What did you see tonight?

[MalcolmM]

A quick 10 minutes this morning between breakfast and heading out for a day's hiking. FS60CB and the TOE 4mm just frames the moon nicely. Very sharp and great contrast. I use Hadley as my yardstick of seeing and it was easy, though very small. Tried the TOE3.3 and things were still very sharp. Next the TOE2.5 but that was too much for the conditions. In the 3.3 Hadley was even easier than with the 4. No sign of the rill, possibly not the right conditions and possibly too much for the CB even if the illumination had been suitable. Posidonius looked very interesting, a band of light on the shadowed wall and the A crater blazing in the middle. The crater on the rim also standing out beautifully.

Malcolm

[JeremyS]

Great sketches @MalcolmM 👍🏻

[Mr Spock]

Looks like a clear night ahead. I'm going to wait to if the showers are done, then put the big lad out.

[allworlds]

Mars in lousy seeing, but I made out a roughly triangular dark feature central-ish. Which is the first time I've seen any detail on Mars, so that's something.

[Guest]

So we had clear skies in Ohio this evening so i rolled the 10 inch out and the wife grabbed her Stellina and we were in business.  I grabbed Saturn and Jupiter just because they were there.  Jupiter was pretty bright tonight and i was having a bit of an issue getting good focus but ended up with a decent image.  Saturn is alway alluring.  Neptune.....little blue green ball.  Not really much to see but I had to try.  The wife sent the robot looking for the Iris Nebula so i went after it too.  I should have tried a filter to help bring it up but was able to get on it.  Checked out Andromeda..... Yep right where i left it.  Was going to try and nab the pin wheel but then the clouds came in and that was that .... Done by 2100.  Oh well we will try again before the clouds of November cover the State. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Mike Q

[Stu1smartcookie]

13 hours ago, MalcolmM said:

A quick 10 minutes this morning between breakfast and heading out for a day's hiking. FS60CB and the TOE 4mm just frames the moon nicely. Very sharp and great contrast. I use Hadley as my yardstick of seeing and it was easy, though very small. Tried the TOE3.3 and things were still very sharp. Next the TOE2.5 but that was too much for the conditions. In the 3.3 Hadley was even easier than with the 4. No sign of the rill, possibly not the right conditions and possibly too much for the CB even if the illumination had been suitable. Posidonius looked very interesting, a band of light on the shadowed wall and the A crater blazing in the middle. The crater on the rim also standing out beautifully.

Malcolm

Really nice , Malcolm .. can I ask , what tripod ( mount head ) you are using please . Looks so brilliantly simple , and sturdy . 

[MalcolmM]

1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Really nice , Malcolm .. can I ask , what tripod ( mount head ) you are using please . Looks so brilliantly simple , and sturdy . 

Thanks @Stu1smartcookie. It's a Gitzo GT0545T Series 0 Traveler with a Manfrotto 500 Pro Fluid Video Head. I find it a fantastic combination. It's very light, very portable and very stable. When balanced properly and the tension well adjusted it's really easy to track at high magnification. I have also used a Tak 76 on it at 150x ish and it copes with that well. This setup was put together mainly for travel but it's such a pleasure to use I have it setup permanently in the house and use it to steal quick impromptu sessions whenever I can.

Malcolm 

[Davesellars]

Lovely and clear here this evening...  Have stuck the 12" dob out!

 

[Mr Spock]

I too have the big lad out. Seeing is poor though. Very fuzzy rather than wobbly. Spent a while studying Saturn in steadier moments. Comparing eyepieces again. This time the 7mm Ortho v 7mm Nirvana - x217. Noting again the Nirvana is able to pick out belt shading and ring shadow better than the ortho. I think I have a new favourite  Added bonus is the Nirvanas are par focal with my 32mm Meade 4000 Plössl.

Had a quick look at π Aql. Despite the poor seeing it's too easy for the 12" 

Just having a supper break. My neighbour is out with the yapping dog and the searchlights turned on 

[cloudsweeper]

Just had an hour out with the ultimate, widefield, grab 'n' go - the ED80 Apo on the AZ4.

Sigma 222 / 59 And (6th mag pair, 17 arcsec) - just split at x13, near match, side by side.

56 And - not a physical double.  5th and 6th mags, a huge 200 arcsec apart.  Very easy at x20, matched, sec at 11 o'clock.  There is a third component which was too faint to spot.

And 1 deg away -  Open Cluster NGC 752.  x20 - nice, dense, faint stars.  At x60, it was clearer, with more stars resolved.

Saturn and Titan were low, east of south.  I pushed the mag to x192, but the view got mushy.

Finally, M31.  Easily found, up from Mirach,  very pale and faint, but clear despite low mag (x13) and large exit pupil (poor contrast).

Good session!

Doug.

[HollyHound]

Another quick session with the Canon IS 15x50... this is becoming a really nice treat, just being able to pop out for 10mins (in cloud breaks) and have a quick whizz around 😁

Jupiter (three moons tonight) - No real detail on the surface at this mag, but lovely nonetheless (I had views of both South and North belts, plus all four moons on Saturday night with the FOA-60Q and FC-100DZ)

Saturn (and I think a moon) - Rings are visible (as discernible bumps)

Pleiades - These binoculars are made for this... just frames it beautifully and I'm seeing more and more small sets of stars each time I look

M31 - Was easily found, a relatively small "smudge" initially, but as my eyes became dark adjusted, it became larger and a tad brighter (averted vision helped here)... first time I've seen this with these binoculars

Finally had a few minutes sweeping around the Milky Way... the moon hasn't risen yet and it's quite obvious from our farm site here. but stunning detail through these binoculars 😀

I'm a massive fan of IS binoculars now, especially after a long day and with small windows of clear sky right now 👍 

Edited October 17, 2022 by HollyHound

[andrew63]

Wide views in 102r - Neptune and an inconspicuous Juno - then the spectacular Double Cluster looking like sparklers!

[Stu1smartcookie]

Only out for a short while tonight as the clouds were around ( it’s perfectly clear now though , typically) but having got my Wi-Fi module sorted out for the 8SE I concentrated on Jupiter . The high , thin cloud actually helped dampen down the brightness of the planet to such a degree that I was able to see more detail than of late . Very rewarding but ultimately short session . 

[Zermelo]

A very decent evening here, it stayed clearer than some of the forecasts were suggesting.

Lots of doubles, including some old favourites and some new ones in and around Cassiopeia: HD4536, HD709, HD5005 (triple), V761, HD11669, HD11316, HD3891, HD4947, HD1026. The seeing was excellent.

Jupiter was looking very good and showing some nice details, Saturn not so much.

[Mr Spock]

Still very clear but seeing still poor. Had a good look at Jupiter at x152; showed some good belt detail but still a bit fuzzy. Just seen Io about to disappear but the wind is getting up and I'm feeling a bit chilly. Calling it a night.

[Whistlin Bob]

Busy evening, and some imaging snags didn't leave much time for observing, but a very happy hour was had with 8 inch dob. Jupiter was very nice with some detail in the equatorial bands and hints of other bands North and South. Mars was just peeping over the neighbours house and giving the slightest hint of detail. M31 was well seen with even m110 showing up with av. Best of all was the Pleiades, where the nebulosity was visible, including some hints of texture, and so many gorgeous little coloured stars. Finished off by wandering around Cygnus at 36x just enjoying the huge fields of stars.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Whistlin Bob

[Davesellars]

Double session tonight in the end with the 12" dob and EAA with the 80ED.  Transparency I thought was awful and the dob was soon very wet.   Jupiter showed very well though although the seeing was so-so - in the moments of calm some really great belt detail using the 5mm Pentax XW.  Mars was rather more fuzzy but at least it's starting to show a decent size disc now.  A few galaxies observed but nothing very well because of the transparency - should have stuck to some open clusters instead!    EAA went rather better though...  Just on the last one now before packing up.

[Davesellars]

Just finished for the night - 7 hour session!  

[Giles_B]

3 hours ago, Davesellars said:

Just finished for the night - 7 hour session!  

If only I hadn't had work - I managed three hours then stopped at midnight. The sky was absolutely crystal clear over Bristol - ranks with some of the best seeing I've experienced in the city. Most of my time spent on the Saturn, with a huge amount of detail visible in the rings. Just amazing. Came out again at 6am to walk the dog, and  still crystal clear. If only it hadn't been a work night!

[cloudsweeper]

Another early session, starting at 6.30, Tuesday.   ED80 Apo (widefield) on AZ4.

Orion just past south - took in all of his belt at x20 / 4.10 deg.  M42 / Trapezium good at x160 - sharp, fine focus control helped there.

Moon - 1 day past 3rd quarter, high, SE.  Used the observing chair for comfort.  Plato very near terminator - spiky shadow from its western edge to beyond the centre, I reckon about 34 miles long.  (See extract from log.)

Mars - high, west of south.  Not too much glare, as the sky was lightening.  Think I detected a bit of albedo change at x160.

Finished at 7.10, with only the Moon, Mars, and Sirius visible.

Another excellent start to the day!

Doug.

[Penumbrella]

I had first light with my new 15x70 celestron SkyMaster binos, a lovely experience. I walked a bit away from the house and sat on a bench overlooking the nearby valley. 

Wonderfully clear night, so I had a whale of a time just sweeping around picking out various stars and features - lots of 'what's that' moments and flicking back to skysafari for info. 

Jupiter, Saturn, and later on, Mars were all clear (if a little jiggly, especially towards the end of my time). I enjoyed seeing m13 and M31, both of which benefitted from a little time, but the highlight was definitely m45 the pleiades. Spent quite some time gazing at them - with the odd nip from the hip flask. 

Think I might invest in a monopod, see if that helps, but otherwise I'm totally sold on binos. A wonderful night with absolutely none of the usual faff. 

 

[starhiker]

A quick ~40 mins session around midnight, with Celestron 10x50 binoculars.

Tried to recognise a couple of constellation, Pisces, Triangulum and Aries.

M31, it becomes easier and easier to spot it after finding it the first time.

Plaides. Amazing, see it the first time.

I might spot Mel 20, but not sure.

Tried hard to spot Neptune, but failed. It might be too dim for a binocular under a bortle 6 sky.  

[josefk]

Like @Davesellars i went for a big one last night. I have the week  off work and the overnight forecasts are not great so banked a full 8.5hrs last night (till 06:00 this morning). 1x flask of coffee (8x expressos eqv.), 1x packet of flapjack, 1x packet of ginger liquorice jellies, >40x observations. Does it get any better?

Writing up my notes will take the rest of the week  - counting everything i have over 45 observations but that isn't as greedy as it sounds - there are plenty of grouped observations in there and the pace was leisurely throughout. Absolutely swimming in condensation toward the end. It was an eyepiece in the diagonal and an eyepiece in my hand or my pocket all night. Nothing left out uncovered. Transparency was poor i think looking at what i couldn't see but seeing was steady.

Binoviewers on Orion are the absolute bees knees!!! The 3D myth has legs. Easily over an hour in this area trying BV, UHC, O-III, higher and lower mono mags and enjoying everything for the different perspectives. Fantastic

[Davesellars]

Just now, josefk said:

I have the week  off work and the overnight forecasts are not great so banked a full 8.5hrs last night (till 06:00 this morning). 1x flask of coffee (8x expressos eqv.), 1x packet of flapjack, 1x packet of ginger liquorice jellies, >40x observations. Does it get any better?

Nice!  Glad to see you also took advantage (no time off for me unfortunately, but not doing too mad this morning... ) The transparency increased considerably during the morning (at the start it was pretty bad).  By the time I got to Orion around 3am it was crystal clear and the stars in the sky were much brighter.

[Stardaze]

Had a great couple of hours last night showing my brother-in-law and niece around. I was a bit concerned given the jet stream forecast but things proved very steady with Jupiter looking superb showing 4 belts clearly visible at 254x. We kicked the night off with Saturn, as she was drifting across and behind next door. Had a tour of a few doubles (Albierio, Gamma Delph) and easily split the double double. M13 was by now too low in the sky and in an area of light pollution and so whilst I could see detail clearly it wasn't the best conditions there for my newbie astronomers. Managed to show them Neptune, for what that's worth along with M27 and M51.

M31 was finally clear of the tree next door, which I thought looked great, it wasn't necessarily the show-stopper for my family members. Finished back on Jupiter where I enjoyed 15 minutes on my own, one of the better nights that I've witnessed there.

Couldn't resist having a look around Orion and the Plaides this morning with the bin's at 6am too - first half decent session of the season.