What did you see tonight?

[Nigella Bryant]

Trying to observe and image Jupiter again tonight between the fast moving clouds, quite frustrating. Lovely detail between the clouds of the GRS, festoons on the lower to EQzone of the NEB and the continuing disturbances following the GRS in the SEB. Of course me all wrapped up warm and cozy, lol 😆 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Looks like the abominable snowman has broken into your observatory there.  Better act quick.

[Nigella Bryant]

24 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Looks like the abominable snowman has broken into your observatory there.  Better act quick.

It's called not freezing your b*** off, lol. I've heated gloves and heated back pad under my coat, lol. Nice and cozy, lol. I don't care what I look like. Although I could be mistaken as someone about to take something not belonging to them in my black balaclava, lol. 

[Alan White]

Been at my Astro club tonight, it was cloudy at the start so we had a talk on observing, then it cleared and we observed with some newer members and introduces them to Orion and more.

My only problem was I forgot my gloves and froze my bits off, so now home and warming through.

Fun though.

[Zermelo]

The seeing here tonight was better than yesterday. There wasn't much obvious cloud, though transparency seemed down, and the reading on my sky quality meter was significantly worse than I'd expect, close to new moon.

I spent quite a while on Jupiter again, and x140 was about the best power for the Mak. There was a fair bit of detail in the equatorial belts, and the GRS was visible later on. Actually, since it was more distinct than I expected, I may have been seeing the darker region in the wake of the spot that others have been reporting on recently.

The double cluster at the zenith showed a better background contrast than M34 and M37 further down. M33 was barely visible, but the 17.5mm Morpheus just about showed some hints of structure.  M1 was faint, but obvious.

With the slightly improved seeing, tighter doubles were accessible but still quite jumpy, including n1 Orionis (1.8") and 32 Orionis (1.4").  But 52 Orionis was again too much for the atmospherics.

[Littleguy80]

I thought tonight might have been a bit of a come down after the dark site trip last night but I thoroughly enjoyed. Just an hour or so with the Tak FC100. I wanted to see if I could pick up the Crab Nebula with it from my suburban skies. Comfortably so was the answer. Highlights after that included M46 and M47. Adding a UHC filter to pick up the planetary nebula within M46. With the APM 30mm UFF, I could fit both clusters in the FOV. Hind’s Crimson Star was fab, showing the traffic light red that I remember. Comet 62P off the tail of Leo also showed well in the Tak. My recent addition of a Berlebach tripod has made a big difference to how I feel about using the Tak. It’s heavier of course but so much more stable. Two nights good observing on the trot makes for a lovely late Christmas present.  

[jjohnson3803]

19 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Of course me all wrapped up warm and cozy, lol 😆 

-30°C windchill predicted for Monday here, but it finally ought to be clear!   

Say what you will about observing through doublepane windows, but I believe I'll do just that.  😁

[John_D]

19 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

It's called not freezing your b*** off, lol. I've heated gloves and heated back pad under my coat, lol. Nice and cozy, lol. I don't care what I look like. Although I could be mistaken as someone about to take something not belonging to them in my black balaclava, lol. 

Ah the balaclava look, always fashionable 😁 I too sport something similar on the colder nights at the telescope and if I could only find a way of stopping my glasses fogging up my happiness would be complete.

Edited January 11 by John_D
spelling

[Mr Spock]

Fingers crossed  CO is predicting clear for tomorrow, partially Saturday, and clear again Sunday and Monday.

Just had notification from FLO that my Feathertouch for the Tak has arrived - two months sooner than expected! Hopefully that will be delivered and fitted in time for the clear skies.

[Mr H in Yorkshire]

20 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Of course me all wrapped up warm and cozy, lol 😆 

Despite the leg pulling, unless you you happen to have a crowd of fashion critics (e.g. airheads) in your obsy, why should you care. You have to dress for the occasion!

[Zermelo]

Outreach evening at a nearby school. A pity it wasn't Tuesday or Wednesday, but these things are arranged weeks in advance.

Unfortunately, the weather followed the forecasts pretty closely: cloud building up after sunset, becoming continuous.

The three of us all focused our efforts on Jupiter, waiting for the few sucker holes to usher in the next in line. In the end, a majority of kids (and some parents) got a glimpse.

I took the Skymax this time, knowing that we were planet hunting. My Svbony 10mm UFF gave x150 and showed some nice detail when the sky allowed, including the GRS at the start.

 

[AstroNebulee]

Not what I saw tonight but what I saw over the past 3 evenings. 

Now I'm back in the visual saddle I was getting back to using my AzGti in az mode with my ST80 with 9x50 fs. Whilst the weather has been freezing it didn't stop me from the freedom of just doing some casual observing. Using synscan pro and finally getting sky safari pro to work together it made it much easier to pick targets out. Using my helios hyperflex 7.2-21.5 mm zoom lens for ease and simplicity. I took in my first taste of visual for a long time and enjoyed seeing favourites M42, M31, M81&82, M33, M34, M45 and the Hyades, starfish and pinwheel cluster. Along with the double cluster in perseus and a lovely double of mintaka and castor. 

I really enjoyed my sessions and it's brought the excitement of astronomy back to me after imaging. I can't wait to get out on my next sessions. Not an in depth write up but the start of a lovely journey with the eyepiece. 

Lee 

Edited January 11 by AstroNebulee

[Bugdozer]

I went out last night with our local Sussex Sidewalk Astronomers group to a nearby dark site, with a bracing below zero temperature and a slight breeze adding to the chill. There were several scopes out and my little 5 inch SCT felt dwarfed next to a 10 inch Skywatcher dob! 

The good thing about being with a knowledgeable group is that they can recommend targets in real time and advise on finding them. I ticked off four open clusters I had not observed before - M36, M37, M38 and M41. All beautiful objects through my 32mm eyepiece. M37 is probably the densest open cluster I have seen, like a spray of glitter on a black cloth. I tried to have a look at Jupiter, as the GRS was right in the middle, but at high magnification the wind made it a bit futile. I had some requests from some of the group to look at M82 and M81, which made a nice pair in one field of view, and the Crab M1, which one chap had never seen before and I was proud to be able to demonstrate just how disappointing a smudge it is. Although I didn't have my UHC filter, which would have improved the view slightly, it was so bitingly cold I wouldn't have trusted myself to screw it on without dropping it. 

The chap with the 10" dob had his camera hooked up and showed a fantastic view of the trapezium at the heart of the Orion Nebula, really showing the resolution of a bigger scope. 

Eventually some clouds started blowing in here and there, and I realised that if I got any colder then my tauntaun would freeze before I reached the first marker, so I packed up and came home for some hot fruit tea. 

[Littleguy80]

On 10/01/2024 at 01:01, Littleguy80 said:

The skies didn’t disappoint, though not perhaps the best I’ve seen from this site. Got to see the Horsehead through a friend’s 20” dob and then managed it in my own 10” dob. Orion through a HB filter was stunning.  Comet 62P through my Tak rounded off the night. Will endeavour to write a full report tomorrow. Thoroughly enjoyed getting out under some proper dark skies with friends. 

Belatedly got around to writing up a report for this session. Report here for anyone interested: 

 

[Mr Spock]

Absolutely crystal clear! The sky is as dark as I've seen it for a long time.

The 4" is out cooling. I have it on Jupiter and can't see anything seeing is so bad. Hopefully when the scope cools it will improve.

[Mr Spock]

Seeing is pants. After all this cloud the first clear night is rubbish 😡

[RimuRidgeRakiura]

I started with Jupiter but the conditions weren't great. Despite no moon and perfectly clear skies I struggled to get a clear view, it was a shimmery blob the whole way through. I couldn't resolve any bands. It was windy so perhaps that was an issue. After I while I gave up and tried out my new T ring for my DSLR.

I took a few shots of M42 and then tried to photograph Jupiter to see if it might be better than my optical viewing but it was far worse. It was great fun to have my first crack at photography through a telescope.

I packed up the scope and then did some long exposure shots of Orion and tried for the Pleiades. Then at about 0100 it was time for bed!

f/3.7. 30s exp. ISO-6400

f/3.7. 30s exp. ISO-6400

Edited January 13 by RimuRidgeRakiura
Added photos

[bosun21]

@RimuRidgeRakiura Check the collimation of your new scope as you should still be able to see the bands on Jupiter despite poor seeing. They may not be sharp but they are definitely seen.

Edited January 13 by bosun21

[Nikolai De Silva]

Clear skies today after a long time of rain and clouds. Views were little washed by light pollution, especially by the lights in front of our house in the road, and even we are just not even a km far from the town, which is worse. Started observing Jupiter for the first, right near the zenith. Was difficult to aim at with the eq mount and the tripod, but then managed by loosening the knob which fixes the mount to the tripod. 6 moons were visible clearly with our 130p! Next the Orion Nebula, clear and great. First just was like a hazy cloud, and then later was satisfying. And finally Pleiades. Like real diamond dust. Nice sky but windy.

Hope to have clear skies forward! How if we were in Powys...

Edited January 13 by Nikolai De Silva

[John]

Clearish skies here currently and the Great Red Spot is on the jovian disk 🙂

The seeing is not too bad either.

[Saganite]

Hope it stays and you get some good observing  John.  The sky has been clear and blue all day but now solid cloud.  Monday is looking good.

[Stu]

46 minutes ago, John said:

Clearish skies here currently and the Great Red Spot is on the jovian disk 🙂

The seeing is not too bad either.

I obviously live in the wrong part of Somerset John, cloudy here all day, and remains so this evening ☹️. Enjoy your skies anyway 👍

[John]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

I obviously live in the wrong part of Somerset John, cloudy here all day, and remains so this evening ☹️. Enjoy your skies anyway 👍

I think it was the other way round a few days back @Stu 🙂

 

[Ratlet]

Up about 60 miles north of Inverness seeing the folks.  Should have packed the scope, but at least had the svbony 10x42 in the boot.  Got a good look at the pleiades and a scan from vega to capella.

[saac]

6 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

Up about 60 miles north of Inverness seeing the folks.  Should have packed the scope, but at least had the svbony 10x42 in the boot.  Got a good look at the pleiades and a scan from vega to capella.

I bet it is real nice and dark there.  

Jim