Into the dim distant past

[John]

32 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

I created myself a Quasar observing list on SkySafari. I think they should all be within reach of your 12” dob  

Quasars.skylist

I have done a couple in the past but I've not tried for a year or so. My most distant was a blazar that flared a couple of years back. I think that one was 8 billion LY's away or so. Can't recall it's designation though 

I don't think it's going to hold clear here so I've just put a small scope out for some early evening doubles.

 

[estwing]

Great stuff Neil....Virgo is a wonderful place to aim a telescope. Have fun out there, clear skies. 

[scarp15]

A good impressive trio of sessions Neil conveying much diversity of subject. Interesting to read and learn of. Couldn't agree more, familiarity pays dividends as you say in returning to observe particular subjects that initially were a degree of effort to detect and comprehend. This becomes even more of a factor when based on your comments, coughs n' colds work weather family life et all, getting out at all can seem to require a combination of both luck and determination. So going back to a particular object can transform your perspective of it. This applied to my session on Saturday with the California nebula, optimum time period for observing it, I enjoy this as a quite wholesome, substantial observation target no less than The North America, considered a much brighter object. Great that you are gaining successful observations for aspects of nebula structures in Auriga and credit to yourself and anyone who has the drive and motivation to get up at 3.40am!  

[Littleguy80]

19 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Thanks Neil - hopefully it should clear tonight with transparency improved with the rain having gone through.

Hi Mark, I hope you had a successful session last night. Here are the entries from the Interstellarum Deep Sky Guide for your two challenge items. I hope these help you finally track them down. 

In the image above I believe NGC 2185 has been mislabelled as NGC 2815.

[Littleguy80]

13 hours ago, John said:

I have done a couple in the past but I've not tried for a year or so. My most distant was a blazar that flared a couple of years back. I think that one was 8 billion LY's away or so. Can't recall it's designation though 

I don't think it's going to hold clear here so I've just put a small scope out for some early evening doubles.

 

Amazing John. 8 billion light years covers more than half the age of the universe! Truly mind boggling. I’ve never heard of a blazar before. Will have to read up on those. 

I spent most of the evening wrapping presents and making a cake for my sons birthday today. I did treat myself to an hour or so outside afterwards. Lots of galaxies and a few doubles that I stumbled across on the way. Highlight was the Owl Nebula and M108 sharing a FOV. I was also pleased to get a faint M101 from my back garden. 

[Littleguy80]

14 hours ago, estwing said:

Great stuff Neil....Virgo is a wonderful place to aim a telescope. Have fun out there, clear skies. 

Thanks Calvin. I feel like I’ve got the scope and eyepieces to really take advantage of all that Virgo has to offer this year  

[Littleguy80]

11 hours ago, scarp15 said:

A good impressive trio of sessions Neil conveying much diversity of subject. Interesting to read and learn of. Couldn't agree more, familiarity pays dividends as you say in returning to observe particular subjects that initially were a degree of effort to detect and comprehend. This becomes even more of a factor when based on your comments, coughs n' colds work weather family life et all, getting out at all can seem to require a combination of both luck and determination. So going back to a particular object can transform your perspective of it. This applied to my session on Saturday with the California nebula, optimum time period for observing it, I enjoy this as a quite wholesome, substantial observation target no less than The North America, considered a much brighter object. Great that you are gaining successful observations for aspects of nebula structures in Auriga and credit to yourself and anyone who has the drive and motivation to get up at 3.40am!  

Thanks Iain. Sounds like you had a great session too. The California Nebula is a very rewarding target. It still astounds me how over the course of a few observations it can go from something that is barely visible to a Nebula with clear boundaries and shading. 

[Mark at Beaufort]

2 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

Hi Mark, I hope you had a successful session last night. Here are the entries from the Interstellarum Deep Sky Guide for your two challenge items. I hope these help you finally track them down. 

In the image above I believe NGC 2185 has been mislabelled as NGC 2815.

Neil that is brilliant. Showing me the Interstellarum guide gives much more info on the star patterns and FOV. I did wonder whether it was worth buying this guide but you have proved that it is.

In the end I could only observe for an hour so just used the 6" Newt.

Thanks again for the info it is much appreciated.

[Littleguy80]

37 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Neil that is brilliant. Showing me the Interstellarum guide gives much more info on the star patterns and FOV. I did wonder whether it was worth buying this guide but you have proved that it is.

In the end I could only observe for an hour so just used the 6" Newt.

Thanks again for the info it is much appreciated.

No problem, Mark. I’ve been really pleased with the Deep Sky Guide. I created a thread comparing some of my reference books. There’s a few more pictures from it on there if you’d like to see more.

Edit: Stephan’s Quintet and Veil entries from the Deep Sky Guide here:

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

I notice on Amazon that the guide is £67 which when you think of what it provides set against other astronomy accessories it a good buy.

[Littleguy80]

42 minutes ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I notice on Amazon that the guide is £67 which when you think of what it provides set against other astronomy accessories it a good buy.

Agreed. I bought my copy through Amazon for about that amount. 

[Nyctimene]

Neil,

you might try this one; circumpolar in Draco, and rather easy to find due to the close pair of 8 mag stars close by to the NW. No problem to spot it with the 18", but is doable with 10" or even 8". Fascinating with a light travel time of 8.6 billion years - a long time, before the Solar system evolved.

http://quasar.square7.ch/fqm/1634+706.html

It's position is shown in the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas, page 4 (left side, close to the border of U Mi).

Good luck with the hunt!

Stephan

[Mark at Beaufort]

51 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

Neil,

you might try this one; circumpolar in Draco, and rather easy to find due to the close pair of 8 mag stars close by to the NW. No problem to spot it with the 18", but is doable with 10" or even 8". Fascinating with a light travel time of 8.6 billion years - a long time, before the Solar system evolved.

http://quasar.square7.ch/fqm/1634+706.html

It's position is shown in the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas, page 4 (left side, close to the border of U Mi).

Good luck with the hunt!

Stephan

Thanks for the link Stephan - unfortunately my Malwarebytes Premier blocks it stating it has a Trojan virus. What is the RA and Dec?

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, Nyctimene said:

Neil,

you might try this one; circumpolar in Draco, and rather easy to find due to the close pair of 8 mag stars close by to the NW. No problem to spot it with the 18", but is doable with 10" or even 8". Fascinating with a light travel time of 8.6 billion years - a long time, before the Solar system evolved.

http://quasar.square7.ch/fqm/1634+706.html

It's position is shown in the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas, page 4 (left side, close to the border of U Mi).

Good luck with the hunt!

Stephan

Thanks Stephan. Looks like a good challenge and 8.6 billion lights years!!!!!

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Thanks for the link Stephan - unfortunately my Malwarebytes Premier blocks it stating it has a Trojan virus. What is the RA and Dec?

Here’s a screenshot from the link, Mark. 

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Neil. I checked its location in my Uranometria atlas. I think its best to star hop from 15 Draco. As Stephan stated there are 2 - mag 8 stars close by plus a triangle of mag 8 stars to the left of the quasar. Should be ok with the 12"

I think 8.6 billion light years is worth the goal of trying to observe it.