The Ring Nebula.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

26/07/19 @ 0045.

The Startravel 120 mounted on an AZ5 and steel tripod was good to go at 2330. Intermittent cloud kept me widefield and double chasing. M25 was lovely until the clouds and neighbour's trees intervened.

However, undetered and enjoying the breeze in t-shirt, shorts and Guiness Original in hand I just sat back scanning the occasional break in cloud cover.

Around 00:15 I was treated with a fantastically bright yellow meteor from the south. Nice!

Fast forward to 0030. The clouds cleared a bit, back to the eyepiece. Vega is in view, so I consulted Sky Safari and the Ring Nebula looks like the best DSO to try nearby.

So, the 15mm BST Starguider EP is popped into the 2" Skywatcher Dielectric diagonal and brought to focus.

Next, the 9x50 Skywatcher RACI finder is aligned to Vega. From there keeping my eye on the finder, star hopping begins; HR7043 - HD174346 - Sheliak and just under half way to Sulafat, a fuzzy, round blob!

Looking through the 15mm BST a larger fuzzy round blob was centred and the eyepiece swapped for the 8mm BST.

A quick refocus and a squint later and Kajing! My first view of a cigar cloud ring puffed into space (at least that's how it looked).

A rather pleasant thirty minutes was spent gazing at the Ring before the clouds settled again and another Guiness called me...

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[MarsG76]

Nice report of a great night dodging cloud in the summer heat...

[Paz]

Nice report. M25 is a great target and any time that area of sky is clear I'll make the most of it as it is full of objects that are out of sight for most of the year.

[RobertI]

Well done, good catch, next time see if you can spot a few features, such as the central hole is ‘milky’ and the edges of the short  axis are brighter on the outside. 🙂

[Stu]

Excellent stuff SSC! The Ring is a great one to view, and good practise for your star hopping skills! Your patience with the cloud paid off.

[Kn4fty]

Great report! Love the smoke ring description! Thanks for sharing!

Rob

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Thanks all. The RACI really helps star hopping.

It just goes to show all is not lost in Bortle 7/8 skies. There's plenty to see with a smallish scope in an urban back garden if you keep at it!

Robert I don't know if I've the aperture or focal length for that much detail, under my skies at least... However I'll give it a go.

[des anderson]

Nice one, now try the Dumbbell {M27} in Vulpecula. Des

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

On 26/07/2019 at 19:49, des anderson said:

Nice one, now try the Dumbbell {M27} in Vulpecula. Des

Well Des, I rose to the challenge and at 00:10 this morning found the Dumbell despite the clouds by bouncing up the stars from Altair. Unfortunately I've yet to reveal any detail except its very rough, fuzzy dumbell shape, but will continue clouds allowing!

It made me miss the AMOS 17 launch by 5 minutes but I'll get over it 

Edited August 6, 2019 by ScouseSpaceCadet