What did you see tonight?

[Ratlet]

Only bortle 4 in town, but go 2 mile inland and you're down to bortle 2

Edited January 13 by Ratlet

[Mr Spock]

Clear sky! Both the 4" and 12" are out. Before it's cooled had a look at the moon through the 4" - looks great!

Observing starts shortly...

[Mr Spock]

Predictable... it's clouded over 😡 Radar looks good for later though.

Had a brief look at the moon and Saturn in the 4". Both are too low for the 12". Both a bit fuzzy. I could just about make out some belts on Saturn. It seems a lot higher than is was a few months ago 

[scarp15]

Nice presentation of Jupiter presently and most striking is the very close alignment between Europa ad Ganymede. Using the 8" F6 dob and 7mm DeLite. 

[Zermelo]

Cloudy here at the moment, though some of the forecasts say clearing up in a couple of hours.

On 11/01/2024 at 00:15, Littleguy80 said:

site

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

As I need to start using lighter gear I will be out with my ED80 a bit later when the sky clears . If the sky clears … sorry , mustn’t jinx it 

[Mr Spock]

Come in for a finger warm  It's -1.2° at the moment - time to get out the big gloves.

Jupiter is putting on a show. It looks good in the 4" - but outstanding in the 12". Even better once I'd tweaked the collimation slightly. Looks better in the 12" with a variable polariser though. So much detail on view!

[Mr Spock]

GRS transits at 23:44, so a little patience required before it starts to show.

[Stu1smartcookie]

Just come in from what was a fairly quick session … very clear here in cambs but a keen and damn cold breeze blowing . Andromeda looked a fine sight tonight as did the usual winter crowd . As I used the ED80 I had my 8-24 zoom EP with a TV 2.5 power mate focussed on Jupiter … probably some of the best views I’ve seen so far this winter ( mind you there haven’t been many opportunities) 

 

[Epick Crom]

Cloudy, stormy, very hot and humid here in Perth the last couple of days, but last night I whipped out my 10x50mm binoculars to catch the waxing crescent moon and Saturn 1.1° apart in a gap between flashing lightning clouds. 

Was quite magical seeing them together while lightning flashed in the field of view 😊

[Captain Scarlet]

Just in from a session with my SV140. It’d been out to cool from late afternoon. It was First Light for my DeLites 7 and 13 (courtesy of @The60mmKid ).

Jupiter was nice enough, several subsidiary bands to see but not much was on show except one large black spot, which was obvious. Io was pleasingly close to the disc.

Thereafter I took in M42, where the nebulosity seemed to defy the aperture (in a good way), Trapezium, Sigma Orionis, Beta Mon, Sirius and Rigel. Puzzlingly after a certain point nothing faint was evident: no E or F (or even D at one stage), no C in Sigma Ori, certainly no Pup. I couldn’t understand the problem, there was no cloud. Then I took a look at my objective. Totally condensed over 🙄. End of session. Fingers were freezing anyway.

Still nice to get out though.

Magnus

Edited January 15 by Captain Scarlet

[Mr Spock]

Done now. Seeing has dropped off a lot with everything fuzzy.

Managed to get Uranus, though I can't say I'm all that impressed. M42 was putting on a good show in the 12". I was looking at the Trapezium at x217 and the nebula was showing intricate detail.

Pup was a no go tonight. Maybe left it too late with the seeing. In both the 4" and 12" Sirius looked like a kaleidoscope...

[Nigella Bryant]

Complete cloud cover here, must the new mount I bought 😭

[The60mmKid]

7 hours ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Just in from a session with my SV140. It’d been out to cool from late afternoon. It was First Light for my DeLites 7 and 13 (courtesy of @The60mmKid ).

Jupiter was nice enough, several subsidiary bands to see but not much was on show except one large black spot, which was obvious. Io was pleasingly close to the disc.

Thereafter I took in M42, where the nebulosity seemed to defy the aperture (in a good way), Trapezium, Sigma Orionis, Beta Mon, Sirius and Rigel. Puzzlingly after a certain point nothing faint was evident: no E or F (or even D at one stage), no C in Sigma Ori, certainly no Pup. I couldn’t understand the problem, there was no cloud. Then I took a look at my objective. Totally condensed over 🙄. End of session. Fingers were freezing anyway.

Still nice to get out though.

Magnus

Sounds DeLiteful 😁

[Stu]

Up at 6am to get an early start. Letting the dog out showed me a very different sky to last night. Leo over in the South West, still quite high. Arcturus and Bootes high overhead and Hercules over further East, again pretty high. Worth getting up for!

[Stu1smartcookie]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Up at 6am to get an early start. Letting the dog out showed me a very different sky to last night. Leo over in the South West, still quite high. Arcturus and Bootes high overhead and Hercules over further East, again pretty high. Worth getting up for!

Spring is coming  . 

[Mr Spock]

Just been looking at the moon with the 12". Seeing is quite stable. Petavius is magnificent.

The 30mm UFF and x4 Powermate for x200 is so clean and sharp - well worth the money (and weight).

After dinner I'll be going up through the gears with the LVWs  With the x4 PM, the 22mm, 17mm and 13mm, are x260, x340 and x440.

[John]

Very thin cloud bands passing over here currently but the moon and Jupiter look very nice with the 100mm refractor.

At this phase one of my favourite lunar sights are the twin craters of Messier and Messier A, with the long rays extending from Messier A. Not my photo but this is how it looks tonight:

 

Their formation has been the subject of many theories over the years. Here is one impression by the artist Justinas Vitkus: 

 

[Mr Spock]

Moon had drifted down to where the houses are so seeing isn't as good as earlier.

However, Jupiter is putting on a fabulous show. Io and Europa are really close together. At x190 in the 12" with a variable polariser at its minimum setting, I've never seen so much detail  I couldn't draw it if I tried.

[Mr Spock]

According to the prediction Io and Europa go behind Jupiter at 19:10. I'll be waiting!

GRS transits at 19:36. It's just peeking now.

[John]

Yep - the GRS is on the visible disk now. The useful thin high cloud is thickening here soon to become annoying and detracting, rather than adding to the jovian views. So I'm making the most of it, while it lasts 🙂

[Stu]

1 hour ago, John said:

Very thin cloud bands passing over here currently but the moon and Jupiter look very nice with the 100mm refractor.

At this phase one of my favourite lunar sights are the twin craters of Messier and Messier A, with the long rays extending from Messier A. Not my photo but this is how it looks tonight:

 

Their formation has been the subject of many theories over the years. Here is one impression by the artist Justinas Vitkus: 

 

Just been looking at it in the 128 John, after seeing your post. Nice illumination tonight.

GRS visible as said, plus the two moons very close in. Might be able to pop out at 19.10 to see them go behind the planet🫰

[Mr Spock]

Interesting. S&T predictor says 19:10 for both. I got 19:08 for Io and 19:15 for Europa.

Some thin high cloud arriving but Jupiter is still putting on a show. I don't normally see colour on Jupiter but in the 12" GRS is a lovely salmon colour.

[SwiMatt]

Was just out to check out the Moon but it was a bit low at my latitudes to truly enjoy it (branches in the way). Seeing also did not seem the best. But I got to test my new Moon filter, which works fine.

Will go out soon to check out Jupiter without too much hope.

Edited January 15 by SwiMatt

[Telescope40]

Hello all.  Just had a nice session.  FS128 / MB11's / SVbony 8-3 zooms in use. 

As noted by others tonight that Jupiter was first target.  Nice and steady Eddie conditions. I usually see the GRS as salmon coloured nowadays with the "128" but rather pale tonight compared with earlier viewings / sessions. Io and Europa looking like a couple of ping pong balls close to the disc and the GRS making for the meridian. x208 holding up and showing nice detail on the disc. 

Moved on to Luna. Great stuff. Craters Atlas and Hercules looking good. Hercules looking like a deep dark pit as just out of the terminator line. Endymion and De La Rue showing nicely along with Strabo and Thales.  Mare Crisium nicely lit - Picard and Pierce clear. Making great use of my Duplex moon atlas - great to put names to many more craters these days. Sounds like I have a little more knowledge the older I get ??  Don't answer that !! 🤣🤣

Had to bale out back to the house after 90 minutes.  Combination of cold feet. Ouch !  And light mist has shrouded most of the views now. All a bit fuzzy. Not worth persevering against my cold extremities. Enjoyable tho. 

 

John  

Edited January 15 by Telescope40