Reasonable haul for a learner

[wulfrun]

I had a few clear nights earlier on last week but the weekend has been very hazy, obscuring a lot of things. With the waxing moon a factor, I decided last night to head out before proper darkness and have a look at it, high up and about half-moon. If it's going to wash everything else out, why not "go with the flow" and target it!

Nice and easy set-up, no risk of tripping over things or knocking anything over since it's still light. Got aimed at the moon at wandered along the terminator. As a relative newbie there's still a lot to take in. It's fascinating to imagine shapes in the shadows and see the craters-in-craters, craters with peaks or no peaks and so on. I know some folk can think of the Moon as a nuisance but not yet, for me.

By the time I'd finished looking, I noticed it had become fairly dark and the brighter stars were on view. I've given up on seeing galaxies in my skies, for now at least but I've had a tantalising glimpse, naked-eye, of the beehive. However, it's been so faint that I can't get a view in an RDF or Telrad, so I've not got a scope aimed at it. I now have a RACI on the 150PL though, so, after a bit of futzing getting in the right general area with the Telrad, I finally spotted it in the RACI. Yay! I had a 32mm Plossl in the scope, so the FOV was a bit shy of ideal but I spent ages scanning around the jewel-box of a view. It's a kind of spring Plaiedes, no?

I moved on to the pointy-end (technical term) of Perseus, wandering through a rich star-field there. Hmm, that needs some homework and a re-visit.

After this I revisited Polaris; a few nights ago I convinced myself I could see a faint "B" and wanted another go. Stellarium doesn't show it. I put the Hyperflex in and wound up the mag, yes, it's not imagined. About 1 O'clock in the EP so if my logic is right that puts it roughly pointing to the left-hand end of Cass. Maybe one of you experts can tell me if that's right? There's certainly something there and Stellarium isn't helpful on what.

By this time I noticed Vega had gained a reasonable altitude and wasn't twinkling too badly. I've been trying to find epsilon for a while but it's rather lost in the light pollution from my garden so I've not found it before. Well, actually I have, in the binoculars but not realised it. However, a bit of homework beforehand to find where to look, in combination with an estimate for the Telrad and finally the RACI and lo and behold there it is! Right, how high can we go? I tried a 6mm (x200) but things were a bit too fuzzy and dark. Put the Hyperflex back in at 7.2mm (x170 ish) and let the pair drift though the view a few times. Not 100% sure but I do fancy I can see a kind of figure-8, with maybe moments of separation. If I'm right, the uppermost (i.e. lower in reality) looked a N-S orientation and the other being E-W, roughly speaking. Again, Stellarium sheds no light (oops, pun) on whether that's correct. Opinions wanted!

After all that I wanted another look at the beehive but by then it was getting lost in the Moon's glare and I failed to find it. I decided to pack up and head in, very happy with what I'd learned and pretty chuffed. I know all the above is pretty humdrum to the experienced but I'm still at the "wow" stage!

[Pixies]

That's a good haul.

I find the Beehive cluster, when I can't see naked eye, by sticking the Telrad exactly half-way between Regulus (Leo) and Pollux (Gemini) - then it's usually down a wee bit from that point.

The rich star field in Perseus was probably the Alpha Persei Moving Group - around Mirfak. It's a great target for binoculars. Did you try the double cluster? You can find it by following the chain of stars south-north up from Mirfak towards Cassiopeia.

For Polaris, I'm not sure how to give directions for the B star - as everything is South from Polaris! If you find a nearby mag 6.5 star (HR 286 in SkySafari) - it's in the same direction. Sort of towards the right-hand side of Cassiopeia. Below is a pic from SkySafari showing the above in a reflector view (180 deg rotation)

Here's a good thread on the Epsilon Lyrae 'challenge' from last year (starting again shortly, I guess):

I'm interested in seeing how I do this year after 12 months' experience. And experience does count with this sort of target, believe it or not. That and the quality of seeing. It's a bit low just now, still.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Pixies

[Zermelo]

Nice report, and another "win" for the Telrad+RACI combo.

Sounds like you did get the Lyra double double: northern pair is oriented close to N-S and the other is almost at right angles to it.

[wulfrun]

24 minutes ago, Pixies said:

That's a good haul.

I find the Beehive cluster, when I can't see naked eye, by sticking the Telrad exactly half-way between Regulus (Leo) and Pollux (Gemini) - then it's usually down a wee bit from that point.

The rich star field in Perseus was probably the Alpha Persei Moving Group - around Mirfak. It's a great target for binoculars. Did you try the double cluster? You can find it by following the chain of stars south-north up from Mirfak towards Cassiopeia.

For Polaris, I'm not sure how to give directions for the B star - as everything is South from Polaris! If you find a nearby mag 6.5 star (HR 286 in SkySafari) - it's in the same direction. Sort of towards the right-hand side of Cassiopeia. Below is a pic from SkySafari showing the above in a reflector view (180 deg rotation)

Here's a good thread on the Epsilon Lyrae 'challenge' from last year (starting again shortly, I guess):

I'm interested in seeing how I do this year after 12 months' experience. And experience does count with this sort of target, believe it or not. That and the quality of seeing. It's a bit low just now, still.

 

 

I didn't try for the double cluster, no. It's in a very unfavourable direction from my garden, a bit low, a bit near a streetlight/trees etc. One to try for in better conditions and at the right moment.

Looking at that thread on epsilon, I'd regard my effort at sometimes resolved, sometimes split. Clarity and stability were both against me so I'll count it as a decent result.

On Polaris, I'd say I need to do a bit of homework to decide if it was "B" or just something line-of-sight and I got confused. I think it was a "tick" though.

[Luke]

Nice haul! I was looking at the moon the other night and thinking to myself that the amount of detail is staggering! And it's so cool how the angle of sunlight alters, giving things a very different look.

[wulfrun]

On 20/04/2021 at 15:24, Pixies said:

Did you try the double cluster? You can find it by following the chain of stars south-north up from Mirfak towards Cassiopeia.

UPDATE

Last night, I did try and locate this - initially with no success but after a bit of searching I found it! I put the Telrad half way between Mirphak in Per and Ruchbah in Cas, then used the RACI. Not only found it and had a good look, I managed to re-locate it a couple of times later on, so I'm pleased I can re-find it now.

I also had another go at epsilon Lyrae and had a similar result. I managed a varying resolved/split using a 20mm + 2x focal extended (x120) with the southern (upper in EP) pair splitting more clearly and more often. I might have done better later on when it would've been higher but I didn't try.

Edited April 23, 2021 by wulfrun

[Stu]

On 20/04/2021 at 11:45, wulfrun said:

After this I revisited Polaris; a few nights ago I convinced myself I could see a faint "B" and wanted another go. Stellarium doesn't show it. I put the Hyperflex in and wound up the mag, yes, it's not imagined. About 1 O'clock in the EP so if my logic is right that puts it roughly pointing to the left-hand end of Cass. Maybe one of you experts can tell me if that's right? There's certainly something there and Stellarium isn't helpful on what.

Not sure if this helps. I changed the timing until Polaris B was at BC 12 o’clock relative to Polaris (obviously it rotates around the primary over the course of the night).

The second image projects this direction upwards so you can see where is is relative to Cepheus and Cassiopeia.

[wulfrun]

48 minutes ago, Stu said:

Not sure if this helps. I changed the timing until Polaris B was at BC 12 o’clock relative to Polaris (obviously it rotates around the primary over the course of the night).

The second image projects this direction upwards so you can see where is is relative to Cepheus and Cassiopeia.

Thanks for that...question: is the first view as-seen in a newt EP? If so, it is close to what I see. Because I take the RACI off when storing the scope, I've taken to using Polaris to make sure it's accurate before starting a session. I've noticed that this close star is just about discernable even with a 32mm Plossl. It's faint and very close even at high mag. The other one, shown lower-right above, is much more obvious, even though your view shows it less so.

EDIT: what did you generate that view with? I may have to try and generate a view for a specific time and go check if it agrees with my EP view.

Edited April 23, 2021 by wulfrun

[Stu]

48 minutes ago, wulfrun said:

Thanks for that...question: is the first view as-seen in a newt EP? If so, it is close to what I see. Because I take the RACI off when storing the scope, I've taken to using Polaris to make sure it's accurate before starting a session. I've noticed that this close star is just about discernable even with a 32mm Plossl. It's faint and very close even at high mag. The other one, shown lower-right above, is much more obvious, even though your view shows it less so.

EDIT: what did you generate that view with? I may have to try and generate a view for a specific time and go check if it agrees with my EP view.

The first image was just zoomed in enough to show the location of the secondary. I’ve just generated two more charts, the first showing the view through a 32mm Plossl in your scope, and the second using a 5mm BST as an example of a high power view. Although it doesn’t show in the first image, I think you may be able to see the secondary even with the 32mm Plossl. At high power, the separation is obviously a lot more, the challenge is not the split, but picking up the faint star itself.

These were done with SkySafari Pro. Plus should do the same thing. I have selected Newt view ie flipped in both vertical and horizontal directions. If you set the time correctly you would be able to simulate the exact position of the secondary to verify the observation.

[wulfrun]

Thanks @Stu

Yes, that does pretty much agree with what I see, I think I can count it as a "tick". I think having seen it at higher power is what allows me to see it with the 32mm - I know it's there. Had I not spotted it at high power though, I doubt I'd have noticed it otherwise with the 32mm alone. I don't need to use averted vision but it must be fairly close to the limit from here.

[wookie1965]

Great report we were all in the same place as you and you are definitely going to have many more wow moments, even now 9 years later I still get the wow when I view a new object.