Finally After More than a Month...

[Captain Scarlet]

After what has seemed like an age, I was finally able last night (Saturday 29th May) to get a proper observing set-up outside. After such a long gap, it seems like a huge effort to get going, but the routine quickly set in. I didn't have an especially long or exotic session, it was more a case of getting familiar again.

I used my LZOS 105/650 on my EQM-35 mount, controlled for the first time in a long while by a SynScan hand-controller: normally I use my WiFi dongle. The WiFi dongle is very convenient, and allows for 3-star Alignment, but its catalogues are woeful. Messier and a very restricted selection of stars and doubles only, IIRC. The Synscan has the NGCs, the Yale Catalogue (HR) and most interesting SAOs. Not that that was a factor in my super-simple session last night. I merely "did" a few doubles.

I wanted simply to get back into the routine, and to have a first proper play with my two new latest acquisitions: my Nagler 31mm and my Ethos 13mm. Neither disappointed. I had my shortest eyepiece in reserve too, a DeLite 3mm, as the session was mainly gawping at wide-field and revisiting a few old-friend doubles.

First up was the Mizar-Alcor system, lovely as ever and especially so in both the enw eyepieces (21x and 50x). I wear glasses when observing, and my only worry was eye-relief for these two, but in the end no problem at all. I could even more or less remain aware of the Ethos' 100-degree field-stop as well.

I dropped to Cor Caroli, a double which I always eschewed in the past.

Next was Izar, my first attempt at it this season, and having located and centred it at 50x, the 3mm at 217x gave me an easy split, the minor sitting more or less on the first diffraction ring, but plain as day and a big gap the the main star. Quite pleased.

I moved across to Epsilon Lyrae (Double-Double) and no real split of the sub-components at 50x, but easy at 217x. Lovely system again.

I decided to randomly select a double from the SynScan list, and chose 24 Com, a reasonably wide 4 & 6 yellow/blue combination that reminded me of Almach and Albireo.

And having said that, I noticed Albireo just proud of my house parapet, so finished off the night with that, beautiful and colourful as ever.

Back in the grrove, hopefully, next up a more planned and deeper session, Cheers, Magnus

PS ... Oh, and I finished off finally finally by going up the road with my binoculars (15x56) to check on the status of Nova Cas, which I estimated at 7.3 , a little brighter than others around the same time.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by Captain Magenta

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Reads like you had a very pleasant familiarisation session. 👍

Magnus how is the EQM-35 mount for visual? I'm thinking of buying a heftier EQ goto mount but split between the EQM-35, EQ5 Pro and ES EXOS-2... 🙄

Edited May 30, 2021 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Stu]

Nice session @Captain Magenta. Did you try any large open clusters with the Nag? Should be spectacular in your scope.

I guess you can connect to Skysafari to with the WiFi dongle which would give you much better target lists?

[wookie1965]

Yes if you have sky safari you can connect to that it will open up so many other objects. 

I'm going try to get out tonight says clear from 12pm but I'm nipping out see if I can catch Venus and Mercury just after the sun goes down if I can get high enough to see the horizon. 

[Captain Scarlet]

4 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Reads like you had a very pleasant familiarisation session. 👍

Magnus how is the EQM-35 mount for visual? I'm thinking of buying a heftier EQ goto mount but split between the EQM-35, EQ5 Pro and ES EXOS-2... 🙄

I got the EQM-35 as a medium-load mount to handle my London-based scopes which are all below 9kg; it was deliberately an EQ one to keep my hand in for that style of mount: all the others I have I use in alt-az mode. It's fine for visual with the frac and a Mak 150, for both of which I can easily rotate the diagonal when the position goes awkward. I also sometimes put my 200p newt on it, and for that I can't (as yet) easily rotate it within its rings while mounted and yes sometimes it does get awkward, but I can generally manage it if the focuser starts off when I'm setting up in a particular position. I do like the mount though, it feels "friendly".

[Captain Scarlet]

Thanks @Stu and @wookie1965, I have tried a few times to use SkySafari in conjunction with the WiFi dongle, mostly with my heftier AZ-EQ6 in ireland and in Alt-Az mode. SS will connect easily enough with the SynScan App once aligned (using the Synscan app). But I've had a problem in that I will then tell SkySafari to go to, say, the Moon, and it will indeed go there, and the scope will indeed end up pointing where it should be. But the SkySafari App on-screen will show "not the Moon", but slightly offset. So if the object in question happens to be an unfamiliar Open Cluster, and I want to make sure what the pattern of stars actually looks like, I can't because the screen is showing somewhere else. I haven't yet fiddled around to try to work out how to correct such an offset. A job for my next session, I reckon.

There was a software update for SS recently where I vaguely recall it describing a fix for a problem that sounded like this, so it might be OK.

M

Edited May 30, 2021 by Captain Magenta
dingle to dongle

[Captain Scarlet]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Nice session @Captain Magenta. Did you try any large open clusters with the Nag? Should be spectacular in your scope.

Not really yet, I did cruise around a bit and it was good, especially close to Cygnus. But at low power, brightish stars at the moment appear a bit "spangled", due to my observing eye's astigmatisms. I had an eye-test and updated prescription a week ago though, and my new glasses arrive imminently, it's been three years since my last. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. ( I did manage to get the optician to admit surrender though at all my questions ).

[Stu]

41 minutes ago, Captain Magenta said:

I haven't yet fiddled around to try to work out how to correct such an offset. A job for my next session, I reckon.

I think you can just align on the target and that should correct it Magnus

[Captain Scarlet]

I think I tried that but the “scope view” circle then also gets pushed away. I might try to show you what I mean next time we or WAG meet up, I'm pretty sure I’m basically misunderstanding something about how it works, I’m not very experienced with SS.

[wookie1965]

Not sure as not used it for a while but make sure it's set to your home position first mine said London I'm 200miles from there.