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Two clear nights of simple pleasures


Littleguy80

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Clear skies have been hard to come by lately but the past two evenings I've been treated to some lovely clear skies. Wednesday night, I went outside a little before 11pm, with the dob out and cooled ready for action. I saw a great meteor streak through Cassiopeia almost straight away which started the session off perfectly. After some brief observations of Mars, I was keen to make this a night of DSO's. The Great Orion Nebula being an obvious first choice. The nebula glowed green through the eyepiece with the Trapezium showing both the E and F stars through the 10mm Delos. The transparency seemed excellent. I ran my hand over the scope and it still felt dry despite being outside for some time. A very good sign! My next target was the Comet C/2020 M3 (Atlas). I'd not been able to see this on a couple of previous attempts but this time a hazy patch was spotted. Closer inspection revealed a brighter nucleus/core within the haze. The comet had been my main goal for the evening so it was great to get it early on.

We have two rabbits which my children gave astronomical names. The first is named Lunar. For the second they went through a list of asteroid names and selected Flora. I noticed on SkySafari that asteroid Flora was quite bright at the moment. Some reading revealed that it's the largest innermost asteroid. It's name was proposed by John Herschel in 1847 from the Latin goddess of flowers and gardens. The rabbit Flora has proved to be an effective gardener. I spent time tracking down asteroid Flora in Cetus. I find hunting down asteroids really fun, requiring careful comparisons to the star field shown in SkySafari. I followed Flora up with another asteroid, Psyche, in Taurus. Close to psyche was a lovely pair of clusters, NGC 1807 and NGC 1817. They sit next to each like a smaller version of the double cluster. Next came the Crab Nebula, M35 and the Monkey Head nebula (NGC 2174).

In Gemini, I tracked down the planetary nebula, NGC 2371. Using the TV Bandmate OIII, I worked up the magnification until I arrived at 240x with the Pentax XW 5mm. This is such a great planetary. A bright double lobed nebula which shows some variation in brightness as you look across it. A real highlight of the night. The Eskimo nebula is similarly superb with the Pentax though I prefer this without a filter so the bright central star really pops. A final visit to M42 and then it was time for bed.

Thursday evening and skies were clear again. I put the dob out early so I could show my 8 year old son and 5 year old daughter Mars. While observing the red planet, my son said with a wry smile "Did you know there's a planet called Uranaus?". I replied "Yes, sometimes I look at Uranus while you're asleep". I then offered to shown him Uranus, warning him that it's "hard to find Uranus in the dark". This is comedy gold to 8 year olds. They both enjoyed seeing the ice giant too and were filled with questions such as how far away the planet is.

Much later on, with the little ones safely tucked up in bed, I returned for some DSO observing. Another observation of the Comet was followed by the planetary nebula NGC 2022 in Orion. The multiple star of Sigma Orionis came next, this was superb. M42 led onto the two reflection nebula of M78 and NGC 2071.  It was time for some Winter crowd pleasures. I worked my way through the Christmas Tree cluster (NGC 2264), Hubble's Variable Nebula (NGC 2261) and Hagrid's Dragon (NGC 2301). For a final challenge I hunted down the Intergalactic Wanderer globular cluster (NGC 2419). Whilst faint this showed as a nice faint patch in the 10mm Delos. 

It was time to pack up. I have a childhood memory of drinking tomato soup on a bonfire night. I don't remember how old I was but I just remember it tasting so good in the cold air. I warmed up some leftover tomato soup from tea in a mug and stood outside just looking up. I didn't last long before feeling the need to get my binoculars. I was pleased to confirm that I'd spotted the Beehive Cluster naked eye. It looked great through the bins. I then observed some more open clusters in the bins, M67, M37, M36, M38 and finally the Pleiades. All this while sipping the warming soup. It was just the perfect way to finish up a second night of really enjoyable observing. 

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Great report - two nights on the go is what we like to hear! Lots of sights as well. I get too caught up in faffing around comparing equipment etc and end up with a short list some nights.

Ending a viewing session with binoculars is my preferred way to wind things down - good call!

Hope you get more back to back nights soon. Sat/Sun here is looking possible. It works well for me with the moon setting later as the kids will finally be asleep before I can escape for a wee bit 😂

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31 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

Great report - two nights on the go is what we like to hear! Lots of sights as well. I get too caught up in faffing around comparing equipment etc and end up with a short list some nights.

Ending a viewing session with binoculars is my preferred way to wind things down - good call!

Hope you get more back to back nights soon. Sat/Sun here is looking possible. It works well for me with the moon setting later as the kids will finally be asleep before I can escape for a wee bit 😂

Thank you :) I've had some nights where I've got fiddling with the camera and ending up feeling like I wasted a night. I did take some images of Mars last night but was determined that observing be the main part of the night!

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A splendid two evenings Neil, I like the narrative, can just imagine the rabbits - very apt names and can relate to when we had two, your children taking an interest, a lovely mug of tomato soup and oh yes and the stargazing. Very interesting selection of targets accomplished and as I'd mentioned in @Ships and Stars report, Orion is now increasingly present and not as I referred to it as being 'just around the corner'. That asteroid(s) sounds like it was a challenging and engaging subject.

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2 hours ago, scarp15 said:

A splendid two evenings Neil, I like the narrative, can just imagine the rabbits - very apt names and can relate to when we had two, your children taking an interest, a lovely mug of tomato soup and oh yes and the stargazing. Very interesting selection of targets accomplished and as I'd mentioned in @Ships and Stars report, Orion is now increasingly present and not as I referred to it as being 'just around the corner'. That asteroid(s) sounds like it was a challenging and engaging subject.

Thanks Iain. Was great to have the dob out again for a couple of proper sessions. Hopefully next new moon will allow a dark site trip and an attempt at the Horsehead and Barnard's Loop.

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3 hours ago, mapstar said:

Nice read there Neil. Ngc 2371 I have looked at quite a few times. The medusa neb close by the eskimo can be a difficult object but it's large so can be overlooked. 

Thanks Damian. I’ve tried for three Medusa a few times but without anything definitive. Will try again next time I can go to the dark site. 

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1 hour ago, vineyard said:

I missed this when you first posted it.  Thank you for sharing.  Not only was it clearly great viewing, but you really evoked things v well.  Yes simplicity is great! 👍🏾

Thank you :) I do try to make my reports about the experience as well as the objects themselves. A good night under the stars is so much more than a list of targets observed :) 

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Excellent read Neil, two very interesting and successful nights.

It’s been slim pickings here recently, limited to a couple of lunar sessions but it’s nice to be out and grabbing whatever you can.

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1 hour ago, Stu said:

Excellent read Neil, two very interesting and successful nights.

It’s been slim pickings here recently, limited to a couple of lunar sessions but it’s nice to be out and grabbing whatever you can.

Slim pickings, it changes so quickly. Last night was meant to be clear, by 9 am when I was going to get setup it has clouded over and scope nights said a no go.

Tell me this is rare for this time or year, spoilt over the summer.

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1 hour ago, Stu said:

Excellent read Neil, two very interesting and successful nights.

It’s been slim pickings here recently, limited to a couple of lunar sessions but it’s nice to be out and grabbing whatever you can.

Thanks Stu :) Agreed, much the same here. I think the recent lack of astronomy contributed to making those two nights particularly enjoyable.

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20 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

Slim pickings, it changes so quickly. Last night was meant to be clear, by 9 am when I was going to get setup it has clouded over and scope nights said a no go.

Tell me this is rare for this time or year, spoilt over the summer.

It goes in spells I find. You can get a bad run and then suddenly a few nights on the trot with clear skies. I always end up overtired after that. Determined to make the most of every clear night :D I always keep an eye out the window, just in case. If you have a grab and go setup, there are often opportunities for a quick 20 or 30 minutes when a break in the clouds appears.

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Great post Neil :smiley:

I wonder what it is like for those who live under skies that are clear for many nights of the year ?

Here we grab whatever is going and make the best of it. I guess if you have many clear nights at your disposal you get more picky and look for a certain degree of transparency or steady seeing before setting up ?

 

 

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1 hour ago, John said:

Great post Neil :smiley:

I wonder what it is like for those who live under skies that are clear for many nights of the year ?

Here we grab whatever is going and make the best of it. I guess if you have many clear nights at your disposal you get more picky and look for a certain degree of transparency or steady seeing before setting up ?

 

 

Thanks John. I suspect you're right. It may incline you more to experiment or spend more time on individual targets. I always feel like I have so much I want to cram into a session. If you're getting regular clear nights then the pressure is off and you can do one thing or another with the knowledge that another clear night is just around the corner.

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Just now, wookie1965 said:

Well done Neil cracking report I've had one night that didn't turn out too good and one with gods torch out so everything was washed out. 

Great to read reports you can pick up some great targets if you haven't seen them thanks. 

Thanks Paul. Sorry your sessions haven't worked out. Even when it doesn't all come together it still beats watching TV though :) 

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