Short session report with + & - results

[bomberbaz]

Hello all, been a while since I was out properly and I was really hopeful of something special tonight but alas, it was not going to be.

I went to the ribblehead viaduct in North Yorkshire, allegedly bortle 3 (sqm 21.7) skies with lovely low horizons. I had drawn up a list of Sagittarius objects to start with then a variety of others to follow from across the skies.

Negatives first, well sky seemed steady but when I looked at Jupiter I could see what seemed to be the effects of strong wind causing a lot of wobble, this also seemed apparent when I checked albireo, my scope had cooled btw. 

At 9.30 I could easily see dark clouds on the southern horizon against a glow. I couldn't get my head around this as it was supposed to be astronomical dark and this glow was not noticed last time I visited this place. My eyes were well dark adapted and the milky way was clearly visible overhead.

Cars, early on this place is horrible for traffic. It sits next to a road that is well used and you are constantly shielding your night vision.

The cold, well up until 10 it had been manageable and I was happy to carry on searching out objects away from the southern glow (I will investigate this glow further on LP maps and the like) but at 10 the wind decided to pick up very noticeably. By noticeably I mean it was actually howling.  Bear in mind I was in an exposed place anyway and that was me off, blooming freezing in a matter of minutes despite me being well wrapped up.

This is the second (and last) time I have been frozen off this place. It really can change in seconds and really needs to be a nil or next to nil wind forecast. Either that or wrap up like and eskimo and slug it out. I for one will not be trying the latter, horrendous.

Moving on. There were some positives so it wasn't a complete disaster.

First off I managed to bag the lagoon nebula (M8) for the first time. It wasn't the clearest but still a tick off to go along with triffid, swan and eagle. The swan (M17) is a lovely nebula. really strong image even against the southern glow with a UHC. 

I reintroduced myself to Saturn. Yes it was a wobbly sky due to the aforementioned wind issue (well I think it was wind) but she still seems so beautiful wearing the rings of ICE. Oh nearly forgot, first time ever I saw the moon Rhea. Averted vision getting it reasonably easy so skies maybe better than I am thinking they were (blooming sky glow). 

My new crosshair eyepiece works like a dream. Cost more than the standard crosshair types but remove the cross hair it looks, feels and works like a real eyepiece rather than a one trick bog standard offering.

I have a new lighting system for the boot of my car which makes management of eyepieces and other paraphernalia much easier and tonight was my first time of using it and it made that aspect of the hobby much easier

Finally I saw lots of wildlife including my first ever live view of a badger. 

I still believe this place has great potential but I want to get up there one night with no moon and do some sqm reading well into astro darkness. I am not convinced that tonight the glow was not residual light from the retreating sun.

Anyway, all in I did enjoy myself. However I am in a conundrum over this sky glow to the south, easily seen milky way above and the fact i am also spotting a mag 10 moon of saturn & the lagoon nebula which was very low down in this glow. 

Looking forward to another session soon although I think i may play closer to home until i can resolve the above.

Cheers everyone

Steve

 

[Pixies]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

Finally I saw lots of wildlife including my first ever live view of a badger.

The only time I've seen one was during a 24 hour mountain bike race at Trentham Gardens, near Stoke. I was doing a nighttime lap and it ran alongside me for about 20m! I don't know who was more surprised.

[F15Rules]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for sharing your experiences..I've had night like that quite often too. Last night I got the frac out at about 11.15pm as the sky was pretty clear, with some scattered clouds and a noticeably cool breeze coming off the North sea, about 15 miles east of us. 

I'd fitted a new microfocuser to my Tak and was keen to try it out. Well, it worked just fine, and will really help with high magnification on good nights. And last night was not a good night here. Although the breeze was very noticeable, it was actually the sky seeing that was lousy and made for a very short session..for example I could see the Milky Way overhead, and all of the stars of Ursa Minor right round from Polaris to Kochab. But Mars was a (very bright) mush, with just the polar cap being obvious, and the double double epsilon Lyrae, which I can normally get a clean, steady split with at c100x, was very wobbly and indistinct.

So, transparency was not bad, but the seeing was right down at the low end of the scale.

I was only out for about 45 minutes and yes, it did start to feel cold, so I packed up at midnight and went to a warm bed!

So, don't despair Steve, better night's WILL come soon!

Dave

[JeremyS]

2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

'd fitted a new microfocuser to my Tak and was keen to try it out. Well, it worked just fine

Good to hear the MEF-3 is working well, Dave. 👍

Now, just remain focused on what you are doing 🙂

 

[bomberbaz]

5 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Hi Steve,

Thanks for sharing your experiences..I've had night like that quite often too. Last night I got the frac out at about 11.15pm as the sky was pretty clear, with some scattered clouds and a noticeably cool breeze coming off the North sea, about 15 miles east of us. 

I'd fitted a new microfocuser to my Tak and was keen to try it out. Well, it worked just fine, and will really help with high magnification on good nights. And last night was not a good night here. Although the breeze was very noticeable, it was actually the sky seeing that was lousy and made for a very short session..for example I could see the Milky Way overhead, and all of the stars of Ursa Minor right round from Polaris to Kochab. But Mars was a (very bright) mush, with just the polar cap being obvious, and the double double epsilon Lyrae, which I can normally get a clean, steady split with at c100x, was very wobbly and indistinct.

So, transparency was not bad, but the seeing was right down at the low end of the scale.

I was only out for about 45 minutes and yes, it did start to feel cold, so I packed up at midnight and went to a warm bed!

So, don't despair Steve, better night's WILL come soon!

Dave

Thanks for the vote of confidence Dave, transparency seemed great like you said but on planets it was very wobbly and the stars were very mushy in the dob.

Although like I mentioned my biggest thing was the apparent darkness or lack thereof. According to my apparent sky darkness, clouds should have been barely visible but I had no problem picking out the odd clouds that were in the sky. I did have my sqm meter but I forgot to take readings to see just how good, or bad the sky actually was.

I am intending going up there one night to do just this.

Steve

Edited September 18, 2020 by bomberbaz

[Alkaid]

Love 3 peaks country. Were you parked right on the road where the tea van parks up? Yep, it’s a deceptively busy road.  You know, you can drive up the track to the viaduct (legally), just take it slow due to the pot holes.  Once there, you can use the viaduct as a windbreak of sorts (and a light shield!).

Ribblehead is a few hundred metres altitude already, as a result it’s usually a couple of degrees colder than the forecast suggests.

Great effort in the wind, nice report!

[scarp15]

Interesting session, venturing to dark sky locations is a procedure of trial and error that can have surprises. For that reason, I do get a bit anxious when venturing to somewhere new, as was my circumstance last night, which worked out OK. Sky Quality Meter readings are invaluable. If the online resource is believed, it is somewhere in the region of 21.7 - 8. The reality is that it was just hitting 21.00 mag, though was specific for this particular night and time frame and will seasonally vary. I do have a rule that I will not drive more than an hour from home as a kip in the car is not my cup of tea and one hour is OK to pace back when tired. Therefore somewhere between 21.01 and 21.04, in average based meter readings, is usually where I get to, unless an overnight is planned. Always nice to encounter nocturnal wildlife to, except of course for midges. Taking multiple layers to gradually climb into is part of it, looking a bit like michelin man by the time you are fully kitted out.