2am, 2 Doubles, 2 Planets, 2 'Scopes

[cloudsweeper]

Still and clear.  Main target - a couple of doubles in Ophiuchus (low, south).  Bresser Dob.  Having recently operated at nightfall, it was good to see so many stars on show at this time!

Targeted Cebalrai - in the same FOV I saw the Summer Beehive Cluster IC 4665 - large, loose, and bright.  Then easy hops (in roughly 2deg stages) to 70 Oph (binary, close match, 5.9" separation).  Going from x35 to x64, got the split.  The clearly orange secondary lay at about 2 o'clock.

I then aimed at 71 Oph with its bright, close field star, both "above" 72 Oph, also with a bright field star.  A hop down led to Sigma 2276 - a triple system, visual double, matched, 7.0".  A beautiful matching pair of eyes, very close at x35 - nice and clear, not too bright, with fainter stars all around.  Even nicer at x64.

After 3am, the sky was getting lighter, esp. low south where more Ophiuchus doubles awaited, but getting started there would have been trickier.  After a successful aim, I had a quick look at M13 (some detail x127), then noticed Jupiter, low, east of south, and Saturn further east.  (Mars was further east again, behind a house).  All too low for the Dob, so I put the AR 102S frac on the job.

What a delight to see Jupiter again - two belts - Ganymede and Io close on one side, Europa close on the other, and Callisto further west.  Good at x75, less sharp at x150.

Blackbirds started up at 3.40 - lovely.

Over to Saturn - again, great to see it after a long break, and with the rings well tilted towards Earth.  A faint Titan was easily seen to the west, x60, x100.

Finished after two hours - little else on show but the gas giants by then.

Nice haul - 2 doubles, 2 planets, 2 clusters (open, globular), and 5 moons.

Doug.

[Stu]

Lovely session Doug. You do like your early mornings don’t you! Must have been very peaceful at that time 👍👍

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Great write up Doug and an enjoyable read.

You managed to squeeze in some great targets in our small window of astro darkness. The gas giants are a real joy to see.

I must admit I am really struggling at the moment as I can't seem to stay up past 11pm to get some decent viewing in. The kids have totally worn me out by then!

 

Baz

[cloudsweeper]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Lovely session Doug. You do like your early mornings don’t you! Must have been very peaceful at that time 👍👍

Thanks Stu - yes it was a peaceful and enjoyable experience.  I'll be doing more often over the next few weeks!

Doug.

 

8 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Great write up Doug and an enjoyable read.

You managed to squeeze in some great targets in our small window of astro darkness. The gas giants are a real joy to see.

I must admit I am really struggling at the moment as I can't seem to stay up past 11pm to get some decent viewing in. The kids have totally worn me out by then!

 

Baz

Thanks Baz - it is indeed a small window at this time of year.  Pity the planets are so low, but they still look spectacular.  Even without much detail, Saturn still inspires wonderment.

Doug.

[Stardaze]

That's a lovely evenings viewing. How do you find the Bresser frac? Have been thinking of adding something similar to my dob whenever I can for a quick grab and go, especially for the planets.

I'm also in the same boat as @Barry-W-Fenner, had the binos on the moon, Venus and Mercury from the bedroom window as I went to bed feeling exhausted from the little one and some manual labour! Woke at 3.30 and saw Jupiter on the horizon. 

Edited May 25, 2020 by Stardaze

[cloudsweeper]

1 hour ago, Stardaze said:

That's a lovely evenings viewing. How do you find the Bresser frac? Have been thinking of adding something similar to my dob whenever I can for a quick grab and go, especially for the planets.

I'm also in the same boat as @Barry-W-Fenner, had the binos on the moon, Venus and Mercury from the bedroom window as I went to bed feeling exhausted from the little one and some manual labour! Woke at 3.30 and saw Jupiter on the horizon. 

Love the Bresser fracs - I have the 127 long focus, and 102 short.  Quality instruments.  The hex focusers are really smooth and steady.  The 102 is a widefield grab 'n' go, the 127 is much larger, but serves well as an all-rounder!

Doug.

[Waddensky]

That sounds like a wonderful night, a very enjoyable en recognisable (the blackbirds!) report! Thanks for sharing.

[Stardaze]

7 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

Love the Bresser fracs - I have the 127 long focus, and 102 short.  Quality instruments.  The hex focusers are really smooth and steady.  The 102 is a widefield grab 'n' go, the 127 is much larger, but serves well as an all-rounder!

Doug.

Something else on the list then... though, spending some time this year learning my way first with the bresser dob,  no rush. 

[Stardaze]

On 25/05/2020 at 12:58, cloudsweeper said:

Love the Bresser fracs - I have the 127 long focus, and 102 short.  Quality instruments.  The hex focusers are really smooth and steady.  The 102 is a widefield grab 'n' go, the 127 is much larger, but serves well as an all-rounder!

Doug.

That's a nice mix of kit you have there Doug, only just noted everything you have there. I too have the Bresser 10" dob but definitely would like something later on in the year for planetary, was toying with a frac or mak of sorts. What do you opt for generally and why? I thought about pushing myself to the 8SE at first but the dob was such a steal. Maybe the Bresser frac alongside the dob would give me a nice mix and collectively, similar cost to an 8SE. I'd need some legs a mount to go with it so I'll have to look into those options too.

[cloudsweeper]

22 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

That's a nice mix of kit you have there Doug, only just noted everything you have there. I too have the Bresser 10" dob but definitely would like something later on in the year for planetary, was toying with a frac or mak of sorts. What do you opt for generally and why? I thought about pushing myself to the 8SE at first but the dob was such a steal. Maybe the Bresser frac alongside the dob would give me a nice mix and collectively, similar cost to an 8SE. I'd need some legs a mount to go with it so I'll have to look into those options too.

Thanks - took a number of years to get to this point!  For aperture, the Dob has the edge, and a wider field than the 8SE.  But quite often I just like the ease of using the 8SE on its GoTo mount!  Since you have the Dob, you might therefore be better off going for a nice, widefield frac like the AR 102S.  There are others of course - the Skywatcher ST120 is popular, but the focuser is nowhere near as good as the Bresser's.  Mount? - I have a Skytee for the big stuff (or for combinations), but the AZ4 is solid and very easy to use.

Have fun looking round and making some decisions!

Doug.

[Stardaze]

4 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Thanks - took a number of years to get to this point!  For aperture, the Dob has the edge, and a wider field than the 8SE.  But quite often I just like the ease of using the 8SE on its GoTo mount!  Since you have the Dob, you might therefore be better off going for a nice, widefield frac like the AR 102S.  There are others of course - the Skywatcher ST120 is popular, but the focuser is nowhere near as good as the Bresser's.  Mount? - I have a Skytee for the big stuff (or for combinations), but the AZ4 is solid and very easy to use.

Have fun looking round and making some decisions!

Doug.

Thanks for that Doug. No rush, loving the dob but would like a grab and go setup, could be a xmas present 😀 Last night was typical, where the clear outside app forecast too much cloud so I didn't bother getting the dob out. Typically the first two hours into dark were completely clear, I sat out for an hour with the binoculars! The Bresser frats look to have the edge with the decent focuser out of the box, same as the dob. 

[Paz]

Great report, good to see commitment being rewarded with results.