What did you see tonight?

[davhei]

Using ephemerids from minorplanetcenter.net I managed to visually observe the near earth asteroid 2023 BU with a 15” f4 dob from my Swedish horizon.

A little bit later than I expected which made me start to think I missed it but then it appeared close to the expected position . Easy to see and track, which I did for a minute or so.

Very happy to have caught it!

About five meters across and within the orbits of geosynchronous satellites. 3600 km above south america.

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-system-predicts-small-asteroid-to-pass-close-by-earth-this-week

[Pixies]

Quick sketch of the comet tonight, plus the movement over 30 minutes.

 

[cloudsweeper]

RILLES IN POSIDONIUS

Quick hour, 5-6pm with the ED80 Triplet looking at the Moon (high, east of south, 1 day to 1st quarter).

Posidonius near terminator.  x120 - inner concentric ridges, central crater, nearby arc of hills (3 or 4 made out).

At x160 I also spotted a small pit and the rilles (Rimae Posidonius) - very faint cracks, seen in AV, coming and going from view.  One was "diagonal", to the east of the central crater, and another parallel one ran near the west side. 

It's good to see these features which are not apparent on first viewing.

Finished with a quick look at Jupiter - Io was crossing the planet's face and was not seen on this occasion.  The STB however was quite clear along with the two more easily seen belts.

Doug.

[Epick Crom]

Last night I observed an interesting planetary nebula in Gemini for the first time with my 10 inch dob, Jonckheere 900 aka J 900. What a fantastic planetary! It appears as a weird looking "star" at low power but transforms into a wide patch of nebulosity at high powers complete with a faint star very close by. 

If you haven't seen this one before I recommend you take a look at it. A real beaut!

[Ratlet]

A short session.  PBEG abounded as I got to grips with the AZ gti.  However I think I'm working out my kinks and figuring out how to use this mount.  Mostly toured the clusters in Auriga and split Almach with the 12mm BST.  Poor little 8mm is largely unloved now...

I did get to try the svbony zoom on the moon.  It frankly wiped the floor with the BST on the moon.  The seeing was okay with around 100 power being best.  The real surprise was seeing subtle colours on the moon.  I'd say there was some brown/orange shades on some of the lighter regions.  It was a really pleasant surprise and I didn't expect it, not sure if it is real or because the eyepiece was starting to fog up but it looked very nice.

I did my alignment on Jupiter on mars and whilst again the seeing wasn't great I was still pleasantly surprised.  The baargain combo of skyglow and yellow filters is a consistent good performer and I now use them for planets as a matter of routine.  I could have sworn I saw a very small hint of white in the southern pol if mars but it was very slight and popped in and out of viewbwithe the seeing.

[Phillyterp85]

Hi all!  Brand new to the forum, and brand new to astrology.  Got my son (and myself) a telescope for Christmas.   Been having fun with it so far.  Got some great shots of the moon tonight.   Tried to get some shots of the comet as well.  I was able to locate it, but couldn’t really get a clear image of it.   Here’s my view of the moon that I was able to get.
 

[Nakedgun]

46 minutes ago, Phillyterp85 said:

Hi all!  Brand new to the forum, and brand new to astrology.  Got my son (and myself) a telescope for Christmas.   Been having fun with it so far.  Got some great shots of the moon tonight.   Tried to get some shots of the comet as well.  I was able to locate it, but couldn’t really get a clear image of it.   Here’s my view of the moon that I was able to get.
 

~

Welcome to the forum, and welcome to astronomy!

Having fun is why we're all here.

 

 

.

[Nakedgun]

~

I set up four scopes in my backyard this evening, so that my wife, her brother, my neighbor, and I, could watch Europa emerge from Jupiter's shadow at the same time.

A short while later we observed the comet (barely) in the waxing Moon sky.

 

.

[Ratlet]

1 hour ago, Phillyterp85 said:

Hi all!  Brand new to the forum, and brand new to astrology.  Got my son (and myself) a telescope for Christmas.   Been having fun with it so far.  Got some great shots of the moon tonight.   Tried to get some shots of the comet as well.  I was able to locate it, but couldn’t really get a clear image of it.   Here’s my view of the moon that I was able to get.
 

Fantastic image chief.  Hope you and the boy are enjoying the scope.  Sounds like you are having lots of success.

[Stu]

3 hours ago, Phillyterp85 said:

Hi all!  Brand new to the forum, and brand new to astrology.  Got my son (and myself) a telescope for Christmas.   Been having fun with it so far.  Got some great shots of the moon tonight.   Tried to get some shots of the comet as well.  I was able to locate it, but couldn’t really get a clear image of it.   Here’s my view of the moon that I was able to get.
 

Great shot @Phillyterp85, and welcome to the forum 👍

[Phillyterp85]

4 hours ago, Nakedgun said:

~

Welcome to the forum, and welcome to astronomy!

Having fun is why we're all here.

 

 

.

Thank you!

[Phillyterp85]

3 hours ago, Ratlet said:

Fantastic image chief.  Hope you and the boy are enjoying the scope.  Sounds like you are having lots of success.

Thanks!   I need some work on observing the planets.   For example I’ve been able to locate Jupiter, but it just looks like a white circle.  I’ve seen images posted online where people can actually see the colors, the big red storm, etc…. So I have to do some research on how to observe it better, and see its moons.  But I’ve definitely been very happy with the images of the moon I’ve seen so far.  

[Phillyterp85]

2 hours ago, Stu said:

Great shot @Phillyterp85, and welcome to the forum 👍

Thank you!

[F15Rules]

7 hours ago, Phillyterp85 said:

Hi all!  Brand new to the forum, and brand new to astrology.  Got my son (and myself) a telescope for Christmas.   Been having fun with it so far.  Got some great shots of the moon tonight.   Tried to get some shots of the comet as well.  I was able to locate it, but couldn’t really get a clear image of it.   Here’s my view of the moon that I was able to get.
 

Welcome to the forum Phillyterp85👍😊.

Astronomy is fabulous hobby and based on observation and science (most of the time!)..Astrology er, isn't!😂

Hope you and your son enjoy your new pastime, it's so rewarding to learn the night sky constellations. If you can get a pair of half decent binoculars as well (around £50-70) you can both look at things at the same time. And ask if you have any questions, this forum is a great place to get help👍.

Dave

[F15Rules]

Hi all..

I love this thread, it's so good to read about others' sessions and successes and challenges, especially when circumstances don't allow me to get outside myself..

One thing that I feel would personally help a lot, would be if people just add to their post what scope they were using? No brand needed, just "150mm" Newt", 8" Dob, "100mm F7 refractor" etc..

This would help me, and I'm sure others, put reports into context, for example in my 5" refractor I'm not likely to replicate the view seen in a 10" or 12" Dob. So this could help us to manage our expectations, especially for newer members?

Just a thought😊..

Dave

[Phillyterp85]

3 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Welcome to the forum Phillyterp85👍😊.

Astronomy is fabulous hobby and based on observation and science (most of the time!)..Astrology er, isn't!😂

Hope you and your son enjoy your new pastime, it's so rewarding to learn the night sky constellations. If you can get a pair of half decent binoculars as well (around £50-70) you can both look at things at the same time. And ask if you have any questions, this forum is a great place to get help👍.

Dave

Omg so embarrassing, Astronomy,  not Astrology, lol.  Thank you for correcting that!   Thanks for the tip on the binoculars, I hadn’t thought of that.  
looking forward to when it gets warmer and we can set up at an open park without freezing our tail off. Unfortunately my house isn’t great for seeing the sky, lots of light pollution and trees.  So I can only see some planets and some bright stars with the naked eye from my house.

[Phillyterp85]

29 minutes ago, F15Rules said:

Hi all..

I love this thread, it's so good to read about others' sessions and successes and challenges, especially when circumstances don't allow me to get outside myself..

One thing that I feel would personally help a lot, would be if people just add to their post what scope they were using? No brand needed, just "150mm" Newt", 8" Dob, "100mm F7 refractor" etc..

This would help me, and I'm sure others, put reports into context, for example in my 5" refractor I'm not likely to replicate the view seen in a 10" or 12" Dob. So this could help us to manage our expectations, especially for newer members?

Just a thought😊..

Dave

That’s a good idea.   The scope I was using is a 700mm focal length x 90mm aperture telescope.  I had a 9mm eyepiece in.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Phillyterp85

[Ratlet]

3 hours ago, Phillyterp85 said:

Thanks!   I need some work on observing the planets.   For example I’ve been able to locate Jupiter, but it just looks like a white circle.  I’ve seen images posted online where people can actually see the colors, the big red storm, etc…. So I have to do some research on how to observe it better, and see its moons.  But I’ve definitely been very happy with the images of the moon I’ve seen so far.  

I had the same problem.  Looks more like someone is shining a light through a picture of Jupiter rather than looking at a picture of Jupiter?

I got recommended to buy the linked filters which came in at under £10.  Literally the cheapest filters on eBay and they have revolutionised my observing of planets.

It won't be a magic bullet, but for the cost of a couple pints it might help.

 

[Phillyterp85]

1 minute ago, Ratlet said:

I had the same problem.  Looks more like someone is shining a light through a picture of Jupiter rather than looking at a picture of Jupiter?

I got recommended to buy the linked filters which came in at under £10.  Literally the cheapest filters on eBay and they have revolutionised my observing of planets.

It won't be a magic bullet, but for the cost of a couple pints it might help.

 

Thanks I’ll look into those!

[Phillyterp85]

I also tried to get the comet last night.  Was difficult from my house as there were trees in the way.  But here’s what I got.

 

[SuburbanMak]

Managed another quick peek at C2022/E3 ZTF) on Friday evening at a local country park whilst waiting for my daughter to complete a Scouts night navigation exercise. 

Found the comet quite easily, then about two degrees W of Kochab in UMi.  
Definitely brighter than my obs last weekend and a nice bright spot at the core of a round nebulosity, again reminded of an elongated, unresolved  globular. Couldn’t pick out much in the way of a tail this time - didn’t really have time to get fully dark adapted, moon was up, transparency coming and going between skeins of high mist and, toward the end of my session, I was further disturbed by many scouts waving extremely powerful torches about! 

ST80, Stellalyra 30mm UFF and Baader Hyperion Zoom - best view with the Zoom around 18mm (22x) in a nicely rich field. 
 
Was able to share the view with my 13 yo daughter, some of her scout colleagues and leaders - we also looked at the Pleiades and M42 which got the requisite oohs and ahhhs - reckon I might be on the hook for running a session for them to get their astronomy badge soon though  

[scotty1]

While looking at C2022/E3 ZTF through binoculars, some stratus covered the moon and created a lunar corona. 

I took these with my phone on a tripod. 

C2022/E3 ZTF

Handheld lunar corona

Edited January 30, 2023 by scotty1

[maw lod qan]

Hurried my morning routine so I could have a few minutes with my binoculars and the quickly departing comet. 

Very easy to find. One more day of work, tomorrow, and hopefully I can have clear skies to spend more time on it before its history!

Edited January 30, 2023 by maw lod qan

[Stu1smartcookie]

An unexpected clear spell last night meant a quick set up of the Dob , just to give my 10mm and 6mm Ortho EPs a first go . Not ideal in a way as the scope was not sufficiently cooled but , the moon was rapidly disapearing over the roof so i had to take the opportunity . Spoiler alert , these EPs are fantastic . Clarity was exceptional when viewing the moon , i focused on the Apeninne region , starting with the 10mm . I was a bit concerned that the admittedly tight eye relief would prove to be an issue but , i need not have worried . No black spots when viewing just a lovely bright image , i switched to the 6mm , and the image was slightly softer as the scope hadnt properly cooled , but once again there was no problems regarding brightness . A quick switch to Mars which showed subtle shading , but in truth , the conditions were not condusive ... i really needed to put the Dob out 30minutes earlier. ( lesson to be learnt ) . 

A quick view of Orion , but using a 26mm EP showed the normal nebulosity and the trapezium . I then left the scope for around 30minutes before attempting to find the Comet . After a frustrating 15minutes or so searching in the right area i managed to locate it in the 8x50 finder . It was quite near a star (optically) and showed a fairly bright nucleus with a surround of gas , It was a great sight and one that makes this hobby really worthwhile . One thing i did notice was how quickly the comet is moving . From its starting distance from the star in the EP it had moved considerably . 

Clouds rolled in from the North West  ending the fairly short but worthwhile session . In conclusion , i need to buy the 18mm Baader ortho , as per @Franklin sugestion . 

And its going to be clear tonight too !

One image I took with the phone of the comet

Edited January 30, 2023 by Stu1smartcookie
spelling

[IB20]

Twilight Venus, Jupiter, Moon and Mars nicely on view, naked eye. Something really pleasing about being able to see the planets shining brightly when there’s still some light about.

Capped off with a super bright lunar grazing ISS  pass. The 2 year old loved it!

Edited January 30, 2023 by IB20