What did you see tonight?

[Littleguy80]

Inspired by @andrew63’s post yesterday, I got out earlier in the evening to observe Comet C/2023 H2 Lemmon. Using the Tak FC100DF and APM 30mm UFF, it was located easily in Hercules not far from M13, which I also observed. It was bright but quite diffuse patch. The Baader SWAN filter nicely increased contrast on the comet. Some quick views of Saturn and Jupiter afterwards though seeing wasn’t too great. Comet Lemmon is well worth a look 

[Stu1smartcookie]

Another session with the Seestars … I’m truly amazed at this little black box of goodness . The air was a drier than last night and I had a great time watching M81 & M82 materialise on the phone , followed by the Bubble nebula which was awesome. So , a different kind of viewing but immensely fun and enjoyable.

[SwiMatt]

The Moon is out now showing the beautiful Waning Crescent while I'm going to work. You know, just to remind me that new moon is close and the forecast looks aweful for weeks to come 

[Moonshed]

12 hours ago, IB20 said:

Out with the 15x binoculars tonight. M45 and Melotte 20 look superb; the double cluster despite its location at zenith is absolutely beautiful. Excellent transparency tonight! I need to do more binocular sessions.

Yes, binocular sessions can be very rewarding. Having just sold all my gear and now without a ‘scope I am instead observing with binoculars, and have re-discovered what a joy it is. Like you I looked at M45, always stunning, and the Alpha Perseus Cluster. The seeing was good and so I spent some time simply drifting through the Milky Way. I eventually called it a day after a long look at M32, surprised at how large it appeared, more than usual that’s for sure, can only be due to the excellent observing conditions. My love of astronomy has been re-kindled because of a pair of newly purchased binoculars.

To answer the OPs question ”What did you see tonight?” I saw thousands of stars.

Keith

[Ags]

Glimpsed outside my office in broad daylight around 8am this morning: Venus right next to the Moon!

[SwiMatt]

Just saw the clouds disappear just before sunset. It held until it got darker. I went out with the Mak, set it up and... 5 minutes with Jupiter before the clouds got back. I didn't even even the time to push past 100x. It looked very crisp too... 

[jjohnson3803]

NIce conjunction of the moon and Venus this morning.  Very low behind my neighbor's trees when I first went out and then crazy fast clouds came rolling down from the north.  I checked a couple weather sat sites and decided to wait it out.  It was totally clear by the time they were out of the trees.  ☺️

Took a look at M93 with my 72ED through some holes while waiting.  Not a spectacular session, but good enough!

Edited November 9, 2023 by jjohnson3803

[lunator]

21 hours ago, Ags said:

Glimpsed outside my office in broad daylight around 8am this morning: Venus right next to the Moon!

I saw that as I left for work at 6.30. it was a lovely sight. 🙂

[jjohnson3803]

Split Castor this morning with my 72ED, spent a little time on the Beehive, and then swung over to the Coma Cluster.  I noticed Arcturus is well up - about 20° alt - now around 0530.

I'm trying to reset my internal clock so I can switch to late evening observing for the winter.

Edited November 10, 2023 by jjohnson3803

[Mr Spock]

Sky is clear, so, more in hope than anything the 8" is out.

[John]

Lots of cloud around here but the forecast is better later on. I expect it will be a "grab the tak" session again !

 

[Paul M]

It's been one of those days, beautiful, deep blue sky. Looking across Morecambe bay, the high peaks of the Lake District fells had their first wintery dustings. A day that I just knew wouldn't last, and it didn't. As dusk fell, the clouds began to scud along in the west, slowly encroaching.

No point in setting up in the hope of it clearing, the forecast is for overcast. Groundhog Day, allover again.

 

[Franklin]

Lovely and clear here in NE Derbyshire and I've been observing Saturn since dusk, the seeing is quite still as well. Past an hour or so on M27, M57, M15, Albireo, epsilon Lyrae, gamma andromedae whilst waiting for Jupiter to gain some height. If it stays clear later I will have another go at trying to spot M33 from these bortal 7/8 skies? The recent thread on extra-galactic HII regions has given me some pointers for star-hopping to this so far elusive galaxy.

[John]

2 hours ago, John said:

Lots of cloud around here but the forecast is better later on. I expect it will be a "grab the tak" session again !

 

It cleared here quite soon after posting the above. I actually "grabbed" the Skywatcher ED120 and have been observing Saturn in between cooking and eating supper and finding comet Lemmon in Hercules with my 11x70 binoculars. And who said men could not multi-task ! 😁

Comet Lemmon was not too difficult to pick out. It's not as bright as the not far away Messier 27 but a clear fuzzy patch even at just 11x. 

I've got an astro society zoom coming up and then, hopefully, some more observing. A very astronomy-themed evening 😊

Edited November 10, 2023 by John

[Mr Spock]

Had a look at Saturn. That 8" is the most difficult to collimate scope I've had. Did my usual with the laser and it was hopelessly out! Star test is the only way to go I think.

I've come in for a warm though as my fingers are completely numb 🥶

[Mr Spock]

Oh, and the 0.5M power cable I got for the EQ5 is too short. It's fine with the 4" when I'm not disconnecting the controller from the mount (it's held on with Velcro), but with the 8" I need the controller mobile. So just ordered a 1M cable (they're only £3.49 anyway).

[Zermelo]

It's clear here, but the seeing is iffy. I've set up the Mak.

So far, I've seen three doubles, Neptune and Saturn, and just come in for tea.  About to continue.

[Zermelo]

Just clouded right over. I'll give it half an hour.

[Peter Drew]

I saw Jupiter tonight, first view through a telescope this year!  One of our 16" SCT's has been out of action for several months due to dodgy Meade electronics.  We recently received a complete electronics replacement kit from AWR technology which we hope will prove more reliable.  Due to health issues I need to shut down after 6pm so the first opportunity following the change from BST allowed me to collimate the instrument, it was certainly "out" by SCT standards.  A quick peek at Jupiter confirmed that all was satisfactory, pity the seeing didn't match the occasion!     🙂

[Kimboman]

Hi It was and still is very clear here and I have had  good sessions looking at Saturn untill the trees swolled it and then Jupiter both very clear.

I used my skywatcher 127 mak on az5 mount with a Svbony zoom which performed really well

[Mr Spock]

Finally got the 8" collimated. Seeing isn't so good though so I've swapped it for the 120 achro, which, with a suitable filter, gives a more detailed view of Jupiter.

Saw Saturn earlier but it's just too low here.

[Ouroboros]

I don't know if you can see this mobile phone pic, but this is what I could see just after I set up for an evening of astrophotography.  Those light beams stretched right overhead. 

Some kind of light show in the town consisting of bright search-light like beams flashing and dancing across the sky.  I don't know.  Shakes head in despair. It's a reasonably clear night, the Moon is out of the way, and some nerks insist on flashing lights around.   Fortunately I am using a dual band  so I'm hoping it won't affect things. But anyone doing visual or broadband might be miffed to say the least. 

[Franklin]

3 hours ago, Franklin said:

If it stays clear later I will have another go at trying to spot M33 from these bortal 7/8 skies? The recent thread on extra-galactic HII regions has given me some pointers for star-hopping to this so far elusive galaxy.

Well I found the correct place, thanks to @Nik271's directions and with a combination of averted vision and moving the slo-mo side to side I could see the faintest hint of a ghostly glow. At least I know the star field now for when I can get to a proper dark sky. Jupiter looking etched again, began observing just as one of the moons(Io?) came from behind the globe.

[Franklin]

1 minute ago, Ouroboros said:

Some kind of light show in the town consisting of bright search-light like beams flashing and dancing across the sky.

Reminds me of that "Close Encounters" film!

[Ouroboros]

7 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Reminds me of that "Close Encounters" film!

 I did have a brief OMG moment when I first glanced up.