What did you see tonight?

[CHR15]

Firstly, I wanted to see comet ztf. I used my 10x50 binoculars and starhopped my way to it. I found it easier than I thought I would, it looked like a dimmer version of Andromeda but with a very slight green hue to it. This alone had made my night.

Secondly, I bought a book to get myself acquainted with the moon. 50 things to see on the moon by John A. Read.

I like the fact it gives you targets to view depending on which day of the lunar month it is.

As today is lunar day 9 I viewed Clavius, Plato and Eratosphenes. I really can't believe how much detail can be seen on the moon even with my little 130mm reflector.

[Nakedgun]

~

Welcome to SGL!

The Moon has much to offer (aside from washing out deep-sky objects).

 

 

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[Phillyterp85]

I’m learning how quickly the sky changes. Took a peek at the sky at 6:30 pm, and Jupiter was in perfect view overhead, nice and bright.  And after getting tips on how to focus on Jupiter in the planets section, I was excited to take out the telescope and try again.   So I figured after I put my son to bed tonight, I’d be able to go out and check it out.   Go back out at 9:30, and Jupiter was too low on the horizon and out of sight.  Lesson learned!

[Epick Crom]

4 hours ago, Phillyterp85 said:

I’m learning how quickly the sky changes. Took a peek at the sky at 6:30 pm, and Jupiter was in perfect view overhead, nice and bright.  And after getting tips on how to focus on Jupiter in the planets section, I was excited to take out the telescope and try again.   So I figured after I put my son to bed tonight, I’d be able to go out and check it out.   Go back out at 9:30, and Jupiter was too low on the horizon and out of sight.  Lesson learned!

Hi mate and welcome to Stargazers Lounge! Yes it is amazing how quickly things can move in the sky, especially when you are paying attention to where they are. This shows that the Earth is pulling us all along at a fair clip! 

One fascinating thing I like doing is observing the dark side of the waxing crescent moon through a telescope slowly inch it's way towards a star then cover it ( an occultation). This demonstrates the moon's own eastward motion in real time. The celestrial mechanics of Astronomy are endlessly fascinating!

Joe

[josefk]

Short but fabulous session last night - particularly fabulous probably because it wasn't arctic temperatures.

Sketches here: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/405941-c2022-e3-ztf-again-m81m82-widefield-ngc-1980-doubles/#comment-4344289

3 observations and all felt like highlights:

1. tracking C/2022 E3 for a good while and noting changed positions vis a vis the field stars every 15 mins or so

2. observing M81 and M82 widefield and contemplating just how vast the distance is between them...

3. Going for broke on "all" the double pairs in NGC 1980 - Struve 745, Struve 747, & Struve 752 relative to each other with Theta1 and Theta2 Orionis just perched on the field stop. Crazy.

 

[SuburbanMak]

52 minutes ago, josefk said:

Short but fabulous session last night - particularly fabulous 

Does indeed sound fab, great sketches too! 

[SuburbanMak]

Managed a nice couple of hours early evening yesterday playing with rigorously testing the new kit.

Very happy indeed - the AZGTiX tracks beautifully and if anything runs a little smoother than its AZGTi predecessor, alignment between the 2 scopes is spot on in Alt and within a half degree in Az (around 10% of the field width in the ST80+ 30mm UFF, so the target centred in the finders and the Mak appears just right of centre in the ST80).  I can live with this as a trade off vs. using the supplied L-Bracket which would allow for Az alignment but introduce more vibration, right now everything seems nicely damped.   

The Berlebach chair is a really super thing, just works and will get a lot of use across all my 'scopes.    

Enjoyed widefield views of C2022/E3 (ZTF) in the ST80 at 13x and higher mag side by side in the Mak 127 + 32mm Plossl (47x).  Not a great night for transparency and as you can see from the photos below, my garden is a bit of a nightmare for local LP, so not much visible in the way of a tail but nice to pick it up from the garden and was able to show my teenage sons who were pleased with the view.  

As for those Canon 10x42 IS Bin's they are stunning - rock steady, bright contrasty & pin sharp flatfield views, even overhead. Easily picked up the comet and then enjoyed Orions Belt (c70) and Sword (M42) region, the whole of the Hyades, the Pleaides, alpha Persei and Double Clusters & of course the Moon. The thing I most notice with the IS is that by removing the vibration, you can really dial in a crisp focus which in turn brings out more detail. They are also fantastic for tracking satellites, really look forward to having a peek at the ISS with them. To date they are the best binoculars I've looked through  

 

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by SuburbanMak

[maw lod qan]

That's a sweet looking setup @SuburbanMak!

[Mr Spock]

Well that's just great. Clear blue sky, first for weeks, and... 50 mph winds. No way I'm going out in that!

[PeterStudz]

It’s flat calm here and crystal clear. Although I’m exhausted after last nights session so I’m staying in tonight  

[Stu]

Yes, fab setup @SuburbanMak 👍

[IB20]

Seeing a bit rough but have just had some great views of Mars. Syrtis Major fully on display but the disc is starting to recede so a lot smaller than it has been but the albedo features really standing out in the twilight.

Venus looking like a perfect, pearlescent white 91% illuminated disc through the 76DCQ too, some occasional AD through the buffering atmosphere but extremely pleasing to get the scope on.

 

 

[SuburbanMak]

28 minutes ago, Stu said:

Yes, fab setup @SuburbanMak 👍

Thanks @Stu, after a couple of years I've figured out the way I want to observe and (admittedly based on one session) it really seems to fit the bill.  I've a couple of tweaks to the GSO 10" Dob planned and then I should be set for a while. My plan is a) get sketching,  b) get the absolute best out of the 'scopes I have before succumbing to the Televue/Tak urge .  (Those bin's though may have ruined me on that last point...).  Your latest setup looks incredible btw! 

Edited January 31, 2023 by SuburbanMak

[SuburbanMak]

31 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

It’s flat calm here and crystal clear. Although I’m exhausted after last nights session so I’m staying in tonight  

c'mon... you can do it  

Edited January 31, 2023 by SuburbanMak

[Stu]

Just been viewing the Moon, Mars and Jupiter through the FC100DC with MaxBright II binoviewers and 10mm BCOs, x1.7 GPC and x2 AP Barcon, very roughly x250.

This scope always amazes me, sometimes I wonder why I bother with anything else. Awesome views of Jupiter, Mars showing Syrtis Major and Hellas Planitia particularly well.

Proudly a Tak FC100 fan boi, sorry if that’s dull but hey, it works for me! 👍😀🤩

[SuburbanMak]

Just popped out with the new Canon 10x42 IS to watch the ISS transit - thrilled to see it arcing across the sky preceded by a tiny companion, presumably a resupply  mission on its way in or out.  At 10x i could discern that the main body of the ISS was squarish, but not the clear cross pattern I've seen before in the ST80 at c, 25x. I'd liken it to watching a Jupiter-like in terms of brightness and  size object move across the sky with a magnitude 3 or 4 star just ahead of it. Magic! 

Edited January 31, 2023 by SuburbanMak

[Zermelo]

Well, I finally saw the comet.

I decided a bit late to go out, with a forecast of cloud moving in, so I went with the Newt instead of waiting for the Mak to cool. I was mainly wanting to look at the moon, to compare the Svbony zoom against fixed EPs.
So I didn't even bother to align properly, and with the thin cloud already forming, and the moon very bright overhead, I didn't think I'd have a chance at the comet. But I did a goto, and there it was, sharp nucleus and extended disc. A very productive hour.

[HollyHound]

Just a quick session a couple of hours ago, on the Moon, Jupiter and Mars... just the FC-76DC and the APM SuperZoom.... total setup time was less than a minute... true "grab and go" 😁

First session for weeks and great to get out for a bit for quick, relaxing and lovely views 😀

 

[Zermelo]

Question: does this feature have a name?

I saw this tonight and it was very pleasant and sharp, about half way between Copernicus and the terminator.
It looks like a ring of little peaks, presumably the remains of a mountain wall surrounding a crater? It looked much more obvious in the scope than it does on the screen shot above (taken from my moon map app).

Neither the app nor my paper atlas have a name for it.

 

 

 

[Froeng]

24 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

Question: does this feature have a name?

I saw this tonight and it was very pleasant and sharp, about half way between Copernicus and the terminator.
It looks like a ring of little peaks, presumably the remains of a mountain wall surrounding a crater? It looked much more obvious in the scope than it does on the screen shot above (taken from my moon map app).

Neither the app nor my paper atlas have a name for it.

 

 

 

I think its called “Zermelo’s Ring”…!

[IB20]

26 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

Question: does this feature have a name?

I saw this tonight and it was very pleasant and sharp, about half way between Copernicus and the terminator.
It looks like a ring of little peaks, presumably the remains of a mountain wall surrounding a crater? It looked much more obvious in the scope than it does on the screen shot above (taken from my moon map app).

Neither the app nor my paper atlas have a name for it.

 

 

 

Took this tonight with my phone if it helps!

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Zermelo said:

Question: does this feature have a name?

I saw this tonight and it was very pleasant and sharp, about half way between Copernicus and the terminator.
It looks like a ring of little peaks, presumably the remains of a mountain wall surrounding a crater? It looked much more obvious in the scope than it does on the screen shot above (taken from my moon map app).

Neither the app nor my paper atlas have a name for it.

 

 

 

Nothing on Lunar QuickMaps…

[SuburbanMak]

Nice night - far too late for a school night! 
Comet & clusters mainly, a successful field test for the “Winchester small telescope array”. 

[Nakedgun]

~

Clear tonight and again tomorrow for knocking lunar features off the S&T Moon map with my neighbor and our 16x binoculars.

 

 

.

[Epick Crom]

10 hours ago, Zermelo said:

Question: does this feature have a name?

I saw this tonight and it was very pleasant and sharp, about half way between Copernicus and the terminator.
It looks like a ring of little peaks, presumably the remains of a mountain wall surrounding a crater? It looked much more obvious in the scope than it does on the screen shot above (taken from my moon map app).

Neither the app nor my paper atlas have a name for it.

 

 

 

I have noticed that there are so many interesting unnamed features on the moon, your find is the latest example. When is the IAU going to start giving them official names??

In the meantime I agree that we call this feature "Zermelo's Ring"☺️