20th/29th/30th May - Easy Globulars with the ST80

[MercianDabbler]

It's been weeks since I've been out with the scope. I'm pleased to see that some folks managed to get some time during the waning moon a couple of weeks ago but every favourable forecast for me turned into a cloudy night. Last night there was a green hour showing on Clear Outside. It was forecast for 9-10PM and not dark enough but it did at least encourage me to keep an eye on the clouds. The sky was about 50% clear at 10:30 when I was doing a few chores so I rounded up the ST80, tripod, eyepieces and other bits ready to go out. Naturally as soon as I was ready the cloud cover was 100% so I decided to watch a YouTube 'how to' for 30 mins and take another look. Once that was finished there seemed to be enough clear sky to be worth a try so I headed out.

My list of targets was pretty straightforward, being globular clusters around Hercules and Bootes. The first quarter moon combined with some wispy misty cloud at high altitude was washing the sky out somewhat so I could not make out the shape of Hercules reliably. I decided to start with M13, star hopping from Vega... which I could definitely see reliably. Not a short star hop and I was a bit rusty having not been out for a while but I managed to get M13 into view with the 26mm Meade S4000. The 15mm SLV and 9mm DeLite both provided more magnification.

Next up was M3, starting from Arcturus. I repositioned the scope to access this area of sky. While doing so I was completely gobsmacked by what I saw (and not in a good way) - a stream of Starlink satellites making an ugly slash across the sky below Bootes. Pretty soon after this had faded, the ISS trundled across the sky looking very bright indeed. I had a quick look at the ISS through the ST90 but could only see a very bright blob. Once that was gone I headed back to Arcturus and took in M3 and then M5. M5 turned out to be down in a tree. Fortunately with the grab and go setup I could reposition the scope without losing my place too badly.

The final target on my list was M92. By now the sky was a bit less washed out and I could use Arcturus and Alphecca to identify zeta Herculii with the naked eye and hop from there... revisiting M13 on the way (I can't say my planning was very efficient).

All of the GCs were reasonably straightforward to find despite the washed out skies, either with the 26mm S4000 or 32mm TeleVue Plossl on the ST80. None showed any detail with extra magnification.

As I'd started the session at Vega I decided to finish off with M57. This was tricky to spot with any confidence in the 32mm Plossl but easier in the 15mm SLV and 9mm DeLite. I tried the 6mm BST Starguider too but I don't think it added much. I could not do more than suspect the hole in the middle with any eyepiece and the ST80. I didn't quite finish there. Finally I popped over to the double double to see how the ST80 performed on this. The best I could do was a sort of sausage shape on one pair through the 6mm Starguider.

I packed up around 01:25. All in all a short but enjoyable session and plenty more clouds forecast to allow me to make up for any loss of sleep.

Edited May 30, 2021 by MercianDabbler
thread title

[wookie1965]

I prefer M92 over M13 looks brilliant in my 5" Refractor

[MercianDabbler]

2 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

I prefer M92 over M13 looks brilliant in my 5" Refractor

I must take a closer look using the SP102 but the lack of darkness and plentiful clouds at the moment mean that it's grab and go or not at all.

[MercianDabbler]

Last night was forecast clear and warm with the moon not rising until about 1AM so I decided to head out with the ST80 and see what could be seen despite the lack of proper darkness. There was plenty of time beforehand to have a poke around on Stellarium and see what likely targets presented themselves, concentrating on globulars again since they seemed to work out OK last time. I wasnt particularly methodical, just scannning around the south and east aspects to see what caught my eye. The list started M10, M12, M71 then C6 and M4. There were more but that's as much as I got through with the scope.

I headed out a little before 11PM and it definitely wasn't properly dark but it's still interesting to see how much more the scope reveals. Vega was pretty obvious so I went there first to get focus and also visited the double double again with various eyepieces and even less success at splitting either pair than last time.

For M10 and M12 I decided that I could just about see Rasalhague so started there. It was a fairly lengthy star hop along the top of Ophiucus and M12 was on the way so I did M12 first. I found the spot without too much difficulty but I can't say that I was conviced that I could see it through the 32mm TeleVue Plossl. The 15mm SLV and 9mm DeLite both showed it but it needed a bit of AV and scope wobbling to really spot it. A short hop from there to M10 which was much easier to spot.

For M71 I started from Altair and hopped over to Sagitta. To cut a long story short... I could not see it through any eyepiece.

After spending a good deal of time on M71 I moved on to C6. I've not tried any Caldwell objects before and the ST80 was probably not at the forefront of Patrick Moore's thinking but anyway... It was a bit of a stretch to reach it because it was pretty near the zenith but I extended the extra column on the tripod to achieve a not completely unbearable eyepiece position when sitting in a chair. I started from Rastaban and Eltanin. Again it was a none too short star hop with some fairly thin start fields in places but I got to the right spot. Could I see C6? I could see something in the right place and the tablet version of Stellarium didn't show anything else there but checking again today on the PC I think it was more likely a faint star. Maybe it's possible or maybe it isn't but I'd certainly need to do a bit more homework to be sure if I was seeing it or not.

By now it was past midnight and Antares was visible above the neighbouring gardens to the south which has been quite a productive spot for me but I need to be quick because there are plenty of nearby trees for things to disappear behind. I had to reconfigure the tripod to its full height to see over the vegetation. Antares was still very low and very twinkly in the ST80. The correct spot for M4 was not at all hard to find but I could not see anything there - I think it was just too low and that part of the sky was not dark enough. I even tried the 10x50s but no joy. Stellarium showed that I wasn't far from M80 so I hopped up to that and spotted it without much difficulty.

I spent a bit more time just sweeping around that part of the sky and then decided to look for Sagittarius which was just peeping into view on Stellarium. At the moment that part of the sky is behind the houses in the street behind us so not well positioned. It will be better positioned for me in a month or two... shame about the lack of darkness.

I retired to bed at about 1AM. All in all well worth heading out even without any astro darkness. The ability to observe without first donning 15 layers of clothing on was also a big bonus.

Edited May 30, 2021 by MercianDabbler
reinstated the missing 2mm to the TV Plossl

[Pixies]

Nice report. 

Even in the current bright skies, I can find the Ophiucus clusters more easily in my 10x50 than my ST80. What finder are you using, or are you using a wide-field EP?

Mind you, the Cat's Eye nebula needs some magnification, other wise it just looks very star-like. I've never tried to view it with the ST80, but it's fine in the 8" dob.

I haven't tried M71 since last year, when I was just beginning. My observing notes aren't very detailed, other than just finding it. The dumbbell nebula is quite near that too. It's looking clear here tonight, so I might try M71 and M27 if I can stay up late enough when they'll clear the roof. Tonight is the last night of nautical darkness for me!

[MercianDabbler]

4 hours ago, Pixies said:

Even in the current bright skies, I can find the Ophiucus clusters more easily in my 10x50 than my ST80. What finder are you using, or are you using a wide-field EP?

I just pop the 32mm TeleVue or 26mm Meade S4000 onto the scope, point at a naked eye star and go from there. I've never found the bundled finders much use. I could buy a better finder but the ST80 seems to do just fine as its own finder. When the SP102 comes out to play the ST80 gets piggybacked as a finder for that too, usually with the 26mm EP. I also use the Rigel finder on the SP102 for initial pointing but have never really felt a need for it when using the ST80 on its own.

I don't find myself liking the view through my (Jenoptem) 10x50s much. I'm not sure they are in great shape but having googled the subject... they seem a bit non straightforward to mess with.

Edited May 30, 2021 by MercianDabbler