Waiting for Saturn.

[cotterless45]

Even before any dusky light , Jupiter blowed fiercely in the south. An early great view, which soon bubbled with hot air bubbles over the town. The southern belt appearing very dark and thinner than the northern. Plenty signs of festoons at x200. Best leaving the focus and let the views appear.

Just a cornucopia of delights later on. Serpens gave a bright M5 and the huge Graff's IC 4756 (20 light years across and  1300 light years away ).The stars of M16 were there , but no nebulosity. Completely different wow turning to Sagittarius ,M17, the "swan " was gliding with such nebulosity. Easily spotted , but an Oiii filter really brought this out.Turned to M27 at x150 , nearly filled the view , even catching the brighter end.

Saturn was due to transit after 1.30, but the Cassini and surface details appeared as it cleared the roofs . Finer details at x150.

A long session chasing more difficult Otto Struves in Cygnus and some glorious views in Ophiuchus. Difficult viewing with brighter skies than of late. Very well finding the very beautiful Marfik. There really is so much to observe. Include planetary nebulae and clusters this time of year.

A welcome 15 degrees C session, just a joy to be out there under 

Clear skies !

[MarsG76]

Nice sketches... sketches are a much more representation of what you actually see over imaging.... Thanks for the sketch..

 

[Trikeflyer]

Great report Nick. I think the Swan M17 is the favourite of all the nebulae I’ve seen so far. No imagination required - it’s a swan for sure 😂. Tried the 8 inch De dobbed newt on the iOptron az pro mount for the first time. Some challenges but managed to sort. My highlights last night were M15 glob, the garnet star, my absolute favourite the owl cluster Ngc 457, M11 looked great in the newt compared to the equinox 120. Not bad in the 120 just better in the newt. Ste1 on Lyra was a great open cluster. Managed andromeda galaxy m31 and it’s neighbours too - filled the eyepiece - Pentax Xw10.

Clear skies

Steve 

 

[wookie1965]

I bought a Oiii filter I have not even tried it so thank`s Nick I have a couple now to try. I am in the process of writing another Cygnus list up so many doubles and multiples in there. But I will definitely try those clusters in Serpens as Usual having a sketch to refer to makes it much easier. 

[niallk]

Great report! This really resonated:

19 hours ago, cotterless45 said:

Best leaving the focus and let the views appear.

I was blown away by the detail to be seen in the Swan before - a really great object