What did you see tonight?

[Stephen_M]

Sounds good, I have pondered getting a small dob that I can stick on a table to see over my fence. Happy observing for later!

Stephen

9 minutes ago, Davesellars said:

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!

 

[Dave scutt]

Just got the dob out for the first time I  months. 

Quick look at the moon ,and then moved to Jupiter and easily seeing the belts never seen the red spot though 🙄.  Moved to the ring nebula find it better looking with averted vision then m31, m81,m82 in for tea and warm up then going out to see orion. 

Can you see the horsehead nebula with a uhc filter or an OIII filter. 

dave 

[Mr Spock]

Wow. I've just gone back outside with a double star session planned and, although the sky is cloudless, it's gone really milky. I can only see stars above mag 3. That's disappointing 

[Zermelo]

34 minutes ago, Dave scutt said:

Can you see the horsehead nebula with a uhc filter or an OIII filter

According to this: https://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/filter-performance-comparisons-for-some-common-nebulae/

IC 434 HORSEHEAD NEBULA (diffuse nebula in Orion)

(10 inch f/5.6, 52x, 71x, 104x).

DEEP-SKY: (2) Little change is seen from viewing without a filter.   When visible, it appears as a weak dark gap in the dim north-south nebulosity, and the shape is hard to see.  Nebula is difficult, unless viewed under very dark and clear conditions.

UHC: (3) Horsehead now stands out weakly from dim glow, showing some of the horsehead shape with averted vision, a definite improvement over no filter or the DEEP-SKY.

OIII: (0) No Horsehead seen. IC-434 nebulosity not seen for certain.

H-BETA: (4) Nebula still dim, but Horsehead shape now fairly easy to see, showing up with more contrast than with the UHC filter.  East edge of IC 434 seems brighter than the rest of the nebula with the H-beta.

RECOMMENDATION FOR HORSEHEAD: Lumicon H-BETA (UHC also helps, but OIII not recommended).

 

 

[Zermelo]

18 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

I can only see stars above mag 3

I doubt I could see mag -5 at the moment.

And yet ...

 

[Stardaze]

Just looked at the jetstream and that doesn’t look very good at all. Differing seeing according to meteoblue and metcheck. Dob is out cooling so guess we’ll see which is correct, fingers crossed. 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Twio hours out with the 102ED & cloud threatening but still going!

A leisurely clutch of doubles up to now: Mintaka, Altinak, Sigma Ori, Struve 747, Iota Ori, Rigel, Struve 790, Epsilon Mon & Beta Mon.

Cloud coming in from the west is ruining my southern view but I'm hoping it will pass and I keep going until late. 🧐

[John]

Cracking night here now, even better than last night I think

[Dave scutt]

Back out after tea and warm again.

Orion was rising so first was m42 and the trapezium even though my skies are bortle 2-3 and seeing conditions are the best I've had I still see no colour (maybe being coloured blind don't help ) stayed there for a while taken it all in.

Then moved over to the open clusters m35, m36, m37, m38 for a quick look.

Then onto m81 and m82 still love looking at these in the same fov  onto m97 the owl nebula using uhc filter I've only looked at this a few times couldn't find it for ages till using the filter, while in that area found the whirlpool galaxy m51.

Moved on to m57 ring nebula already had a look early this evening but had to have a second look kept swinging the dob around up to the veil nebula  the OIII filter seemed better then the uhc filter. 

Finally m31 and m10 for the first time found m33 but forgot to look for m32 which I've never seen.

By now it's 0 degrees and real feel -4 fingers felt like they where going to fall off, so going in to warm up.

Hopefully when sirus gets higher I'll try and see the pup.

Dave 

[Stephen_M]

Disappointing here compared to last night. Thermometer is showing -4 and there's no wind. There must be a bit of mist forming and sitting in the valley as the light pollution around is much more noticeable and going further toward zenith than last night. Also, another kick in the nuts is the streetlamp has not gone off tonight, forcing me to place the dob in the back corner of the garden. That means Orion is out of sight as well as anything south.

On the to do list was to try and find the triangulum galaxy, never seen before. Had a good couple of cracks at it but couldn't find it. Went over to see Andromeda and actually looked a bit better than last night. The centre looking a bit brighter in comparison to the outer smudge of light I could see.

Went to try and find some open clusters. Wandered around Cassiopeia for a bit, found NGC 225 which looked nice. Lots of other stars around, the contrast much better towards zenith. Everything else washed out. Tried to find M52 with no luck, couldn't quite see 4 Cassiopeia. That's pretty much a wrap.

Hope to read about other people having a bit more success!

Edited January 5, 2022 by Stephen_M

[cajen2]

From s beginner's point of view, tonight has been special. Please skip this post if you're an expert with top-end gear! Mine's a cheapish 150p Flextube dob.

I started with the Pleiades and my new Pentax 14mm. Looked gorgeous, but I had trouble in getting the stars pinpoint focused. I thought it was my collimation but when I switched to my OVL Hyperflex Zoom, there was a distinct improvement, even at different mags. 🤔 No idea why.

Went down to Orion, taking in Aldebaran on the way. Orion's got to be my favourite constellation! Had a look at Mintaka, then of course M42, which looked amazing, with more nebulosity than I've seen before. Decided to fit my Baader Neodymium filter, which made it even better. I didn't try very high mags (80-90x) as focusing was clearer. On a whim, I went up to Alnitak, which I'm positive I split (A and B)...is that likely at these mags?

Wonderful evening: I'm just going out again. If you've read this far, thanks for your patience!

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by cajen2

[Kon]

I think I may have got the HH tonight with my 8" Don and Hb filter; amazing nebulosity on the Flame, bright with dark lanes with direct vision , much much better than last night. NGC2023 was showing nebulosity (not a show last night) and there it was a faint faint nebula running from N to S and on my E (Dob side) missing a bit of nebulosity the size of half thumb.

[John]

2 minutes ago, Kon said:

I think I may have got the HH tonight with my 8" Don and Hb filter; amazing nebulosity on the Flame, bright with dark lanes with direct vision , much much better than last night. NGC2023 was showing nebulosity (not a show last night) and there it was a faint faint nebula running from N to S and on my E (Dob side) missing a bit of nebulosity the size of half thumb.

That sounds like the horsey to me

Can't see the Flame at all here with my 8" so no chance of B33 for me tonight. Nice night otherwise though

[Kon]

I think seeing is the best we had for a while; M42 is showing nice colours a lot more vivid than last night. M1 was amazing with nice details with the OIII filter, Californai nebula bright with the Hb, but still buzzing about the HH ( i will write something tomorrow).

[Kon]

1 minute ago, John said:

That sounds like the horsey to me

Can't see the Flame at all here with my 8" so no chance of B33 for me tonight. Nice night otherwise though

Thanks John!! Nice to hear a confirmation from experts, I am bouncing on my own in the cold 😀. I am getting very very faint hints of the Flame without filter as well.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

2 hours ago, cajen2 said:

From s beginner's point of view, tonight has been special. Please skip this post if you're an expert with top-end gear! Mine's a cheapish 150p Flextube dob.

I started with the Pleiades and my new Pentax 14mm. Looked gorgeous, but I had trouble in getting the stars pinpoint focused. I thought it was my collimation but when I switched to my OVL Hyperflex Zoom, there was a distinct improvement, even at different mags. 🤔 No idea why.

Went down to Orion, taking in Aldebaran on the way. Orion's got to be my favourite constellation! Had a look at Mintaka, then of course M42, which looked amazing, with more nebulosity than I've seen before. Decided to fit my Baader Neodymium filter, which made it even better. I didn't try very high mags (80-90x) as focusing was clearer. On a whim, I went up to Alnitak, which I'm positive I split (A and B)...is that likely at these mags?

Wonderful evening: I'm just going out again. If you've read this far, thanks for your patience!

 

Don't knock your kit. A 6" newtonian is very capable. Well done tonight. 👍

 

Unfortunately the cloud settled for me at 10:45pm (2 hours earlier than forecast ☹️) so the session I started earlier finished with two more doubles; 38 Gem & Meissa plus the Christmas Tree cluster (NGC2264) and finally trusty M42 again. By this winter's standards a great session though, so no complaints...

Mintaka, Altinak, Sigma Ori, Struve 747, Iota Ori, Rigel, Struve 790, Epsilon Mon, Beta Mon, 38 Gem, Meissa, NGC2264 & M42 is a decent crop in Bortle 7. Happy but another two hours with a day off tomorrow would've been smashing!

Congrats to those who got out. 🤳

Urban sky... 🙄

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by ScouseSpaceCadet
Pic added

[Saganite]

Superb sky here tonight. In the last two or so hours I have bagged Sirius b with my 5" f15 and the E&F stars in the Trapezium, really well. The pup as always was difficult but I tracked Sirius for some 35 minutes  and got a definite sighting three times.  All the usual doubles in Orion and at 272x , Uranus.

Changed to low power now with the XW 30mm and The Double Cluster and M45 are beautiful sights, so I will visit the clusters in Auriga and then see if I can bag a few Galaxies.

It is going to be difficult to call it a night any time soon I think...

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Saganite

[Stu]

1 hour ago, cajen2 said:

From s beginner's point of view, tonight has been special. Please skip this post if you're an expert with top-end gear! Mine's a cheapish 150p Flextube dob.

I started with the Pleiades and my new Pentax 14mm. Looked gorgeous, but I had trouble in getting the stars pinpoint focused. I thought it was my collimation but when I switched to my OVL Hyperflex Zoom, there was a distinct improvement, even at different mags. 🤔 No idea why.

Went down to Orion, taking in Aldebaran on the way. Orion's got to be my favourite constellation! Had a look at Mintaka, then of course M42, which looked amazing, with more nebulosity than I've seen before. Decided to fit my Baader Neodymium filter, which made it even better. I didn't try very high mags (80-90x) as focusing was clearer. On a whim, I went up to Alnitak, which I'm positive I split (A and B)...is that likely at these mags?

Wonderful evening: I'm just going out again. If you've read this far, thanks for your patience!

 

Good stuff! Don’t worry, you won’t find any snobbishness over kit, any report is great to read, and the 150p is a very capable scope, I have one myself.

Quite possible for you to have split Alnitak. It’s 2.2” separation and whilst there is a difference in brightness between A and B it is not as great as some other. I’ve split Pi Aquilae with my 150p which is 1.4”, so 2.2” is quite doable. Nice one.

[Stardaze]

I’ve had to drag myself away just now, 4 super hours - it’s been far too long since we’ve had a night like tonight. More tomorrow but got the E&F stars easily, Uranus, Eskimo, lots of doubles too. Must go to bed ☹️

[JDF]

Bins only tonight for me, didn't look like cloud was going to clear earlier so sat down to watch The Tourist and got caught up in that.Just looked outside at midnight and clear skies😀 other than the usual big 3 I found Beehive cluster, M35 and the Persei double though these last 3 are all very faint in the bins but can just be made out.

I've to be up early in morning so i'm going to pay for this.

[Stu1smartcookie]

A clear night ,bit freezy weezy but I wasn't going to give up the chance of a second clear night in a row . I just had the 200p on a skytee mount out last night and did a bit of mobile phone photography at the eyepiece . The winter constellations are really a sight to behold aren't they ? Plaides, and the Orion Nebula (photo attached) . Looking at the photo blown up on here it looks a bit naff , but , then again its only a crude snap . 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Stu1smartcookie

[MercianDabbler]

I was out out again a couple of times last night. First shortly after sunset with a good view to the horizon to see if I could catch Venus again. Basically I couldn't - I think I was probably a few minutes later than on Tuesday and the cloud near the horizon was thicker so no sign of Venus. I did manage to catch Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter in the 10x50s as the sky got darker though.

After completing some family visits I was out again, suitably layered up a little before 9PM. Not enough time for the SP102 on this occasion so it was a job for the ST80 and a canvas folding chair. I'd been watching the Sky at Night guide earlier and intended a couple of new targets that I'd not tried before. First though I had a quick wander around M42 and Orion's belt. I could see four Trapezium stars using the 9mm DeLite. I also dwelt a little while on Theta and its close neighbours - not one that I'd ever spent any time on before. My actual target was M78 though. After a few passes over the area I could definitely see something faint and fuzzy in the right spot but that was about as much as I could say. Checking other folk's sketches online today it looks fairly nondescript so assuming that NGC2071 is fainter still I think I was seeing M78.

Next was a revisit to the locality of M33. I'd been trying to get some more frames on the DSLR of M33 the previous night but it hadn't gone well. As usual I was uncertain whether I was on target and the previews on the camera and tablet screens showed a hint of a very indistinct blob. Checking later on the computer showed that I was in fact on target and the blob really was M33 so I think that the background sky was just washing out the contrast too much... so abandoning the attempt was probably the correct choice anyway. This evening I tried again to spot M33 using the ST80 under my home LP. The best I managed was a suspicion of something using the 15mm SLV - the 9mm DeLite just seemed to be showing too little FoV and the 26 and 32mm Plossls were just making the background glow look too bright. Eventually, and in common with most of my visits to this locality I just lost my place and decided to move on.

By now Sirius had climbed a bit higher so I tried the second target from my YouTubing - the M41 open cluster in Canis Major. I had no difficulty finding this one after relocating the scope to avoid some trees. It took me a little while to get a clear and steady view due to the low altitude but I got a fair view eventually with teh 9mm DeLite and I found it quite a pretty sight. After some further fruitless mucking about (like trying to spot M81/2 with the 10x50s in the light pollution from the city centre) I packed up and went indoors to warm up.

[PeterC65]

Finally managed two great evenings of observing, Tuesday with the new 72mm APO and Wednesday with the 127mm MAK. Almost four hours on each occasion, but by that time I was very cold and tired. This gave me a chance to compare the APO and the MAK, and a chance to try out some new BCO and ES eyepieces.

M31 looked good through both scopes but since I can only see the bright centre the wide field APO wasn’t any better. With the MAK I also managed to spot M32 (in the same FoV) and M110 (just outside the FoV) for the first time.

M35 was a revelation through the APO as I could see all of it for the first time, but there was less nebulosity visible around the main stars due to the smaller aperture I suppose. I will just use the APO to observe M45 in future.

M42 was the highlight from last night. It looked magnificent through the MAK at all available magnifications (24mm to 6mm). I managed to observe the Trapezium (4 stars) for the first time, initially with the BHZ at 8mm and then with the new BCO 6mm. The BCO 6mm is fantastic, sharper and with better contrast than the BHZ (I wasn’t sure there would be much improvement) and it gives me the maximum sensible magnification from the MAK. The view was much better with the MAK than with the APO (lack of aperture again).

While in Orion I took a look at SAO 113271 Betelgeuse, mainly to try the ES 3mm in the APO. A nice crisp image, better than with the MAK and BCO 6mm which seemed to show some CA and fuzziness.

It was nice to observe M81 / M82 within the same FoV with the APO but the views of the individual galaxies were better with the MAK.

I’d been hoping that the APO would give me a bigger exit pupil and so more chance of observing nebulae (which I’ve been struggling to do) but the 72mm aperture just doesn’t seem to be big enough. IC 405 Flaming Star Nebula, NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula and NGC 2244 Rosette Nebula where disappointing, but with the MAK and for the first time, I observed mottled nebulosity across the whole FoV for NGC2244 , not just around the stars.

Looking for a nice wide field target for the APO I tried SAO 038787 Mirfak which is the brightest of a group of 30 odd stars spread across 3.5° of sky. A perfect target for the APO which clearly excels at more sky.

Back with the MAK, the shape of NGC 2264 Christmas Tree Cluster popped out at me.

Also with the MAK, and prompted by @Ags's book about Discovering Double Stars, I split some doubles for the first time, SAO 132220 Mintaka, SAO 060198 Castor, SAO 150652 and SAO 132406. Starting with the BHZ to find them and then splitting with the BCO 6mm or 10mm. Surprisingly enjoyable and I will do more of this in future. I couldn’t for the life of me see two stars in SAO 131907 Rigel though!

 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

59 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

Finally managed two great evenings of observing, Tuesday with the new 72mm APO and Wednesday with the 127mm MAK. Almost four hours on each occasion, but by that time I was very cold and tired. This gave me a chance to compare the APO and the MAK, and a chance to try out some new BCO and ES eyepieces.

M31 looked good through both scopes but since I can only see the bright centre the wide field APO wasn’t any better. With the MAK I also managed to spot M32 (in the same FoV) and M110 (just outside the FoV) for the first time.

M35 was a revelation through the APO as I could see all of it for the first time, but there was less nebulosity visible around the main stars due to the smaller aperture I suppose. I will just use the APO to observe M45 in future.

M42 was the highlight from last night. It looked magnificent through the MAK at all available magnifications (24mm to 6mm). I managed to observe the Trapezium (4 stars) for the first time, initially with the BHZ at 8mm and then with the new BCO 6mm. The BCO 6mm is fantastic, sharper and with better contrast than the BHZ (I wasn’t sure there would be much improvement) and it gives me the maximum sensible magnification from the MAK. The view was much better with the MAK than with the APO (lack of aperture again).

While in Orion I took a look at SAO 113271 Betelgeuse, mainly to try the ES 3mm in the APO. A nice crisp image, better than with the MAK and BCO 6mm which seemed to show some CA and fuzziness.

It was nice to observe M81 / M82 within the same FoV with the APO but the views of the individual galaxies were better with the MAK.

I’d been hoping that the APO would give me a bigger exit pupil and so more chance of observing nebulae (which I’ve been struggling to do) but the 72mm aperture just doesn’t seem to be big enough. IC 405 Flaming Star Nebula, NGC 2174 Monkey Head Nebula and NGC 2244 Rosette Nebula where disappointing, but with the MAK and for the first time, I observed mottled nebulosity across the whole FoV for NGC2244 , not just around the stars.

Looking for a nice wide field target for the APO I tried SAO 038787 Mirfak which is the brightest of a group of 30 odd stars spread across 3.5° of sky. A perfect target for the APO which clearly excels at more sky.

Back with the MAK, the shape of NGC 2264 Christmas Tree Cluster popped out at me.

Also with the MAK, and prompted by @Ags's book about Discovering Double Stars, I split some doubles for the first time, SAO 132220 Mintaka, SAO 060198 Castor, SAO 150652 and SAO 132406. Starting with the BHZ to find them and then splitting with the BCO 6mm or 10mm. Surprisingly enjoyable and I will do more of this in future. I couldn’t for the life of me see two stars in SAO 131907 Rigel though!

 

Good comparisons between the wide field apo and the Mak. Have another try at Rigel. It's one of those apparently easy splits, that is not so easy due to the glare of Rigel A obscuring the faint Rigel B. See the pic below.

 

 

[Ags]

Rigel is an odd one, it was quite easy in my 102mm Mak, but very hard with my Zenithstar 66. Easier than Sirius though!