9th Jan 19

[Ed in UK]

Despite the forecast for that night being totally overcast the Met Office couldn't have got it more wrong. Around 6pm clouds starting to break and by 8pm only a few passing bands remained so I got the scope out.

This night, by far, is my best star gazing ever. Everything finally came together that allowed me to success fully find my way around and star hop around from target to target. ?

I started by looking again at M42 and having a closer look at the Trapezium. Great views could easily separate A to D but no sign of E or F for me. Took magnification up to x150, (12mm Barlowed) but really couldn't achieve good focus. Not to sure if it's me and my inexperience or maybe the scope in need of Calibration. But at all other levels managed to get good views.

Next it was down to Iota Orionis, here I was hoping to separate out the double star, but to be honest even at x150 (a blurry one at that) I couldn't see any sign of a second star. It may be beyond my equipment/experinece but I was hoping to achieve it.

Then starting looking for NGC1980, as before, I couldn't really see anything different to last time, no clusters etc ?. Struve 747 stood out lovely and this time Struve 745 was clearly visible.

Next it was up to NGC1981, then across to Sigma Orionis as recommended by @Littleguy80 (Thanks Neil) and managed to separate out the three components there.

By now the sky was completely clear of clouds only a lack  of dark sky could hold me back now......

So I started on the list targets that were put on January's Sky At Night magazine around the foot of one of the Gemini Twins.

First up was Collinder 89, and to be truthful I probably would have completely missed this if it wasn't for the description in the magazine. The stars seemed so far spread that it blended in quite nicely with the others around it. However managed to fix it's location and I could make out that the stars just appeared slightly more densely packed here.

Over to M35 next, managed to pick this one out with the more densely populated stars, viewed at x36 and x50, can't really recall seeing any colour in this cluster.

Then onto IC2157 and I could just about make out this cluster, at x36 few only a few faint stars showing, 18mm Barlowed (x100) didn't reveal any other stars for me. Again no colour could be made out in this cluster.

Last target in the magazine list was NGC2129. Found from using 1 Gem as a reference and at 25mm (x36) could only see this as a double. Using 18mm (x50) and 12mm (x75) could make out more stars in this cluster.

Being so chuffed with what I had achieved I next went off on a bit of a tangent and decided to try and locate the Owl Nebula in Ursa Major. Starting from Merak I hopped my way past M108 (which I couldn't see) to area where the Owl should be located. using 25mm x36 I started searching and [removed word] me I found it. It was the most faintest object I have ever viewed through my scope. Now this is going to sound crazy, but I couldn't see it with direct or indirect vision alone, but with indirect vision and a slight movement of the scope I could just make out the smallest/faintest of smudges in the eyepiece. Once the movement stopped it disappeared. You would have though it was a finger print or similar on the EP.

Now feeling a little too cocky I next tried to get onto M101 the Pinwheel Galaxy. Starting my hop from Mizar & Alcor via 81, 83, 84, 86 UMa I managed to get into the area for M101. Alas nothing but darkness. Nothing seen.

With the night drawing on my heart said stay out longer seeing that everything had gone so well, but unfortunately my brain said no as work tomorrow. Brain won......

Great nights gazing for me, made some great gains for too.

Also need to look at how to judge brightness of DSO properly to avoid wasting time on things that I can't see, also I really need to start looking for a dark site nearby so at least I can ditch the LP from street lights and improve my dark eye adaption.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Charic]

Nice report. The weathermen are getting it right for my location just now!  wind, rain.

They say its gonna snow  here by end of January, then about three months of whatever Winter throws our way, before Spring says 'Hello', then the permalight  evenings  of Summer, where only the  brightest primary stars in the major constellations are just visible, before I can start viewing again next November? 

Maybe I've chosen the wrong hobby!

I'm sure there'll be a few gaps along the way.

[Astro Imp]

Nice report Ed, good to read you had some cloud free skies for a change. 

3 hours ago, Ed in UK said:

Also need to look at how to judge brightness of DSO properly to avoid wasting time on things that I can't see

Remember it is not the magnitude of the DSO that will determine what is visible but the surface brightness (and sky conditions obviously).
Good luck and let's have some more clear skies.

[Ed in UK]

Clear skies forecast for tonight, and it's looking good. However strong winds whipping stuff around the backyard are not as encouraging. ?

[Astro Imp]

1 hour ago, Ed in UK said:

Clear skies forecast for tonight, and it's looking good. However strong winds whipping stuff around the backyard are not as encouraging. ?

Good luck for tonight Ed, it is far too windy here to venture out and it's been raining hard and could well be more to come.

[Ed in UK]

27 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

Good luck for tonight Ed, it is far too windy here to venture out and it's been raining hard and could well be more to come.

Too windy here as well ?

[Littleguy80]

Great stuff, Ed. Particularly well done on the Owl Nebula. It’s more prominent with a UHC filter if you have one. 

[Ed in UK]

1 hour ago, Littleguy80 said:

Great stuff, Ed. Particularly well done on the Owl Nebula. It’s more prominent with a UHC filter if you have one. 

Thanks Neil. I assume the UHC filter will help with most nebula ?

[Littleguy80]

2 minutes ago, Ed in UK said:

Thanks Neil. I assume the UHC filter will help with most nebula ?

It’s the probably the most versatile of the Nebula filters. Have a read of this article. It gives a guide on which filter to use for a number of nebula. 

https://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/filter-performance-comparisons-for-some-common-nebulae 

[scarp15]

Very good report and as Neil has implied a filter will be an asset. A UHC will work fine, yet for M97, this planetary will respond and become much more defined with an OIII filter. That would also become a good incentive if you do go investigating for a darker site and ought you get into this, to consider for the future, would be to measure your sky brightness by investing in a Unihedron SQM-L. 

[PaulM]

Nice report

[Size9Hex]

Nice report. Sounds a great session. M101 is a tricky customer. Large but with a low surface brightness hence it gets washed out by light pollution without putting up much of a fight. Look for the brighter core. A dark site will help for sure and conditions need to be good to reveal the arms. With the 10" and mag 6 skies, I can just make out brighter star forming regions in the arms. It’s a target I’m keen to explore again! It’s also early in the season; Around April it will be a lot higher in the sky (for an evening session) which will make it prominent than if was closer to the horizon during your session.

On 13/01/2019 at 12:42, Ed in UK said:

... Now this is going to sound crazy, but I couldn't see it with direct or indirect vision alone, but with indirect vision and a slight movement of the scope I could just make out the smallest/faintest of smudges in the eyepiece. Once the movement stopped it disappeared.

???. Sterling effort! ? . That’s a good technique. Sometimes a little movement can help reveal something on the edge of perception as you’ve noted. On a given night, you might find yourself using this technique on a really tricky target, and getting maybe only a half a dozen of the briefest glimpses over 5 or 10 minutes. But as long as they’re consistent glimpses... ?

[Ed in UK]

Thanks Size9hex, didn't even know it was a technique as I just happened to see the nebula as the scope moved during the search.

One more tool for the box ?

[domstar]

Excellent report. M108 is a devil. I've looked many times but only seen it once. I find it amazing to find stuff (like the owl) that seem so faint they are just about not there at all and then the second time is easier. By the third time I can usually just drop straight on it and see it easily. I forget who mentioned it to me but transparency is king.

[Eastman]

On ‎13‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 13:42, Ed in UK said:

Great nights gazing for me, made some great gains for too.

Great report Ed, sounds like you had a really great night.

 

On ‎13‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 13:42, Ed in UK said:

Being so chuffed with what I had achieved I next went off on a bit of a tangent and decided to try and locate the Owl Nebula in Ursa Major. Starting from Merak I hopped my way past M108 (which I couldn't see) to area where the Owl should be located. using 25mm x36 I started searching and [removed word] me I found it. It was the most faintest object I have ever viewed through my scope.

A dark sky will help on those two, It's nice to have them together in the eyepiece.