Inspiration insulation and admiration 6/2/19

[domstar]

As a chilly, cloudy afternoon turned into a bitterly cold but clear evening I set up on the balcony enthusiastically. I've never been a fan of dim Pisces but Mars was a perfect pointer to Uranus and I had a nice long look as I got dark adapted. The sky wasn't great and I could barely make out my next target- Cetus A galaxy. Orion was up next including its famous nebula and M78 (now infuriatingly called Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula on Stellarium). Stars were not sharp but at 150x I had some surprising success with Eta Ori, Saif Al Jabbar and Alnitak. 

After a brief warm-up inside I went low power. I find I can't star hop to the Christmas Tree Cluster but if I just estimate half way between Betelgeuse and Procyon, I usually just drop on it, and so I did this time. Having read reports of Hubble's Variable Nebula a few times this week I really wanted to see it. It was extremely faint last night but I caught it with averted vision and was pleased and disappointed at the same time.

Open clusters weren't looking their best but I wanted to look for M47 and M46. I found M47 in the town's dome of light pollution and it was so low that I couldn't sit in my chair and see it properly. I was resting my feet on a polystyrene block and I had a sudden brainwave to put it on my chair. Fantastic. I was high enough and my bottom was luxuriously warm. Now I'm going to use one two or three blocks to raise me up as desired. It'll solve all my low-elevation refractor target problems.

When I was forced inside by the cold around 9.30 my wife told me she admired my dedication. You could have knocked me down with a feather. I scanned her face for signs of ridicule but she looked sincere and even repeated it later unbidden. I've never thought acts such as these are admirable but I'm happy to take any praise however unworthy I might be. It really made my day.

[Littleguy80]

Great report, Dom. Did you see M46 too? With a 2 degree FOV I just got it into the FOV with M47. Worth adding a UHC filter to draw out the planetary nebula within M46. 

My wife is also unlikely to praise me but every now and then she surprises me  

[Peter Drew]

Moments to savour all round!.    ?

[domstar]

@Littleguy80 To my shame I didn't. The slightly moist air combined with snow everywhere meant that the light pollution was pretty bad in that area so low down. I had a bit of a look for it but couldn't find it. It's a shame, I prefer it to M47 but by then my reserves of tenacity had run dry.

[Saganite]

Well done Dom. 

Those two open clusters are next on my list. Early evening looked promising here, but alas.......  

[Littleguy80]

5 hours ago, domstar said:

@Littleguy80 To my shame I didn't. The slightly moist air combined with snow everywhere meant that the light pollution was pretty bad in that area so low down. I had a bit of a look for it but couldn't find it. It's a shame, I prefer it to M47 but by then my reserves of tenacity had run dry.

Sounds like you had a great session none the less. I think it was a wise call. I have, at times, carried on observing whilst shaking with cold. It stopped being fun and yet I still had that “I’ll just see one more thing”. That’s probably why my wife calls astronomy an obsession rather than a hobby ?

[Paul73]

9 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

That’s probably why my wife calls astronomy an obsession rather than a hobby ?

Sounds familiar. She rates arctic explorers as “inspirational”, but the merest hint of my cold feet in bed after a 3 hour feat of arctic observing.....

Enjoyed the repot. What scope were you using?

Paul

[domstar]

@Paul73 I use a 100ED.  It's the maximum size for my balcony, which I'm confined to from late November until late March because of the cold. I'm happy with it. It's only when it's cloudy that I feel the need to go shopping.

By the way, you sold me your UHC filter- thanks, I saw the Veil with it.

[Paul73]

Glad that the UHC is getting good use.

You are certainly stretching the 100mm’s legs too. Nice write up.

Paul

[Eastman]

On ‎07‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 17:49, Littleguy80 said:

Worth adding a UHC filter to draw out the planetary nebula within M46. 

Never knew that, thanks Neil?