New light through old windows

[Tim]

With apologies to Chris Rea.

With all the excitement on the forum surrounding the new Evostar 150ED, and having finished with and packed away the current equipment I have on review, last night I found myself with decent clear skies, and with my trusty Esprit 150ED just begging for a break from the cameras and to be used visually for a change.

As the twilight settled in and the scope had cooled for 90 mins, Jupiter was just moving through the gap between houses that gives me a bit better local seeing. What a pleasant surprise to see a tight round shadow creeping along the edge of an equatorial band, and then as the dark spot reached mid-point, another moon popped out to say hello. Using a 4.5mm Delos gives me 233X, which gave fair views, but a 2X powermate and 10mm Delos gave notably sharper results, with crisp band edges alongside almost white swirled bands, darkening again at the poles. The shadow itself was very tight, almost deep navy blue in appearance.  What a great start to a session that, free of review commitments, was deliberately unplanned sky wandering.

Next up, Saturn. I don't think I could ever tire of the views, and at first the seeing was very favourable. The Cassini division looked like it had been drawn with a black fine ink pen, while the C ring delicately bordered the bright B ring. Hints of a little darker area on the visible pole were outdone by a noticably richer band toward the rings, and, intriguingly, there appeared to be a darker smudge within the darker band too, central on the planet, but I haven't investigated that, and sadly the seeing deteriorated for so long that I took a tea-break and didn't get another glimpse.

It wasn't quite astro dark, but with the moon waiting in the wings I decided to tick off a few doubles, which actually, is a first for this telescope. Albireo of course, which is a favourite target in my 18" dob. The view through the Esprit is slightly less gold than I remember and definitely less blue, but a beautiful pairing  nonetheless. To push the limits of the sky I checked the position of Lambda Cygni in my star atlas, then used the NSEW controls to bring the RA & DEC reading up to where I needed it. Less than an arc-second away, the companion star would be tucked in the diffraction pattern somewhere, and swapping to a 4.5mm Delos and 2X PM gave 467X. My GM1000 mount really comes into its own at these extreme magnifications, holding the mount dead steady and tracking perfectly, no wobble. The companion star was easily visible in the first ring, slightly elongated, but clear dark division between A and B. Lovely

With Lam Cyg nailed I slewed around to M13 for a cursory glance before dropping on to the next tricky double, Zeta Herculi. This is one of those targets that you are not quite sure you have seen it, until you HAVE seen it, and then it is obvious. And it is just a bit special. The smaller companion star sits plonk in the middle of the first diffraction ring from  the A star, and rather reminds me of a far distant solar eclipse during the diamond ring stage, really quite hypnotic. 

After gazing at Zeta Herc. for an eternity, I headed, with little hope, up to Gamma Cass, and once again failed to get anything whatsoever. This one will have to go on  my list for Kelling this year, in the 18", and hopefully with a more experienced pair of eyes at hand!

Another cuppa.  I am often getting requests from people wishing to visit my observatory, and I nearly always turn them down. A, it is too small for comfort with a crowd, and B, you never quite know how people will react when they come face to face with a big spider. At some point during the proceedings last night I did a short Facebook Live video of a rather tasty spider crawling around my equipment. I quite like a good spider

OK, widefield time,  so added a Lumicon UHC to my 31mm Panoptic and just scanned the sky for a bit. M76 came up, it was tiny, but very bright, and something I plan to do at very high power sometime. Over the rooftops to M16, which although desperately low, showed tantalising hints of nebulosity, like a faint cross. I removed the UHC for comparison and there was nothing to be seen, and the sky this low was a muddy red. UHC filter back on, and then on to.......

....M17. Oh my days! What a sight! I have been an absolute loon in ignoring this target from home! It was incredible, exquisite, and quite possibly the brightest nebula I have seen this side of M42. In the 31mm the brightest parts of the nebula were kind of shaped like a reversed figure 4, and I swapped to my 21mm Ethos for a closer view. I have given myself a very stern talking to about M17, and if I listen to myself, there will be images forthcoming!

Firmly planted in my favourite list is the Veil complex, but it is not always brilliant from here in Coventry, in fact, it never is. Regardless, with the moon now showing behind the trees, I swapped the UHC filter for my Baader Oiii (i'm after a 2" Lumicon Oiii if anybody is selling) and started on NGC6960. It was there, and obvious, but try as I might I couldn't determine which way round the nebula was presented in my diagonal. So down to brighter NGC6992. This was actually pretty good for home, good detail in the wisps and quite distinctly curved towards the rest of the nebula. In my 18" I enjoy wandering between the eastern and western major components, stopping at the smaller and fainter areas on the way. I tried that here, but couldn't honestly pick out Pickerings triangle, but now familiar with directions it was easier to make out the broom handle and brushes of NGC6960.

With nothing other than fun in mind for the night, I had broken my own rule of alcohol and telescopes, where never the twain shall meet. Just a cider or two, but it was enough to tire me out, and with a bright half moon about to go  nuclear high overhead, it didn't take much to convince me that it was time to turn in.

It was a great night though, really great, and one which has made me reconsider my main imaging refractor, and it's place in my equipment. After all, I guess 6 inches is actually, quite a decent window to look through occasionally.

Thanks for reading

Tim

[John]

Great report Tim

I did a number of those targets last night split between my Tak FC100 and my Vixen ED102SS.

Sometimes the best times are had by not trying too hard

[David Levi]

Excellent report. Sounds like a wonderful session.  I was wandering around M16, M17 and the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud last night before the clouds rolled in.  I'm jealous of your binary splitting power ?.

[kerrylewis]

Lovely report. I’ve never had any luck with Zeta Herculis but your description has inspired me to have another go. 

[Paz]

Great report thanks for posting, I have some Hercules doubles on my observing list for this week end, I've added Zeta to the list.