What did you see tonight?

[Stu1smartcookie]

A short but quite lovely outing last night , just to try out my new EPs ... Used both the 200mm newt and the 102 lyra ... mainly on the moon , the Lyra showed absoluutely no false colour even with the baader 5mm EP .  The moon in my view (no pun intended) is a really underated target , probably because we see it so often but its only when you actually put the effort in to study it then opens up with so many surprises . The way the sunlight bathes parts of craters whislt leaving parts in shadow...always something different to see.

Edited January 18 by Stu1smartcookie

[cajen2]

9 hours ago, globular said:

As it's a new EP to you, are you aware the housing moves up and down so you can find the right eye placement? 
They can be locked in place once you find your best position.  Maybe yours are locked in the wrong spot?

Something like this...

Hi, G, and yes, I did know the EP is adjustable. I need to experiment more on getting the right height.

As I say, I'm more used to the Morpheus range, which is very forgiving on eye placement.

Edited January 18 by cajen2
Typo

[jjohnson3803]

1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

The moon in my view (no pun intended) is a really underated target , probably because we see it so often but its only when you actually put the effort in to study it then opens up with so many surprises .

👍  I used to loathe the moon, but decided I might as well embrace it rather than fight it.  I still don't observe when it's close to full, but it's become one of my favorite targets.

[Ed in UK]

I had a great session last night.

Started with another good look at Pleiades, no nebulas seen around the stars this time.

Then I moved over to 32,33 Tauri  didn't try to split 33 Tauri just happy to locate them last night.

My alarm went off ready for the Ganymede eclipse over on Jupiter so watched that until Ganymede had gone.

Then back to 36,37 & 39 Tauri. Again didn't try to spilt these (understand they are all doubles) or look for colour just happy to locate them for now.

Moved across to HD25201/STF 479 which was an easy split to make even at with my 25mm (x36) could just see the double. 

Then to finish off moved over to Andromeda for M31, M110 and unexpectedly M32 as well.

Really pleased that I found everything that I'd planned to find.

Need to revisit some of these and have a proper look at them.

[Ed in UK]

31 minutes ago, jjohnson3803 said:

👍  I used to loathe the moon, but decided I might as well embrace it rather than fight it.  I still don't observe when it's close to full, but it's become one of my favorite targets.

Likewise I need to do the same. Loads to see and learn about. Like you say may as well embrace it. 😁

[DirkSteele]

My breath condensing in the air every time I exhaled and the pretty glitter of ice forming on the paths! 😉 Was definitely a cold one last night!

 

It was the monthly Baker Street Irregular Astronomers meeting in Regents Park. About 50 brave souls embraced the cold for some very clear skies. Long overdue after cloud cover during our last few meetings.  Took the Tak FC-100 which was its first proper outing under the stars. Around 6 other telescopes in attendance including some of those clever imaging direct to your phone scopes which were quite impressive.

Started out with Jupiter and the Moon, both of which showed some lovely detail though seeing wasn’t great.

Then moved on to my bread and butter, DSO, taking in M42, M44 and M45 before going on a bit of open cluster kick In Cassiopeia including my favourite, NGC 457. Everyone who took a look was able to make out the little stick figure.

 

Made a reckless attempt at some galaxies including M81/82 but with a manual mount and light from the Hub shinning direct in my eyes while searching, that ended in failure.

Finished the night with my favourite colour contrasted double, Almach in Andromeda and back to M42 after a request from one of the brave and cold last few which was actually much better than earlier with some significant extension to the nebula surrounding the trapezium which were sparkling away.

A great night of very cold (and I was wearing full ski gear!) observing. The wind that picked up after the clouds cleared was bitting. 

Edited January 18 by DirkSteele
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[Mr Spock]

According to the forecast it's going to be 0° tonight. Still cold but much better than last night. When I packed up it was -5.7°...

The 12" is out and ready. Moon and Jupiter again!

[bosun21]

I’m out again tonight to capture Jupiter again hopefully with better seeing conditions. After which I will switch to visual on some of my favourite targets. I’ll try and squeeze in a bit of Lunar also if I can bear the cold that long.

 

[John]

Nice views of the moon and Jupiter this evening with my ED120 refractor. GRS is currently in transit on Jupiter and on the moon, the Hyginus and Triesnecker rilles are looking great 🙂

Both targets close to each other in the sky so it's easy to skip between them taking in a mix of lunar and jovian sights 🙂

Snapped this with my wife's compact digital and, it came out OK I think:

 

 

Edited January 18 by John

[PeterC65]

Another widefield EAA session last night. This time the FMA135 got the filter wheel and the 72mm refractor got its x0.6 reducer.

With more closely matched fields of view, it was interesting to see how much more detail I could observe with 72mm of aperture compared with the 30mm of the FMA135. Where the FMA135 excels is for the really big nebulae, but then there are so many starts getting in the way. The L-eNhance filter did a great job of winding these down though.

I mostly concentrated on a different set of emission nebulae from the previous night, so IC1805, IC1848, NGC2174, NGC7822, SH2-185 and even the supernova remnant SNR G189.1+02.9. I was also very pleased to see part of Barnards Loop alongside M78 with the FMA135.

Highlights of the session were the Heart Nebula (IC1805) actually looking like a heart, framed just right by the FMA135 with the L-eNhance winding down the stars.

And the Monkey Head Nebula (NGC2174) actually looking like a monkey’s head.

There's a full report here.

 

[PeterStudz]

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

I’m out again tonight to capture Jupiter again hopefully with better seeing conditions. After which I will switch to visual on some of my favourite targets. I’ll try and squeeze in a bit of Lunar also if I can bear the cold that long.

 

Good luck and Gods Speed! Seeing not the best here in Southampton and I’ve come in for a break. Although I could easily make out the GRS.

[scarp15]

'Early doors' on Jupiter culminating south and the GRS still visible. Barge activity within NEB, STB nicely etched. VX8L, 6MM Delos. In for tea at 18.15, then out for some Lunar.  

[Mr Spock]

It's going to be a short night. I'm still a bit chilled from last night 

Plenty going on though. Nice shadow receding across Ptolemaeus; Rimae Triesnecker looks splendid. Of course Jupiter is still a spectacle. GRS is just over ¾ the way across but the belts are full of detail again. 

[John]

The lunar features are so sharp tonight, even at very high magnifications for the aperture 😲

The Hyginus rille actually looks like a series of crater chains and I've been tracing another long chain of craters across the lunar surface - the Catena Abulfeda which terminates right alongside the crater of that name. 

The sky transparency does not seem that good so, unless things improve, it's probably not going to be a good DSO night.

The high resolution targets are excellent though 😁

[Bodkin]

Out with the Mak Newtonian on solar system duty tonight.  Some lovely views of the moon though there is a fair amount of turbulence at the moment. Fine shadows on the floor of Ptolomaeus and nearby Arzachel is showing a lot of intricate terracing on its crater walls. The Valles Alpes is clear and detailed. Also there is a lovely near-horseshoe shaped shadow just above Autolycus I haven’t seen before.  

[Stu]

30 minutes ago, John said:

The lunar features are so sharp tonight, even at very high magnifications for the aperture 😲

The Hyginus rille actually looks like a series of crater chains and I've been tracing another long chain of craters across the lunar surface - the Catena Abulfeda which terminates right alongside the crater of that name. 

The sky transparency does not seem that good so, unless things improve, it's probably not going to be a good DSO night.

The high resolution targets are excellent though 😁

Grand isn’t it John! I’ve got the 128 out again, Moon and Jupiter looking lovely, GRS was good earlier. Treisnecker Rilles are really well defined tonight, not seen them that good for a while.

[Franklin]

Brass Monkeys!

The seeing this evening so far has been exceptional, the views of the lunar terminator are breath taking. The shadows cast by the peaks of the mountains are just magical and give such a sense of 3D height, amazing! Been out for a couple of hours, Moon and Jupiter. In for a warm and a Guinness then out for some more fun now Orion has gained some altitude.

[SwiMatt]

What a seeing tonight! I pushed 312x on 5" almost as a joke and even Jupiter was holding it decently, showing the equatorial bands as neat as I've ever seen them. Unfortunately I hadn't planned to stay too long and a couple of clouds covered up the sky so I went inside early.

The Moon showed so many interesting details. On the Northern part of the terminator, I found what looked like some interesting rugged mountains with a sort of canyon coming out on the lit surface, maybe some pious soul saw something similar and can help me identify what that could be? I haven't got a Moon Atlas yet

[Ags]

While walking Wurzel the Jack Russel tonight we saw some clear skies and saw Jupiter within a couple of degrees of the Moon. When I got back I set up with the ZS66 and a 30 mm plossl, with the goal of observing our Moon and the 4 Galilean moons in the same FOV. The view was poor with the plossl as Jupiter was in the outer field and astigmatism severely distorted the little moons, I couldn't even count them. I changed to a sharper eyepiece (Explore Scientific 20/68) and the view was still poor. Also Jupiter's moons were not only distorted but also green... I had forgotten there was a cheapo green moon filter screwed in the EP! Filter removed and I finally had a clear view of all five moons. And I learned something - my moon filter is horrible and can go in the bin.

[Stu1smartcookie]

Wow … a lovely early evening out with the Lyra and 200mm on the sabre . The moon was the best I have ever seen it .. ( some statement) but I put it down to the new baader prism diagonal and the half set of Hyperion's I bought from FLO . A beautiful still evening which has made me realise that I have two gems of scopes . The other highlights were the pinwheel cluster and the stunning orange stars Aldeberan and Belelgeuse and Uranus ( it may be a small bluish green spot but it’s fascinating ). Back to the moon in time to see it disappear over the house . 
In now, cold but happy . 

[Ags]

Hyperions are lovely solar system eyepieces in a slow scope.

[Froeng]

Had an early session on Jupiter tonight.

The seeing was decent, but I have seen better in the recent past. Some nice details in the equatorial belts. Had to go in a few times to warm up, it was a bit fresh! Now all packed up…

[MercianDabbler]

Managed to get the FL102 out for the first time in ages. Several potentially promising nights recently spoiled by annoying floaty clouds or other commitments.

Had perhaps an hour to 90 mins. Nothing complicated at all - the Moon, Jupiter and M42. As others have said, the Moon was pretty spectacular even to me as someone who is not a big fan of Moon observing, There seemed to be quite a lot of haze reflecting the glow from the Moon so I was quite surprised that I managed to pick up some decent detail around the fishes mouth in M42.

Not warm though! Layers were the order of the day.

Now studying the constellation Glenmorangie before bed.

[John]

The transparency has improved a lot here and the seeing is still holding steady so I'm still observing in between warming up sessions inside 🙂

 

 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Put my refractor out at around 5.30PM and had a quick look at the moon at 21X. Wow. Incredible details along the terminator.  Left the scope out and finally got outside again at around 10.15 for a short session.  Moved my setup onto the (now frozen) lawn which gave me a slightly better North Westerly view and I had a look at the Pleiades.  Absolutely glorious, with still conditions.  My AZ-GTI decided that it didn't want to work properly with my phone (probably a function of the cold and the battery pack probably needs charging, there was frost on the mount) so went looking around for M31.  As a beginner, it still takes me a bit of time.

Found it, had a good look for a few minutes and then decided that I wanted to look at a double star.  I'm not a double star viewer.  I know nothing about them and am completely ignorant - so I went for Mizar because it's an easy one.  That was really good fun.  I might do more of that.

Really good seeing tonight.  My only regrets are that I had household things to attend to so couldn't get out earlier and that I didn't wear bigger socks.

Edited January 18 by GrumpiusMaximus