What did you see tonight?

[Epick Crom]

4 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

We aught to have a pup club 

I second that!

[Epick Crom]

I just came in from observing the waxing gibbous moon. Standout features were the Marius Hills and crater Wargentin. Marius Hills looked like pimples on the lunar surface due to the low illumination. Crater Wargentin is an unusual crater with a lava filled floor. It has an interesting wrinkle feature in its centre which looks like a bunny rabbit to me 😁. The moon is endlessly facinating!

Joe

[HollyHound]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

We aught to have a pup club 

A "litter" perhaps 😁

[Kon]

50 minutes ago, Epick Crom said:

I just came in from observing the waxing gibbous moon. Standout features were the Marius Hills and crater Wargentin. Marius Hills looked like pimples on the lunar surface due to the low illumination. Crater Wargentin is an unusual crater with a lava filled floor. It has an interesting wrinkle feature in its centre which looks like a bunny rabbit to me 😁. The moon is endlessly facinating!

Joe

I find it fascinating that you are out observing and reporting about the moon, on the other side of the world, while we are still having the sun up. Send us your clear skies over; ok last night it was good seeing all the reports here.

[Epick Crom]

21 minutes ago, Kon said:

I find it fascinating that you are out observing and reporting about the moon, on the other side of the world, while we are still having the sun up. Send us your clear skies over; ok last night it was good seeing all the reports here.

I sincerely wish all you people in the UK clear skies for tonight 🤞. Still nice and clear here in the antipodes but I'm off to bed, early start at work tomorrow 😢. Clear skies!!

[SuburbanMak]

Unexpected hole in the cloud just as I was about to turn in. Sneaked a quick lunar look with the Prinz 330 60mm f11.8 & a BCO 10mm @ 71x. 
Watched the light hitting the back wall of Clavius & the high relief of Porter (I think anyway), plus a couple of deeply contrasting craters right on the terminator,  I think Cavalerius & Sirsalis.  

The mists swirled back & anyway it’s a school night…

[Guest]

Clouds, lots of thick clouds.

[Nik271]

4:30am brief session snatching an hour of observing before start of the day. I looked at Antares with my 127 Mak, but the seeing was too poor to attempt splitting it. M4 nearbly looked very disappointing, just visible at x75. I've never seen it stand out - it is both low on the horizon and in a very light polluted area of the sky for me. M19 further east was better, I guess it's both smaller, brighter and more concentrated. Lots of wide doubles in Scorpius and Ophiuchus.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Nik271

[SuburbanMak]

2 hours ago, Nik271 said:

4:30am brief session snatching an hour of observing before start of the day. I looked at Antares with my 127 Mak, but the seeing was too poor to attempt splitting it. M4 nearbly looked very disappointing, just visible at x75. I've never seen it stand out - it is both low on the horizon and in a very light polluted area of the sky for me. M19 further east was better, I guess it's both smaller, brighter and more concentrated. Lots of wide doubles in Scorpius and Ophiuchus.

Good call to get up early & great to think about those (for me) missing summer Messier objects becoming available again! 

[Mr Spock]

Saw Rigel earlier and the Pleiades. Got my collimation sorted after fitting of new springs etc.

Went out just now to see if the moon had moved round far enough to see (I have no view east) and... it's cloudy. Forecast said it was staying clear all night 

[Davesellars]

Had a little while out with the 4" refractor.  Some double stars and lunar - but the seeing wasn't very good at all.

[Nik271]

Yes, the seeing was mediocre. There were still goodies to see. I had a look at the lunar limb with my Skymax 127, there were lots of interesting features, mountains casting shadows on more mountains. My eye was drawn towards the Leibnitz range in the south: 

 

And there was this one on the edge of Mare Orientale, looked very much like a copy of the lonely mountain in the Hobbit (or Sugarloaf perhaps?)

The real view was actually more impressive in the eyepiece than this simulation from NASA: (https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4955)

 

 

[SuburbanMak]

4 hours ago, Nik271 said:

Yes, the seeing was mediocre. There were still goodies to see. I had a look at the lunar limb with my Skymax 127, there were lots of interesting features, mountains casting shadows on more mountains. My eye was drawn towards the Leibnitz range in the south: 

 

And there was this one on the edge of Mare Orientale, looked very much like a copy of the lonely mountain in the Hobbit (or Sugarloaf perhaps?)

The real view was actually more impressive in the eyepiece than this simulation from NASA: (https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4955)

 

 

I was hoping someone would post on this as I was looking at the SE quadrant last night and wanted confirmation on the Leibnitz range, which looked superb. 
 

Was out with the Towa 80mm f15 and elsewhere enjoyed splitting Rigel, Alnitak (just about), Meissa, Sigma Orionis, the Trap’ (4 only), Castor, Polaris, Algieba, Mizar/Alcor (looked fab at low power 30x with a 40mm Plossl as did the Pleiades). 
 

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by SuburbanMak

[NeonSpectres]

Tested out my new Panaview 38mm 2" eyepiece and did some scope/mount balancing with various bits attached. Hoping to get out and image M42 and Flame Nebula in the same frame using Nikon D750 and Tamron 100-400mm lens this evening (as I'm running out of time before it gets too low).

[Mr Spock]

Just out looking at the sun. Just a few small spots, nothing like the recent mega spots.

[Davesellars]

Beautifully clear here!  Dob's out cooling... Hopefully the seeing will be better than last night.

[Zermelo]

Looking good here too ...

 

 

[Kon]

Dob out cooling as well. ISS pass over, although low it was nice to get a glimpse. The rising full moon is looking spectacular and very yellow.

[Davesellars]

Dob taking an age to cool... rapidly dropping temps don't help...  Trying to split Sirius but it's a no go so far...

[IB20]

Just bagged the E & F stars in the trap. An absolute doddle in the 8” dob. Must be some nice transparency out there. 

First time I’ve used the Pentax 7XW in the dob and it’s a match made in heaven. They really are fantastic eyepieces.

[Captain Scarlet]

I've re-acquainted myself with my LZOS 105, which has been in the UK while I've been in Ireland. Now I'm back in the UK for a few days, it's been outside all day and all I can say is WOW. The quick views I've just had of Sigma Orionis, including quite easily the more difficult C star, at about 72x (Delite 18.2 and Celestron Ultima Barlow) totally remind me of the first time I looked through @Stu's Tak a few years ago. Completely mesmerising. Although I love the view of star-fields through a biggish newt, mainly because you can see so many, there is something indefinably beautiful about the refractor view. Stunning. More tonight after dinner I hope.

[Davesellars]

Had a decent hour's viewing before the Moon had really risen.  Mainly on M42 at high magnification and some doubles.  Plieades looking nice as well.  Waiting now for the Moon to come around into view properly.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Davesellars

[IB20]

Possible Pup sighting tonight? Getting an elongation at around about 4-5 o clock, maybe 3rd or 4th diffraction ring. Very occasionally a grey/blue dot pops into view but fairly uncertain to say for definite as lots of scintillating. 

Edited March 18, 2022 by IB20

[LaurenceT]

Thought I'd do a little lunar photography with my 130pds and Altair planetary camera but walked outside to see it tangled up in the neighbours trees (the moon  I mean 😀).

Turned my back to the moon to find the Pleides and discovered what people mean by the full moon washing out the sky!

Luckily I'd earlier seen M42 with the Startravel 102t that arrived today, lovely sight and as an utter newbie I'm pleased with the optics.

Now watching Ben Fogle in Chernobyl with a glass of Scotlands finest.

Edited March 18, 2022 by LaurenceT

[Ags]

Went out at lunch to look at the Sun in green light. I was hoping to take a quick photograph but the detail wasn't there today, just a few tiny pinprick sunspots and no bright splots (plages???). 

Tonight I decided to set up the ZS66 with an eyepiece I haven't used recently, so it went out with my Speers WALER 10 mm (my oldest eyepiece). The Moon had amazing clarity, despite the low 39x magnification there was plenty of fine detail to see. As ever, I made a resolution to learn Lunar geography, I'm ashamed to say I can't even name the seas. 

I spent a long time on the Moon, then moved onto a few bright doubles. Mizar and Alcor were perfectly framed in the 10 mm, although I could detect a little astigmatism... On a less moony night the surrounding star field would be richer and less milky. I had another go at Polaris, but I don't think the ZS 66 can bring out the little companion. I am going to darker skies next week, I will try again then.

Cor Caroli was the last, looking uncommonly faint in the glare of the nearby Moon. Doubles don't come easier than these three.