Jupiter ! Eventually !

[cotterless45]

Brisk 1.4 degrees C, sky darkened before midnight giving some stunning and intoxicating views. This time of year is to me , unmissable. We get shots of late winter favourites and UMa hovers at the zenith. Waiting for the whole Summer Triangle to fly high and there's Hercules, Ophiuchus , CrB and the claws of Scorpius to enjoy. Don't miss the bright and wide double Graffias here , hovering south and higher than Antares and a faint view of M4. Hercules provided a great start with the multiple ΟΣ 341, what a view !

I had to get round the back of the shed to pull down some long honeysuckle to clear the southern view. From the house I'd glimpsed my target , thin cloud coming in and Jupiter appeared . As it cleared the roofs it was rock steady and huge Currently a huge 46"! It held x320, although the views were crisp at x160. Even in widefield I could pick out Ganymede parting and the jet black dot of Io transmitting. Very very worthwhile either waiting for or getting up for. The southern pole was very dark, a lot going on in the equatorial region with both bands having dark edges. South is over the town and the seeing soon bubbled with more cloud entering. Jupiter is a mesmerising sight just now.

Below are my notes. Even without a filter , M27 looked huge and bright. Of all the clusters , I'd rate M5 (globular) and Graff's as spectacular. "La Superba" YCNv showed as a brilliant glowing coal, a really beautiful sight. Always worth looking at Cygnus clusters , NGC 6819 giving powdered glass. 

A night just full of different targets. Our hedgehog turned up early for a snack ( hedgehog food from Morrisons ) and a noisy drink.  Just a completely dazzling few hours and Jupiter , oh wow ! 

Clear skies , get those scopes out !

Nick.

[Saganite]

Fabulous Nick !

 

Edited May 29, 2019 by Saganite

[Stu]

Indeed, fabulous! I've yet to get a good look at Jupiter this year, must try harder!

[mapstar]

Brilliant read Nick especially adapting the garden foliage to get southern views.

Jupiter is low but really bright. Could do with a view of it but doubt I'll manage it with work getting in the way.

A read is a poor substitute for actually getting out but a pleasure to sift through your views and remind me what I'm missing.

Cheers  

Edited May 29, 2019 by mapstar

[wookie1965]

Brilliant Nick I stayed up until 2am Jupiter was high and bright around 12.45 covered in wispy cloud looked at it through binoculars could not even see the moons.

Vega popped out for a bit  with Merak and Dubhe pointing to the pole star and that was my night. Did not even set up.

I will be definitely checking out IC 4756 Graph`s.

Great set of objects there Nick although I doubt I will pick anything up in the South with the street light.

[Froeng]

Excellent report. Can’t wait to see Jupiter and Saturn come ‘round the house...

Frank

[Paz]

Great report and sketches. I've recently started trying to sketch sometimes but it takes me absolutely ages so I need to keep practicing! How long does one of those doubles sketches take to do?

[cotterless45]

Up to a couple of minutes, just put the central target in and fill in the blanks. The direction that the star leave the field is west. Having a shot at drawing is great for observing.Your eye relaxes and picks up lots of detail. Just a pad of black card , a white liner and a chinagraph pencil. Cheap, easy and immediate ! 

Clear skies ! Nick.

[niallk]

Nice one, eyeing up the jetsream and cloud cover forecasts for the wee hours on Monday morning to try to catch this purported unravelling of the GRS...

[Kn4fty]

 

On 31/05/2019 at 05:21, Paz said:

Great report and sketches. I've recently started trying to sketch sometimes but it takes me absolutely ages so I need to keep practicing! How long does one of those doubles sketches take to do?

Paz, like Cotterless45 says, drawing helps you pick out more detail. Definitely draw. It doesn't have to be a Rembrandt, mine definitely are not. It makes you spend more time at the EP so you end up seeing more.