It's windy out there...

[Kon]

It has been the best seeing tonight despite the wind. I did not expect to be observing tonight considering it was really coming down with rain today. I am getting spoiled having another moonless night for observing. Jupiter and Saturn showed some nice details, but I was after the Saturn nebula that I had not observed before. Easy star hope from Jupiter and there it was, a small fuzzy disk with some elongated or squashed edges. Seeing was good since it took magnification easily. I revisited the M57 with the hope to try see the central star but no lack, but the nebula looked great even at high magnification. I glanced at Veil without any filter and it was visible although not as detailed as in my last report. Another new one for me tonight was Uranus. I got this OMG moment; a small blue disk that was distinguishable from the sharp stars around. It is still low in my E horizon so i could not make any of its moons (not sure if they would be visible with an 8" Dob). Andromeda showed greater details tonight and i feel it was more 'expanded'; maybe better seeing. Pleiades looked like a gem in the sky. Final object was M34 and it looked great in my ES 68 degrees 24mm EP. Stars were expanding all the way to the edges with nice clarity.

Overall despite the wind, I feel it was the most stable seeing in a very long time.

[Epick Crom]

G'day Kon, happy that you got some good seeing. Great work nabbing Saturn Nebula and Uranus👍

[John]

Nice report

I've found seeing the central star of M 57 a tough challenge even with my 12 inch dob. I've only managed it a couple of times.

I use this guide to the stars in and around M 57 to see how faint I can get and if I'm going to have a chance of getting the central star. I can get the ones I've arrowed reasonably regularly now if the conditions are good. The central one, just a couple of times now:

 

[Kon]

8 hours ago, John said:

I use this guide to the stars in and around M 57 to see how faint I can get and if I'm going to have a chance of getting the central star.

The only one I managed last night were the Mag 13 with averted vision. The 14.7 kind of showed but very very faint even with averted.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Kon

[John]

2 hours ago, Kon said:

The only one I managed last night were the Mag 13 with averted vision. The 14.7 kind of showed but very very faint even with averted.

I think the magnitude limit for a 200mm aperture scope is 14.3. The 14.7 stars are pretty challenging with my 12 inch. 

I find using high magnifications (or even very high ones !) helps tease out these faint point sources.

The central star in Messier 27 (the Dumbbell Nebula) is about mag 12 I think and easier to spot.

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by John