Relay Session

[Littleguy80]

Yesterday I managed several spells of observing over the course of the evening and night. The first leg of the session came when I spotted Venus at dusk while looking out the kitchen window. I got SkySafari out to see where Mercury should be in relation to Venus. Much lower was the answer and probably out of sight at that point. However, my excitement levels rose when I saw how close Uranus was supposed to be to Venus. I brought the dob outside. Initially there was no sign of Uranus but as the sky continued to darken I spotted it. By the time, Venus got too low for the scope, I'd seen then both in the same FOV at 150x. Uranus was very faint next to Venus but bright enough to be held in direction vision. It was now time to put the kids to bed.

The second leg came around half an hour later. The moon was well risen but the scope wasn't well positioned for it. Rather than move the scope, I decided to have a look around Cassiopeia. I enjoyed several open clusters. M103, NGC 663, NGC 654, NGC 457 and then moving away from Cassiopeia to pick up the double cluster. Despite the bright moon, all made really enjoyable viewing. My wife arrived home from work ending leg two!

After a brief catch up with Mrs Littleguy, I was "allowed out to play" for a little longer. Leg three became a Lunar session. I did some experimenting with eyepieces and my existing barlow to see what worked best to give 300x magnification. I thought the 6mm BGO with 1.5x nosepiece was pretty good until I remove the barlow and used it without. An awful lot of sharpness is lot through the barlow. I either need a better barlow/focus extender or a good 4mm eyepiece. What I have is good enough for now though. My time on the moon was focussed on the Gassendi crater and the region around it. For a challenge, I tried to pick up the thin line of Rimae Doppelmayer. I just about able to pick it up but it was a tricky spot. Playtime was over for now so I returned inside.

Around 11:30pm, the fourth leg began. The scope was moved round to the front of the house. M3 was found with relative ease. At 150x, some stars were resolved but the bright Moon was not making for great views of this glob. The next target became my favourite of the night, the cat's eye nebula. It took me a little bit to find the little planetary nebula. Once found, I again went with magnification of 150x, this is an exit pupil of 1.7mm with the dob. This was my first time viewing this planetary in the dob and I was really thrilled by seeing the shape. It clearly did resemble a cat's eye in shape. The shape was never that clear in the 130mm scope. An OIII filter really made the nebula pop. I made a trip over to M57 next but this was still fairly low and didn't show particularly well compared to another recent viewing I'd had. Jupiter was now making it's ascent with the time around 12:30am. With it's low position in the sky, the view wasn't great. It took time to even resolve the equatorial belts. I stood and contemplated for a moment and then the decision was made. End of leg four.

At 4am, my alarm went off and the final leg began. Jupiter was much higher now. The view at 150x was good despite fairly poor seeing. I quickly spotted the GRS. It was easily the best I've ever seen it. I decided to try the Neodymium filter which made things even clearer and allowed me to pick up more banding on the big planet. In between viewing Jupiter, I kept looking up and trying to spot Saturn and Mars. Finally, I saw them but much fainter than I was expecting. Returning to Saturn was such a treat. I haven't seen it since last year and I was properly grinning seeing those rings again. A couple of times I thought I picked up the Cassini division but only fleetingly. The seeing was much poorer being lower down in the sky. I eventually dragged myself away to look at Mars. As with previous viewings, I felt like I picked up a lighter area at one of the poles, possibly one of the ice caps but the view wasn't stable enough to say for sure. The planetary disc is a good size now. I'm really looking forward to seeing Mars up close this summer. Another trip back to Saturn and then Jupiter before the finish line was finally reached. Not a lot of sleep was had but 5 planets and many other great objects seen. I collapsed for another couple hours sleep before work feeling very content. 

[alanjgreen]

Nice one Neil. Sounds like you are really getting the hang of "it" now! As it is now full moon, I am in a "resting" phase... I should be fully refreshed in about 7 days and ready for some more...

I can also recommend the Neodymium filter for Jupiter & Mars, my experience was that it improves the contrast noticeably.

I reckon you got the polar cap on Mars by the sound of it. Sometimes the "white stuff" can be CO2 clouds, but they have been down the sides when I have seen them.

Alan

[Littleguy80]

26 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

Nice one Neil. Sounds like you are really getting the hang of "it" now! As it is now full moon, I am in a "resting" phase... I should be fully refreshed in about 7 days and ready for some more...

I can also recommend the Neodymium filter for Jupiter & Mars, my experience was that it improves the contrast noticeably.

I reckon you got the polar cap on Mars by the sound of it. Sometimes the "white stuff" can be CO2 clouds, but they have been down the sides when I have seen them.

Alan

Thanks Alan. Really enjoying the dob. The freedom to move around compared to the EQ mount is brilliant. The other night I was showing the kids the moon and Venus. Whenever, clouds appeared I jumped across to the other target with no fuss. 

The Neodymium filter is excellent. I also have a Baader contrast booster filter which I used on Mars. It's claimed to be an excellent Mars filter. I never liked the contrast booster on Jupiter because it added a yellow tint. I prefer the more natural tone which I get from the Neodymium filter. I'm pleased that I may have got the ice cap on Mars. Hopefully it will become more obvious was Mars gets closer and I can get it when it's a bit higher in the sky.

[domstar]

Wow- what a great night. How's the new air-traffic controller's job going?

[alan potts]

Very nice report there Neil, I really enjoy my dob too, now I have one I wish I had taken that route years ago and not bothered with the SC goto. Now I am playing at photography a little I tend to use the dob whilst the camera is snapping away in the obsey.

Alan

[scarp15]

A resourceful, rewarding multi-stage session, just absorbing that last comment Neil, two hours sleep then work, wow, hope the day went OK and that you get time over Easter to recover. Good that you are getting to use the filters and for emphasising NGC 6543 in Draco, as you say quite bright and revealing with an OIII filter. Now that you are using a dobsonian, you will probably not look back. You get to concentrate more on the sky, moving, nudging the scope becomes almost entirely a sub conscious action. Good outcome to with the planets, although was not on my agenda, I got to enjoy a couple of views of Jupiter on the weekend, just so bright but crisp at mid power rising to the south, situated across moor and low lying hill, no thermal issues which is good considering this seasons low elevation.

[Littleguy80]

2 hours ago, alan potts said:

Very nice report there Neil, I really enjoy my dob too, now I have one I wish I had taken that route years ago and not bothered with the SC goto. Now I am playing at photography a little I tend to use the dob whilst the camera is snapping away in the obsey.

Alan

Thanks Alan. Dobs are such good value for money. A lot of scope for not a lot of money. One thing that always put me off Astrophotography was not actively observing anything. Using your dob while collecting data must make passing the time much easier. 

[Littleguy80]

2 hours ago, scarp15 said:

A resourceful, rewarding multi-stage session, just absorbing that last comment Neil, two hours sleep then work, wow, hope the day went OK and that you get time over Easter to recover. Good that you are getting to use the filters and for emphasising NGC 6543 in Draco, as you say quite bright and revealing with an OIII filter. Now that you are using a dobsonian, you will probably not look back. You get to concentrate more on the sky, moving, nudging the scope becomes almost entirely a sub conscious action. Good outcome to with the planets, although was not on my agenda, I got to enjoy a couple of views of Jupiter on the weekend, just so bright but crisp at mid power rising to the south, situated across moor and low lying hill, no thermal issues which is good considering this seasons low elevation.

Thanks Iain. Having a young family has trained me well for working on only a few hours sleep. The cloudy forecast ahead will give me a chance to catch up! I do enjoy a session with a good variety of objects, especially from home where my target choice is more limited. The only category I’ve neglected really is double/multiple stars. Perhaps something to research for my next session. 

[Eastman]

Great report Neil,

You've seen it all Planets', clusters, nebula and the Moon

On ‎29‎-‎3‎-‎2018 at 14:54, Littleguy80 said:

The next target became my favourite of the night, the cat's eye nebula. It took me a little bit to find the little planetary nebula

I never been able to find the Cat's eye Nebula, did you use a filter on it?

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, Eastman said:

Great report Neil,

You've seen it all Planets', clusters, nebula and the Moon

I never been able to find the Cat's eye Nebula, did you use a filter on it?

Thank you  The Cat’s eye is a tricky one to find. I’ve seen it a few times but always takes me awhile to find whenever I go looking for it. It shows up well without a filter especially with a bit of magnification. I used an OIII filter and that really made it standout. 

[Eastman]

Thanks Neil,

I think it's time I buy myself a OIII filter!

[Stu]

Great report Neil! You made the most of all opportunities, and kudos to you for getting up at 4am!!

The Neodymium filter works very well on both Jupiter and Mars I have found. I do hope we get some decent views this opposition despite the low altitude.

[Littleguy80]

41 minutes ago, Stu said:

Great report Neil! You made the most of all opportunities, and kudos to you for getting up at 4am!!

The Neodymium filter works very well on both Jupiter and Mars I have found. I do hope we get some decent views this opposition despite the low altitude.

Thanks Stu. With the forecast looking so poor for the rest of the week it was an easy decision to get up. 

I’m sure we’ll get some good views. I suspect it will be a case of sticking with it for those moments where the seeing becomes steady. Saturn gave some good views last summer despite the low altitude. Fingers crossed  

[Mark at Beaufort]

A really enjoyable report Neil. I loved my Skywatcher 10" Dob and I found so many DSOs with it. I also found using a quality star atlas like Uranometria or Interstellarium sat on a quality music stand makes life so much easier.

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

A really enjoyable report Neil. I loved my Skywatcher 10" Dob and I found so many DSOs with it. I also found using a quality star atlas like Uranometria or Interstellarium sat on a quality music stand makes life so much easier.

Thank you, Mark. I’m off to a great start with my dob. @scarp15 also recommended Interstellarium as it has a symbol indicating which filter to use for particular nebulae. 

[scarp15]

Neil here is a glimpse into Insterllarium, I believe that you have a copy incoming. 

The filter references make for good guidance, in addition it is worth while experimenting with other deep sky filter types, drawing your own conclusions and taking note of observers reports, particularly such as those of Gerry's. Mark's suggestion for placing on a separate music stand is practical and applied by some observers. I keep mine in the car when out on a dark sky trip, excuse to get a bit warm and sip coffee whilst studying charts. 

 

 

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, scarp15 said:

Neil here is a glimpse into Insterllarium, I believe that you have a copy incoming. 

The filter references make for good guidance, in addition it is worth while experimenting with other deep sky filter types, drawing your own conclusions and taking note of observers reports, particularly such as those of Gerry's. Mark's suggestion for placing on a separate music stand is practical and applied by some observers. I keep mine in the car when out on a dark sky trip, excuse to get a bit warm and sip coffee whilst studying charts. 

 

 

Many thanks, Iain. Sadly the copy of Interstellarium ended up not being surplus to requirements in the end. I did spend a good amount of time comparing some pictures similar to yours to SkySafari. As I normally use SkySafari when out I wasn’t sure where Interstellarium would prove useful. In the end, I decided that it was substantially better than SkySafari for getting an idea of what was in the vicinity. For example, if looking at the North American Nebula, it’s much easier to see that the Magic Carpet Planetary Nebula is close enough for a visit.

The filter classification is quite interesting. I was surprised that the NAN filter recommendation was UHC and the Pelican Nebula was H-Beta. I’ve always used an OIII for these. As you say though, this is starting point and other filters should be tried. I did have another read of Dave Kinsley guide on filters. Quite often he says that UHC and OIII both give good results. The UHC giving brighter results with the OIII giving slightly more detail and contrast but with a darker image. It’s got me thinking that starting with the UHC to gain an overview of the Nebula before progressing to the OIII for the detail could yield good results. 

Interstellarium is firmly on the shopping list now!

[Ed in UK]

Wow great read Neil.

Planning on having a late one myself and get a view of Jupiter & Mars for the second time this year and it would be great to bag Saturn as well.

Ed

 

[Littleguy80]

13 minutes ago, Ed in UK said:

Wow great read Neil.

Planning on having a late one myself and get a view of Jupiter & Mars for the second time this year and it would be great to bag Saturn as well.

Ed

 

Thanks Ed. It’s well worth the effort to get up. Saturn is one of the best things you’ll see with your scope. Even if the seeing is poor you’ll still see the rings though not in any detail. Best of luck and enjoy