Wishful Thinking

[niallk]

I saw that it was to be clear around dawn, and the jetstream had meandered south of here, so I set the alarm for what used to be 5am, before DST came in overnight.

I looked out and judged that the stars weren't twinkling too much and I could see Saturn, Mars and Jupiter enticingly from the bedroom window. I had popped the scope into the car to cool overnight, so I decided to go for it, racing against the hint of dark blue in the east as I drove 10mins to the south coast.

I set up, tried Mars... on my knees with the low altitude, and - well hints of dark markings at 200x, but atmospheric seeing wasnt great. I knew I was being hopeful trying at these low altitudes, but hey you have to try!

Panned to Saturn; beautiful, but none of the stunning detail this morning that I had last year a few times.  Again was like looking through a slowly flowing river which made focussing a challenge, so I tried Jupiter with its slightly higher alt, a nice string of moons but lets just say the detail wasn't jaw dropping

It was a punt: sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't!  Oh well, it is a beautiful morning and dawn is special on a clear calm morning - so it was nice to be here anyway.

[Craney]

That looks like a beautiful scope, and what a bonus being able to get to a dark site in 10 mins.  I have often wondered if a 'sea' horizon gives good results?  It is certainly flat, but what is the clarity like compared to being inland and  more 'continental' in climate?.

 

[MarsG76]

Nice scope...

I find that with Jupiter and Saturn, not only seeing is key but I also have my best views when they're high on the sky.

 

[Alan White]

Nice post, glad you had a try and posted, makes the grey sky here less frustrating knowing a fellow SGLer has got out.

Every time I see your scope pictures I drool, what a truly wonderful instrument.

Your coastal view is something of an improvement on the Thames one I could reach in 10 minutes, lucky you.

[niallk]

9 minutes ago, Craney said:

That looks like a beautiful scope, and what a bonus being able to get to a dark site in 10 mins.  I have often wondered if a 'sea' horizon gives good results?  It is certainly flat, but what is the clarity like compared to being inland and  more 'continental' in climate?.

 

Cheers!  The dob is primarily for DSOs, but can also deliver wonderful views of planets (imho) when the conditions are right.  Where I go is darker than my garden, but still suffers from some LP: Bortle 4-5 I'd say.  I quite rarely get to truly dark skies, with family commitments - but when I have done, the difference is stunning of course.  Unfortunately, a house near where I usually set up has recently installed extremely bright floodlights... sigh    At least looking south/southeast, there are basically no light domes, so that's something.

That's a great question re observing over the sea - I just don't know the answer!  With these low planetary altitudes at present, I basically have no choice - I need the low horizon . 

All I can say is that I have had what I consider stunning views last year of Saturn at what must have been ~20deg alt or less I think from the same spot at 330x - teasingly thinking that I was detecting the  Encke minima and division, seeing the crepe ring, lovely two tone colour difference between A & B rings with obvious Cassini div, multiple bands on the disc, with the darker polar 'hexagon' region visible (not seeing the shape as edges of a hex though!), the lovely black shadow on the ring system, and 7 moons.

That night told me that it is always worth trying - persistence will be rewarded sometime: I had Jupiter at 560x once another night, but it was at greater alt.

 

[Stu]

1 hour ago, niallk said:

It was a punt: sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't!  Oh well, it is a beautiful morning and dawn is special on a clear calm morning - so it was nice to be here anyway.

Well worth giving it a go Niall, looks like it was a beautiful morning, great to be out their with your lovely scope! Looks fantastic.

45 minutes ago, Craney said:

That looks like a beautiful scope, and what a bonus being able to get to a dark site in 10 mins.  I have often wondered if a 'sea' horizon gives good results?  It is certainly flat, but what is the clarity like compared to being inland and  more 'continental' in climate?.

I’m sure Niall has more experience than me, but on the few times I’ve tried it, I’ve had fabulous views right down to the horizon. I recall being near St Aldhelm’s chapel in Dorset and had great views of M7, M22 and a number of other low objects. Compared with views on the Med, they seem much better down low, I have often been disappointed by the murky haze on the horizon when observing on holiday.

30 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

Nice scope...

I find that with Jupiter and Saturn, not only seeing is key but I also have my best views when they're high on the sky.

 

I’m sure that’s what Niall was targeting by getting up early. Jupiter transits at 4.14am currently (now we are on BST), it only gets to around 21 degrees this apparition so is never going to be amazing.

[Demonperformer]

3 minutes ago, niallk said:

I basically have no choice

Having to contend with streetlights myself (no transport any more to get to a dark site), I know what you mean. It is either work with what you have or pack it in completely ... no contest!

[I mean 'work with what you have', not 'pack it in' ]

[niallk]

4 minutes ago, Alan White said:

Nice post, glad you had a try and posted, makes the grey sky here less frustrating knowing a fellow SGLer has got out.

Every time I see your scope pictures I drool, what a truly wonderful instrument.

Your coastal view is something of an improvement on the Thames one I could reach in 10 minutes, lucky you.

Cheers - the pic was just to show how low down I was pointing - and that was on Jupiter!  Saturn can't have been too far off the minimum alt the scope will go 

I should have taken my football out of the boot of the car to sit on!

[domstar]

Despite the views, it sounds like a lovely morning. Getting outside, for me, is almost half the fun and I'm always glad I did.

[niallk]

3 minutes ago, domstar said:

Despite the views, it sounds like a lovely morning. Getting outside, for me, is almost half the fun and I'm always glad I did.

That's it!

Yeah the views were arguably a little disappointing, but if I hadn't tried I'd be wondering what I might have missed.  But hey, I started my day seeing some semblance of detail on Mars, Saturn and Jupiter with just a couple of mirrors, some polished glass, and my very own eyes - that's really pretty cool in itself when you think about it.  (Thankfully, I'm an "easily wowed" kind of person )

I haven't gotten out as much as I'd have liked this year, so jumping at a weekend chance... I really should have been out there earlier tbh.

I got out one night during the week for a brief wander around the Virgo-Coma supercluster.  Transparency and contrast weren't great, and I've had better views from my back garden with my 10" of Makarian's chain.

Even still, seeing so many galaxies simultaneously in the fov just gladdens the heart   How many people never get the chance to see that in their whole lives... a telescope is truly a wonderful thing!

[domstar]

Wow. You just articulated what floats around hazily in my head. That's exactly what I think. I must get a pen and paper and copy it down.

[Stu]

There is something lovely about getting up early and observing until dawn breaks. Very peaceful with the dawn chorus for company. I did it not long ago following Jupiter until it was broad daylight. Lovely.

[niallk]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

There is something lovely about getting up early and observing until dawn breaks. Very peaceful with the dawn chorus for company. I did it not long ago following Jupiter until it was broad daylight. Lovely.

Yeah it's my favourite time - the perfect way to wrap up an observing session!

[Eastman]

Wow that's one good looking scope!

It must be a DSO catcher.

[niallk]

1 hour ago, Eastman said:

Wow that's one good looking scope!

It must be a DSO catcher.

Cheers! The step from 10" to 15" for me was well worth it. My 10" 250px is a great scope, but the extra aperture is just great on globs, planetary nebs, teasing out a little more galaxy detail, etc etc. The extra light is very welcome for use with an O-III, along with in general  the increased image scale at similar apparent brightness.

A key thing is just how smooth it moves: this makes it a joy to use for high powered planetary viewing.  Again the extra light is a real benefit I find - lovely bright, colourful images.  I know an f4.4 dob is not regarded as a planetary scope, but it can deliver great views imho, when conditions are right.  I even use it unfiltered on the moon too

[Pete Presland]

Fabulous looking scope, I bet it just loves a dark site. The planets are really difficult at the moment for most of us, I can not remember the last decent view I had of them. Sounds like you managed to extract some decent detail anyway despite the conditions.