A mixed bag of targets

[Kon]

Tonight the skies were predicted clear and with the moon not coming up until later, I got my 8" Dob out. Seeing was ok for the most part of the observation but high clouds came after 2 hrs. I wanted to try the dark nebulas that @jetstream and @scarp15have been discussing. My first attempt was B168 near the Cocoon. I had seen the Cocoon before but never paid attention to the dark part. I could make a dark lane 'north' of the nebula. My next attempt was on B142/143 near Acquila. I could easily make a nice dark patch of the sky, a bit like empty space surrounded by hundreds of stars. A lot more impressive than B168. That was a great seeing but somehow I felt underwhelmed. I love searching and observing nebulas but the lack of features  of the dark nebulas kind of made me not appreciate them as much.

After that, I had a look at some clusters at my southern horizon, M71, IC4665 and M10.  I was after the Blue Racquetball nebula but I completely messed up my navigation ( I only found out after I came back in). Somehow my star hoping was off and I ended up in M11 (looked like a fuzzy ball in my finder scope). It caught my attention since I could make a nice bright star in the middle of it; at higher mag the stars almost made a regular/aligned pattern which I have never seen on clusters before, quite fascinating.  Again looking at my books, I observed IC1287 a nice fuzzy nebula; it was at this point I realised that I am not observing the Blue Racquetball. Oh well it will have to be next time.

I then had a look at Saturn and Jupiter. I could make the Cassini division at the 2 o'clock relative to my Dob observing but not all the way around. I looked at Jupiter and I noticed that Io was going to transit Jupiter. I saw it disappearing but I could not see a shadow as with Ganymede before but it was exciting to see it 'disappearing'. Jupiter was displaying nice brown and orange bands; i think tonight was the best seeing I had on Jupiter with nice defined bands rather than fuzzy/thick ones.  I finally tried to find Neptune but high clouds were coming in. I just about managed it, a tiny blue speck of light, that was very exciting considering how far it is. I tried to up the magnification but seeing was terrible.

As I was moving things back in the house, I thought it will be nice to have a quick peak at Andromeda galaxy (it was the first thing I saw when I got my Dob back in December). Although the moon was rising, it looked ok. I could not make much features but a nice elongated fuzzy disk was apparent. M110 was also showing nicely. I tried M33 but by now clouds had completely covered by eastern horizon.

Overall, I had a fantastic 3 hrs of observing with a mixed bag of targets. Looking forward to some moonless nights for more nebula observing.

 

[Epick Crom]

Nice haul of targets you observed Kon! I too saw Neptune for the first time two nights ago, it's a thrill to see. Since I know you love nebulae, have you seen the Helix Nebula in Aquarius? I have been searching for it without success for a few nights now. Wishing you more clear skies!

[Kon]

6 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

Since I know you love nebulae, have you seen the Helix Nebula in Aquarius? I have been searching for it without success for a few nights now.

No yet. The weather has been rubbish here. By the time it comes into view, the moon is quite high up so I hope to try later in the week. I find that area quite hard to navigate thus my failure with star hoping last night especially seeing was ok. It is part of the fun to search, fail and eventually succeed.

 

 

[Stardaze]

Nice little session Kon. I’d forgotten about the dark nebulae chat from earlier in the week, the planets have kept me otherwise captivated for a nice change.

[wookie1965]

Brilliant I have never tried those dark nebulas although probably haven't got a scope big enough to see them now.  I set up last night polar aligned but at 10.30pm  cloud rolled in I left my kit out hoping for it to clear as the met office said it was clear all night. Went back out at 11.45pm could only see a very hazy Jupiter and that was it.

Another to add to my list "Blue Racquetball" thanks for posting.

Edited August 29, 2021 by wookie1965

[Zermelo]

12 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

Nice haul of targets you observed Kon! I too saw Neptune for the first time two nights ago, it's a thrill to see. Since I know you love nebulae, have you seen the Helix Nebula in Aquarius? I have been searching for it without success for a few nights now. Wishing you more clear skies!

 

5 hours ago, Kon said:

No yet. The weather has been rubbish here. By the time it comes into view, the moon is quite high up so I hope to try later in the week. I find that area quite hard to navigate thus my failure with star hoping last night especially seeing was ok. It is part of the fun to search, fail and eventually succeed.

 

 

I failed to find the Helix last night. The integrated brightness is decent enough, but it's spread over half the area of the full moon. Add in a declination of below -20 degrees, and a fairly bright sky ...

 

 

 

[Epick Crom]

5 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

 

I failed to find the Helix last night. The integrated brightness is decent enough, but it's spread over half the area of the full moon. Add in a declination of below -20 degrees, and a fairly bright sky ...

 

 

 

The Helix has been tough for me, and I'm in the southern hemisphere! Like Kon said it is a hard star hop to get there as well as it's in a barren part of the sky. I'm sure we will get it eventually!

[scarp15]

Nice report.

The Cocoon Nebula is quite difficult and B168, the profile of the Dark Cigar, acts as a guide, leading towards this very dim fuzzy glow that constitutes the nebula, not too easy to discern amongst the inner stars. Haven't attempted it for a while, I used a H-beta filter to gain optimum contrast (still revealing the dark lane of the nebula) at low power with a 14" dob. 

Dark nebulae are best for late nights on a new moon phase with good transparency. They do require a distinctive mindset and skillful approach to become revealed, that maybe varies from that approaching other such challenging nebulae constitutions. Dark nebulae are being discussed in another thread and maybe this could be picked up more there. B142, B143; Barnard's E is tricky, yet when you get it, you really do get it, just as in the sketches, it is quite a eureka moment. You have to orientate your brain a little to reveal the structure within the very densely packed star field. What works for one does not work for another and seeing dark space as a nebula does require time and patience. My best encounters of Barnard's E, have been with 70x16 binoculars and a rich field refractor. Conversely, there are plenty of other dark nebula that has frustrated the hell out of me.

The Helix is a nice bright and quite large subject, but as mentioned a little difficult to locate due to its placement, lacking in finder stars.

[Kon]

@scarp15I agree. The B142/143 was nicely seen last night. I felt a bit underwhelmed by the lack of details you see on the brighter ones . I suppose the focus should be at the edge with the stars . So far the B85 at M20 is more intriguing in my eyes but I suppose I am drawn to the brighter nebulas there. I definitely want to try again without the moon creeping around the corner.