18th Nov - Rob & I plus a few scopes

[russ]

Myself and Rob left club night early last night to get back and make the best of a good clear night. It turned out to be a very good decision. Skies were much better than forecast. The clouds did threaten a few times but came to nothing. Transparency was excellent.

We had three scopes setup - Megrez 72, Starfinder 12.5 and Celestron C5. Also a good selection of eyepieces to use.

I was eager to give the Megrez a good run out under starry skies, while Rob was eager to decide the fate of his C5. He has an ED80 on the way but doesn't want to part with the C5.

Have to say the C5 was a real gem. Really tight stars and nice views of M36, M45 and M42. No image shift, smooth focus. Rather Rob than me deciding whether he can justify owning 4 scopes

I whizzed the Megrez around the sky, had a good idea in my mind the targets i wanted to see. First stop Auriga, one of my fav constellations. I know, i say that everytime but i just love it. Was always my first port of call with the 15x70's (now gone...... :crybaby: ). But the Megrez didn't disappoint Using the 16mm Nagler i could just cram into the same field of view M36 and M38. Absolutely stunning!!!!! Worth the price of admission alone! Two of the best open clusters in the sky and in the same field. :shock: That's why you buy a widefield scope. This was my highlight of the evening.

The C5 gave a lovely higher powered view of M36 using the 14mm Pentax XL and 16mm Nagler. Really tight stars and nice contrast.

Next stop Albireo. A gem of a target for a small apo. Stars are so tight and the colours breathtaking. The Megrez was now showing off. Best view was with the 3.2mm TMB. Darkened the background and increased the contrast in colour.

Moving on.

Next up M31 in extreme widefield. No probs seeing M32 and M110 also. Nice view but didn't have the same impact as the 12.5 dob, which is simply gobsmacking.

Double cluster was very nice, especially using the 7.5mm Speers in the Megrez. But again for wow factor it had to be the 12.5 with the 26mm Swan.

Finally Orion cleared the trees at 10.45. So we spent the next 30mins jumping between scopes trying different eyepieces. All three scopes gave a nice view. Was surprising how much the C5 and 72 could show. Needless to say the Ultrablock filter killed the Megrez stone dead, cutting off not only the unwanted light but just about any light. The 12.5 gave some serious wow factor both with and without the Ultrablock filter. Clearly showing M43 and a hint of running man. The detail in the nebula was awesome, really starting to see some of the detail you see in the images posted.

Finally we finished up with the moon. Still very, very low on the horizon. Considering how badly placed it was, both the C5 and Megrez gave a nice sharp image at low power. At this point high power was not an option.

I went to bed at midnight and then got back up again at 5.30am for a proper view of the Moon. And also Saturn. At this time the moon was perfectly placed and simply stunning at all mags, even at 270x in the Megrez. Looking along the terminator was a wonderful experience and i spent the next 30mins just taking everything in before i finally had to get ready for work...

See the planetary section for a brief report on Saturn.

Regards

Russ

[Ant]

Sounds like you had a blast mate! Good call on leaving the club early.

Rob's got four scopes... that's just plain greedy

I was out till about 1am into bed for 2am, I did think about getting up again at 5am for the moon and saturn - but couldn't...

I bet it was nice to get out with the scopes again?

Ant

[russ]

It was great to be out again. Been clouded out for the last month. Last observing session was club night last month funny enough and we bailed early that night too.

Were you imaging last night? Or was it visual?

In bed at 2am and up at 5am would be extreme Even i would struggle with that and i'm an early riser.

[Ant]

Got a moon mosaic through high cloud with the ED80 - enjoyed being out again.

But the high cloud did spoil it a little. By the time I finished processing and turned of the lappy I glanced outside and all cloud had gone...

Typical.

Whats visual?

Ant

[John]

Nice report Rus

I was out on the patio last night looking at Orion - the Trapezium was lovely but did not give up the E and F componants easily last night in the 8" dob.

The C5's are real "sleepers" IMHO - I've owned a couple now and have always been impressed at their performance, despite the largish central obstruction. So portable as well - I had one on an AZ-3 for a while - I could lift the whole lot with one hand so easily !.

Sounds like a really nice night you both had

John

[Andrew*]

Excellent report of what sounds an excellent night

Two of the best open clusters in the sky and in the same field. :shock: That's why you buy a widefield scope. This was my highlight of the evening.

Hey, that sounds good. I should give that a go. It's nice to see Auriga again

I'm too used to observing things up close - haven't done wide-field observing for aages.

Andrew

[Doc]

Thats a great report Russ.

Sounds like a special night. good selection of scopes as well, all ranges covered.