Objects galore in special conditions

[Zermelo]

Just got in after a mammoth session. I'll update this tomorrow with the details, but I think tonight was the best combination of seeing and transparency I've experienced in my (short) observing career. Normally it's one or the other.
If we'd had astro darkness, and if the moon had stayed away a little longer, it would have been perfect.

[EDIT]

So I'd missed out on Saturday evening, having believed Clear Outside's forecast of clouds all the way and so imbibed too many beers to assure a breakage-free session.

Last night was being billed as something a bit special by MeteoBlue and MetCheck, and even CO decided late in the day to join the crowd.

I aligned on Vega and Arcturus, being the first to show, and was back out as soon as I could make out Leo. I had rolled over most of my previous SkySafari observing list due to an uncooperative moon, so it was quite crowded.

Starting with those due to set first, I try Algieba to see how steady it's looking. Pretty still at 150x.  I'd listed NGC 2903 next, one of the Leo galaxies I wanted to find before it disappeared for the year. I'm positive from the finder field that I'm looking right at it, but there's not a hint with any eyepiece. The sky is still too light I think.
So I turn instead to double omicron Leonis (Subra), which was new to me. The separation was very wide (96") but I thought I might struggle to see the companion (+10.8) in the light sky. No, it is very obvious in the BST 5mm.

Working eastwards, next up was 24 Comae Berenices - a firm favourite, but I'd wanted to try out the ES82° 6.7mm I'd recently bought second hand on these pages. Both it and the BST 5mm give beautiful views with good colour contrast, but the ES is possibly showing the tighter discs. Staying in Coma Berenices, I have a look at M53, a lesser globular that I'd seen once before but failed to resolve. My OVL Hyperflex shows a smallish grey blob, hinting at some structure beyond its reach. The ES 6.7mm fares better, resolving a few of the outer stars. Adding a barlow doesn't improve on that, and in fact dims the view quite noticeably.  A close neighbour I'd never seen is next on the list, NGC 5053. It isn't hard to target the scope precisely with the finder, at a "star" in the correct location. But none of my eyepieces will show anything more than the same star, presumably the brightest part of the core.

Moving to a known quantity, M3 in Canes Venatici, produces a better outcome. This globular seems to be on a cusp for my kit and skies - sometimes it's just a grey patch, on others it will play nicely. Tonight it is on top form, the ES resolving quite a few stars at 112x, and looking better still with a Baader 2.5 barlow. And of course you can't leave Canes Venatici without a quick look at Cor Caroli, which is very impressive in the ES.

Still putting the new ES through its paces, I think the Lyra double double would be an obvious choice. It splits both pairs, and its wider field makes a pretty tableau. Next door to Cygnus: I wanted to revisit the Veil, having seen the eastern part once before. A BST 18mm with Astronomik UHC rediscovers the east side quite easily, and shifting across I can see traces of the western side too. With the UHC in place, the only place to go next is back to Lyra and M57. This is the best I've seen it to date; I can see a pronounced blue/green colour and a dark centre. Switching to shorter EPs removes the colour - I assume that lower magnifications concentrate the light enough to activate colour vision. Before removing the UHC, I move down to M27. I'd seen it before, but not been completely convinced I could make out the apple-core shape. This time I think I can, and confirm the orientation against nearby stars with SkySafari. My OIII shows a very similar view.

Off wih the filters and back to Cygnus for globular M56, which shows a few stars but doesn't respond to magnification. A new globular next, NGC 6229 in Hercules. Obviously the poor relation in that constellation, it's a modest find in the BST 8mm and doesn't offer up any stars to any combination of EP and barlow.

Following these, an open cluster: M39 in Cygnus. I'd tried for this one before but gotten lost in the milky way background. This time, the goto puts me straight onto an unmistakeable patch of brilliant white gems that look awesome in the ES82°. It can't contain all of it, so I back off a little with the BSTs. Very nice.

I've not visited Ophiuchus yet this year, but by now it's now quite high in the south. The first target is another new globular, M107, found easily enough at 94x but refusing to yield up any stars at higher magnification. Another new glob, M14, is a little more successful - although dim, the goto manages to get it straight into the field, even at 225x (I'd forgotten to change eyepiece). Removing the barlow brightens up the image and resolves one or two stars.

In neighbouring Serpens, on to a new double, Alya (theta Serpentis). The 5mm BST shows a spectacular, matched, blue-white pair. Three more first-time doubles to follow; Cepheus has for some months been hidden by a tree from my regular observing spot, but has now shifted to the east. HIP 106890 is first up, a wide and easy split in the BST 5mm, but out of interest I add the Baader barlow to overdrive my 150mm scope to 338x. The Airy discs are crisp and stable, and while the arcs are not quite continuous, I'd estimate this as Pickering 7 or 8.  Nearby is HD 206482, another comfortable split for the 5mm, and the final target is delta Cephei. This is another wide double where the challenge is the companion's magnitude (+13.0), but the ES 6.7mm shows it quite clearly.

I check the list, and there's one I skipped over - omicron Ophiuchi - because it was hidden on my partially obscured southern horizon. Looking across I see that it would now be barely visible in a gap between the houses, and I just manage to locate it in the ES, with the companion being noticeably dimmer and greyish.

It's now past 2 a.m. and I notice dew is in the air. Also the moon, which rose at 01.30 but has skulked below the roofline, has now nevertheless started to have an effect: the milky way, obvious in Cygnus, fades away in Ophiuchus and I can't see as much as I have done on the darkest nights. I'm sure the sky itself is very clear, because  I could see all seven stars in the little dipper, and a couple more nearby. I can't resist one look at M13, and while good, it's not quite at its best. Time to retire.

In summary: 23 observations, 3 new Messiers, 6 new doubles, one diffuse nebula.

I'm very pleased with the performance of the new ES eyepiece, but also continuing to see how good the BST Starguiders are for the money, at F/5. And the SkySafari/Synscan/RACI/Telrad combo has allowed me to switch very quickly and maximise observing time.

I'm not sure how long I'll need to wait for another night where the seeing and transparency are quite so good, but please let it be in a November with a new moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by Zermelo
Adding the details

[Nik271]

Looking forward to it!

The seeing has been superb in the past couple of nights. The only issue here is that in the Thames valley mists come up at odd moments and ruin the transparency. I tend to stick with bight doubles and planets at this time of the year.

[Froeng]

I agree - the seeing was exceptional here on Friday evening, too. Lots of nice doubles on display! 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Last night after midnight was excellent here too. Looking forward to your report. 👍

[wookie1965]

My neighbour decided to have a barbecue then a open fire no idea what they where burning but it was going everywhere so I told my son don't bother setting up for me. 

[Kon]

Excellent report and a lot of nice targets! You forgot to mention that it is nice and warm to be out.

Edited May 31, 2021 by Kon

[Zermelo]

9 hours ago, Kon said:

You forgot to mention that it is nice and warm to be out

I did forget!  I had meant to mention it.

Yes, it was a nice change not to be driven in by the cold.