What did you see tonight?

[Mr Spock]

I got a few nice doubles in Hercules (drawings to come later) in decent seeing. Σ2161 and OΣ329 looked great in the same x106 field.

Had a look at Saturn late on but it was fuzzy down there 

[Mr Spock]

I did spend a lot of time just looking at stars while star hopping. I just like looking at stars - what does that mean?

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

I just like looking at stars - what does that mean?

You’re a stargazer? 🤷🏼‍♂️😊👍

[John]

5 hours ago, Stu said:

....Did you try for the NAN whilst you were at the Veil? Looks great in these small scopes/wide fields too. Totally agree about OIIIs being very useful in small scopes, people are missing out on a lot if they stick to an 8” minimum 👍

I did have a scan around that area and I could see quite a lot of nebulous patches. I don't know the NAN  / Pelican part of the sky as well as I know the Veil part of Cygnus so I was a little uncertain what I was actually seeing. I'll do a bit more prep next time I try this 🙂

 

[Stu]

46 minutes ago, John said:

I did have a scan around that area and I could see quite a lot of nebulous patches. I don't know the NAN  / Pelican part of the sky as well as I know the Veil part of Cygnus so I was a little uncertain what I was actually seeing. I'll do a bit more prep next time I try this 🙂

 

There’s certainly a lot of nebulosity around Cygnus. This is a six degree field of view, refractor view so pop Deneb in the right place and the NAN will be there. I don’t think it’s any more difficult than the Veil assuming you have a big enough field to show the whole thing. The Gulf of Mexico part is the most obvious I guess.

[johnturley]

Observed Saturn and Jupiter last night, viewing conditions were not very good and rather unsteady, I was unable to make out Cassini's Division on Saturn, but moons Titan, Iapetus, and Rhea were quite easy to spot, plus fleetingly I could glimpse what I think was Tethys, based on Stellarium. 

On Jupiter I was able to spot the shadow transit of Europa, but only when the shadow got to near the middle of the Jovian disc, I find shadow transits of Europa harder to spot than those of Io and Ganymede. 

John 

[maw lod qan]

3 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

I did spend a lot of time just looking at stars while star hopping. I just like looking at stars - what does that mean?

That you are ready to retire and someone is going to erase all your memories with a neurolizer!

Remember to leave yourself some clues in case we need you back!

 

[maw lod qan]

I was up to watch Crew7 launch at 3:45am, but found it was scrubbed till tomorrow before I went out.

The sky was clear, so I went to the observatory to look at Jupiter.

Seeing was good considering yesterday looked almost hazy, like a little smog in the air.

Banding was nice, equatorial bands very good and the rest showing fainter.

All four big moons and one star in the mix to the left in the eyepiece. 

The star could easily pass for another moon it was positioned so perfectly in them.

[PeterC65]

Despite the thick clouds early evening, and my taking delivery of an Askar FMA135 in the morning, I managed a very successful EAA session last night with the 72mm Apo and the new FMA135 riding piggyback.

B142 & B143: Crystal clear and dead flat with the FMA135.

IC4756, NGC6633, Cr399: A few clusters, nice to be able to see both the detail and the wider context.

As other have mentioned recently, the additional context provided by the wide FoV of the FMA135 meant that objects were smaller, but somehow clearer.

NGC6960 & NGC6992: Finally I got to see the whole of the Veil Nebula with the FMA135.

NGC7000: Again, finally I got to see all of it and it was immediately obvious why it’s called the North American Nebula.

IC1805 Heart Nebula & NGC1499 California Nebula: Too big to see with the Apo but fine for the FMA135.

Kemble’s Cascade: Unhelpfully orientated, but I could still see it all.

M45: Never quite seems to fit the FoV but the FMA135 showed it in context.

The FMA135 is a marvel and I’m looking forward to seeing how it fares with the filter wheel.

Full report (with pictures) is here.

 

[Mr Spock]

One from last night - the rest are in a separate thread in the double star forum.

 

[Mr Spock]

CO says 100% cloudy. Just looked out and it's clear! Don't know for how long. Maybe able to get a session in 👍

[Epick Crom]

3 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

CO says 100% cloudy. Just looked out and it's clear! Don't know for how long. Maybe able to get a session in 👍

Good luck mate👍

[Mr Spock]

Nah, it clouded over 

[maw lod qan]

This morning everything worked.

Watched SpaceX Crew7 from my spot at the end of my driveway. 

Very clear sky, so it was very visible.

On this trajectory,  moving up the coast instead of more Easterly, it seemed to move almost directly away from where I'm at.

Was also able to see the short burn of the 1st stage slowing down as it returned.

This still excites me, maybe even more now than when I was younger.

[Ratlet]

Managed to get about 30 seconds on Jupiter with the 10" this morning.  Found it with the 12mm and it hid behind a cloud by the time I got the 8mm in.  Managed to briefly get it through the cloud (light cloud makes a brilliant filter imho) before i gave up to go to work.

Really good seeing and it has fairly whet my appetite!  Nice we morning wake up.

[Paz]

15 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Nah, it clouded over 

I've had a few outings recently where I've set up on a half chance hoping it may turn out ok, given thats the only way to have some chance of observing rather than none at the moment... and then watch as the clouds double down and I realise I've set up for nothing!

[Andy ES]

Saturn at opposition this weekend but not much chance of any observation tonight, still raining in Essex. ☹️

Tomorrow night looks better here.

[IB20]

There are breaks in the cloud so I’m having a little gaze at Saturn. Seeing isn’t the best but transparency when the clouds pass over is very, very good. Moon wise I can see Titan the brightest, but Rhea and Iapetus visible with slight averted vision through the 76Q and 9mm BGO. Quite amazed at how visible Iapetus is, wonder if its brighter face is showing? Anyone know if there’s anyway to find out? Dione occasionally pops into view but it’s swamped a little by the brightness of the ring system.

The Cassini division visible at both ansae and a dark northern temperate band on show.  The slight shadow underneath the ring I saw earlier in the season is harder to pick up today, possibly due to the opposition brightening of the ring system.

In the 7XW the moons show even easier and there’s a real nice northern polar darkening. Perfect magnification for the conditions and altitude so far (136x).

Edited August 26, 2023 by IB20

[AndrewRrrrrr]

fairly clear down here near Bogor Regis. Got the 8" SCT out and saw Europa emerge from behind Jupiter which was low down to the East. A fab thing to watch over the course of an hour of so. 

[Mr Spock]

Clear here but very milky and only bright stars on view. Oh well, time for bed then 

[Franklin]

16 minutes ago, AndrewRrrrrr said:

Europa emerge from behind Jupiter which was low down to the East. A fab thing to watch over the course of an hour of so. 

Observing Jupiter earlier and I thought I was seeing the four Galilean moons strung out to one side but then a fifth moon emerged on the other side which I now know was Europa. The mystery fifth moon was in fact 43 Ari😁.

[John]

Earlier I was messing around with my little 70mm refractor again and caught quite a few deep sky objects plus Jupiter and Saturn. 

Having packed that scope away, the continuing clear sky tempted me into putting my 100mm refractor out and, generally, re-visiting these targets with the benefit of 30mm additional aperture. 

The additional aperture showed noticeably of course in a number of areas, most obviously in the clarity with which the galaxies M110 (near M31) and NGC 404 (Merak's Ghost) were shown. Practically invisible in the 70mm under tonights conditions but very obvious with the 100mm. Additionally M31 showed lots of extension either side of the core with the larger aperture.

I got 5 moons of Saturn with the 100mm but just 3 (clearly) with the 70mm. Just a handful of "sparkles" around the globular cluster M15 with the 70mm but lots more resolved with the 100mm. 

All quite predictable of course but it is fun reminding oneself that those additional mm of expensive glass do actually earn their keep 😁

One night I'll line up all my refractors, from 70mm to 130mm, pick a target and then move through the scopes comparing the views that the increments of aperture give at a similar magnification (to keep things fair). Should be fun 🙂

Edited August 27, 2023 by John

[Bedlasky]

A weak ago I was looking at Jupiter and Galilean moons and between Callisto and Io there was a blue star Sigma Arietis. It looked like Jupiter have not 4 but 5 large moons :D. Sigma Arietis have apparent magnitude 5,52, so pretty much the same magnitude as Galilean moons. Really interesting sight.

[Bivanus]

2 hours ago, Bedlasky said:

A weak ago I was looking at Jupiter and Galilean moons and between Callisto and Io there was a blue star Sigma Arietis. It looked like Jupiter have not 4 but 5 large moons :D. Sigma Arietis have apparent magnitude 5,52, so pretty much the same magnitude as Galilean moons. Really interesting sight.

Like this ? I was wondering what's going on 😊

[Stu]

5 hours ago, John said:

Earlier I was messing around with my little 70mm refractor again and caught quite a few deep sky objects plus Jupiter and Saturn. 

Having packed that scope away, the continuing clear sky tempted me into putting my 100mm refractor out and, generally, re-visiting these targets with the benefit of 30mm additional aperture. 

The additional aperture showed noticeably of course in a number of areas, most obviously in the clarity with which the galaxies M110 (near M31) and NGC 404 (Merak's Ghost) were shown. Practically invisible in the 70mm under tonights conditions but very obvious with the 100mm. Additionally M31 showed lots of extension either side of the core with the larger aperture.

I got 5 moons of Saturn with the 100mm but just 3 (clearly) with the 70mm. Just a handful of "sparkles" around the globular cluster M15 with the 70mm but lots more resolved with the 100mm. 

All quite predictable of course but it is fun reminding oneself that those additional mm of expensive glass do actually earn their keep 😁

One night I'll line up all my refractors, from 70mm to 130mm, pick a target and then move through the scopes comparing the views that the increments of aperture give at a similar magnification (to keep things fair). Should be fun 🙂

Fun indeed John. I will put this lot out some day to try something similar! Could add the 128 on another mount too.

You seem to have a love-hate (too strong an expression but can’t think of anything else) relationship with smaller refractors. Often saying that you don’t think it worth going below 100mm, but then enjoying them when you do dabble.

I do see the benefits obviously of more aperture obviously. I’ve been observing the Sun just recently with my 76mm rather than the more usual 100mm, and whilst it is certainly worthwhile, you definitely don’t see as much detail or granulation as with the larger scope. Resolution doesn’t lie! But, convenience and fun are often just as important in my book.