A farewell to astronomical darkness

[Littleguy80]

Last night I headed out to my local dark site for what will most likely be the last trip there with astro darkness this side of the summer solstice. 4 other observers from my astro society were already onsite when I arrived a little before 10pm. The first thing I noticed was Mercury, clearly naked eye visible, edging its way towards the horizon. As the twilight moved towards darkness, I set the 10" dob up and collimated it. I was surprised by how far out it was as it normally only needs a small tweak. Just proves the value of checking collimation at the start of each session. Nova V1405 has become my standard starting point for a session since I first observed it back in March. It's brightened significantly to near naked eye visibility. I tried a few times to see it this way over the course of the night but without luck. Through the eyepiece it shown brightly next to M52.

The Needle was my first galaxy of the evening, revealing its dust lane with averted vision. A unintentional but welcome observation of NGC 3593 was noted on the way to the Leo triplet. The trio showing really well, transparency seemed very good with not much moisture in the air. My attention turned to something closer to home in the form of Comet 2020 R4 Atlas. The dark skies helped with showing the hazy diffuse glow of the comet. No tail that I could detect. We each called out good targets that we were observing, it's one of the nice parts of observing in a group. I mentioned that I was going to try for Comet Palomar near M3. One of my observing buddies, decided she would also try for this. I've seen this comet previously from home, where my skies are much worse, and so expected this to be an easy find. After 20 mins of searching, we'd both drawn a blank. The comet was supposed to be near a mag 10 star but we couldn't see it.

NGC 4517 in Virgo was the last of the Virgo galaxies from the RASC NGC Finest list that I hadn't seen. It's a fine edge on galaxy which sits right next to a bright star. It was like a mini version of the Silver Needle Galaxy whIch was my next target. A quick SQM reading returned 21.25. A superb meteor streaked across the sky around this time.  Pointing up towards the zenith, I spent a happy 10 minutes or so mesmerised by the spiral arms of M51, averted vision just about bringing out the bridge connecting it to its galactic parter. Gerry's @jetstream recent report of HII regions in M101 was the inspiration for an extended study of that galaxy. The spiral structure was impressive. I picked up a number of brighter regions in and around the galaxy which I believe were HII regions. Amazing what can be seen!

Iain @scarp15 has kindly loaned me his DeLite 7mm to try. With conditions so good, this seemed an ideal opportunity to put the TV eyepiece through its paces. M108, Surfboard galaxy, swiftly followed by the Owl nebula, M97. The Owl actually revealed its eyes without a filter in the DeLite, I was really impressed by this. A brief change of eyepiece to enjoy this pair together. I rattled through M13, M57, Albireo and M56, all showing superbly. The 60 degree AFOV giving a more intimate feel to the view than the wider eyepieces I normally use. I returned to Comet Palomar and was thrilled to pick it up as very small faint glow next to the mag 10 star. I believe it have moved a little since my attempt earlier in the evening giving a bit more separation from the star. Either way, a good win for the DeLite. 

By this time, everyone else had left but I just couldn't leave with the skies so good. The rising Milky Way was making its presence known and I decided to dive into Cygnus. The Western Veil came first, along with Pickering's triangle and the Eastern Veil. Just stunning. The ISS passed near Vega as I looked up from the eyepiece. The Crescent nebula was there but gave the first signs that the skies were turning as light cloud began to arrive. The North American Nebula was a similar story. I finished the session with the Dumbbell which provided itself to be very DeLite friendly. As I locked up, I took one last look at the Milky Way with a promise to spend the summer admiring it.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Littleguy80

[NGC 1502]

Excellent report 👍 

On Saturday night 3 members of Castle Point AC made it out to one of our dark sites on the Essex coast. We also easily spotted Mercury with unaided eye, our scopes revealed a disc but poor seeing low down prevented a phase estimate.  I used my 10” Dob and started deep sky with Hercules 3 globulars M13 & 92 and neglected NGC 6229.   Whilst observing M13 I made the 1/2 degree hop to galaxy NGC 6207.  Back to the solar system but sadly drew a blank with C2020 R4 Atlas.  Lots else followed and the time just flew.....finished of with the Veil, my Ultrablock filter dramatically improving the view, we packed up just on 3.00am and headed off home.  Thoroughly enjoyed our session.

 Ed.

[domstar]

A great report. I really enjoyed it. I haven't read one of yours for a while. Getting out has been difficult this spring. I must try one more time before astro darkness leaves here too.

[Stu]

Excellent report Neil! You packed a lot in there and your skies sound fabulous.

[Littleguy80]

8 hours ago, NGC 1502 said:

Excellent report 👍 

On Saturday night 3 members of Castle Point AC made it out to one of our dark sites on the Essex coast. We also easily spotted Mercury with unaided eye, our scopes revealed a disc but poor seeing low down prevented a phase estimate.  I used my 10” Dob and started deep sky with Hercules 3 globulars M13 & 92 and neglected NGC 6229.   Whilst observing M13 I made the 1/2 degree hop to galaxy NGC 6207.  Back to the solar system but sadly drew a blank with C2020 R4 Atlas.  Lots else followed and the time just flew.....finished of with the Veil, my Ultrablock filter dramatically improving the view, we packed up just on 3.00am and headed off home.  Thoroughly enjoyed our session.

 Ed.

Thanks Ed. Sounds like you guys had a great time  

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, domstar said:

A great report. I really enjoyed it. I haven't read one of yours for a while. Getting out has been difficult this spring. I must try one more time before astro darkness leaves here too.

Thanks Dom. Glad you enjoyed it  Well worth getting out if you get the opportunity. Even when astro darkness leaves us there’s lots to enjoy over the summer months. Observing when it’s warm enough for shorts and t-shirt is always a joy!

[Littleguy80]

57 minutes ago, Stu said:

Excellent report Neil! You packed a lot in there and your skies sound fabulous.

Thanks Stu. I sometimes don’t appreciate how much I’ve seen until I write a report. I have noticed the best nights come when I don’t need to use the dew heaters. The scope was bone dry until right at the end when I noticed the views had deteriorated.  

[Voyager 3]

14 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

Last night I headed out to my local dark site for what will most likely be the last trip there with astro darkness this side of the summer solstice. 4 other observers from my astro society were already onsite when I arrived a little before 10pm. The first thing I noticed was Mercury, clearly naked eye visible, edging its way towards the horizon. As the twilight moved towards darkness, I set the 10" dob up and collimated it. I was surprised by how far out it was as it normally only needs a small tweak. Just proves the value of checking collimation at the start of each session. Nova V1405 has become my standard starting point for a session since I first observed it back in March. It's brightened significantly to near naked eye visibility. I tried a few times to see it this way over the course of the night but without luck. Through the eyepiece it shown brightly next to M52.

The Needle was my first galaxy of the evening, revealing its dust lane with averted vision. A unintentional but welcome observation of NGC 3593 was noted on the way to the Leo triplet. The trio showing really well, transparency seemed very good with not much moisture in the air. My attention turned to something closer to home in the form of Comet 2020 R4 Atlas. The dark skies helped with showing the hazy diffuse glow of the comet. No tail that I could detect. We each called out good targets that we were observing, it's one of the nice parts of observing in a group. I mentioned that I was going to try for Comet Palomar near M3. One of my observing buddies, decided she would also try for this. I've seen this comet previously from home, where my skies are much worse, and so expected this to be an easy find. After 20 mins of searching, we'd both drawn a blank. The comet was supposed to be near a mag 10 star but we couldn't see it.

NGC 4517 in Virgo was the last of the Virgo galaxies from the RASC NGC Finest list that I hadn't seen. It's a fine edge on galaxy which sits right next to a bright star. It was like a mini version of the Silver Needle Galaxy whIch was my next target. A quick SQM reading returned 21.25. A superb meteor streaked across the sky around this time.  Pointing up towards the zenith, I spent a happy 10 minutes or so mesmerised by the spiral arms of M51, averted vision just about bringing out the bridge connecting it to its galactic parter. Gerry's @jetstream recent report of HII regions in M101 was the inspiration for an extended study of that galaxy. The spiral structure was impressive. I picked up a number of brighter regions in and around the galaxy which I believe were HII regions. Amazing what can be seen!

Iain @scarp15 has kindly loaned me his DeLite 7mm to try. With conditions so good, this seemed an ideal opportunity to put the TV eyepiece through its paces. M108, Surfboard galaxy, swiftly followed by the Owl nebula, M97. The Owl actually revealed its eyes without a filter in the DeLite, I was really impressed by this. A brief change of eyepiece to enjoy this pair together. I rattled through M13, M57, Albireo and M56, all showing superbly. The 60 degree AFOV giving a more intimate feel to the view than the wider eyepieces I normally use. I returned to Comet Palomar and was thrilled to pick it up as very small faint glow next to the mag 10 star. I believe it have moved a little since my attempt earlier in the evening giving a bit more separation from the star. Either way, a good win for the DeLite. 

By this time, everyone else had left but I just couldn't leave with the skies so good. The rising Milky Way was making its presence known and I decided to dive into Cygnus. The Western Veil came first, along with Pickering's triangle and the Eastern Veil. Just stunning. The ISS passed near Vega as I looked up from the eyepiece. The Crescent nebula was there but gave the first signs that the skies were turning as light cloud began to arrive. The North American Nebula was a similar story. I finished the session with the Dumbbell which provided itself to be very DeLite friendly. As I locked up, I took one last look at the Milky Way with a promise to spend the summer admiring it.

So would you be interested in the DeLite Neil 😁 ?

[Littleguy80]

11 minutes ago, Voyager 3 said:

So would you be interested in the DeLite Neil 😁 ?

haha It's a lovely eyepiece. I normally use my Noblex 12.5mm with the Baader VIP set to give an approximate 7mm eyepiece. This works really for me. It's a different experience to the DeLite, the wider FOV gives a sense of the object being further away. The DeLite has a feeling of being much closer. Performance wise they're closely matched. I think this experience with the DeLite has convinced me that I don't need to get a dedicated 7mm eyepiece but if I was looking for a quality high power eyepiece then the DeLites would definitely be on the short list. Another thing I like is how small and compact they are. Really nice and light.

[Voyager 3]

On 12/05/2021 at 18:19, Littleguy80 said:

haha It's a lovely eyepiece. I normally use my Noblex 12.5mm with the Baader VIP set to give an approximate 7mm eyepiece. This works really for me. It's a different experience to the DeLite, the wider FOV gives a sense of the object being further away. The DeLite has a feeling of being much closer. Performance wise they're closely matched. I think this experience with the DeLite has convinced me that I don't need to get a dedicated 7mm eyepiece but if I was looking for a quality high power eyepiece then the DeLites would definitely be on the short list. Another thing I like is how small and compact they are. Really nice and light.

Sorry for converting this to an equipment thread , but do you know the weight of the Noblex ? 

[Littleguy80]

45 minutes ago, Voyager 3 said:

Sorry for converting this to an equipment thread , but do you know the weight of the Noblex ? 

No problem. It’s around 600g

[Stardaze]

Nice report and sounds another great night out. It’s been persistently heavy cloud here now for 2 weeks so I think the final period before darkness ends Monday is a non-starter. Nice to be able to discount another purchase 🙂