Belper 26.02.19 Observing Report

[Doc]

Belper dark site
26.02.19
19.00-00.30
Skywatcher 120ED Esprit
Selection of Clave eyepieces
Warm 8°
Sky conditions good.

All below was found by star hopping to the destination.

I started the evening with a few double stars from Gemini:

30 Gem - 4.48/11.1 - 27.2" - Difficult split as the companion is very dim but did glimpse it using the 6mm Clave at x140 - Yellow/white - B in 11 o'clock position.
38 Gem - 4.7/7.8 - 7.3" - Easy split using the 12mm Clave at x70 - Yellow/white - B in 7 o'clock position.
45 Gem - 5.8/10.9 - 16" - Medium difficulty as the companion is very dim - 6mm clave at x140 - white/white - B in 11 o'clock position.
Lambda Gem - 3.6/10.7 - 9.3" - Medium difficulty - 10mm Clave at x84 - white/white - B in 10 o'clock position
63 Gem - 5.2/10.9 - 43" - Medium difficulty due to dim companion - 8mm Clave at x105 - Yellow/white - B in 1 o'clock position.
Zeta Gem - 4.0/11.46 - 87.4" - Very hard due to magnitude of it's companions, this star has a C companion which forms a triangle - 8mm clave at x105.
Delta Gem - 3.5/8.1 - 5.4" - Easy split very good contrast and colour - 10mm Clave at x84 - Yellow/white - B in 4 o'clock position.
Gamma Gem - 2.0/13.0 - 140.5" - Failed to find companion too dim.
15 Gem - 6.5/8.1 - 24.8" - Easy split, 16 Gem is in the same FOV - 10mm Clave at x84 - white/yellow - B in 5 o'clock position.
Nu Gem - 4.1/8.0 - 112.8" - Easy wide double, multiple system but no more stars detected - 10mm Clave at x84 - white/white
20 Gem - 6.3/6.9 - 19.7" - Easy split - 8mm Clave at x105 - white/white - B in 5 o'clock postion.

I then got a bit tired of Gemini and started moving around the heavens:

M51 a lovely galaxy in Ursa Major was quite easy to find the main core stood out and there was a slight hint of the dimmer core.
M44 also known as the Beehive cluster in Cancer, this looked amazing in my newly aquired 30mm Clave at x28.
M42 as we all know is simply stunning and once again the 30mm and 40mm Clave paid it justice.

Had a look at the trapezium within M42 and could quite easily see the "E" star and maybe a hint of the "F" but not confident enough.

M94 a fantastic spiral galaxy in Canes Venacti at 7.96 mag it was easily seen in many of my Clave eyepieces.
Ngc 4485 was next this is also known as the Cocoon galaxy and resides in Canes Venacti it's an irregular galaxy and just appeared as a rather dim smudge against the background.

Back on to some doubles:

Cor Coroli (alpha CVn) - 2.8/5.5 - 19.3" - Easy split using the 12mm Clave at x70 - white/blue
Xi Ursa Major (Alula Australis) - 3.78/4.8 - 2.1" - Medium difficulty - Clean split using 4mm Clave at x210 - white/white
Nu Ursa Major (Alura Borealis) - 3.8/10.1 - 7.8" - Medium difficulty - Clean split using 4mm Clave at x210 - white/white
Gamma Leo (Algiebra) - 2.2/3.6 - 4.7" - Easy split - 8mm Clave at x105 - Lemon/white
54 Leo - 4.5/6.3 - 6.3" - Medium split - 12mm Clave at x70 - Yellow/hint of blue
Kappa Leo - 4.4/9.7 - 2.4" - Hard split - 4mm Clave at x210 only just split it - B in 10 o'clock position.

Onto some deep space stuff:

Had a go at the Leo Triplet looking through the 20mm Clave at x42 I could easily see the smudges and diffused core of M65 and M66. But try as I could I did not see a hint of Ngc3628.
Went to Auriga next and looked at M36,37,& 38 also a quick glance at Ngc1907.
While in the vicinity I used my binoculars and scope to see if Comet Iwamoto is visible. I managed to star hop to the exact spot and was greated with a slight fuzzy blob but
it was so diffused I cannot be sure if that was the comet.

Back onto to binary stars:

Gamma Cep (Errai) - 3.2/7.3 - 1.8" - Found this very difficult, companion was lost in the glare - Just split with the 4mm Clave at x210.
Beta Cep (Alfirk) - 3.2/8.6 - 14.1" - Easy split - 16mm Clave at x52.5 - white/white - B in 4 o'clock position.
Xi Cep (Alkurah) - 4.4/6.4 - 8.4" - Easy split - 4mm Clave at x210 - white/white
Omicron Cep - 4.8/7.2 - 3.4" - Quite easy split - 4mm Clave at x210 - white/white - B in 5 o'clock position.
Mu Cep (Garnet Star) - 4.0/12.3 - 19.3" - Couldn't split, the companion at 12.3 mag was to dim and was lost in the glare - Very red star.
Eta Draconis 2.8/8.2 - 4.8" - difficult split - split using 4mm Clave at x210 - B in 10 o'clock position.

To finish the night some more deep space objects:

In Cassiopeia I looked at M52 an open cluster looked fantastic through the 30mm Clave at x28. With the same eyepiece the open cluster Ngc7789 Carolines Rose really stood out
I counted an amazing amount of stars. 
As always the Double Cluster was fantastic in the 40mm Clave and even better in the 55mm Clave at x15.
Had at look at the Owl Cluster Ngc457, to me it looks like ET from the movies.
Over to Ursa Major again and found M101, it only appeared as a large smudge with no core visible but I found it by star hopping so pretty chuffed.
M64 in Coma was next and once again using the 30mm Clave I could detect a core with a diffused glow around it.
Onto to Virgo galaxy cluster and I picked out M87, this appeared very bright and was easily seen.
Then my last object of the night was M13 the mighty glob in Hercules, what an object, gazed at it for a while and so many stars appear.

Finished about 00.30 and still 8° in temperature.

 

 

 

 

[Davesellars]

A great selection of objects and lots of doubles!  I don't know what dark site (I don't have car to lug astro stuff anyway) but looking over the valley from the top of Belper there looks to be some really great locations itself towards Shottle.  What's the NELM for the dark site?

[Space Hopper]

Proberbly 5.5 - 6.0 or there abouts 

I could see all of the stars in Ursa Minor for eg.

 

It seemed a bit murky  at times.....clear but murky.

Not mist / moisture related, but just generally poor transparancy in general.

Then i read this morning about a big fire on Saddleworth moor......i wonder if this had anything to do with it ??

Maybe there was some smoke high up there in the heavens ????

[Doc]

45 minutes ago, Davesellars said:

A great selection of objects and lots of doubles!  I don't know what dark site (I don't have car to lug astro stuff anyway) but looking over the valley from the top of Belper there looks to be some really great locations itself towards Shottle.  What's the NELM for the dark site?

It's the East Midlands Stargazers dark site. It's a campsite at Alderwashey near Belper. Follow the link below to see our forum.

https://www.eastmidlandsstargazers.org.uk/

[Stu]

What an epic session! Scope and those Clave eyepieces clearly functioning very well. Enjoyed the read, thanks for writing it up.