What did you see tonight?

[Mr Spock]

Forecast is looking good for tonight and the jetstream is well away from us. I'm thinking about carting the 12" up to the top patio so I can have a look at Jupiter. It doesn't come round to the lower patio until the early hours when the forecast isn't so good.

[Littleguy80]

My wife was “out out” last night. I collected her and her friends in the small hours and was surprised to see clear and transparent skies. Couldn’t resist getting the 10” dob out for some Comet hunting. Started with a quick look at M42 which showed a beautiful green colour. Comet 103P Hartley came first. It was initially a harder spot, quite diffuse. Showing better around 96x mag. I also tried my Baader SWAN filter on it. The effect was very similar to an UHC/OIII on a nebula. Contrast was greatly improved. Not sure if I was seeing more. I tried unsuccessfully for 62P/Tsuchinshan, with and without the SWAN filter. Comet C/2023 H2 (Lemmon) was much easier to spot with a more concentrated core. The SWAN filter again giving a nice boost in contrast but not obviously increasing the extent of the comet. To finish up, I enjoyed some great views of Jupiter with Io’s shadow and some lovely detail. Really enjoyable unplanned session. Was very pleased to be able to test the SWAN filter. 

[John]

3 hours ago, IB20 said:

Glad you got some good conditions John. 
I didn’t fancy the 2am bed-6am wake up from my two boys so will eagerly have to wait for my first shadow transit of the season.

My other half kindly let me have a "lie in" this morning while she had breakfast. I've got to be on good behaviour for the rest of the day now - no drifting off in front of the TV later otherwise I'll get the accusations of behaving like an "old man" 😬

[scarp15]

Didn't get to turn in until after 2.30am. Two consecutive early Sunday mornings observing Io's shadow transit, has been very reviving and particularly following storm Babet. The shadow transit was very pronounced, also could just make out the GRS, SEB distinct and traces of NEB, lots of detailing interest within the belt regions. 7mm DeLite was probably the best overall of the night at 171x, although for a good period, 200x and up to 240x worked well to. 

Lovely too, to watch the blueish disc of Uranus glide across and even caught an occasional Orionid. Deep sky objects observed included Andromeda and M34.

[Paz]

12 hours ago, John said:

I've been watching Io's shadow ingress onto Jupiter's disk. Fabulous views at 150x under a really dark, clear sky. And after all that moaning and groaning about the conditions earlier !

Tonight is the strongest reminder I've had for a while of why I am in this hobby 😁

Probably the best observing I've had this summer 👍

 

I saw Jupiter was clear last night and on Sky Safari I saw the Io transit was coming later on. I got all my gear to hand (indoors but ready to go straight out) and went to bed aiming to go out in the early hours, but then I didn't wake up and I have no idea if I missed an opportunity or not! But it was a half-chance and that's an improvement.

[Mr Spock]

And it's.... 100% cloudy 😡

[Stu1smartcookie]

Quite clear in Cambridgeshire , at present , just had a quick look at the moon before it disappeared behind the house . But that's good because it won't get in the way later . 

.... Update ... Seeing wasn't that good with some high cloud evident ... so in effect just half an hour on Jupiter and the Plaides , which is half an hour longer than ive had in the last week or so . 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Stu1smartcookie

[Ouroboros]

I’ve been watching the weather all day to see if the promise of clear skies as forecast by the Beeb came true. Well, it’s clear in as much as I can see stars, but it’s very hazy. So I decided against setting up and contented myself with a stroll outside with the bins before bedtime. Moon looked good. Night all. 

[Bugdozer]

Tonight was a bit crummy as by the time we had set up, patches of random cloud had appeared. It was pretty much "quick, there's a gap over Saturn!" 2 minutes later "OK, Saturn's clouded, are we go for the moon?" 

However, the gaps between the clouds were fairly haze free and things looked nice and sharp. I was able to see Rhea again, which was nice,  and due to gaps between observing Jupiter, the movement of Io towards and Europa away from the planet was noticeable in that time. 

We did get a great view of the Straight Wall on the moon, although my picture doesn't show it half as clearly as we could see it - this was holding my phone to the eyepiece as we were having to change targets too quickly to faff around with the big camera. 

[John]

Nice and clear here currently although some cloud bands passing across from time to time.

After a late session yesterday I'm keeping it short tonight. I've been concentrating on Neptune with my ED120 refractor and looking out for it's brightest moon Triton. 

Triton is a tough challenge for the smaller aperture scope being around magnitude 13.5. I carefully studied the patch of sky around Neptune using 300x magnification and, eventually, was getting consistent glimpses of a suspect faint point of light south of the planet and slightly towards the west.

I made a rough sketch of the position of the suspect in relation to the compass points and drift of the view towards the west (my mount is undriven).

After re-confirming my suspects position 3 times at the scope, I consulted Stellarium, Cartes du Ciel and the Sky & Telescope Triton Tracker app:

Neptune's Triton Tracker (skyandtelescope.org)

I was pleased to get confirmation from all 3 sources of Tritons position angle in relation to Neptune tonight and it's separation which is currently 16 arc seconds.

This is the first time that I have seen Triton with the ED120 although I felt I glimpsed it at an outreach session with the same scope last Saturday night. I was pleased with this result tonight which confirms that this distant rock and ice moon can be seen, even if only through glimpses, through this aperture. I suspect it would be beyond my 100mm / 102mm scopes though. 

This representation was generated by the S&T app and I added the compass points. The view is highly enlarged over that which is seen at the eyepiece of course, even at 300x 🙂

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by John

[IB20]

Have just observed a shadow occultation of Io. SkySafari had it down at starting at 21:53 and disappearing with seconds. I actually watched to the tiniest speck of light and finally lost sight at 22:29. AN has the eclipse down at 22:27 which seems more accurate. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a case of there then not there but it actually started distorting and shrinking in size until it was a pinprick of light. The airy disc around it seemed to disappear and I kept comparing it to Europa’s size until it was really obvious that it was being eaten up by the planet’s shadow.

I’ve never seen a Jovian eclipse before, it was fascinating to watch!

[Stu]

Another quick lunar session for me with the Hilkin. Nice results, colour correction is good and it seemed quite sharp. Would be interesting to see it next to the FC-76Q, though from memory the Tak is a lot better as you would expect.

These are two quick smartphone snaps of the Moon. I also managed to split the Double Double although it wasn’t totally trivial even at x150.

 

[IB20]

24 minutes ago, John said:

Nice and clear here currently although some cloud bands passing across from time to time.

After a late session yesterday I'm keeping it short tonight. I've been concentrating on Neptune with my ED120 refractor and looking out for it's brightest moon Triton. 

Triton is a tough challenge for the smaller aperture scope being around magnitude 13.5. I carefully studied the patch of sky around Neptune using 300x magnification and, eventually, was getting consistent glimpses of a suspect faint point of light south of the planet and slightly towards the west.

I made a rough sketch of the position of the suspect in relation to the compass points and drift of the view towards the west (my mount is undriven).

After re-confirming my suspects position 3 times at the scope, I consulted Stellarium, Cartes du Ciel and the Sky & Telescope Triton Tracker app:

Neptune's Triton Tracker (skyandtelescope.org)

I was pleased to get confirmation from all 3 sources of Tritons position angle in relation to Neptune tonight and it's separation which is currently 16 arc seconds.

This is the first time that I have seen Triton with the ED120 although I felt I glimpsed it at an outreach session with the same scope last Saturday night. I was pleased with this result tonight which confirms that this distant rock and ice moon can be seen, even if only through glimpses, through this aperture. I suspect it would be beyond my 100mm / 102mm scopes though. 

This representation was generated by the S&T app and I added the compass points. The view is highly enlarged over that which is seen at the eyepiece of course, even at 300x 🙂

 

Same on SkySafari! Excellent catch, never managed any of the ice giant satellites myself. I’m sure the 200P is capable enough, just need the conditions and get it acclimated properly!

[Stu]

40 minutes ago, John said:

Nice and clear here currently although some cloud bands passing across from time to time.

After a late session yesterday I'm keeping it short tonight. I've been concentrating on Neptune with my ED120 refractor and looking out for it's brightest moon Triton. 

Triton is a tough challenge for the smaller aperture scope being around magnitude 13.5. I carefully studied the patch of sky around Neptune using 300x magnification and, eventually, was getting consistent glimpses of a suspect faint point of light south of the planet and slightly towards the west.

I made a rough sketch of the position of the suspect in relation to the compass points and drift of the view towards the west (my mount is undriven).

After re-confirming my suspects position 3 times at the scope, I consulted Stellarium, Cartes du Ciel and the Sky & Telescope Triton Tracker app:

Neptune's Triton Tracker (skyandtelescope.org)

I was pleased to get confirmation from all 3 sources of Tritons position angle in relation to Neptune tonight and it's separation which is currently 16 arc seconds.

This is the first time that I have seen Triton with the ED120 although I felt I glimpsed it at an outreach session with the same scope last Saturday night. I was pleased with this result tonight which confirms that this distant rock and ice moon can be seen, even if only through glimpses, through this aperture. I suspect it would be beyond my 100mm / 102mm scopes though. 

This representation was generated by the S&T app and I added the compass points. The view is highly enlarged over that which is seen at the eyepiece of course, even at 300x 🙂

 

Nice catch John. I must try this with the FS-128, if I ever get a chance to use it that is!

[Nigella Bryant]

55 minutes ago, IB20 said:

Have just observed a shadow occultation of Io. SkySafari had it down at starting at 21:53 and disappearing with seconds. I actually watched to the tiniest speck of light and finally lost sight at 22:29. AN has the eclipse down at 22:27 which seems more accurate. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a case of there then not there but it actually started distorting and shrinking in size until it was a pinprick of light. The airy disc around it seemed to disappear and I kept comparing it to Europa’s size until it was really obvious that it was being eaten up by the planet’s shadow.

I’ve never seen a Jovian eclipse before, it was fascinating to watch!

I too saw the Jovian eclipse, never seen one before either. Didn't even know that's what happened, I thought it had been blotted out by cloud, lol. Till I saw your post. It did gradually fade. Interesting to see. 

[John]

Just watching the Great Red Spot coming around the limb of Jupiter 🙂

 

[Ags]

The seeing over Amsterdam was phenomenal last night, Jupiter was richly detailed, not just in good moments but almost all the time. I cancelled a DSO evening to make good use of the planetary views.

[RobertI]

Too tired to drag the scope(s) out last night, I had a quick session with the 10x50s. Although apparently cloudless and transparent, there was a distinct lack of stars and the Milky Way wasn’t fabulous. Despite that M33 was quite clear, and many of the open clusters in Auriga and Perseus looked wonderful. The binoculars were great at bringing out stellar colours. I discovered a large beanbag makes a perfect binocular chair and can be adjusted for any angle - highly recommended!

[Ratlet]

Been working so not been able to enjoy, but after the storms over the weekend the skies have been phenomenally clear.  Looks really stable too.  Off tonight for a couple days so hopefully get a decent look

[lunator]

I managed a couple of hours out last night. First time since the 7th Sept....

It was fairly good but the seeing was variable. It was excellent at times but with fairly frequent dips to poor. 

I saw a few new doubles and some regular targets. 

I hope to post a report soon.

Cheers

Ian

 

[inedible_hulk]

Finally last night, me, the Starfield 102 I ordered back in June, and some clear skies were in the same place at the same time. Although some bands of cloud were apparent, the sky seemed the clearest and most transparent I have experienced in a long time.

I started off with the moon, nicely framed in my ES 82 11mm at x65. It was quite a moment. I don’t know whether it was the clarity of the atmosphere, or the quality of the scope, but my breath was quite taken away.

I switched to another relatively recent acquisition, a SvBony 3-8mm zoom. I concentrated on the Sinus Lunicus area and around the crater Cassini. Slowly I increased the magnification from x102 through each of the settings on the eyepiece to x238, and the Starfield kept giving. I spent a merry hour or so observing this area, moving between the magnifications. 

Much to my disappointment the fog began to roll in from the river, so I only managed a quick view of Saturn at x102 before it stopped play. Even in these conditions a crisp view was afforded.

Roll on the next clear night!

Edited October 23, 2023 by inedible_hulk
Corrected mistake

[Epick Crom]

I had a Solar System night last night with my 10 inch dob 😊

Saturn: A bit of a "wobbly" view as the atmosphere was a bit unsettled at the beginning of my observing session. Still it was a fabulous view of the ringed planet, with moons Dione, Rhea and Titan nearby. 

Waxing Gibbous Moon: Seeing started to improve by the time I turned my attention to the moon. Copernicus crater looked amazing at the terminator, the tops of its terraced walls shining in sunlight while it's interior was deep in shadow. Using 686x magnification was awesome, it transformed Copernicus in a 3D like object, showing its base rising up and looking like a dormant volcano. Crater Clavius also put on a show with its curving inner craters. I also observed Rima Hesiodus for the first time.

Jupiter: My first observations of the king of the planets this season. Looked wonderful at 300x with multiple cloud belts and shading seen at one of its poles. Oh Jupiter, how I've missed you!

A thoroughly enjoyable night.

 

Clear Skies

Joe

[paulastro]

Posted this in Observing Deep Sky, and thought it might be of interest here.

Thanks, Paul

 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/414900-october-25th-a-star-hop-in-the-heart-of-orion-courtesy-of-alan-m-macrobert

 

[Froeng]

Just had a look at Jupiter in the C8. The air is quite steady tonight. Reasonable view in the bino at 335x. Not too much going with all the moons to one side. Every now and then one can glimpse a bit more detail in the cloud belts.

Now inside warming up and waiting for Saturn to clear the house…

[Froeng]

One other thing I observed earlier was T Lyrae. A quite remarkably red star. The colour was VERY obvious!