2 planets, 2 nebulae and some bits and bobs

[Pixies]

Tonight's clear skies seemed to be threatened by some mist arriving at 10pm. I had to make a quick DIY dew shield in a proper Blue Peter fashion, as the air was so damp. But this was the first clear night in what seemed ages, so I didn't want to miss anything.

Started with Albireo for a change. Then Epsilon Lyrae: I split it at 86x, so the seeing was good. After @IB20's report, I thought I'd try and find the Blue Snowball as I hadn't observed that since this spring. It was nice and bright and easy to see. Unlike M56 - this cluster was very faint; the southern light pollution from my garden made worse by the moisture in the air. So seeing was good but transparency wasn't. Checked M27 the Dumbbell nebula and it was pretty faint too.

So - on to the main event. Shifted the dob to the bottom of the garden and set up for Mars. I was hoping that the still and damp air meant that the planetary seeing was going to be good, and it was. I could get up to x350 with some detail still clear, but that was pushing it a little too much.  227x was perfect and I settled down for an hour sketching.

When I was happy, I had a quick scan around and had a peek at the Pleiades. Then remembered Neptune from the other report. Unfortunately it was obscured by tree branches and I didn't fancy moving the scope again.  Next time I'll try and find it a little earlier. But Uranus was in the area, so I star-hopped from Menkar in Cetus and found it. This was the first time I have ever seen it - a pale blue/grey disk  at 150x (little fist-pump moment). I am looking forward to the rude puns around the breakfast table tomorrow.

 

[Ships and Stars]

Good job on the planets! That's an area I need to spend more time on than chasing faint fuzzies. 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Nice report pixies.

Uranus was a fist pump moment for me also, I have read a few reports of it being underwhelming. However I though it was stunning, a crisp green sphere that crossed the FOV.