What did you see tonight?

[PeterW]

Lovely pile of noctilucent clouds from my “noctilucent spot” (well the same place I saw them from the only time I saw them before…). Been a bit annoyed at the reports from earlier in the week, but not any more.

 

Peter

[Jim L]

I again awoke at 0400, unplanned, wide awake. Must be that I missed a libation to Apollo or some other such god who now insists I pay homage to the celestial objects in preference to Hypnos who, under my roof at least, has fallen into serious disfavor. There’s no resisting  the will of the Olympians so out again with the Galileoscope for a look at that grumpy old “child eater”, Saturn.

Conditions had improved since my last morning out and the west wind puffed at a mere 25 mph gusting to 30, whereas on the other morning it was 35 mph gusting to 40. The diminished wind brought along with it a host of mosquitoes who nibbled at my ankles. I was in shorts and barefoot, not having found more protective garments close at hand in the dark at 0400, but no matter, I’ll enjoy scratching their perforated presents later in the day. There are few activities more pleasurable than vigorously scratching a mosquito bite on a soft and sensitive area of tender flesh, and the several small scabs I accumulated the other morning foreshadow my enjoyment to come.

Dawn approaching there weren’t any stars out to speak of, and so to the south and to the right of the waning crescent moon was Saturn, pretty much by itself. The Galileoscope doesn’t have a common finder, optical or otherwise. That would be contrary to the spirit of things. Instead it has a gun sight molded as a part of the ABS plastic optical tube and blacker than a Bortle 1 sky. It’s all but invisible much past sunset but I fixed that small inconvenience by affixing a bit of photo-luminescent tape to them. A quick blast from my UV pen-light charges them and has them glowing at magnitude -6.0, or just a bit less than the nearby moon.

 

Lest you wonder what is with this Galileoscope Jim is so fond of, and why it was ever made and by whom, the short story is that it was the brainchild of a volunteer group of astronomers, educators, and optical engineers back in 2007 or so who decided to design, manufacture, and distribute a very inexpensive but still capable telescope to young students throughout the world during the 2009 International Year of Astronomy. It was to be assembled by students of ten years age or so, plus or minus eight years, and with no tools and minimal supervision. It would demonstrate to them the principles of optics and then be used by them to observe the night sky. It was to show the craters of the moon, easy, and the rings of Saturn, less easy. It was to sell for $10, but there they fell short. It came out at $15. It was sold and donated by the hundreds of thousands across the globe and I believe a half million or more have been distributed. But I digress.

Lined up in the phosphorescent glow of the sights Saturn likewise appeared in the eyepiece. I forced the sliding draw tube to my will, though it fought me hard, and I achieved a semblance of focus. Did I mention that the Galileoscope has a sliding ABS plastic draw tube focuser sliding within and in a vice tight embrace with the ABS optical tube? The design was carefully contrived to demonstrate the mechanical engineering principal of sliding friction verses stiction in a manner so unambiguous that no aspiring mechanic could ever forget the lesson, and in that it was entirely successful. You grab the visual back and pull or push as you think best, and it moves a couple of centimeters further in either direction than you’d intended. One does learn to sneak up on it and by misdirection and incantation jiggle it into a reasonably accommodating position. It helps that the scope’s an f/10 and so inherently somewhat forgiving so long as you’re amenable to meet it half way by straining your eye a bit. I’ve learned another trick to help tame the recalcitrant focuser, but this isn’t the time or place for details on the scope, and so onward.

 

And there’s Saturn. Not so silkworm cocoonish as the other morning, but not so far from it either. It was off-putting and I was put off, but not so much so that I was going to beat a retreat, at least not yet. I needed a comparative reference. Not an Astro Physics Stowaway or Takahashi FC-100DC reference. That might have been judged unreasonable. Unfair even. Uncharitable at a minimum. And besides, they were sleeping soundly upstairs and I was feeling too lazy to climb stairs. I instead chose my downstairs and ever-ready 102mm f/6.5 Celestron as the benchmark. It’s a work horse, a Clydesdale. The Celestron’s a bit of a ringer, though, because it has a Baader Semi-Apo filter threaded into its dielectric mirror diagonal, but it’s still a crown and flint achromat and so it checks that box at least.

At 30x magnification the view through the Celestron wasn’t that different than through the Galileoscope at 50x. Better, but not markedly so. I suspected my astigmatism might be a factor so I twisted the fitted 7-21mm zoom from its longest to its shortest focal length. That’s better. I observed a small sharpish yellow-white disk with distinct white line segments extending out either opposite side with a fine black line in between bisecting the disk. That black line, I reasoned, was the shadow of the ring projected upon the disk. No other details could be ascertained, and no moons, and in its present attitude the Cassini Division is going to be a challenge, but those challenges are for another time when Saturn’s closer and under steadier skies. I think with practiced squinting I’ll be able to see them later, or at least I hope to. 

So it’s power it wants and I can accommodate. I replaced the 32mm Plössl in the Galileoscope with the 7-21 zoom from the Celestron and twisted in the magnification. A big round disk greeted my eye and so there was no escaping refocusing. An f/10 scope isn’t quite as forgiving at 200x magnification as it is at 50x, and I’m not ashamed to admit the sliding focuser gave me fits, not to mention that 200x was an unreasonable magnification for a 50mm cemented doublet. Focus always ended up a half centimeter either side of optimum and I hadn’t the patience to improve upon that so I dialed the magnification back to a more reasonable 100x.

The detail I saw was astonishing! Every speck, every ripple, every variation of viscosity of the fluid in my eye was revealed. Floaters were continents flitting at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour across the view. I’d learned to swivel my eyes straight up for a moment before placing them to the eyepiece to open a temporarily useful window of respectable vision and with this palliative applied the view coalesced to one not dissimilar to that through the Celestron. There was the disk and the protruding white lines; only the black shadow ring was missing. Not bad for half the objective diameter and a quarter of the light gathering of the Celestron.

One observer through a Galileoscope, alias Sketcher, observed that, “The C-ring left a subtle line across the southern part of the planet. The shadow of the planet on the rings was noted again. The “Cassini Effect” was again noted as (double) arcs along the ring extremities. Titan was again observed…”.  Sketcher is a very experienced and accomplished observer and lives under excellent skies. I don’t expect to see what Sketcher sees, but I think there’s more to be gotten from the little scope.

Edited July 1 by Jim L

[ST_Steve]

Loved your report @Jim L and I now have a smile to face whatever the day may bring.

Edited July 1 by ST_Steve

[SwiMatt]

Out for some short solar activity between the clouds...

(yeah the net is not ideal but I'm sharing the balcony with my cats.. it doesn't seem to affect the views though)

[maw lod qan]

First thing at 5:15 am while coffee was making I took the garbage out. Tuesday is one of our days!

Seeing the crescent moon with Earth glow I stepped out from under the trees to get a better look at it.

The timing was perfect! I've finally, after all this time got to see a starlink train.

Eleven total moving SW to NE about 5 degrees apart.

If they had been green, I would have just assumed it was another Klingon firing it's torpedos.

[RT65CB-SWL]

A beautiful sight and nice waning crescent Moon and Jupiter at silly o’clock this morning in a dusky eastern sky above fields and a treeline, whist driving along the M4 eastbound between junctions 10 & 8/9.

Edited July 5 by RT65CB-SWL

[RobertI]

Amazing transparency at midnight tonight, the Milky Way instantly visible after stepping out of dimly lit kitchen. Grabbed the Nikon 2x50’s and had a pleasant few minutes sweeping the Milky Way from Cygnus down to Sagittarius. I was SO tempted to break out a the 102ED or Heritage 130P for a longer view, but I was just too tired tonight. 🙁

[josefk]

5 hours ago, RobertI said:

Amazing transparency at midnight tonight

Ditto here in Lincolnshire too - it wasn't very dark at about 1am (SQM 20.2) but visibility of the Milky Way was was notable (striking even). It was actually quite a strange sight against an indigo blue sky.

[Captain Scarlet]

My oh my - it looks good for tonight. The 12” will come out:

 

[Captain Scarlet]

Still looking good for later. Meanwhile I was able to observe the 3% Moon and Mercury, which I hadn’t been expecting this apparition. About 2 degrees below and a bit west of the Moon, through binoculars. I got some DSLR/85mm images which I’ll look at and upload tomorrow.

Clear night beckons, I’m just about to lay hands on my 300mm…

Magnus

Edited July 7 by Captain Scarlet

[Nik271]

I had my summer twilight tour of colourful doubles: Izar, Rasalgethi and of course Albireo. Used x50 in my 102 ED for Albireo, increased to x120 for Izar and Rasalgethi. The colour contrast of the orange and blue stars was very pretty. I could not stay very late and had to pack up by 11pm. Before I finished it was getting just about dark enough to spot the Ring nebula in Lyra as a tiny circle and verify that TCrB is still dormant. 

All in all very pleasant 45 minutes under the early evening stars. Bring on the astrodarkness, please!

[Gonariu]

At 11pm I start doing a "tourist" session of deep-sky objects with the C8 that I had put out on the terrace a few hours earlier to acclimatise thermally. I didn't really want to because I was tired, but after days in which the sky was half cloudy or veiled by the dust of the Sahara, I go to the terrace, do the three-star alignment and start the observations. I start with M51 which I had never had the opportunity to see but it was barely distinguishable at /700. Some were discrete, like M10 and M12, it seemed to me that they at least partially resolved into stars, others were not, like M14 and M107. Notable and resolved in stars M5 in Serpens Caput and M22in Sagittarius, such as M14 M28 in Sagittarius. Beautiful and completely resolved in M11 stars in Scutum at 250X I must say, however, that I liked it much more years ago with an 8" Starfinder (Newton 203/1200) at X200, perhaps because the latter has a decidedly lower obstruction than the C8 Finally I see the planetary nebula M27 in Vulpecula, very beautiful. Finally, I give it a brush with the Konus Vista using the magnifications of X10, X16 and X23, I manage to catch M31 which seemed too small to me. 1.30 in the morning, the temperature at that time was pleasant at +23.1^oC. What I didn't like about this observation session: that little bit of light pollution which gives a certain brightness to the eyepiece at low magnification; mine be Bortle 4. What should I do next time: make a drawing of what I see.

[Stu1smartcookie]

1 hour ago, Gonariu said:

At 11pm I start doing a "tourist" session of deep-sky objects with the C8 that I had put out on the terrace a few hours earlier to acclimatise thermally. I didn't really want to because I was tired, but after days in which the sky was half cloudy or veiled by the dust of the Sahara, I go to the terrace, do the three-star alignment and start the observations. I start with M51 which I had never had the opportunity to see but it was barely distinguishable at /700. Some were discrete, like M10 and M12, it seemed to me that they at least partially resolved into stars, others were not, like M14 and M107. Notable and resolved in stars M5 in Serpens Caput and M22in Sagittarius, such as M14 M28 in Sagittarius. Beautiful and completely resolved in M11 stars in Scutum at 250X I must say, however, that I liked it much more years ago with an 8" Starfinder (Newton 203/1200) at X200, perhaps because the latter has a decidedly lower obstruction than the C8 Finally I see the planetary nebula M27 in Vulpecula, very beautiful. Finally, I give it a brush with the Konus Vista using the magnifications of X10, X16 and X23, I manage to catch M31 which seemed too small to me. 1.30 in the morning, the temperature at that time was pleasant at +23.1^oC. What I didn't like about this observation session: that little bit of light pollution which gives a certain brightness to the eyepiece at low magnification; mine be Bortle 4. What should I do next time: make a drawing of what I see.

Likewise i had my C8 out the other night .... i seem to be looking at similar targets to you . But my favourite , when the sky was dark enough , was M13 ... a fantastic view with a cooled C8 . M31 is a bit low for me at present but the Autumn stuff is just around the corner , as are the earlier darkening skies .

 

[Bivanus]

I am drunk on stars 🤩  Can't really sum it up better. I am spending a couple of days in Poiana Brasov, a mountain resort  in Romania that, according to various light pollution maps has Bortle 4 to Bortle 3 sky as opposed to my home city that theoretically has a Bortle 6 but practically due to the street lights so rounding me is more like 20+ 🤕

So  I stood up late and drunk deep from the Milky Way  - an EXTREMELY rare treat for me - to Andromeda like I never saw it before , to splitting doubles like there's no tomorrow to a small but cristal clear Saturn and a rather washed up Jupiter - seen early morning with some light already peaking. I also strongly suspect I've managed to see Neptune but can't be 100% with the 80 mm.

Today was just a tad cloudy, but the night seem to be clear sky again , so I'll take a late afternoon nap and be up at midnight 😁 

[paulastro]

Out last evening, July 7th-8th from 11.20 - 3.15 am. Using the StellaMira 125mm f7.8 for visual and the Seestar for taking pics whilst observing.

Tried for Comet 13P/Olbers  early on, but too low by the time it was dark enough.

Used the SM set up with Starsense, I observed numerous Messier and Caldwell objects, plus a few doubles.  The conditions  not being good enough for more challenging objects.

Visually, the highlight was Saturn which I picked up at 2am, by 2.20 it was around 20 degrees altitude.  The seeing was surprisingly good and enabled me to usefully use all the settings of the SVBony 3-8mm zoom, x122 to x325.  At low power it looked like a ball of wall with a thin needle through the middle of it!  At higher powers the equatorial region was bright with a dark belt in the N hemisphere.  The disk showing hints of other detail in the best seeing.  Very impressive.  It bodes well for the Mars opposition  early next year.  Also observed Neptune nearby before packing up

Below are two Seestar pics, M17, plus a crop, and SH2-86.

 

 

Edited July 8 by paulastro

[Gonariu]

Very beautiful the Seestar!

[Mr_Cat]

Finally got a clear night last week, prepped the C925 and the new EAF but just had issue after issue with the asiair and plate solving (found 71 stars but wouldn't solve etc etc). It was nice to get out but I think I need to wait till it gets a lot darker to get the best out of that combination.
Then last night I spotted it looked clearish but it was meant to deteriorate  - popped out onto the terrace at about 2230 with the c90 mini mak on the Eq3 - polar aligned super quick and got onto Vega which was East (the least light polluted direction for me) and very high at about 65 degrees so great positioning - the plan was to split the easy Epsilon Lyrae doubles but the building high level cloud defeated me  - thin enough to see Vega, too much for the double doubles.. 
Still a fun hour though  

[John]

Quick session with the TV 85 after the sky cleared rather late.

Highlight #1 was a tight split of Pi Aquilae which at 1.43 arc seconds is pretty much at the Dawes limit for 85mm aperture. Got that very fine dark line between the almost touching airy disks at 240x. Can't complain when a scope hits that close to it's theoretical limits 🙂

Highlight #2 was my first view of the Veil Nebula this season. Combining the Tele Vue Bandmate 2 OIII filter with the 24mm Panoptic for a 2.7 degree true field. Pleased to see both the elegant curve of the eastern Veil and, panning slightly, the delicate thin fan of the western Veil, the "Witches Broom" part. 

I was very pleased to get such a clear view with a small aperture scope. That OIII does deliver very well indeed !

All TV glass apart from the diagonal which is Astro Physics - nice ☺️

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10 by John

[magnahrl]

Indeed, premium glass in scope, diagonal and a 24mm Panoptic. I do understand you are pleased with your quick session. What eypiece did you use to reach 240X? And what mounting/tripod do you use?

Magnus A.

[John]

22 minutes ago, magnahrl said:

Indeed, premium glass in scope, diagonal and a 24mm Panoptic. I do understand you are pleased with your quick session. What eypiece did you use to reach 240X? And what mounting/tripod do you use?

Magnus A.

The mount is the AZ-4. The tripod is from a Meade LXD55 mount - it's aluminium but quite a lot thicker and more solid than more recent versions. 

I was using the Tele Vue Nagler 2mm-4mm zoom in the 2.5mm setting. I also got the split at 200x but 240x made it a little more distinct.

 

[scotty1]

On the lookout for Noctilucent clouds , Mars , Jupiter , Pleiades and Aldebaran just above chimney, and Saturn ( not in pic) 

phone pic 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 11 by scotty1

[JeremyS]

10 hours ago, John said:

Quick session with the TV 85 after the sky cleared rather late.

Highlight #1 was a tight split of Pi Aquilae which at 1.43 arc seconds is pretty much at the Dawes limit for 85mm aperture. Got that very fine dark line between the almost touching airy disks at 240x. Can't complain when a scope hits that close to it's theoretical limits 🙂

Highlight #2 was my first view of the Veil Nebula this season. Combining the Tele Vue Bandmate 2 OIII filter with the 24mm Panoptic for a 2.7 degree true field. Pleased to see both the elegant curve of the eastern Veil and, panning slightly, the delicate thin fan of the western Veil, the "Witches Broom" part. 

I was very pleased to get such a clear view with a small aperture scope. That OIII does deliver very well indeed !

All TV glass apart from the diagonal which is Astro Physics - nice ☺️

 

 

 

 

Is that a new scope, John?

Nice report 

[PeterStudz]

Southampton back garden, Bortle 7, SkyWatcher 200p Dob on EQ platform. Early morning 11/07/24.

I got up early in order to have a peak at Saturn. Setting up the Dob outside before I went to bed. Out observing at 3am. It was warm with a significant amount of dew. I was hoping that the seeing would be good. The jetstream forecast had it just out of the way. Seeing was OK, rather average, could have been better. Of course Saturn is still low which doesn’t help. Still, that edge on ring looks great and I could make out 3 moons relatively close to the planet.

I also decided to have a look at Neptune which wasn’t far from Saturn. Once I found it, although obviously small, it was hard to miss. With a StarGuider 5mm (for x240) the little blue planetary sphere showed up well. I observed Neptune as the sun came up and I was surprised that I could still easily see it, even at 4:20am. The EQ platform helped here as I’m sure if it left the FOV I’d have trouble finding it again in the twilight.  Had a go at taking a smartphone picture/video of Neptune which is a tall order even in ideal conditions when it’s actually dark! 

All together a nice little early morning session, even with the average seeing. Still worth getting up for and at least it was clear!

[John]

11 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Is that a new scope, John?

Nice report 

Thanks. It's new to me Jeremy 🙂

Edited July 11 by John

[scotty1]

Too cloudy to try and find Comet Olbers. There was a gap further round to the west, the moon and Spica were just setting, took a photo with the phone and cropped it.