Saturn leads the way!

[Special K]

I've had a good hunt around the finer sights in Sagittarius a few nights back despite being due north of the London LP dome!  Saturn is very handy as a beacon to get the EQ mount sighted on and despite the low angle it yielded pretty nice views of its hues on the planet's surface plus a Cassini Division which was marked.  But from this position it was only a few degrees navigation away from the massive M22 globular cluster. At 128x and averted vision I was able to make out some of the needle points of light despite the LP and treeline angle. 

From there I headed north through the rich fields of the Lagoon and the Triffid with my OIII filter.  The puff cluster within the Lagoon (M8) is always a nice feature to take in!  Then to the glorious M24 Sagittarius Star Cloud, which is as rich as the name suggests. I've seen it on better occasions but it still has a wealth of bright stars amongst its host to fill the imagination. From a dark site this presents an absolute sheet of stars in the background. Panning east I landed on the M25 open cluster. This is a fine target in LP as the components are quite bright and provides enough contrast. It really stood out. The corker of the session for me was the incredibly bright M16 Swan Nebula. I was shocked how bright a shaft of light this shows with the OIII filter!  It seems immune to light pollution and I highly recommend it if you suffer in your area.  It's high enough to be accessible too. Without the OIII, this vanished from view, though, so you'll need a nebula filter of some sort. 

All this filled two hours, which isn't much, but is a refresher to be back amongst these great sights. Clear skies!

[Stu]

A good hunt indeed

Been a while since I’ve had a good look at these lovelies, need to get out there soon.

[MarsG76]

What an awesome night of observing.... another object I recommend is the Pavo Cluster if you can see it from up there.

[Eastman]

9 hours ago, Special K said:

I was shocked how bright a shaft of light this shows with the OIII filter!  It seems immune to light pollution and I highly recommend it if you suffer in your area.

The wonder filter. Great report.