5 DSO and 2 planets

[Daf1983]

Had a great night of observing last night, for the first time since I bought my 200p in May, everything felt easier, less stressful and a lot more enjoyable. It was also the first time I had a chance to properly use my Sky and Telescope pocket sky atlas, and along with the the Telrad, I think this is a good combination for me.

I started off in Hercules with a familiar target, M13, which is fast becoming my go to DSO, and definitely a favourite! I then moved on to a second Globular Cluster in hercules, M92. Whilst, not quite as impressive as M13, I had some really nice view of this with my dob and the 8mm BST. 

I then moved on to the Ring Nebula, M57. Again, this is becoming a favourite of mine, but for whatever reason, the views of this wasn't as good as I've previously seen. I think I might also need to invest in a Nebula filter to increase the contrast on these targets. 

Finally, I had planned to have a look at the Dumbell Nebula, but unfortunately, the neighbours house was blocking the view. I therefore turned my attention to M81 and M82, Bode's Nebula and the Cigar Galaxy. I hadn't planned on observing these, and didn't have a star hop route planned put to find them. However, I decided to start at Dubhe in Ursa Major, and using my finderscope, I moved one star at a time until i reached where I thought they should be. Then, I had a look through my Vixen NPL 30mm, and after searching around the while, I managed to find both. These are the first galaxies I have observed, and whilst I couldn't see much detail, I could easily see the core of M81, and the elongated shape of M82. It really does take the breath away seeing both at the same time.

Finally, I moved the dob to the other side of the garden to have a quick look at Jupiter and Saturn, which were as impressive as always. All in all, a successful session.

[westmarch]

Lovely report, M81 and M82 are one of my favourite combinations in the FOV.  I recommend the Leo galaxies, in Spring,  as a treat to look forward to.

Don’t you just get such a sense of achievement star hopping to find your target popping up as planned?

I was looking at the planets last night and after looking at Jupiter and Saturn, thought I would star hop to Neptune, while waiting for Mars to come from behind a tree. Couldn’t see much below Pegasus  due to the light pollution from an industrial estate but starting off at Markab in Pegasus, I was able to star hop down using the FOV of my 40mm plossl. Took about 20 mins but lo and behold up it pops as part of a tight little asterism in Aquarius.

Its low tech but not much to go wrong. 😀

John

 

[PaulM]

Excellent set of objects observed, very very reminiscence of my first observation sessions through my 200p and likewise my expectations were exceeded when I first observed M81\82 together in the same FOV 

Dumbell Nebula is worth hunting down just as a challenge in itself as it is quite faint

If you enjoy M13 then I would recommend spending some time viewing the double cluster in Perseus and also the double double in Lyra (I was just able to split these with my 200p) which isn't not too far from M57 which like yourself I always try to get a view of and using filters give it a more dynamic almost 3D appearance 

[Daf1983]

23 minutes ago, westmarch said:

Lovely report, M81 and M82 are one of my favourite combinations in the FOV.  I recommend the Leo galaxies, in Spring,  as a treat to look forward to.

Don’t you just get such a sense of achievement star hopping to find your target popping up as planned?

I was looking at the planets last night and after looking at Jupiter and Saturn, thought I would star hop to Neptune, while waiting for Mars to come from behind a tree. Couldn’t see much below Pegasus  due to the light pollution from an industrial estate but starting off at Markab in Pegasus, I was able to star hop down using the FOV of my 40mm plossl. Took about 20 mins but lo and behold up it pops as part of a tight little asterism in Aquarius.

Its low tech but not much to go wrong. 😀

John

 

Thank you. I agree, star hopping is very rewarding, but very frustrating to begin with!😁

I was pleasantly suprised how clear it was from my back garden last night, could even see the milky way by the time I had finished my session. It's also nice that the nights are getting longer, and I don't have to stay up until silly o'clock to have some darkness.

Mars and neptune are next on my list. Mars pops up above my neighbours house about midnight at the minute, so should be more than doable

[Daf1983]

19 minutes ago, PaulM said:

Excellent set of objects observed, very very reminiscence of my first observation sessions through my 200p and likewise my expectations were exceeded when I first observed M81\82 together in the same FOV 

Dumbell Nebula is worth hunting down just as a challenge in itself as it is quite faint

If you enjoy M13 then I would recommend spending some time viewing the double cluster in Perseus and also the double double in Lyra (I was just able to split these with my 200p) which isn't not too far from M57 which like yourself I always try to get a view of and using filters give it a more dynamic almost 3D appearance 

I also managed to split the double double last week, but have bot got round to observing the double cluster yet, another to add to the list👍.

I will definitely have another go at the dumbell, maybe from the inlaws garden, which is much more open. Which filters would you recommend?

[PaulM]

3 minutes ago, Daf1983 said:

Which filters would you recommend?

I started with a UHC and Oiii filter and tend to get the better views from the UHC filter

[Daf1983]

2 minutes ago, PaulM said:

I started with a UHC and Oiii filter and tend to get the better views from the UHC filter

Thanks, I will add that to my ever growing wish list🙈

[RT65CB-SWL]

+1 for the UHC. I have the Explore Scientific... (because I like the pretty outer boxes they come supplied in).

 

Another useful filter and my most used filter is the Baader Neodymium.
I often call/refer to it the 'Swiss Army knife' filter.

[Daf1983]

55 minutes ago, Philip R said:

+1 for the UHC. I have the Explore Scientific... (because I like the pretty outer boxes they come supplied in).

 

Another useful filter and my most used filter is the Baader Neodymium.
I often call/refer to it the 'Swiss Army knife' filter.

Not too expensive either, only £6 dearer than the unbranded version from flo. Surely it's worth an extra £6 for the pretty box alone😉

[PaulM]

I used my new Neodymium filter on Saturn/Jupiter but seeing was awful but could see a benefit vs not using the filter

[Daf1983]

3 minutes ago, PaulM said:

I used my new Neodymium filter on Saturn/Jupiter but seeing was awful but could see a benefit vs not using the filter

That's interesting, as I've been struggling a bit with jupiter. I can just about see the bands, but nothing much more. Not sure if that's because of poor seeing, their low altitude or a combination of both. But I think some sort of filter could help

[PaulM]

1 hour ago, Daf1983 said:

That's interesting, as I've been struggling a bit with jupiter. I can just about see the bands, but nothing much more. Not sure if that's because of poor seeing, their low altitude or a combination of both. But I think some sort of filter could help

I would say a combination of both - my experiences of viewing Jupiter \ Saturn in the dobs I have owned have been quiet disappointing, the Neodymium filter did bring out more detail\clarity but Jupiter \ Saturn for me are always not far from roof tops so suffer badly from heat\convection currents