Summer fun...

[Whistlin Bob]

Another online club meeting last night- a few of us decided to rejoin to continue the fun for an online observing session around ten. Had the 14" out as the forecast looked good and no work today  Before joining the others@EmuStardust and I tried splitting a few doubles that were emerging in the twilight. It's funny how your observing develops- doubles didn't really interest me much to start with, but as time has gone on (and inspired by reports here) I've become a little addicted to it. I've found with my gear an aperture mask and (if the seeing will take it) really high magnification (470x last night) works well. 

Epsilon Lyra: you could drive a bus through there!

Izar: Ok more like a road bike (with skinny tyres) but still a nice clear split.

Next spent a bit of time setting up an imaging run, then rejoined the club online call on audio and we tried to look at the same features on the moon. As per @John's report the seeing was superb. My highlights were:

Lunar X- my first observation.

Lunar V- likewise!

Walther- spectacular shadow reaching from central peak and picking out features on the crater floor.

Ptolemaeus- wow! Just perfectly placed with the crater rim picked out as a shadow across the crater floor. I spent ages on this trying to imagine the sight at the edge of the shadow as the sun crested the 2.5km high ridge above the crater floor. Reading today that the crater is close to 100 miles wide it isn't quite as I imagined. I suspect for 95% of the lunar day this crater is a bit meh to observe- but so perfectly placed tonight with all sorts of textures and features in the floor it was an awesome sight.

Ok so now it was darkish, time to go deep space...

M13- familiar, but a wonder every time. Propeller visible.

ZetaHerc- split came and went in the seeing, but pretty clear at times. Credit card split, not road bike.

M81 Central shape, hazy outlying areas
M82 a sleek line, some mottling despite proximity to the moon.

Now Cygnus was over the rooftops to the east. Time for a summer target feast:
Full veil complex in oiii & 30mm. Lovely view, witches broom much the brighter bit, wonderful to have it back.
Crescent nebula- yes! First sight!!! Faint but just visible in oiii. Only really sure because of the keystone asterism framing the wisp.
M27 dumbbell- in Baader zoom and Oiii filter. Apple core shape prominent with fainter view of the outer lobes.
M57 the ring - very bright in oiii, still easily visible with no filter.
M71- quite faint but pleasing
M56- very nice- quite faint but with  even distribution.

Ok- now 2am and only 2 of us left so one last object and the sky is now darkest around Ursa Major.
M51- spiral arms!!! Yes! Drifting in and out of perception and requiring AV but a very fine view.

So- packed up the dob and the imaging rig and was just locking up and about to go to bed when Jupiter popped round the side of the house and said "You don't want to do that!" Quickly grabbed the 8 inch:

Jupiter- 4 moons and stripes oh yeah!!! Couldn't make out much detail with it being so low in the sky, but great to see it again.
Saturn- My log says "& Titan" but looking at Sky Safari now I think it was more likely to be Iapetus. I couldn't see the Cassini division but there was a hint of banding.

Wow- one of those super awesome sessions that come along so rarely. A real pleasure and such a range of stuff seen. Best not plan anything too demanding today!

[John]

Great report !

Interesting use of the "vehicle tyre" binary star split measurement tool

It was a lovely night last night and did, eventually, get dark for a little while.

[markse68]

Sounds like a fab session! Bit chilly for my liking last night here so gave up after first view of Jupiter before it had time to gain height enough for detail. I keep trying for the veil but to no avail! Does it get easier as Cygnus gets further overhead? Or am I just unlikely to ever see it with my 8” and London skies?

[John]

25 minutes ago, markse68 said:

... Does it get easier as Cygnus gets further overhead? Or am I just unlikely to ever see it with my 8” and London skies?

Yes it does, but not much.

An O-III filter is the key to seeing the Veil. It can make the difference between seeing practially nothing at all and a rather nice view. A UHC also helps but the O-III filter is the best on this target.

 

[markse68]

3 minutes ago, John said:

Yes it does, but not much.

An O-III filter is the key to seeing the Veil. It can make the difference between seeing practially nothing at all and a rather nice view. A UHC also helps but the O-III filter is the best on this target.

 

I’ve been trying both John but still nothing 🤷‍♂️ Will keep on persevering though- I’ll find it eventually even if I have to travel somewhere less light polluted 

[John]

A wide field of view is also quite important - it is a huge object in total - 3.5 degrees across. Each of the major elements is around 1.5 degrees in extent. The eastern segment is easier to spot than the western part although the latter does run right by the star 52 Cygni so it is easier to locate.

This chart and also the composite image below, give an idea of the scale of the thing:

 

Apologies to @Whistlin Bob for hijacking his thread slightly.

[Whistlin Bob]

No worries @John- feels on topic to me 👍

@markse68 It's definitely worth persisting with- it almost feels ethereal to me- these faint wisps over such large distances. 

Very much agree with John's advice, my magnification last night was at x41 and I could only see individual components in any view.

[wookie1965]

I had a great session last night my last object was M51 but I couldn't see it tried several times from home never got it. 

Great session you had there congratulations