Tester Session

[Littleguy80]

I've made a few investments recently in preparation of getting my first 2" eyepiece. These being a 2" Baader Clicklock extension tube and Clicklock 2" to 1.25" adapter. I also managed to acquire some secondhand 2" Astronomik filters. The nice thing about the Baader extension tube is that it takes two inch filters so I can change eyepieces without needing to move the filter onto the new eyepiece. 

It took awhile for the clear skies to arrive last night but at 11:30 pm, I headed out to test my new setup. My main target for the session was NGC 3242, the Ghost of Jupiter. A large planetary nebula which is ideal for testing the filters on. The last time I saw this nebula, I was at a dark site and found it with relative ease. It was a bit more of a challenge from home with the stars of Hydra being quite difficult to spot. Even without filters, the nebula stood out well due to it's size, clearly not stellar. I added the UHC filter to the extension tube. Good improvement to contrast as expected. I now started to increase the magnification. The Clicklock system makes it really quick to change eyepieces. I was really impressed with this. With a manual dob, especially at higher powers, a quick eyepiece change is really helpful. As long as I centered the target in the eyepiece before the change, it would always be waiting for me when the new eyepiece went it. I switched to the OIII filter and went up to 200x mag. With averted vision I could see that it was lighter towards the center with a darker/denser ring structure around the edge of the nebula. Very satisfying result. 

Removing the filters, I moved onto M13. My goal was to see the propeller feature with the great glob. I tried at both 150x and 200x but no luck. With so many stars, I found it difficult to concentrate on any one area of the glob. It was easier to take in as a whole and made for great viewing as it drifted across the field of view. I think I need a diagram or sketch to refer to next time I'm try for the propeller. I also visited M92, which was also very enjoyable at 150x with stars resolved to the core. 

For some more filter testing, I targeted NGC 6826, the Blinking Planetary Nebula. For this planetary, I just used the OIII filter which added a good amount of contrast with the nebulosity glowing brightly through. Like the Ghost of Jupiter, 200x made for the most enjoyable views of this nebula though this is a smaller target.

I finished the session with Jupiter and the Neodymium filter. I only have the 1.25" version of this filter so had to do it the old fashioned way and screw it onto the eyepiece. A 2" Neodymium filter is now on my shopping list though. I'm more likely to experiment with magnification on the planets so I think this will be a good investment. Overall, the views of Jupiter weren't bad with some detail being seen but it took patience to wait for the moments when the seeing settled.

I'm very pleased with my purchases. Clicklock and not needing to change filters really allowed me to experiment more without the concern of having to find the target again after the eyepiece change. Come the end of the month, I should have new 2" eyepiece to try with this setup  

 

[GavStar]

Nice report Neil, I’m really enjoying the globulars that are showing now, the propeller is one of my targets as well

And your 1000th post ? 

[rwilkey]

Hi Neil, a great report and a great session, I have used 2" filters like this for awhile, it is so much easier I think. 

[Littleguy80]

22 minutes ago, GavStar said:

Nice report Neil, I’m really enjoying the globulars that are showing now, the propeller is one of my targets as well

And your 1000th post ? 

Thank Gavin. The dob really shines with the globulars. I've been slightly caught out with the propeller. It's much more challenging than I though it would be. That's no bad thing though

1000 posts! I see that it's elevated me to the the level of Sub Dwarf!!! 

[Littleguy80]

19 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

Hi Neil, a great report and a great session, I have used 2" filters like this for awhile, it is so much easier I think. 

Thanks Robin. It made a real difference last night. I'm sure it will lead to much more experimentation and hopefully catching some detail that I would otherwise have missed.

[Knighty2112]

Nice tester sssion Neil. The new gear seems to be doing great. I’ve seen the propeller feature in images of M13 I’ve seen, but not in the flesh, so need to nab this too hopefully soon as well.  

[cloudsweeper]

Good to read a report Neil - looks like we're all suffering from lousy skies!  2" EPs are the way to go - and for some of the other higher FLs I have put on semi-permanent adaptors so I can swap them around more easily.  The tube with filter is a good idea!

Doug.

[Red Dwarfer]

Great report , Neil 

Here's a quick screenshot of the tiny propeller 

Looks a bit like Mercedes trying to advertise in deep space 

[Littleguy80]

36 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Good to read a report Neil - looks like we're all suffering from lousy skies!  2" EPs are the way to go - and for some of the other higher FLs I have put on semi-permanent adaptors so I can swap them around more easily.  The tube with filter is a good idea!

Doug.

Thanks Doug. It was really disappointing not to manage a single session over the long Easter weekend. I'm still awaiting an opportunity to get the Dob down to Seething to try it under some dark skies before summer arrives!

I decided the Clicklock 2" to 1.25" adapter would make it easy enough to switch between 2" and 1.25" eyepieces. Most of my planned eyepiece purchases come with 2" adapters so should only be the orthos that need the adapter in the end.

[Littleguy80]

16 minutes ago, Red Dwarfer said:

Great report , Neil 

Here's a quick screenshot of the tiny propeller 

Looks a bit like Mercedes trying to advertise in deep space 

Thank you! Very helpful picture! It looks so obvious there! I'm sure I'll get it soon  

[Eastman]

Hi Neil great report and smooth test run with the clicklock.

Thanks for bringing the propeller to the attention for sure going to try it next time.