What did you see tonight?

[Orange Smartie]

4 minutes ago, JDF said:

No never tried splitting any doubles before, reading a few of the other posts from tonight Rigel seems to split at lower mags, did I possibly jump in to high starting with the 10mm ortho at 150x

Just from memory I think it was easy to split, but more a case of being able to see the B star with all the glare around it. If you know the angle it should be at, I bet you'll see it no problem. 

Have a look at Almaak (gamma Andromedae) if you get the chance - not hard to split and a lovely colour contrast. Also tonight I saw eta Perseii for the first time, which appeared as a lovely golden yellow primary with a dimmer blue secondary - gorgeous!

[John]

Really nice views of the Eskimo Nebula at 338x just now. Great definition of the "face" peering out of the "parka hood" with the central star shining quite brightly from it's centre. Tonight the UHC and O-III filters don't seem to add much to this target - I prefer the unfiltered view.

 

[Whistlin Bob]

Really good session tonight...

Set up on Aldebaran- lovely gold

Almach- white, blue and gorgeous. I think I like this almost as much as Albireo.

Uranus- slightly tricky find and looked like a Star initially. Greenish disk apparent with concentration. Tried hard to see the moon's, but couldn't do it. Mag 14 so not surprising.

Rigel- spectacular white, split easily made at 8mm (200x)

Keid- a new one for me, bit of a hop from Rigel, faint companions split quite nicely. 

Iota Cass- lovely and steady tonight, white blue and yellow quite clear.

IC342- got it- new one for me, bit of a hop again, but quite clear and large at 74x once found. First new galaxy for a while for me. Very pleasing.

My son (15) then joined me, so went for some showpieces...

Pleiades- wonderful sight in 40mm Stellalyra ep. Dust very visible. 

Orion m42- with uhc filter. The whole show- fish head, Running Man, Nair Al Saif. Back area a bit faint, but altogether a really tremendous sight.

Alnitak- Wow. Flame spotted quite quickly due to its dark lane. Then with time the Horsehead appeared. Sam just caught it too. We were both amazed- only the second time I've seen it from home.

Just soaking it in when it started snowing and caused a very rushed packing up!!!

[Zermelo]

1 hour ago, John said:

They are showing well tonight.

Not sure if the seeing is quite good enough to split Sirius tonight but I'll wait until it shows above the rooftops and give it a try anyway.

 

I agree John, I was surprised how easily I saw E&F tonight, normally I can see just the four from here. I was at 300x with a barlowed Starguider 5mm, but I could also make them out at half that with a 10mm Celestron Ultima. I think F was more obvious than E; when I've seen them before, it was the other way around. The nebula seemed to be especially good tonight too.

It was worth going out again just for that, but it's been a steady stream of cloud coming in from the NNW so I've called it a night. Frustrating, as there's no moon, little wind, no dew, and it didn't even feel that cold (though that could have been the new thermals I got for Christmas).

Tomorrow is looking good though, and even Metcheck is feeling bullish this time:

[badhex]

Amazing to read about everyone's experiences this evening - it's only a shame Berlin is cloudy so I can't join in 🙂 to be fair my last session was boxing day so not that long ago (report was too long for this thread so have posted separately). Really glad so many in the UK are getting clear skies for a change!

[John]

I've managed to get some glimpses of Sirius B though it's not the best I've seen it by quite a long way. The glare from Sirius A was quite extensive and the "Pup" star only managed to glimmer though the glow intermittently. 

I've decided to finish my session with a look at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko which is nicely positioned in Cancer tonight, quite close to Iota Cancri. Around magnitude 9.5 I reckon. Quite a small patch of light with a brighter centre. Strange to think of that little Philae lander stuck in a crevice on that odd shaped mass of rock and ice.

 

[HollyHound]

Forecast was for clear sky, so setup the AZ100 with both the FC-100DZ and FOA-60Q and let them cool for 30mins.

Had a little look at Jupiter before it disappeared behind the farmhouse roof, then just cruised around (nothing in particular) enjoying an actual clear sky. Spent some time swapping between XWs and Ethos in each scope for the first time, to re-familiarise myself with them.

Split Rigel in both scopes without any trouble, was going to try for Sirius (never tried this one yet), but still too low behind the trees. The FOA-60Q seemed to give the cleanest split with faint diffraction rings (same for Polaris too).

Pleiades we’re lovely as always, refractors always bring these out nicely.

Finally spent a good while on M42, trying out various eyepiece combinations. Didn’t push the magnification high enough for Trapezium E/F, so I’ve still only seen these in the 10” Dob so far… next time.

I have also concluded that whilst the Ethos give a superb view, I still prefer the XWs in these refractors, and the (very) mild field curvature on the XW14 and XW20 isn’t an issues at all in use. Nebulosity just seems that little bit more visible with these eyepieces.

Cloud started to roll in a little, but it was the cold that forced me back in after a couple of hours… great to be back out again though 👍

Edited January 5, 2022 by HollyHound

[John]

17 minutes ago, HollyHound said:

I have also concluded that whilst the Ethos give a superb view, I still prefer the XWs in these refractors, and the (very) mild field curvature on the XW14 and XW20 isn’t an issues at all in use. Nebulosity just seems that little bit more visible with these eyepieces....

 

I spent some time comparing the Ethos SX 4.7mm with the Pentax XW 5mm in my 12 inch dobsonian tonight. I think I preferred the XW for Sirius but the Ethos SX for the Eskimo Nebula. I'll have to hang on to both now !

[Captain Scarlet]

More in a proper observing report hopefully tomorrow but suffice to say I finally got the Pup. Tonight’s seeing was the best I’ve had here, and with my 12” out for the first time in a couple of months. Trap E and F were simply sitting there in plain view, so I thought the Pup might be on, and it was! My first time.

Magnus

[Voyager 3]

4 hours ago, badhex said:

Amazing to read about everyone's experiences this evening - it's only a shame Berlin is cloudy so I can't join in 🙂 to be fair my last session was boxing day so not that long ago (report was too long for this thread so have posted separately). Really glad so many in the UK are getting clear skies for a change!

Me too ! Waiting for clear skies in Bangalore since 3 weeks .. At least our fellow observers got clear skies and ecstatic to read those terrific reports ! 

[Epick Crom]

3 hours ago, Captain Magenta said:

More in a proper observing report hopefully tomorrow but suffice to say I finally got the Pup. Tonight’s seeing was the best I’ve had here, and with my 12” out for the first time in a couple of months. Trap E and F were simply sitting there in plain view, so I thought the Pup might be on, and it was! My first time.

Magnus

Congratulations on getting the Pup Magnus🎉

[AstroNebulee]

9 hours ago, Franklin said:

You can tell by the enthusiasm that is presently bursting from the comments on this thread, that the UK at last, is experiencing some clear skies.

Not down here in North Cornwall 😔 been out twice with the set up 13th October and 16th December, only a sniff of Orion very quickly with my 7x50 bins. I'm pleased others have finally had some beautiful clear skies. Orion will be gone by the time clouds clear here, losing my mojo big time 

Edited January 5, 2022 by AstroNebulee

[badhex]

28 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Not down here in North Cornwall 😔 been out twice with the set up 13th October and 16th December, only a sniff of Orion very quickly with my 7x50 bins. I'm pleased others have finally had some beautiful clear skies. Orion will be gone by the time clouds clear here, losing my mojo big time 

Don't worry Lee - I'm sure there will be clear skies before you know it, and while you're out under them you'll forget clouds ever existed 🙂

Edited January 5, 2022 by badhex

[Stardaze]

Finally used the scope for an hour last night. Started with the bins, lying on a mat in the garden, plenty to see for a good 45 minutes. Had a lazy view of Orion later on with the with the dob from the garage. I haven't been able to see Orion this season with it so spent an hour taking as much in as possible. Managed to see the F star but none of the others showed for me. It wasn't perfectly steady so didn't spend too long with that, more so with the UHC trying to take in more of the nebula. Tonight looks better on paper, we'll see....

Just a point about meteoblue, can anyone expand on the two indexes please. Index 2 was red, but no idea the difference between them? I thought the seeing was good last night, but certainly not excellent.

[Joacim]

Had clear skies for 40 minutes last night. Looked at Pleiades and Mizar and Alcor in the big dipper with binoculars and when I went inside to get the Dob the clouds rolled in 

[Zermelo]

1 hour ago, Stardaze said:

can anyone expand on the two indexes please

https://content.meteoblue.com/en/spatial-dimensions/air/astronomy-seeing

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/593543-how-accurate-is-meteoblus-astronomical-seeing-chart/

 

[SuburbanMak]

11 hours ago, JDF said:

Had a tour of the sky earlier with the 10x50's , got M31 ,mesmerized again by M45, I also find Hyades to be beautiful to look at. Popped over to M42  and then had a look for some others, think I had a faint glimpse of M35.

Moved over to the mak127 for a look at M42 with the UHC in, best i've seen it tonight 🙂. Thought I would have a go at splitting some doubles for the first time but failed miserably, tried both Rigel and Mintaka up to 214x with no joy, anyone any thoughts on why this would be?

I use a Mak 127 and find it great for doubles.  Rigel is very unequal - tiny pale white full-stop at about "8 o'clock" (Mak view) next to a very bright source. Assuming everything was cooled down properly, its more than likely you just haven't had that "Oh so that's what I'm looking for! " moments with unequal doubles.  In the Mak 127 I was splitting Rigel from 67x up the night before last with the nicest views around 100x. 

A really good one to start with in the Mak is Castor - the "upper" or more Northerly of the two brightest stars in Gemini (somewhere to the upper East of Orion's left shoulder), this is close-ish at around 3 arc seconds (I think) but each component is more equal, like two bright headlights looking back at you.   

Another good one to get going on is Mizar in the handle of the plough, you'll easily spot Alcor a little way off but closer examniation shows Mizar itself to be a fairly close double, there's also a lovely star field around this system.     To get into the groove with unequal doubles, its worth checking out Polaris which has a bit wider separation than Rigel. I stared at this one a few times before the secondary "popped out" at me, its weird with unequal doubles once you see them  they are hard to un-see (apart from Theta Aurigae for me but that's another story...) 

 Saw that @Orange Smartie had recommended a couple of multi-coloured crackers too!  Clear skies again tonight I think, have fun! 

 

[Stu]

11 hours ago, JDF said:

No never tried splitting any doubles before, reading a few of the other posts from tonight Rigel seems to split at lower mags, did I possibly jump in to high starting with the 10mm ortho at 150x

You would still see it at x150 as the separation would be greater, but as said, the challenge is less about how tight it is, more about seeing it in the glare from the primary as it is much smaller and dimmer. It’s rare that I can’t see it, although sometimes it does need higher power.

Last night in the 76mm it was clear at x57 as a tiny pin prick close in, and clearer at x114. Note that often smaller scopes, especially refractors have an easier time of this due to the tighter stars you get with them.

[JDF]

Thanks for the advice folks, I will try again, hopefully tonight. For some reason I had completely forgot that I had split Mizar last year with no bother at all.

[F15Rules]

1 hour ago, JDF said:

Thanks for the advice folks, I will try again, hopefully tonight. For some reason I had completely forgot that I had split Mizar last year with no bother at all.

I think that observing doubles is one of the most enjoyable aspects of our hobby..and there are literally thousands of them to search out and enjoy!

Observing doubles can also be one of the most challenging activities, especially here in UK conditions..

Although I'm lucky enough to own and use a fine apo refractor nowadays, I still believe that a really decent long, traditional achromatic refractor or a high quality, fully cooled Maksutov is hard to beat in splitting quite close double stars relatively easily, in different seeing conditions.

These scopes are often available on the used market for very reasonable prices (good Maks are a bit less common), and they represent great value for money.. the achromats listed below are often available for between c £100-£300 for a good used OTA. The Maks a bit higher in price, maybe £300-500, and a bit less common.

They do need a decent mount due to their length, the ones mentioned below all work well on a Vixen GP or GP/DX class mount.

Achromat examples:

- Towa/Topic/Meade 339 80mm F15/F16

- Prinz 660 (76mm F15), Prinz 550 (60mm F15)

- Vixen Pulsar F13 102mm

- Lyra Optics/ Altair Astro 102mm F11

- Swift 331 77mm F13

- Swift 339 60mm F13

- Tal 100 RS F10

- Vixen SP102 102mm F10

Maksutov examples: ( note: all the Maks I have used benefitted significantly from having a decent length dewshield fitted to reduce/prevent dewing up of the corrector plate (front glass plate)).

- Skymax 127/150/180mm (note that these are slightly stopped down, so their "clear aperture" is slightly less than claimed - still very good doubles scopes though, when properly cooled down. 

- Intes MK66/MK67: 150mm full aperture F10, made in Russia, with superb optics

- Ylena (Lomo) 150mm F14: as above, exquisite optics rivalling a good apo on still, clear nights.

If you search through the scope forums here on SGL, you will find a wealth of reviews, discussions and opinions on most of the above scopes 👍..some good winter fireside reading!😊

Dave

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by F15Rules

[Mr Spock]

Just had the 250 on Jupiter. Seeing is not bad and the belts were sharply defined. Very nice. It was holding well at x200 in the 6mm SLV. Tried the 5mm SLV (x240) and 4MM SLV (x300). Both were usable but x200 had better definition.

Mount tracking is unstable and jerky though. I'm already on my second base (thanks FLO) but I'm going to give it up as a bad job and save for an EQ platform. As long as I can still use the slew controls without the tracking it'll be fine on a platform.

[IB20]

The moon appears exquisite tonight. A 12% waxing crescent fully illuminated from earthshine. Mesmerising at 1x.

Viewing through the 76D Tak, I’ve never seen the moon have such depth and project its topography like I saw tonight. My jaw is truly dropped.

[Mr Spock]

Unfortunately for the 250 the moon was below fence level.

[Davesellars]

Just had a very enjoyable 1.5 hours since 4.10pm with my Wife and kids (4, 6 and 8 years old) and a small scope (Skywatcher Heritage 100p) which I mount on a tripod.  The moon was spectacular towards the end and Jupiter held up remarkably well in the small reflector with a 4mm eyepiece showing a couple of the dark bands my eldest could easily make out with the 4 moons.  Saturn, while low down was pretty good with the same eyepiece with nicely defined rings.  The kids loved it!  We also spotted Mercury although extremely low down!

Have the 12" dob out now cooling down ready for a decent session tonight!

Edited January 5, 2022 by Davesellars

[JDF]

5 hours ago, F15Rules said:

I think that observing doubles is one of the most enjoyable aspects of our hobby..and there are literally thousands of them to search out and enjoy!

Observing doubles can also be one of the most challenging activities, especially here in UK conditions..

Although I'm lucky enough to own and use a fine apo refractor nowadays, I still believe that a really decent long, traditional achromatic refractor or a high quality, fully cooled Maksutov is hard to beat in splitting quite close double stars relatively easily, in different seeing conditions.

These scopes are often available on the used market for very reasonable prices (good Maks are a bit less common), and they represent great value for money.. the achromats listed below are often available for between c £100-£300 for a good used OTA. The Maks a bit higher in price, maybe £300-500, and a bit less common.

They do need a decent mount due to their length, the ones mentioned below all work well on a Vixen GP or GP/DX class mount.

Achromat examples:

- Towa/Topic/Meade 339 80mm F15/F16

- Prinz 660 (76mm F15), Prinz 550 (60mm F15)

- Vixen Pulsar F13 102mm

- Lyra Optics/ Altair Astro 102mm F11

- Swift 331 77mm F13

- Swift 339 60mm F13

- Tal 100 RS F10

- Vixen SP102 102mm F10

Maksutov examples: ( note: all the Maks I have used benefitted significantly from having a decent length dewshield fitted to reduce/prevent dewing up of the corrector plate (front glass plate)).

- Skymax 127/150/180mm (note that these are slightly stopped down, so their "clear aperture" is slightly less than claimed - still very good doubles scopes though, when properly cooled down. 

- Intes MK66/MK67: 150mm full aperture F10, made in Russia, with superb optics

- Ylena (Lomo) 150mm F14: as above, exquisite optics rivalling a good apo on still, clear nights.

If you search through the scope forums here on SGL, you will find a wealth of reviews, discussions and opinions on most of the above scopes 👍..some good winter fireside reading!😊

Dave

 

 

 

Hi Dave,

Thanks for taking the time to post this, scope is a skymax 127 cooled and dew shielded, the problem is with me rather than the scope i'm sure, I'll get there with doubles for sure. Starting the lunar 100 this month so hopefully I have the perfect scope for this.