Galloway

[wookie1965]

First time at Galloway and first time at a really dark site that played ball.

It had been sunny all day with wisps of clouds and a short sharp shower after that the sky cleared and as darkness fell the more the stars started to pop into view and what a view the milkyway was a river of stars first time I had seen this my Son and wife were amazed.

Onto the stargazing I aligned with Capella and Caph  just to make sure mount was playing ball went for NGC 457 one of my favourites and it was there.

Did the Auriga clusters M36, M37, and M38 all looked way better than I have ever seen them.

Got some visitors two lady`s and a gentleman never caught there names so I showed them a few of my favorite objects

M57 this was brilliant in my 15mm they seemed to enjoy that but I wanted to blow them away,

M13 this was spectacular stars where popping out the more you looked and only used the 15mm they liked that a lot.

Double cluster NGC 869 and NGC 884 this too was spectacular so many stars they liked that said thank you and moved on.

M92  this was superb  I love this much missed cluster.

Got a call from a friend who suggested a couple of targets.

NGC 6960 The Western Veil half way to to the object the mount stopped completely I had no idea how but my power pack had no light on thought that was it for the night so went for a walk down to Ian (UpLooker) he had the Veil in his 12" when I looked through wow was that a site, told Ian what had happened he said check the fuse so I went back.

I had two dew bands on one had got caught and pulled the cables out how I dont know so took that off realigned and went for the Veil again.

Not as good as in the 12" but still very good using the 15mm and a UHC I could see the Witches broom. more importantly 52 Cygni cracking double 6.4` split but such a vast difference in sizes the 11mm split it but barely dusky orange primary with a secondary dot close very close tinge of purple.

NGC 6992 wow this was spectacular and now a trick Nick taught me (cotterless45) type in 6995 and watch through the eyepiece the mount traces the  curve of the  Eastern Veil.

two objects I have never seen in my scope 

M33 what a site spiral arms unbelievable

Now my nemesis  M51 and yes both components in the eyepiece this was one of the best nights.

I was getting very sore now it was 10.30 I had been viewing for 3 hours so went for the last object of the night.

NGC 7789 (Caroline's rose) the structure and stars in this cluster looked superb tonight just looked like a rose with curves of millions of stars.

That`s it fantastic night apart from going the loo about 3.30 and seeing Orion as I have never seen before the nebula was as plain as day  the curve of his bow the thousand upon thousand of stars was wondrous.

 

[scarp15]

Great, really excellent report, can sense your excitement. Everything is just amazing at a clear transparent dark site and your equipment (aside the minor problem you had) just steps up the plate. A night like that can leave you with a buzz for a long time.

[Trikeflyer]

Sounds like you had an amaaaazzzzing night. Thanks for posting. 

[Stub Mandrel]

Sounds unforgettable.

[wookie1965]

12 minutes ago, Trikeflyer said:

Sounds like you had an amaaaazzzzing night. Thanks for posting. 

 

9 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Sounds unforgettable.

My first real dark sky been a few star party's but was unlucky with the weather but this time I will be replaying in my mind for years.

[westmarch]

Fantastic report.  Galloway on Saturday night was superb and like you, I was blown away by Ian’s (Uploader) 12 inch UHC view of the Western Veil.  So much so that I was browsing UHC filters on the FLO website when I saw your post.

BTW, I was the low tech guy with the hair dryer on my dob secondary and RACI - it kept it dew free until 2am when my toes froze. ?

John

[wookie1965]

I made a dew band out of copper wire and resistors very easy search for it on Google really easy to make the switch I use to control the temp cost £1.50 from China.

[wookie1965]

http://www.dewbuster.com/heaters-330ohm-resistors.html

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Manual-Dimmer-Switch-for-PIR-Sensor-LED-Strip-Light-12V-8A-Mountable-Controller/192131466701?epid=17003046837&hash=item2cbbed85cd:g:f60AAOSwhQhYymWB

[Stub Mandrel]

12 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

I made a dew band out of copper wire and resistors very easy search for it on Google really easy to make the switch I use to control the temp cost £1.50 from China.

With the added advantage that it will keep slugs off your mirror ?

[Kn4fty]

What a great report! I hope to someday fly there and share the views with y'all at Galloway. 

[cotterless45]

Lovely report. As soon as I phoned you up, I could hear the excitement of dark sky observing.

Glad to hear that you got some favourite dark sky targets. They are just not the same from home .Still at Glenluce awaiting dark sky ( Wednesday !) 

old Nick.

[estwing]

When it all comes together it's magical isn't it?.....keep on travelling ...it's the only way!.

[mapstar]

Nice to see you finally get under a proper dark sky and it play ball Paul. 

It makes such a difference and the amount of subtle detail that leaps out is astonishing.

 I've had the best view of the veil and M51 from here as well as many other objects and love to return. Glad you saw it in Ians dob. 

There's nothing finer (for me) than the purity of the skies here through the pure/traditional unmolested visual route. Stunning detail. 

Hopefully you'll be coming to the next one (spring) where we can share some views.