What a night

[markse68]

Had a fantastic night tonight! I think it must be coming up for my first anniversary- I remember last year waiting up till 2am to see Jupiter for the first time through my new Tal-1 and I’ve just seen Jupiter rising at 2am again 😊 After the wonder that was Orion disappeared into the west there was a period where I’d look up and not see much- nothing familiar or exciting- skies too poor for galaxies- just a few doubles really- oh and Venus of course. Then Vega appeared, and Cygnus and now the planets are coming! 😃

So I spent this evening revisiting and welcoming back old familiar friends with my fullerscope dob- the double double, the ring, the dumbbell (not surprised I couldn’t find it with the telementor the other night- it was very faint), spent a good long while on beautiful m13 which took me so long to find last year. Had a quick look for the veil with an oiii but didn’t see anything- didn’t really expect to though. Albireo was beautiful as ever.

The real highlight though was some great success with some close doubles. Once the scope had settled I was able to split Izar with my 14mm- about 114x and with my 3.5 it was a huge split! Oh and the colours! Beautiful! On to Zeta Hercules- I’ve tried a few times without success but I’m pretty sure I got it this time. I may have missed it before as I didn’t realise but believe the b star is much smaller than the A- want to check with @John if the b star trails A as they move across the fov? It was a very tight split with the 3.5 but I’m pretty sure I got it.

Next up Pi Aquilae- one of @Stu ‘s favourites I think- he certainly mentioned it a few times last year and as a result  I tried many times- so many times without success to split it. Well tonight I did! A clean split but very tight- a similar sized looking pair. What a relief! 

I also had a look at Iota Cass which eluded the telementor but was almost visible as a triplet in my 20 and a clean split at higher powers- a very attractive  little grouping.

Finally Antares was a no show- no surprise there... Despite the clear sky and it seeming reasonably clear of the horizon it remained as always a blurry set of traffic lights with red at the top and a greeny yellow below. I don’t know if that’s just atmospheric aberration or if it’s almost splitting but I really hope to see that split one day this year!

Jupiter rose as I was packing up- I had a quick look but it needed more time- the disk showed no detail but the moons were bright and the apparition an exciting foretaste of things to come. Saturn was behind trees- I could just peek a glimpse. Had I not had numb fingers and toes and a very hungry belly I’d have stayed up another hour to see them in their full glory but that’ll have to wait another evening.

I think the combination of the clearer covid skies and the improvements I’ve made to the scope made for a really enjoyable and productive, if a bit nippy, evening. Awesome! 😊

Edited May 14, 2020 by markse68

[Stu]

An excellent night Mark, well done! Must have had some good seeing which really helps with those tight doubles.

The fainter secondary does trail the primary for Zeta Herc, sound that sounds like you got it! That one took me years! 🤣

I do enjoy Pi Aquilae for some reason, perhaps because it is tight but fairly easily achievable whereas I still find Zeta Herc very difficult because of the magnitude difference.

The colour showing in Antares will have been atmospheric CA. I’m not sure I’ve ever even had a scope on that one though, let alone tried to split it!

Great session 👍👍

[Waddensky]

Deep-sky, double stars, planets. That sounds like a great night to me 😊. Lovely report, thanks!

[Saganite]

The joy and satisfaction following that session , comes through loud and clear Mark. A lovely report and some fine results, well done. 

I have never seen Antares either, so I must try harder !......

[F15Rules]

Brilliant Mark! A great read and so glad you had a wonderful night to remember👍!

Thanks for sharing

Dave

[John]

Great report Mark !

Here is my sketch of Zeta Hercules made with my ED120 refractor. It is still a tough split even with my 130mm LZOS triplet refractor:

 

[F15Rules]

3 hours ago, Saganite said:

I have never seen Antares either, so I must try harder

I have seen Antares Steve..it was very pretty, and looked just like a Kaleidoscope!😂😂😂

Dave

[F15Rules]

1 minute ago, John said:

Great report Mark !

Here is my sketch of Zeta Hercules made with my ED120 refractor. It is still a tough split even with my 130mm LZOS triplet refractor:

 

Thanks John, I don't remember ever viewing this one, so I must try it soon! 🙂

Dave

[John]

I have managed to split Antares once - with the aforementioned 130mm triplet refractor. Most of the time it has not split for me - it's too low for comfort here.

 

[Saganite]

1 hour ago, John said:

I have managed to split Antares once - with the aforementioned 130mm triplet refractor. Most of the time it has not split for me - it's too low for comfort here.

 

Just looking through my logs and I made a note on or around 11th February 2019  ;

MUST   split  Antares ( John 130mm LZOS    300 x  Antares)

I think you also mentioned Zeta Herculis in the same report because I have written that one down as a must do......

Edited May 14, 2020 by Saganite

[markse68]

Thanks guys- it was a wonderful night and I’m still buzzing- looks like tonight is shaping up to be another fine night. Lucky really as thank you @John for the sketch- you’ve made me doubt my split! 🤦‍♂️😂- I’d have put the b star more in line with A in direction of travel but will look again tonight. Maybe stay up late enough for a proper look at Jupiter and Saturn too. 

[John]

27 minutes ago, markse68 said:

Thanks guys- it was a wonderful night and I’m still buzzing- looks like tonight is shaping up to be another fine night. Lucky really as thank you @John for the sketch- you’ve made me doubt my split! 🤦‍♂️😂- I’d have put the b star more in line with A in direction of travel but will look again tonight. Maybe stay up late enough for a proper look at Jupiter and Saturn too. 

With my ED120 at high power (200x plus) the secondary star looks the colour of dirty blu tack and looks like a small lump practically stuck to the side of the brighter primary star. With my 130mm refractor the secondary star is more star-shaped and the thin gap between them a touch better defined.

The separation here is a paltry 1.3 arc seconds approx which is a challenging split when both components are of equal magnitude but with Zeta Herculis the primary is mag 2.9 and the secondary mag 5.4 so quite a difference and that adds further to the challenge of splitting them.

I have got them split with my 100mm Takahashi FC-100DL but I need really steady seeing to get this, the star high in the sky and the split comes and goes as a wafer thin black line.

 

[Saganite]

24 minutes ago, markse68 said:

Thanks guys- it was a wonderful night and I’m still buzzing- looks like tonight is shaping up to be another fine night. Lucky really as thank you @John for the sketch- you’ve made me doubt my split! 🤦‍♂️😂- I’d have put the b star more in line with A in direction of travel but will look again tonight. Maybe stay up late enough for a proper look at Jupiter and Saturn too. 

Good luck for tonight Mark.

Not looking good here unfortunately.

[Stu]

46 minutes ago, markse68 said:

Thanks guys- it was a wonderful night and I’m still buzzing- looks like tonight is shaping up to be another fine night. Lucky really as thank you @John for the sketch- you’ve made me doubt my split! 🤦‍♂️😂- I’d have put the b star more in line with A in direction of travel but will look again tonight. Maybe stay up late enough for a proper look at Jupiter and Saturn too. 

I think you did get it Mark, SkySafari has it pretty much in line. I’m not sure when John’s sketch was made, a few years ago I think and the secondary has moved around from the South since then. So, I reckon you are both right! Two images, now and four years ago. It’s a good example of where we can see changes within a few years which seems amazing!

[markse68]

Phew- thanks Stu! I’ll definitely have another look tonight if the forecast holds to confirm

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Great report Mark, An enjoyable read. You sound like you had a productive time at the eye piece!

 

Baz

 

 

[John]

My sketch dates from about 6 years ago.

The odd thing is, and I observed Zeta Herc just a few days ago, that the position angle has changed a bit not not massively ?

Pi Aquilae (which Mark also mentioned) is quite a bit easier than Zeta Herculis I find. Straightforward by comparison.

Somebody on "Cloudynights" managed to image Zeta Herc 3 years ago:

 

 

[Stu]

22 minutes ago, John said:

My sketch dates from about 6 years ago.

The odd thing is, and I observed Zeta Herc just a few days ago, that the position angle has changed a bit not not massively ?

Pi Aquilae (which Mark also mentioned) is quite a bit easier than Zeta Herculis I find. Straightforward by comparison.

Somebody on "Cloudynights" managed to image Zeta Herc 3 years ago:

 

 

This is six years ago. SkySafari shows it has moved by about 38 degrees and it has widened from 1.2” to 1.4”

[John]

Easy now then

If it's clear tonight I'll set the 130mm refractor up and take a peek at these and see how they lie.

 

[Stu]

8 minutes ago, John said:

Easy now then

If it's clear tonight I'll set the 130mm refractor up and take a peek at these and see how they lie.

 

I’m sure I will still try and fail! 🤣🤣

Might try with the 8” f8, or the Mewlon.

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Did anyone else notice a darker sky than usual last night? It was very dark and clear here in Rochester around 2.30 - 3am  I could see many more stars than usual. There did seem to be far fewer lights on and the local co-op wasn't illuminating the sky. Neither was Rochester town from the opposite direction. I actually checked to see if my lights were working as I thought there might be a power cut?! They were fine though.

Unfortunately I as so tired i only had a very quick look at M13

[Stu]

Just now, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Did anyone else notice a darker sky than usual last night? It was very dark and clear here in Rochester around 2.30 - 3am  I could see many more stars than usual. There did seem to be far fewer lights on and the local co-op wasn't illuminating the sky. Neither was Rochester town from the opposite direction. I actually checked to see if my lights were working as I thought there might be a power cut?! They were fine though.

Unfortunately I as so tired i only had a very quick look at M13

Not last night but earlier this week I think the transparency was excellent so yes, more stars visible with the naked eye and a few DSOs clear in my little scopes.

[Stu]

20 minutes ago, John said:

Easy now then

If it's clear tonight I'll set the 130mm refractor up and take a peek at these and see how they lie.

 

Seems to be easiest in 2022, and don’t fancy my chances in 2035!

[markse68]

9 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Did anyone else notice a darker sky than usual last night? It was very dark and clear here in Rochester around 2.30 - 3am  I could see many more stars than usual. There did seem to be far fewer lights on and the local co-op wasn't illuminating the sky. Neither was Rochester town from the opposite direction. I actually checked to see if my lights were working as I thought there might be a power cut?! They were fine though.

Unfortunately I as so tired i only had a very quick look at M13

Yes indeed Baz- many more constellations visible than I’m used to- it’s wonderful to be out under them. I reckon I must be down to at least bortle 8 here now 😉

[John]

It was about mag 5.5 naked eye limit at the zenith here last night.

I could see M51 with the 50mm finder, which is usually a reasonably good sign.