What did you see tonight?

[Astro_Dad]

15 minutes ago, NeonSpectres said:

This evening's target was Pleiades taken using Nikon D750 + Tamron 100-400mm (@400mm). 196 Lights at f8, ISO1600, 30s stacked in DSS then processed in Affinity (yep, it's very 'teal' but my processing skills are still rather limited but I like it artistically 🙃😞

I'm finding the 'PolarFinder Pro' app really useful for excellent tracking just using 'Quick Align' on my CG-5 Mount as there's just a camera and lens attached. I'll have to go back to 'proper' multi-star alignment for the next session as I'm back using the C8 and imaging fainter objects...

Stunning - and artistic in “teal”. Nice work. 

[NeonSpectres]

9 hours ago, Astro_Dad said:

Stunning - and artistic in “teal”. Nice work. 

Thanks! Might have been because the early Light Frame still had some blue in them? Anyway I've kept it as part of an Astronomy Journal I'm keeping while I get back into the hobby so I can experiment and learn as I go 😀

[PeterStudz]

18 hours ago, Kon said:

I was out with my nearly 5 year old daughter trying to photograph it through the telescope. Awful images since it was too low in the sky and too much atmospheric disturbance, but made for a great 'night out' with her guiding me where it was. I loved it! Wed is a W to E at 86 degrees Passover so that's your best bet for nice pics.

I know what you mean by great “night out”. My kind of thing too. And from what I’ve learnt it’s always worth practicing and learning. The seeing was poor here but I used the night to iron out some bugs, try my new DIY dew shields in action and finally look at the moon. However, the moon was boiling away and the views somewhat disappointing - to be expected but hoped it might be slightly better!

Tonight looks like it could just might be better. 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

An amazing run of four(!) clear nights including this evening, but typically during full moon and a very chilly 15mph wind.

I've been out each night for a short period with binoculars, however I really don't like observing once the wind heads past around 10mph.

Friday night I took the binoculars out and seeing was great judging by the view I had of M42 through the 15x70s but the moon rising mid evening adding to the light pollution put me off setting up, so I watched that evening's missed astro society meeting on Youtube.

I almost gave in last night but scintillation was awful and that persistent chilly wind sealed the deal.

So what have I seen this last few nights? Not very much! 🙄

Edited March 20, 2022 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Davesellars]

Dob's out yet again (3rd night running...) and cooling down.  Moon's not up for a little while so hoping to get at least 8 until 10pm on some DSOs.

[HollyHound]

Got out again last night.... my favourite pair of FC-100DZ and Mewlon 180C dual mounted on AZ100 again. Settled on a routine now, where the DZ is usable after 10/15mins, but the Mewlon really does need over an hour to really settle down. No rush, but I may investigate using a small fan to speed that up sometime 🤔

Spent a load of time just exploring doubles in and around Orion, plus of course M42, which was most enjoyable. The Mewlon really does extremely well on doubles, for a catadioptric it really does seem quite a bit less "fuzzy" than others I've had, and the extra light grasp (7" vs 4") is very noticeable. 

I had the BBHS mirror on the Mewlon and was able to use both the Pentax X40 and X30, which were great for exploring Pleaides and Hyades 👍

Despite being almost full, I was able to explore some of the moon too... the binoviewer works superbly well on the Mewlon with a pair of X20s and much easier to view without being excessively bright (I've found it easier to view without filter if I use both eyes).

The DZ of course was sublime as always... just keeps taking magnification and remains an awesome view 😁

[mdstuart]

We have one hour of astro darkness from 8.15 until the moonrise.

I am going to look at galaxies in CVN.

How are you going to use this precious hour?

Mark

[Davesellars]

Just now, mdstuart said:

We have one hour of astro darkness from 8.15 until the moonrise.

I am going to look at galaxies in CVN.

How are you going to use this precious hour?

Mark

Have a couple on my list for tonight...  NGC 2683 & NGC 2841.  I've seen these before but not really in depth.   I'm trying to get into the habit of observing just a few objects for a longer period of time.

[Franklin]

On 19/03/2022 at 08:24, Paz said:

This one that resembles a horse shoe

Gassendi.

[NeonSpectres]

This evening started off so well... Had a target in mind; mount polar aligned the best it's ever been, everything connected up, until I got to my first calibration star... which was a crescent shape 🤨

Looks like tomorrow evening will be another collimation session with my homemade artificial star... 🧐

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

The wind dropped, but despite the moon being below the horizon the sky is really bright due to the encroaching spring and light pollution. It's a school night, so I popped out with the 15x70s to have a look at the Double Cluster in Perseus. This one of my favourites and considering I've observed these clusters naked eye when camping, I was incredibly disappointed! The telescope view from my garden is decent and I've been disappointed here by the 10x50 view, which when in the countryside is quite spectacular. However I expected the extra punch of the 15x70s would be a massive improvement. Unfortunately not the case, two faint fuzzies. ☹️

Edited March 20, 2022 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[JeremyS]

3 hours ago, HollyHound said:

I may investigate using a small fan to speed that up sometime 🤔

Counts me out, then. I’m a BIG Tak fan

😊

[mdstuart]

The seeing seemed good tonight but the transparency here was not great.

I realised CVN was still low so went for a few fuzzies in Leo.

I just managed to see another markarian galaxy, Markarian 1230 but it was hard even with averted vision.

Mark

[Pixies]

Another clear night but both seeing and transparency are poor.

When I was out walking the dog, even Capella, up near the zenith, was twinkling away! And I could also see a slight mist being illuminated by the street lights.

 

So - census filling for me tonight!

Edited March 20, 2022 by Pixies

[Davesellars]

Pretty much the same...  transparency was not good.  Didn't really make too much judgement about seeing.  I spent a good couple of hours and I did see NGC 2683 and NGC 2841 as well NGC 2903 but no detail in any of them. Spent some time on some open clusters instead.

[7170]

Its has been nice and clear here this evening and the wind died down to nothing. Seeing looks to be good (and guiding <1 RMS" all evening). I'm focusing on some asteroids. This is actually the fourth evening in a row, so no complaints from here.

[Franklin]

Same here, sky clear but very hazy and the rising moon was a dark rusty red colour. Maybe there is still Sahara dust in the air?

[Ed the Fox]

As always had a look at some open clusters NGC 2301 NGC 2264  M46 M50 M47 then decided to have a go at M3 which I could just see but was disappointing. 

I too noticed something about the atmosphere at dusk and yes the moon is reddish from here too.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Ed the Fox

[Zermelo]

Got a couple of hours in with the Mak, but conditions not great. Doubles wouldn't take very much magnification. I did split a couple of new ones, HR3686 and HD75353, and new clusters NGC 1502, NGC 1528 and Stock 23. Then it was brought to an end by altocumulus moving in.

Got back in just in time to see Michael Palin telling us that he never wanted to be a hairdresser, he always wanted to be a lumberjack ...

 

[Davesellars]

Had almost an hour observing the Moon with the 80ED.  Nice quick cooldown and not fussy about the seeing being brilliant.  Some really nice views at 120x with the Pentax XW 5mm.

[Davesellars]

@Stephen Waldee  The 80mm refractor is quite a workhorse...  I bought in back in 2014 and It's probably my most used scope despite the aperture!  It's very capable on a wide variety of objects and always ready to go.  I assume that's an Orion (or similar) 80ST you have...  those are very capable as well I gather - the main problem being for lunar and planetary it being f/5.   I'd suggest really hunting around the used market for a long focal length achromatic as some real bargains can be had.   Good luck and the most important thing is to keep observing!

[Davesellars]

It's "clear" out but pea-soup transparency... I'm giving it a miss after being out observing for 4 nights out the previous 5...

[7170]

It has just clouded over here after being very clear, just my luck as I had a good target list for this evening. I just manage one asteroid motion sequence - never mind the next few nights are looking good.

[Kon]

Tonight it was the turn of my 7 year old son to help me with the ISS. My helper was counting down the last few minutes before ISS was about to come into view and keeping an eye on the monitor. His final job was to start the movie recording. The seeing was horrible with thin clouds. It was a nice evening with my son. He wants to do it tomorrow and Wed again after I explained him that it will be higher up. The highlight, he wanted to read 'Turn Left at Orion' as his bed night book. Dob back in since the seeing is worst than earlier. (I posted more pics in the Widefield imaging section:

Edited March 21, 2022 by Kon

[Epick Crom]

1 minute ago, Kon said:

Tonight it was the turn of my 7 year old son to help me with the ISS. My helper was counting down the last few minutes before ISS was about to come into view and keeping an eye on the monitor. His final job was to start the movie recording. The seeing was horrible with thin clouds. It was a nice evening with my son. He wants to do it tomorrow and Wed again after I explained him that it will be higher up. Dob back in since the seeing is worst than earlier. (I posted more pics in the Widefield imaging section:

Woah Kostas you and your son took those pictures? Outstanding! Great father and son combination 👍