Seven planets and Moon challenge - Sunday 19th July early am

[John]

I got Comet Neowise, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Mars and Uranus, plus the Earth (of course) and 5 of Saturn's moons, 4 Jovian Galilean moons and finally Venus just peeking over the horizon but that's it for me tonight. The Moon and Mercury will have to wait !

Saturn and Jupiter looked very good earlier with my 130mm triplet refractor. Mars was binocular / naked eye viewed this time but it looks nice and high in the sky which bodes well for future observing as it's opposition looms.

 

 

 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

3 hours ago, John said:

I got Comet Neowise, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Mars and Uranus, plus the Earth (of course) and 5 of Saturn's moons, 4 Jovian Galilean moons and finally Venus just peeking over the horizon but that's it for me tonight. The Moon and Mercury will have to wait !

Saturn and Jupiter looked very good earlier with my 130mm triplet refractor. Mars was binocular / naked eye viewed this time but it looks nice and high in the sky which bodes well for future observing as it's opposition looms.

 

 

 

Very impressive haul there John! A real productive session!

were Uranus & Neptune easy to spot?

The sky is beautiful this morning here, crystal clear and blue. Typical I didn't get out viewing this morning as I have work today. 😕

Baz

[John]

4 hours ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Very impressive haul there John! A real productive session!

were Uranus & Neptune easy to spot?

The sky is beautiful this morning here, crystal clear and blue. Typical I didn't get out viewing this morning as I have work today. 😕

Baz

Thanks Barry.

Uranus and Neptune are easy enough in binoculars. They look like stars but as long as you know which "star" is the planet, you have seen them

Uranus shows a small disk from around 50x upwards in a scope. Neptune needs around 100x and upwards. With your 12 inch you might be able to spot Triton, Neptune's brightest moon at very high magnifications and, in theory, 4 of Uranus's moons are also visible in medium to large scopes.

 

[Littleguy80]

I had a crack at this last night. Seeing wasn't the best but Saturn was great with the 10mm Delos using my 10" dob. Jupiter was nice too. Mars showed  some nice dark albedo features and the southern polar ice cap. Cloud became a real issue from 1am onwards. I managed to get Uranus despite it being quite low and cloud interfering with my star hopping. Neptune was lost to cloud so that's where the challenge ended for me. I was left regretting not going for Neptune earlier in the evening but Comet Neo had my attention then. If I'd seen Neptune then I'd have taken a gamble and set the alarm to try for Venus and Mercury. This is my third serious attempt at the seven planets in one night challenge. Maybe it'll be fourth time lucky!

[Barry-W-Fenner]

47 minutes ago, John said:

Uranus shows a small disk from around 50x upwards in a scope. Neptune needs around 100x and upwards. With your 12 inch you might be able to spot Triton, Neptune's brightest moon at very high magnifications and, in theory, 4 of Uranus's moons are also visible in medium to large scopes.

Thanks for the heads up John.

I really enjoyed catching Uranus last Autumn in the 8" and it is a target I intend to come back to, Not a huge amount to see but the round Green disc was really rewarding for me. I spent quite a bit of time just watching it drift through my FOV at about x240 - I didn't realise that you could theoretically see up to 4 of its moons! I will have to have to look up which are viewable and try to spot them in the 12"

Neptune will be a 1st for me and is the only planet I haven't been lucky enough to see yet. I am really keen to see it. Again I tried to find it last Autumn but it was very low and there always seemed to be cloud in the way, so I didn't have much joy.

Regards

Baz

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Thanks for the heads up John.

I really enjoyed catching Uranus last Autumn in the 8" and it is a target I intend to come back to, Not a huge amount to see but the round Green disc was really rewarding for me. I spent quite a bit of time just watching it drift through my FOV at about x240 - I didn't realise that you could theoretically see up to 4 of its moons! I will have to have to look up which are viewable and try to spot them in the 12"

Neptune will be a 1st for me and is the only planet I haven't been lucky enough to see yet. I am really keen to see it. Again I tried to find it last Autumn but it was very low and there always seemed to be cloud in the way, so I didn't have much joy.

Regards

Baz

Neptune is a really nice planet to observe. John has set the challenge of observing it's moon Triton previously. I've had the slightest glimpse of it in averted vision with my 10" dob but that's it. Another one I'm determined to get properly. John's posted some great reports on this if you have a search.

[Nigeyboy]

I managed all but Mercury! I had an early start this morning - as it was, I didn't pull the duvet over myself until just past 3am!! Mercury is still the only Planet I have yet to see.

[Stu]

44 minutes ago, Nigeyboy said:

I managed all but Mercury! I had an early start this morning - as it was, I didn't pull the duvet over myself until just past 3am!! Mercury is still the only Planet I have yet to see.

Well done Sir!

[wookie1965]

I will guarantee there will be no clear skies always the way.

I saw Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in binoculars last night.

[Mark at Beaufort]

My Wife woke me at just after 3am to tell me the sky was crystal clear and there two bright stars looking towards the South/West. Now Pam is not particularly interested in astronomy so this was a pleasant surprise. I showed her that the two 'stars' were Jupiter and Saturn.

I could not miss the chance of a quick grab and go because my Apollo 15x70 binos were still downstairs from the previous night. So I quickly viewed Jupiter, Saturn and Mars and then viewed Comet Neowise. This was now about 3.45am and the sky was getting lighter - the Comet was getting difficult but I could see it.

At this time Venus was really bright and it was nice to check out the nearby stars in Taurus. However, I wanted to try and see Mercury. A quick reference to Stellarium on the mobile (now after 4am) - sky getting much brighter - but there it was.

Okay I should have tried Uranus and Neptune but I was pleased to see these Planets plus the Comet for unexpected observing session.

[John]

2 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

..... unexpected observing session.

Often these turn out to be some of the best

[Littleguy80]

Tried again last night. Got up at 2:30AM. A quick look at Comet Neowise and then onto the planets. After I failed on a clouded out Neptune during my last attempt I went for this first. There was a bit of drifting cloud but I found the tiny blue disk of the ice giant. Cloud was approaching Jupiter and Saturn  so I quickly ticked these off. Poor seeing meant that not too much detail was available on the gas giants. Heading further out, I repeated my star hop from Monday morning to get to Uranus. Showing nicely as a small greenish disk in the Delos 10mm. Over to admire the lovely crescent of Venus and then rising higher to Mars. In the space of 10 mins, I'd covered 6 of the planets. Now the wait for Mercury. I spent this time with Mars. The southern polar ice cap was well defined as was a large triangular darker patch. This looks to be labelled as Tyrrhena Terra in SkySafari. Noticing the time, I turned around began the hunt for Mercury. There was lots of drifting cloud around the horizon. For 45 mins, I searched with binoculars and then my 80mm Frac with various widefield eyepieces. In the end, I conceded that the sky was likely too bright to be able to see Mercury anymore. It was a frustrating end. So close and yet so far! On the upside, it means I have get to have the fun of trying all over again another time.

A man and his dob! If only the horizon had stayed that clear!

[Littleguy80]

The final chapter in my seven planet challenge quest!

 

[Marvin Jenkins]

My weather is looking very promising and I am planning to crawl quietly out of bed at 2:30 am (can't believe I just wrote that). I will still have Jupiter and Saturn to my west and I have decided to go for the holy grail and try to locate Pluto which by all the apps is right between the two, however, at mag 14 I am probably wishing.

Neptune then Mars then Uranus. I want to spend some time on Mars as I failed to see the polar cap at all last time it was well placed (sand storm?) One of my big goals this year is observe Ceres and it is in the mix. Hoping for a big show from Venus in the East then Mercury with the binoculars and skulk back to bed all happy with a silly look on my face. Now I have written all that it is bound to go wrong!

Marvin with everything crossed.

[Littleguy80]

1 minute ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

My weather is looking very promising and I am planning to crawl quietly out of bed at 2:30 am (can't believe I just wrote that). I will still have Jupiter and Saturn to my west and I have decided to go for the holy grail and try to locate Pluto which by all the apps is right between the two, however, at mag 14 I am probably wishing.

Neptune then Mars then Uranus. I want to spend some time on Mars as I failed to see the polar cap at all last time it was well placed (sand storm?) One of my big goals this year is observe Ceres and it is in the mix. Hoping for a big show from Venus in the East then Mercury with the binoculars and skulk back to bed all happy with a silly look on my face. Now I have written all that it is bound to go wrong!

Marvin with everything crossed.

Best of luck, Marvin. I’ve had a few failed attempts. I did have a go at Pluto myself but it’s a bit low and skies aren’t that dark at home particularly in that direction. Looking forward to hearing of your success  

[Marvin Jenkins]

Big bank of cloud to my south! First cloud in ages. It Is set to be completely clear by 2am So fingers crossed. I have the mount, scope, bags and boxes all loaded onto a barrow used for moving carp fishing gear round lakes.

I need to get to the top of my lane and use the high ground to my advantage and loading a van to go 300 meters is a bit lame.

Thanks for the good luck, I will give it my best shot.

Marv

[Littleguy80]

I think you’re in good a night, Marv. I observed Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, Uranus, Neptune and Mars. Fab views of Mars and the GRS on Jupiter earlier in the evening. Just watched Venus rise from the bedroom window. Tempted to stay up for Mercury but my bed is calling!

[Stu]

I finally managed this challenge this morning! Most pleasing! 😁👍

 

[Marvin Jenkins]

Good work everyone. Total disaster for me though. Uncomfortable first part of the night on the sofa, only to wake at 2:30 to find the small bank of cloud to my south had turned into anvils then blown out all across the sky!

Still partly clouded over this morning. Before starting all this I did get a great look at the Moon, Jupiter and Venus with the bins so all was not lost.

All the gear is still on the barrow ready to go, so tomorrow morning I will have another go. (Not crossing anything anymore).

Marv

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

Good work everyone. Total disaster for me though. Uncomfortable first part of the night on the sofa, only to wake at 2:30 to find the small bank of cloud to my south had turned into anvils then blown out all across the sky!

Still partly clouded over this morning. Before starting all this I did get a great look at the Moon, Jupiter and Venus with the bins so all was not lost.

All the gear is still on the barrow ready to go, so tomorrow morning I will have another go. (Not crossing anything anymore).

Marv

Sorry to hear that, Marv. Hope you have better luck tomorrow!

[Marvin Jenkins]

It has been going so well up to now. Moon, Jupiter with Io transit, Saturn with two moons, not a chance of Pluto, what was I thinking.

Neptune lovely blue colour star but more soft and rounded. Uranus, obvious cream disk and Mars so bright the atmospheric distortion robbing of a detailed look.

Just Venus and Mercury to go and a horizon to horizon cloud bank has covered the entire sky despite The weather man saying clear. Tell me if I am wrong, they do have satellites in space right?

Marvin

[Ibbo!]

Just popped out and its lovely, not just the sky but it is nice and cool.

 

Hoovered up the naked eye ones luna, jupiter and saturn earlier and now mars and venus .

no chance of mercury as too many buildings in the way.

[Marvin Jenkins]

The cloud took the jam out of my donut. I don’t want to play anymore.

Marv

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

The cloud took the jam out of my donut. I don’t want to play anymore.

Marv

Oh no! How annoying Marv. 😢