The Moon and Saturn share the field of view

[John]

Lovely early evening views of the Moon currently complemented by Saturn around 1.5 degrees to the SW. The pair look really fetching with my ED120 refractor sharing the 3 degree true field that the 40mm SWA (Aero ED clone) eyepiece is presenting.

The Moon dwarfs the ringed planet but it's all a matter of perspective of course - Saturn is 3600 times the distance of the Moon !

Lovely sight as the light gradually fades from the sky

[Helen]

<hate my southerly neighbours' trees  grr grrr>

Helen

PS glad you're getting a good view though John ?

[John]

1 minute ago, Helen said:

<hate my southerly neighbours' trees  grr grrr>

Helen

PS glad you're getting a good view though John ?

I understand the challenge Helen - I've had to wait for the Moon and Saturn to appear in the gap between my neighbours house and some large chestnut trees across the road. I get about 45 mins observing time - better get back out there !

[Davey-T]

Alerted by this post, toted the Star Adventurer round the garden looking for a gap in the trees.

Canon 300mm lens bit of CA

Zoomed in 400% you can just make out its not a star 

Dave

[Helen]

Well I decided to just check further, and did manage a couple of minutes on the Moon in a tree gap - but Saturn was too low in the trees.  So not all lost - Moon looking lovely in the Tak ?

Nice catch Dave!!

Helen

[mark81]

I wondered if that was going to be the case when I spotted them close by on Thursday.  Sadly they are hiding behind the only tall tree in my garden ?

[Size9Hex]

Was just about to post about this too. It’s a spectacular sight!

[F15Rules]

51 minutes ago, John said:

Lovely early evening views of the Moon currently complemented by Saturn around 1.5 degrees to the SW. The pair look really fetching with my ED120 refractor sharing the 3 degree true field that the 40mm SWA (Aero ED clone) eyepiece is presenting.

The Moon dwarfs the ringed planet but it's all a matter of perspective of course - Saturn is 3600 times the distance of the Moon !

Lovely sight as the light gradually fades from the sky

Yes, John, very nice out tonight - and so warm too!

Got the FS128 out to cool, and couldn't resist a quick binoview with a pair of Parks Gold 25mms each with x1.6 barlow nosepiece attached to give x 66. The moon showing loads of detail, although shimmering quite a bit due to low altitude and air turbulence.

I'm hoping for a bit longer outside in another hour or so, will report back

Dave

[John]

Nice capture Dave !!

Both have gone behind the chestnut trees now so onwards to other targets

Edit: @F15rules / Dave - I agree that the seeing is not too clever at the moment. Not just a low alt targets either - Epsilon Lyrae is split but not quite as sharp as usual. Hopefully it will settle as the heat leaves the ground.

[Olli]

just had a quick look as well was impressed  of saturns view  mars not so much hopefully a bit later on.

[Stu]

Only naked eye views for me, behind houses from where the scope is tonight. Lovely sight.

[DRT]

I saw that from an Uber at Elephant and Castle about an hour ago. They were the only two objects visible in the London light show!!

[John]

3 minutes ago, DRT said:

I saw that from an Uber at Elephant and Castle about an hour ago. They were the only two objects visible in the London light show!!

No wonder folks who live in and around London are interested in Night Vision tech !

[SIDO]

Partly cloudy here so it will be only with good odds for me, about 4hrs yet til dark but I'm headed that way ?

[Stub Mandrel]

Only spotted this when Saturn was too low to be in the telescope's FOV ?

Nice to see though.

[kerrylewis]

Some good views tonight with the Tak. Widefield as suggested by John with Saturn and the moon. The moon was interesting  with one crater (sorry not familiar with the names) just beyond the terminator with the peaks in one wall brilliantly lit and surrounded by darkness.

Saturn was not bad with sharp views at times with the Cassini division, the planet shadow on the rings and some shading. 

Mars eventually appeared between the various obstacles. Polar cap fairly clear and a band of dark shading. Distinctly smaller now and showing a gibbous phase. Seeing deteriorated as it approached the roof of the house opposite. Now waiting with a glass of wine for it to reappear ?

[John]

I saw similar detail to you on Mars Kerry. I seem to get more or less the same levels of details and contrast on the planet whatever aperture scope I'm using at the moment

Just picked up M72 (globular cluster) M73 (vague cluster / asterism) and the Saturn Nebula all in Aquarius. Seeing still a bit shaky at higher powers and transparency OK but nothing special either. One of those nights when the clear skies keep you out there in the hope of things steadying up and becoming more transparent but I'm not sure they will here tonight.

I was hoping to try for Triton when Neptune comes above the rooftops, I've not maneged it with the ED120 as yet, but I'm not that confident that "tonights the night" for that one.

[Helen]

Clouded out here just as I was heading back out ?  getting very windy too, so heading for an early night.  

[John]

54 minutes ago, Helen said:

Clouded out here just as I was heading back out ?  getting very windy too, so heading for an early night.  

Same here now Helen. Shame - I just got Neptune in the FoV and then it vanished !.

 

[djpaul]

Driving home tonight from visiting my parents I noticed the view whilist driving.

[lw2689]

Living in a new estate the houses are all crammed together so the FOV is tiny... luckily The Moon, Saturn and eventually Mars did come into view. We live about 10 miles south of RAF Brize Norton so there is a little light pollution from the huge flood lights on the dispersal but thankfully it doesn't affect us too much.

I got a new eyepiece at the weekend (Celestron X-Cel LX 9mm) so we were trying that out on the moon and it was amazing! My Boyfriend was super impressed. Its a great feeling being able to show someone the things you enjoy

[kerrylewis]

Not a bad evening but Mars is still so disappointing. When I remember views I’ve had in the past.....

Difficult to tell now how much is due to atmospherics on Mars and how much atmospherics here on Earth. Either way it’s a struggle. Need to look forward to the next opposition now methinks.

Got up around 3.00 for the morning targets including Comer 21P G/Z. All clear out of the window -  quick bathroom visit -  all gone! Another one of those wind-driven cloud blankets had obliterated everything. Back to bed ?

[F15Rules]

Sorry for the late reply John..

I got back outside at c10.50pm and ended up with only a short session (small domestic crisis, nothing bad?). However, I did look again at Epsilon Lyrae and was transfixed. A pair of BGO 6mm giving x173 was superb, perfect stellar airy disks and blackness between each pair's components. I could also see several very faint stars between the pairs, a couple directly and others averted vision or just "suspected". It was as if I might see other faint stars popping into view at any moment. I spent fully 35-40 minutes just looking at this one object. The more I observe it, the more I like it! (Sorry to stray off topic!).

I then put in a 1.6x Barlow in each ep, giving c x270 and again the image was wonderful. The best stellar images I have yet had with the FS128, proving that the scope delivers in spades when the conditions play ball too!

I was using my new to me Celestron/Baader angled binoviewer (made in Germany by Leitz) and it was a revelation.

I'll post more on this when I've had a proper session on more targets. I hope soon to have 6mm, 12.5mm and 25mm matched pairs of quality EPs to really test this new binoviewer ?.

Dave

[dweller25]

On 17/09/2018 at 19:32, John said:

Lovely early evening views of the Moon currently complemented by Saturn around 1.5 degrees to the SW. The pair look really fetching with my ED120 refractor sharing the 3 degree true field that the 40mm SWA (Aero ED clone) eyepiece is presenting.

The Moon dwarfs the ringed planet but it's all a matter of perspective of course - Saturn is 3600 times the distance of the Moon !

Lovely sight as the light gradually fades from the sky

I was out at the same time and it was a great site with the mk 1 eyeballs ?

[dweller25]

4 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Sorry for the late reply John..

I got back outside at c10.50pm and ended up with only a short session (small domestic crisis, nothing bad?). However, I did look again at Epsilon Lyrae and was transfixed. A pair of BGO 6mm giving x173 was superb, perfect stellar airy disks and blackness between each pair's components. I could also see several very faint stars between the pairs, a couple directly and others averted vision or just "suspected". It was as if I might see other faint stars popping into view at any moment. I spent fully 35-40 minutes just looking at this one object. The more I observe it, the more I like it! (Sorry to stray off topic!).

I then put in a 1.6x Barlow in each ep, giving c x270 and again the image was wonderful. The best stellar images I have yet had with the FS128, proving that the scope delivers in spades when the conditions play ball too!

I was using my new to me Celestron/Baader angled binoviewer (made in Germany by Leitz) and it was a revelation.

I'll post more on this when I've had a proper session on more targets. I hope soon to have 6mm, 12.5mm and 25mm matched pairs of quality EPs to really test this new binoviewer ?.

Dave

@F15Rules Don’t want to hijack John’s thread - I used to have a pair of those celestron BV’s and they were really good ?