Jump to content

Nice, but chilly, Astro haul 28th December

Knighty2112

By Knighty2112
in Observing - Reports

Recommended Posts

Knighty2112

Knighty2112

Posted
Posted

Got my C8 SCT out last night on my 8SE goto mount, and managed to get the 3 star alignment required in Skysafari to pass OK. Not sure why it never worked the previous night at all, but I did use the moon as one of the alignment points then, so most likely that was the problem I think. The following are some of the Astro goodies I managed to haul in using my Celestron X-Cel 18mm EP in my C8 SCT;

Uranus - despite the moon close by the planet was showing a nice colour, and the planets disk was easy to make out.

Neptune - lower down in the murk, but still easy to pick out & locate. 

M77 (Cetus A) - with the moon out I wasn’t expecting to see this as easily as I did.

Mesarthim (gamma Arietis) - lovely double picked out easily in my EP.

Blue Snowball (Aries) - planetary showing nicely, again despite the moon glow.

Eskimo nebula (Gemini) - easily picked out and showing well.

NGC2371 - tried for this other fainter planetary in Gemini too and could just make it out even with direct vision.

Bodes (Ursa Major) - Both M81 & 82 were easily seen despite the glare from the moon.

NGC3077 (Ursa Major) - just seen (best with averted vision) just under 1 degree away from M81.

Rigel - made out the fainter double at magnitude 6.3, but with the glare from Rigel seemed very faint indeed.

Starfish & Pinwheel clusters (Auriga) - always nice to view these clusters at any time.

M42 (Orion) - first view of this wasn’t too good, so viewed it again later on when higher up and sky conditions were better, and the view was much better. Nebulosity and Trapezium easy to see even without any filters.

Mirach’s ghost ((NGC404) Andromeda) - wasn’t expecting to see this with the moon out, but could just make out its ghostly form in the glare from Mirach OK.

Cat’s eye nebula (Cygnus) - planetary easy too see. Not quite as bright with the glow from the moon, but still easy to make out.

Flora (Gemini) - revisit to an asteroid first seen a few months back. Easy to make out with the help of Skysafari, so very obvious where it was in the FOV.

Iris (Aries) - again, another asteroid easy to find in the star field with the help of Skysafari.

To finish off my observing session I took a few minutes to blind myself looking at the moon! Hehe!

There were also a few more double stars I viewed, but I wasn’t taking notes so can’t remember which ones they were ( slap my wrist!), and there was also another NGC galaxy I noticed too, but again can’t remember which one that was either. 

Either way I was out for just under 2 hours and was happy with my haul for the chilly night. For 2018 I intend to do much more double star work, so must learn to log things I see fully with my notes! ;) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stu

Stu

Posted
Posted

A nice haul there Knighty. The transparency has been good lately so DSO views have held up despite the moon's glare.

I caught Uranus too the other night, a very nice clear disk at x200 ish in the Tak.

I've also been guilty of forgetting some targets; I caught a lovely 1.9" double at around 7 ish mag which split beautifully but I've forgotten what it was! Must try harder :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Knighty2112

Knighty2112

Posted
  • Author
Posted
1 minute ago, Stu said:

A nice haul there Knighty. The transparency has been good lately so DSO views have held up despite the moon's glare.

I caught Uranus too the other night, a very nice clear disk at x200 ish in the Tak.

I've also been guilty of forgetting some targets; I caught a lovely 1.9" double at around 7 ish mag which split beautifully but I've forgotten what it was! Must try harder :) 

Yeah, very surprised with the transparency last night. Hoping for more clear skies soon to get my Astro mojo back for 2018! :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Knighty2112

Knighty2112

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, Hayduke27 said:

Nice report!  Funny how one quick look at the moon can totally pucker the pupils! After staring into the deep sky, that darn moon is like staring at the sun! :p 

Yep! That’s why I saved it to the last thing to observe! The retina burn from the moon last for quite a while, almost like a mini nuclear explosion in the eyeball! Hehe! ;) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.