The seeing gets a thumbs up but transparency a let down.

[John]

I've got my 130mm refractor out tonight. I was going to have a look at some galaxies and other deep sky stuff but the transparency is really not good here tonight. Shame because we have had some great nights for faint fuzzies lately. This is not one of those though

To make up for that, the seeing is pretty steady so I've concentrated on double stars.

Some great views of favourite pairs and multiples around Cancer, Leo and Virgo. While having a break, I came across a Sky & Telescope piece (link below) on the double stars in Draco so I've been going through some of those, which has been fun

Here is the link: https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/double-date-with-a-dragon/

I think my favourite in the Dragon so far tonight has been Eta Draconis. A multiple star with a close, uneven brightness pair as the central feature. The A & B stars are separated by 4.4 arc seconds but it's the brightness difference that creates the challenge and the fascination. The A star is magnitude 2.8 but the B star is just magnitude 8.2.

With the washed out transparency it's easy to overlook this faint B star tucked in quite close to the A star. When you do manage to spot it, they make a very delicate and striking pairing 

Some nice targets for the big refractor in Draco, plus that lovely planetary nebula, "The Cats Eye", NGC 6543, which is bright enough to cut through the hazy conditions and it's central star can just about be made out.

Bootes is rising above the trees now so I'll have a look over there and see if I can find some more lovely star pairings

The fainter fuzzies will have to wait for another night.

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by John

[John]

The transparency might be a little better now but I've got a bit cold so I finished the session with Delta Cygni, Epsilon Lyrae and finally Izar in Bootes. Three "classic" double stars

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by John

[Kon]

I agree the transparency tonight was quite iffy but with some good spells. 

[Stardaze]

Didn’t seem so bad for me here, better after midnight. I did Izar too last night for the first time this year but concentrated, maybe wrongly, on fuzzies. 

[Stu]

Not so bad up here John, but sounds like you made the best of it. At least we are having a few clear nights at the moment finally! I should have tried the Double Double myself last night, I didn’t think to look in that direction!

[cotterless45]

Blooming lovely here , even got some galaxies !

Nick.

[John]

Thanks folks !

By the time I had decided to pack up for the night the transparency had improved, of course

I think I was affected by a local bank of haze coming from the Severn estuary which I'm only a mile or so from.

I enjoyed what I did though and I have had a number of good deep sky nights recently with the dob.

 

 

[wookie1965]

Varying Cloud here last night I did not set up wasnt worth it to dodge in and out.

[Pixies]

Cloudy patches here, last night. I didn't bother waiting up, as I wanted a good night's kip as I'm intending hitting a dark(ish) site tonight, for the first time.

Forecasts looking good, too. Hopefully meeting up with another SGL bod - socially distancing, of course)

[Zermelo]

I had much the same a bit to the south of you, John.   At times it was as transparent as it ever gets here, then it came over a bit milky.  I agree the seeing was pretty good, in contradiction with the forecasts I saw earlier.
Luckily I decided to go for doubles as well.

[MercianDabbler]

9 hours ago, John said:

By the time I had decided to pack up for the night the transparency had improved, of course

Is there a good way to judge transparency? I generally think that it's bad all of the time so that can't be right... probably light pollution.

[John]

49 minutes ago, MercianDabbler said:

Is there a good way to judge transparency? I generally think that it's bad all of the time so that can't be right... probably light pollution.

Last night it was plainly milky. Many of the dimmer stars in constellations were simply not showing. I find the visibility of the stars that form the rectangle of Ursa Minor a reasonable quick guide. If I can see all 4 clearly then the transparency is quite good for here. If I can see Theta then it's better still:

Last night, most of the time I could only see 2/3 of these stars and a quick look at Messier 51 confirmed it - barely visible at all. It did get better later on though.

 

[MercianDabbler]

15 minutes ago, John said:

Last night it was plainly milky. Many of the dimmer stars in constellations were simply not showing. I find the visibility of the stars that form the rectangle of Ursa Minor a reasonable quick guide. If I can see all 4 clearly then the transparency is quite good for here.

Cheers. I've only ever looked at one star in Ursa Minor TBH so must take more interest.