The Moore Winter Marathon

[Jasonb]

Hi again,

So, as some sort of a structured way of practising Observing and getting used to my Scope and the night sky, I decided to follow the Moore Winter Marathon, both the 25 Naked Eye/Binocular items and the 25 Telescope items. 

Last night was perfect for observing, clear skies all evening long. The only issue was I was shattered; my daughter hadn't sleep much the night before, so neither had I. I was in need of sleep, not observing, but I was keenly aware it could be cloudy for the next week. A compromise was to take out my 7x50 Binoculars and see what I could see for a few minutes without the scope, starting at the start of the Naked Eye/Binoculars Marathon.

The first two were easy, the Pleiades and Hyades clusters. Both easy to find and both looking lovely in the bins (that's what they're called, right? ). I think sometimes having everything in a single field of view is just as effective as a high magnification view of it. After enjoying them for a minute or two, I moved on to number 3, The Triangulum Galaxy (M33).

This was much harder, and in the end I didn't find it. I found Mirach ok, and Triangulum, so I was in the right region, but just couldn't spot it, my urban back garden probably not helping. The Moore Marathon does use The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) as a guide for M33, and I found that easily enough. That was the highlight of the night for me, my first Galaxy and it was pretty obvious in the binoculars. I'll be going back to that with my Scope when I can!

Next on the list was M35 Cluster in Gemini. I found Castor/Pollux easily enough, but was struggling slightly to follow down the 'body' of Castor to its foot. It became a lot easier when I widened my FOV (i.e. stopped using the bins) I was able to get the full layout of Gemini easier, and then could find the leg/foot that lead to M35. It wasn't particularly bright but definitely ticked off the list.

The next two on the list (Beehive Cluster - M44 and M67) were too low on the horizon, behind some clouds, for me to have any hope of seeing them. As I myself was fading, I quickly jumped to the well visible Orion and ticked off Number 22 (Orion's Sword) with the fuzziness of M42 visible even with binoculars. I'd looked at M42 before with my Scope and loved it, another place I'll be revisiting! Finally for the night was Orion's Belt itself (Number 25 on the list) and the Collinder 70 Cluster that is all around it.

All in all it was only about 20 minutes, but a good start was made! I took advantage of also ticking off Number 7 (Jupiter) as while it wasn't visible at this stage in the evening, I have seen it and the four moons last week, so it has been 'observed' on the list. 

Not sure what the weather is like for the rest of the week, but I'm liking having a list to follow to look for items from, and a red light head torch helped as well. Have told myself that if there are any items from the Naked Eye/Binoculars list that I can't get with the bins, I'll revisit them with the Telescope. Maybe not quite in the spirit of the 'rules', but I'm doing this to get to know the night sky better, something I'm already improving my knowledge of, so it's all good!

 

[Muc]

Never heard pf the Moore Winter Marathon, must a look, nice to have something to aim for to make use of the few cloud breaks

 

[Jasonb]

You can find the Observing Guide PDFs on this page...

The Sky at Night: Winter Moore Marathon (cf.ac.uk)

It's from a few years ago, so the planets are in the wrong position, but the rest of it is all correct. I think it's handy to have some guide/targets to aim for, especially for me as I'm starting out...

[Waddensky]

Lovely report, thanks! M33 is by far the most elusive of the objects on that list, so no wonder it isn't that obvious. It can be done though with binoculars if your skies are dark enough.

I've never heard from this Moore Marathon list too, but I really like it. It's full of lovely and very varied objects.

[Jasonb]

Thanks! I can't take the credit for it, @Tiny Clangerrecommended it to me!

[Merlin]

It's been my experience that M33 is easy to see in the right sky conditions. Years ago, before the proliferation of insecurity lights, I saw this galaxy from the back lawn lining on my back with 8X40 binoculars.

The Galaxy was so distinct that I thought it was a small white cloud and almost directly overhead. I checked a star map and saw that the "cloud" was M33.

[Jasonb]

Yeah, I do think my location (urban back yard with a good bit of light pollution) wasn't helping. Will try again with my scope next time, or when I do visit a darker site I can have a look for it then too.

[Tiny Clanger]

Glad that, like me, you found it a useful guide ! What I like about it is that there is a wide range of objects, so you get a taste of various types rather than, for instance, diving right in and hunting the Messier catalogue . Mind you, I found a free download observing list PDF of those as well ...

http://astrowolf.at/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Objektkatalog_Messier.pdf

Another interesting pdf  http://www.las-astro.org.uk/docs/Loughton_List_v2_0.pdf

which is a similar idea to the Moore winter marathon, and obviously has some overlap, but includes more objects,  and extends to other seasons.

Then there's free charts and DSO pdf guides to download here : https://www.deepskywatch.com/deepsky-atlas.html

Plenty more like these out there too,

I like the PDF format, easily viewable online, or you can download and use it on a tablet or 'phone without needing to be connected , and print out any parts you want.

[Jasonb]

Ah Heather, that Messier catalogue pdf is perfect! Had already decided the Messier Catalogue was next once I'd finished the Moore Winter one, and you've now given me a great format for it, thanks!

Dull and cloudy here this evening, doubt I'll be seeing anything...

[Tiny Clanger]

19 minutes ago, Jasonb said:

Ah Heather, that Messier catalogue pdf is perfect! Had already decided the Messier Catalogue was next once I'd finished the Moore Winter one, and you've now given me a great format for it, thanks!

Dull and cloudy here this evening, doubt I'll be seeing anything...

I've printed that whole thing out 😀, I like the way it gives a difficulty rating for binoculars / 'scopes , and the space for writing notes in . I've been through with a highlighter and picked out the easy ones to start on .

If you've not got a planisphere  (and even if you have !) your little 'un might enjoy one of these

https://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/starwheels/NorthStarwheel.pdf

I used to hand them out for my pupils to make and take home, they were very popular ! We just cut them out of photocopier paper, but you could make a more durable version with some card glued on the back of both parts , or maybe laminated if you have the facility .

Heather

[Paul73]

Thanks for posting. The observing guide PDF’s are particularly good.

I Didn’t realise that the Flaming Star nebula is a visual target. Must give it a go next clear night.

Paul

[Jasonb]

2 hours ago, Tiny Clanger said:

I've printed that whole thing out 😀, I like the way it gives a difficulty rating for binoculars / 'scopes , and the space for writing notes in . I've been through with a highlighter and picked out the easy ones to start on .

If you've not got a planisphere  (and even if you have !) your little 'un might enjoy one of these

https://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/starwheels/NorthStarwheel.pdf

I used to hand them out for my pupils to make and take home, they were very popular ! We just cut them out of photocopier paper, but you could make a more durable version with some card glued on the back of both parts , or maybe laminated if you have the facility .

Heather

Thanks for that too Heather, I'll definitely give it a go with her. She loved seeing Mars, but quickly got bored after that!

30 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

Thanks for posting. The observing guide PDF’s are particularly good.

I Didn’t realise that the Flaming Star nebula is a visual target. Must give it a go next clear night.

Paul

It's definitely going to be my go-to list for the next while, whenever there's a decent night. That and M31 and M42, 'cos they're just cool!

How the hell have I got over 100 posts already? I only joined a little over 3 weeks ago!

 

[Jasonb]

So I was driving home last night after being out for dinner with a friend (it's been a while since we were allowed to do that!) when I noticed that despite the forecast for rain and clouds, it was really clear out!

I quickly got my scope out, and while it was cooling down, took out my binoculars and went back to the Moore Winter Marathon.

I spent far too long trying to find number 3 on the list, M33. Still had no luck finding it, either with my binoculars or my scope. I did find M31 with my scope, but even that took a few minutes. I'm still struggling with the change in orientation between the naked eye/binoculars and a telescope. With binoculars I can easily star hop using a map, but with the telescope the orientation change, and the addition of a lot more stars, makes it harder for me to find my way. Anyhow, got to see M31 in my scope which was cool, and then went back to my binoculars and the list.

Number 5 is the Beehive Cluster, M44, and I found it well enough, it was pretty low in the horizon, but Procyon was a good guide and it soon came in to view. Number 6, M67, was too low and some clouds were covering it, so that's for another night.

8, 9 and 10 are three clusters, M36, M37 and M38, and using Elnath and Capella as a guide, I was able to find all three, quite faint but there none the less!

11, M41, was far too low, I could barely see Sirius between two houses and it's lower than that, so that was will have to wait also. Similar for M50, number 12 on the list, not quite as low but still too low for me at that time.

13 was easy, the 'Celestial G' they call it, using the stars Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel, Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Castor, Capella and Aldebaran. Sirius was the only one I had to strain to see (between those houses) and the rest were clear and obvious. Didn't even need binoculars for that one!

14 and 15 were in a part of the sky I haven't looked at much, pretty much overhead! 14 is M34, a cluster in Perseus between Algol and Almach. Using those as a guide it was easy enough to find with binoculars. 15 is Alpha Persei Moving Cluster, around the star Mirphak, and easy to find. Clusters always surprise me, looking up with binoculars and suddenly seeing so many more stars!

16 was another easy one, Theta Tauri, an optical double star to the right of Aldebran in the Hyades. One of those ones that just stands out and you can't miss it!

17 was a creak in your neck one, using Cassiopeia as a guide, you follow the top of the 'w' to find Kemble's Cascade, a faint line stars with a small open cluster at the end. Once you're in the right part of the sky, the faint line becomes obvious.

At this stage I was getting cold (well, my hands were, I have to look at gloves I can wear that will still work with a touch-screen!) but I kept on going as it was still so clear apart from at the horizons. Using Cassiopeia again, I found number 18, a double cluster in Perseus, once again giving my neck some gip!

19 is Fornax, a small constellation but once again too low for me to see.

I loved the next one, using my Binoculars to find the "Pi's" of Orion, basically the bow/lion skin (depending on which you prefer!). Always like anything to do with Orion!

21 was too low, and I did have a look at 22 again, Orion's Sword, using the telescope to have another look at the Orion Nubula.

23 brought me back to Hyades, using Aldebaran as a starting point and following a light to find Lambda Tauri, a variable star. Obviously the fact that it's variable isn't noticeable with one visit, but with a period of 4 days a few viewings in a row could show you the difference compared to nearby stars.

24 is even lower than everything else, and will have to wait for another night.

So that was my night! Nearly 2 hours out there, and I got a lot done. Used the binoculars a lot more than the scope, it was handier for the size of the objects I was looking for, and handier for my star hopping to find them! I now have 7 left in the initial list of 25, and most of them were too low to be seen. Either I need to wait until later in the night, or, if I'm right, later in the winter, for them to become easier to see. And I haven't given up on M33 yet either!

One thing I have noticed now is my familiarity with the sky is improving so much (wouldn't be tough considering where I started!). I can now point out Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Capella, Aldebaran, Sirius, Polaris, Pleiades, Hyades etc. easily. Nothing amazing there, all very obvious targets, but considering I started out with Orion/Cassiopeis/Big Dipper, it's a big difference. Have to try to get some more targets in the Northern Sky, but in my defence, I do have my house in the way!

[Tiny Clanger]

An excellent evenings observing , you've ticked off a whole bunch , I'm sure you will be returning to some of those finds with your 'scope soon , as well as hitting the second 25 !

Your problem with bins/scope/map relating are why I decided I had to buy a RACI , the 6x30 one I got has a similar FOV to the binoculars, and with both images right way up and L/R correct it really helps. To confirm I'm in the right area I generally use the ocular plugin in stellarium (with night vision red enabled) which is handy as you can set it up with scope type and statistics, same for EPs/barlows, and it will show you exactly what you should see in the EP if you are in the right area.  Does the app you use have something similar ?

It's been a major help when I've looked at things I have become familiar with in the dob (inverted view) and then struggled with when trying for a quick look at with the mak (right way up but L/R reversed ! I went the wrong way from the belt to the Orion Nebula , doh !) I have a cheapo 32mm skywatcher plossl and often use that for establishing star patterns with the ocular plugin to locate stuff . I've not had time to establish where on the 'scopes the Rigel quickfinder will be best placed yet (handily it comes with two bases, so I can install one on each tube) but I'm hoping that will help with star hopping too , it's just at the mo. I'm concentrating on planets when the occasional gap in the gloomy clouds happens, and they are easy finds !

Heather

[Jasonb]

Yep, last night definitely got me thinking about the RACI again Heather. Apart from struggling with the orientation etc., I also found the RDF fine for bright stars, but anything else was kinda drowned out by the Red Dot itself, even at its dimest setting. 

I think a RACI would give me a few things. Firstly, the image will be the right way around etc., but it would also be magnified, which means I get to see some of the smaller 'guiding' stars I'd use for star hopping, just like with my binoculars. And while switching between the RACI and the scope would still present orientation difficulties, a similar number of stars would be in view (i.e. the main one I'm looking at and some of its neighbours), which should help me identify the area in I'm in easier, and it's quicker going from RACI to scope than from Binoculars to scope, and the RACI would be aligned, so I don't have to worry about finding the part of the sky I'm pointing my binoculars at with my scope. Food for thought!

I've checked out Skysafari, which I'm sure has thousands of features I haven't even looked at yet. It gives me the option of choosing my FOV, and also adding some rings at whatever distances I want, so that would help. However, I'm guessing I'm missing some Maths/knowledge here: Let's say I'm using a BST (as I hope to in the New Year.). It has a FOV of 60 degrees. However, am I right in thinking that depending on the focal length of the eyepiece, and the focal length of the telescope, you will get a different 'area' of stars in your eyepiece for each different eyepiece, even though they all say 60 degrees? If that's the case, how do I know which FOV to enter into Skysafari for my telescope/a particular eyepiece? Does that make sense?

 

[Muc]

tried for M79 last night, too low though, sky was too bright.

Found the location alright but couldnt see it

[Jasonb]

I couldn't even go that low last night, Sirius was barely visible for me. Maybe later in the night it might have cleared the neighbour's house.

[Nyctimene]

1 hour ago, Jasonb said:

am I right in thinking that depending on the focal length of the eyepiece, and the focal length of the telescope, you will get a different 'area' of stars in your eyepiece for each different eyepiece, even though they all say 60 degrees? If that's the case, how do I know which FOV to enter into Skysafari for my telescope/a particular eyepiece? Does that make sense?

You are absolutely right with your assumption. In SkySafari, it's easy to display the different TFoV's (=True Field of View) for any scope/eyepiece combination, which is of immense value when observing (I hardly use any sky maps directly at the scope, since I got SkySafari).

On the toolbar, tap "Observe", then "Equipment". Next, tap "Equipment Help". You'll find a comprehensive guide, how to enter name, focal length, aperture etc. of your scope, and your eyepieces, finders, barlows, cameras. Then return to "Scope Display Help" to find out, how to display the different fields of view. Finished, don't forget to tap "Show even when not connected to telescope".

Btw.,your observing report is another vivid and inspiring read - you seem to enjoy the steep learning curve!

Stephan

[Mr Spock]

No chance of seeing M33 from my back garden, no matter what I use. I have seen it naked eye from a dark sky site though.

[Jasonb]

3 hours ago, Nyctimene said:

You are absolutely right with your assumption. In SkySafari, it's easy to display the different TFoV's (=True Field of View) for any scope/eyepiece combination, which is of immense value when observing (I hardly use any sky maps directly at the scope, since I got SkySafari).

On the toolbar, tap "Observe", then "Equipment". Next, tap "Equipment Help". You'll find a comprehensive guide, how to enter name, focal length, aperture etc. of your scope, and your eyepieces, finders, barlows, cameras. Then return to "Scope Display Help" to find out, how to display the different fields of view. Finished, don't forget to tap "Show even when not connected to telescope".

Btw.,your observing report is another vivid and inspiring read - you seem to enjoy the steep learning curve!

Stephan

Well that's excellent advice, thanks Stephan! Got it all set up on Skysafari and I can see the 'view' ring change whenever I choose a different Eyepiece or my Binoculars. Thanks a lot!

[Jasonb]

Have been up to my eyes these last few days. and the weather hasn't been great, so I haven't go to see much at all. It was clearish last night, but it quickly changed, so I only really got a chance to look at the moon. Am hopeful I might get a chance to visit a darker site somewhere nearby over the Christmas if I get a good evening.

[Paz]

Thars a good list to get started with. M33 is a bit of an outlier in the naked eye /binoculars list, it's in a completely different league of difficulty if observing from skies with light pollution.

[Jasonb]

Well unfortunately I've got no further with this, mainly down to weather conditions. And even when it has been clear (like last night) I just haven't been up for it, I've a bit of a cold and the latest lockdown being announced for Ireland is taking its toll on my mood. I did go out for a couple of mins last night with my binoculars and had a look at the moon, it was so bright it was like a light had been left on outside. Used Turn Left at Orion to identify some of the different Mares and Craters, like Tycho obviously but also smaller (and still bright) ones like Copernicus and Aristarchus. So it was nice to spend a few minutes looking at least. Managed to find M31 in my binoculars too, despite how bright the moon was. I'm trying to get used to how the Stars/Constellations move through the night and through the season.

Anyhow, hopefully the weather will clear again and I'll feel more up for it. I also have a Barlow on its way, which will increase my options with my eyepieces.

[Jasonb]

New Year, and the first night is a clear one! Well, apart from smoke coming from nearby chimneys.

I kinda continued my deviation from the Moore Winter Marathon though, and went back to a target that has so far eluded me, Uranus. 

I've gone looking for it a few times, but have never found it. It's kinda in the middle of no-mans land at the moment and not really near anything obvious, to help it stand out. But I thought I'd give it another go, using Mars and the curved line formed by Hamal - Sheratan - Mesarthim - Iota Arietis as a guide.

I spent a good 20-30 mintues at it and just couldn't get there. I could get the correct area with my biconulars, but couldn't with the scope - I'm still struggling a little with the change of orientation with the scope - I can star hop a lot better with binoculars than with a scope. I was using my usual system of looking for patterns in the stars to help me locate where I was, and once thought I had found Uranus as one of two stars at the base of a triangle, but couldn't confirm it and decided it wasn't it.

Noticing on Skysafari that Uranus nearly formed a right angle between Hamal and Mars, I decided to just eyeball the scope into that area using the RDF. Once I looked at the EP I once again saw that triangle. This time, instead of using the 'flip' feature on Skysafari to try to get what I was seeing to orient with the app, I went old fashioned and just turned the phone in my hand until the triangle was set up the same way. It suddenly it clicked; two smaller stars off to one side on the app were there in the EP, and moving around a very small amount with the slow motion controls I could see another couple of stars exactly where they should be. That was enough to confirm it, I had finally found Uranus! I switched to the 10mm (65x in my scope) and it didn't make very much difference. Occasionally I thought I could see it as a disk, but obviously a very small one and it was probably my eyes playing tricks on me. That didn't bother me though, I was just delighted to finally hunt it down! So that's 5 planets seen through the scope (I had a look at Earth when aligning the RDF!  ) and 3 left - Mercury, Venus and Neptune. 

I stayed out for a little while, fighting the cold (I need to get some of those Astro Gloves!) and the Dew (and a Dew Shield) and had a look at a couple of favourites, including the Pleiades, Orion's Sword, Andromeda and then finally the Moon as it came up over the houses to my left. Even had a bit of fun taking some pictures holding my smartphone up to the EP, and removed the small cap in the Aperture Cover and then put the cover on to reduce the amount of light coming in. The pics were better than I thought they'd be, relatively well focused which surprised me. I've attached the best one here. With that it was time to come in!

I still haven't got to any darker skies, the cold and a new lockdown where we're not allowed to travel more than 5k is making it tough. I'll hopefully have my Barlow next week, which will open some new opportunities though. And, our of sheer optimism, I had a look at an Air BnB we stayed at in the West of Ireland last year (our single 4 night holiday of the year, when we were allowed travel). We'd love to go back if we can this year, and a quick look at a Light Pollution map tells me that it's Bortle 2 there!  I can see the scope being brought, and might even plan the little trip around a new moon...

Edited January 1, 2021 by Jasonb

[Tiny Clanger]

38 minutes ago, Jasonb said:

New Year, and the first night is a clear one! Well, apart from smoke coming from nearby chimneys.

I kinda continued my deviation from the Moore Winter Marathon though, and went back to a target that has so far eluded me, Uranus. 

I've gone looking for it a few times, but have never found it. It's kinda in the middle of no-mans land at the moment and not really near anything obvious, to help it stand out. But I thought I'd give it another go, using Mars and the curved line formed by Hamal - Sheratan - Mesarthim - Iota Arietis as a guide.

I spent a good 20-30 mintues at it and just couldn't get there. I could get the correct area with my biconulars, but couldn't with the scope - I'm still struggling a little with the change of orientation with the scope - I can star hop a lot better with binoculars than with a scope. I was using my usual system of looking for patterns in the stars to help me locate where I was, and once thought I had found Uranus as one of two stars at the base of a triangle, but couldn't confirm it and decided it wasn't it.

Noticing on Skysafari that Uranus nearly formed a right angle between Hamal and Mars, I decided to just eyeball the scope into that area using the RDF. Once I looked at the EP I once again saw that triangle. This time, instead of using the 'flip' feature on Skysafari to try to get what I was seeing to orient with the app, I went old fashioned and just turned the phone in my hand until the triangle was set up the same way. It suddenly it clicked; two smaller stars off to one side on the app were there in the EP, and moving around a very small amount with the slow motion controls I could see another couple of stars exactly where they should be. That was enough to confirm it, I had finally found Uranus! I switched to the 10mm (65x in my scope) and it didn't make very much difference. Occasionally I thought I could see it as a disk, but obviously a very small one and it was probably my eyes playing tricks on me. That didn't bother me though, I was just delighted to finally hunt it down! So that's 5 planets seen through the scope (I had a look at Earth when aligning the RDF!  ) and 3 left - Mercury, Venus and Neptune. 

I stayed out for a little while, fighting the cold (I need to get some of those Astro Gloves!) and the Dew (and a Dew Shield) and had a look at a couple of favourites, including the Pleiades, Orion's Sword, Andromeda and then finally the Moon as it came up over the houses to my left. Even had a bit of fun taking some pictures holding my smartphone up to the EP, and removed the small cap in the Aperture Cover and then put the cover on to reduce the amount of light coming in. The pics were better than I thought they'd be, relatively well focused which surprised me. With that it was time to come in!

I still haven't got to any darker skies, the cold and a new lockdown where we're not allowed to travel more than 5k is making it tough. I'll hopefully have my Barlow next week, which will open some new opportunities though. And, our of sheer optimism, I had a look at an Air BnB we stayed at in the West of Ireland last year (our single 4 night holiday of the year, when we were allowed travel). We'd love to go back if we can this year, and a quick look at a Light Pollution map tells me that it's Bortle 2 there!  I can see the scope being brought, and might even plan the little trip around a new moon...

Great stuff !

Uranus is something I was rather pleased to track down too, when I managed to spot it it was roughly half way between the Pleiades and Mars   with no obvious pointer stars to help. I probably saw it several times before I actually unequivocally identified a blue green 'star' where it should be in relation to other faint stars nearby, it felt like a major achievement ! Neptune has eluded me so far , but I shall see it .... I shall ...

There's a sort of compromise you have to negotiate between what you'd like to see next, and what is a good target on the night , it's all a part of the learning curve isn't it . By the way, if  you want some 3mm closed cell foam I might have enough left over from my dob shroud & dew shields for you to use ... it should be cheap to post ... send me a PM

Heather