleguy80

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Night 1 was a great success. Started out with a couple of the clusters in Cygnus that Doug recommended, NGC6910 and NGC6871. Both made good viewing. NGC6910 has been in the eyepiece many times in the past but I'd never properly observed it until tonight. I enjoyed M76, the little dumbbell, as my next target. I went with the Astronomic UHC on the 8mm BST Starguider. Definitely benefited from time at the eyepiece with the nebulosity becoming more clearly defined showing the dumbbell shape. My wife had been texting me from the grocery store asking if I fancied anything for an evening snack. "Something sweet" was my reply. She arrived home, so I went in for my treat. I came indoors, feeling a little bit chilly, to find that she had bought me... ICE CREAM!!! Didn't warm me up but tasted good :) 

Back outside and straight onto M37 in Auriga. Such a dense cluster. More and more stars kept appearing as my eyes regained their dark adaption. I wore my eyepatch over my observing eye whilst I ate my ice cream to help maintain some dark adaption ;) I had a go at finding the nebula NGC1491 in Perseus. No luck though. I think I psyched myself out of finding it as I didn't feel confident to start with on this target. Every session, I'm currently viewing M33. I have an ambition to get a good view of the nebula NGC604 within M33. Nice views of the pinwheel galaxy again with the core becoming much brighter with averted vision. M81/M82 followed for some brighter galaxies. Took a closer look at M81 with the 12mm BST. I want to view this from my dark site and see if I can see the spiral arms on the galaxy. 

The Eskimo planetary nebula was a new target for me. A really lovely bright planetary. The Astronomik UHC and 8mm BST was the winning combination again. I also tried the Astronomik OIII which was still on when I moved onto my final target of the night, M42. I must not have tried the OIII on the Great Orion Nebula before because I was absolutely blown away with the view. So much bright and well defined nebulosity. The shape was clearly recognisable as the nebula I've seen in so many amazing photos. Really stunning. Came in after that, very happy with my haul. Here's hoping night 2 goes as well!

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Littleguy80

Littleguy80

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11 minutes ago, mcrowle said:

Packed up now, and just checked the forecast. Looks like that's the end of the clear nights. Just the one, here. Oh well, another time perhaps!

Forecast for Saturday looks good here. Tomorrow night is more questionable at the minute. Glad you made it out tonight though :) 

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Astro Imp

Astro Imp

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Good to hear you're enjoying yourself Neil.

Was out myself last night but started the evening with my neighbour's bedroom window to the east illuminating my viewing are, fortunately this was turned off around 20.00hrs. The transparency was poor here so concentrated on a few easy targets, doubles and brighter clusters.

Not looking good for tonight, it's gradually become cloudier as the day has progressed.

Good luck, hope you have a successful trip to your dark site.

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Littleguy80

Littleguy80

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25 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

Good to hear you're enjoying yourself Neil.

Was out myself last night but started the evening with my neighbour's bedroom window to the east illuminating my viewing are, fortunately this was turned off around 20.00hrs. The transparency was poor here so concentrated on a few easy targets, doubles and brighter clusters.

Not looking good for tonight, it's gradually become cloudier as the day has progressed.

Good luck, hope you have a successful trip to your dark site.

Thanks Alan. Was an excellent night. Glad you got out even if conditions weren't great. I had trouble with neighbour's lights so I got an observing hood. Really helps cut out all that unwanted light.

I'm looking at a lot of cloud right now though the forecast keeps saying it will be clear tonight. Fingers crossed it does clear out! 

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