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What did you see tonight?


Ags

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Tonight is a bust. The clear sky looked promising so I put the 12" out.

However, transparency is so poor when I look up at Lyra all I can see is Vega :ohmy: Put the scope away without looking.

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There is/was a good aurora prospect tonight. Currently in Cumbria where the sky is cloud free but not very transparent. 

The allsky camera is now picking up a diffuse red glow but not exciting yet. I've brought my DSLR and tripod, hoping to get some better aurora shots than the allsky lens can offer. Not going to set up with that. Bed instead! 

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Seeing was reasonably good here. Just been out with both 300p and FC100D. 

Saturn looking sharp around 185x in the 300p, with clear banding around the globe and a bright line across it where the rings pass in front. Tried to grab some images but multiple issues and being severely out of practice meant only one measly 3 min capture. 

Pleiades looking lovely in the Frac with 30mm UFF. Also had a Quick Look at Jupiter in the Frac and Svbony 3-8 which showed both equatorial belts, hoods and hints of temperate belts too.

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A dodgy looking forecast turned out not too bad at Rosliston Astronomy Group last night.

I set up 14" Dob next to the SeeStar boys and we had some good shared views from pretty opposite ends of the astro equipment spectrum...

The SeeStars got some smashing EAA views of the Eagle and Pelican nebulae.

I did a quick tour of Summer showpieces- Double Double, the Ring, Saturn (got the most appreciation), M13 (not far behind), the Dumbbell and Andromeda.

Nice to do this with company.

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Transparency was really great yesterday and I could enjoy a long session under the stars. Many highlights, but the top was finally being able to partially resolve M13 with averted vision - it was a cool and amazing observation. Here is a full report, and here I posted some quick sketches.

I also did some planetary observing but seeing wasn't at all great, with planets lacking surface details beyond the horizontal bands on Jupiter. Still, it was my first Mars observation ever, and my first for Jupiter and Saturn this year.

Edited by SwiMatt
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On 30/08/2024 at 15:01, Jim Franklin said:

Here is my drawing of Jupiter - in my defence

1. I was left unsupervised

2. It was dark

3. It was on my knee

4. I am shiite at drawing

5. It was only a HD pencil

I think it's a vivid and realistic rendering of what Jupiter looks and feels like at the EP TBH and i would be very happy with it! 👍

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Unexpectedly clear so far but you can bet that when Saturn is high enough to view the clouds will arrive , which will be a shame as I am itching to try out my new Skywatcher 150 mak . Having had both the 127 and the 180 I am hoping this scope provides the perfect sweet spot between those two . I’m looking at mounts to use with the scope and was thinking about the Sightron as it should handle the scope . At present it sits on a  rather sturdy video head and carbon fibre tripod . First stars will be appearing soon .. 

love these evenings when it gets dark at a reasonable time . 

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On 30/08/2024 at 15:01, Jim Franklin said:

Here is my drawing of Jupiter - in my defence

1. I was left unsupervised

2. It was dark

3. It was on my knee

4. I am shiite at drawing

5. It was only a HD pencil

 

🥴🥴😂😂😂😂

 

IMG_8048.jpeg

You can draw better than I can. I consider myself lucky if I can draw breath.

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I got to test my new eyepiece (Explore Scientific 62° series, 26 mm) right away. I did a little tour on Mizar and Alcor first, then on M13. So much sharper than the old stock 25mm, and such a larger FOV. I have other 60°+ eyepieces but this one feels like there is so much space to breathe. At this focal length, it also has plenty of eye relief (20 mm I think) and the eye position felt comfortable and did not need too much precision. M13 looked like its normal self, but it's not astronomical twilight yet here, so I did not push the test too far. That's for another night.

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I was out with the 127mm Mak briefly tonight, intending to focus on Cassiopeia. I had a look at Eta and then the double cluster, with far too much magnification for the double cluster, and so I looked at NGC869  and then I had to pan over to see NGC884 separately. Clouds then came over and sat on that constellation.

I swung over to Andromeda and the core of M31. Surprisingly I could also see the core of M32 still on too much magnification, but I didnt want to change eyepieces on such a short session. I then tried for M110 but that was a fail.

That was it, out for only 10 minutes, but it was good to get out there.

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Just had a quick session with the 60mm.

Saturn looked nice at x142. A bit dim but I could make out a belt.

Better still was Albireo. Looked absolutely perfect at x89. Lovely airy discs and plenty of colour. Studied ε Lyr for quite a while. at x142 both doubles were elongated but not cleanly separated. It should be doable. The scope needs a better focuser for me to get it at best sharpness though.

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On 03/09/2024 at 19:06, Jim Franklin said:

Apparently we will only have about 40% cloud cover between 20:00hrs and 22:00hrs here in Oxford - all set up - ready to go - now need the Cloud Gods to follow the forecast 🙄

I'm also in Oxford and with the way things are looking I'll be calling on my 80ED G&G for tonight, if at all.

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In Bortle 3 skies and have just had an amazing session with the 8x42 bins. The Milky Way a thick ribbon running through the sky. Lots of firsts, the teapot of Sagittarius in lovely position, something I haven’t ever seen. The NAN really clear. Managed the Eastern veil too which is wild. I’ve been trying these two nebulae for an age in my back yard.

Star of the show had to be the Lagoon nebula, extremely bright. Also bagged the Triffid and Omega nebulas too. So a very productive new haul of M8, M20, M21, M28, M23, M18 and M17. M81 & M82 which I haven’t seen for a while also easily bino targets. Clouds starting to roll in a bit but I’m staying hopeful it will clear up again, I can’t let these skies pass me by! 

iPhone snap of the Milky Way held by a fence post.

 

IMG_8282.jpeg

Edited by IB20
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I was also out with 8x42 bins earlier, which I don't do often. The highlight of this brief session was observing M31 and then panning straight up. The background sky quickly changed from fairly empty to being a sea of stars as you move into the disk of the milky way.

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Weather app says it’s clear , clear all night in fact .. can just about see vega. I hope I will get a clear sky in the next hour ! Looking forward to trying  my new set up on Saturn 

 

Edit …. Not a chance .. clouds rolled in Zzzzzz

3CB7BE5E-0B41-4A3A-99BE-3EEA8AD5D452.jpeg

Edited by Stu1smartcookie
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The Bootes Great Void is currently passing in front of my balcony, which mean that I basically can only observe M13 comfortably from there (without paying the price the day after, that is). So that's what I did. Towards the end of my short session, Epsilon Lyrae rose from the roof in time for a peek but conditions did not allow for a split.

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The Ring, Dumbbell and the East & West Veil nebulae so far.

1st light with a Heritage 130P for me tonight. I'm going to need to make a light shroud I think ....... lots of ideas of how to do this on here thankfully 🙂

Even with some light intrusion issues, the light grasp is quite impressive for such a small, light scope.

 

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