What did you see tonight?

[maw lod qan]

It always seems the days I work the sky is incredible. 

Very clear, good seeing! At 3:30 the longer I let my eyes adjust, the more of the milkyway appeared. It ran from cassieopia over to scorpio. 

Jupiter just beginning to rise, and before I went back in a quick meteor beneath the Great Square of Pegasus!

But alas, work was calling!

[The60mmKid]

The conditions tonight were poor, as I've complained about at length elsewhere: 

Regardless, I was especially pleased to spend a few minutes on 61 Cyngi. It's one of my absolute favorite double stars due to its vivid red/red color, brightness, and wide separation (which makes it a great binocular double). My friend is selling me his 18x70 binoculars, and I think 61 Cygni will be the first object at which I point them.

[scotty1]

23.15

about 35 degrees

Edited July 6, 2023 by scotty1

[Epick Crom]

Very cloudy here, however I was able to get around 20min observing Venus through a big gap in the clouds. Venus is looking great at its current crescent phase, much larger then when I last observed it a week ago. I could clearly see dark markings deforming it's terminator. What a beaut!

Also nice view naked eye of Venus, Mars and Regulus in a crooked line close together.

Clear Skies All

Joe

[The60mmKid]

Last night, I was surprised by what I didn't see: the B component of the double star DEA 53. Separation: 42.1" Mag pri: 7.20 Mag sec: 9.92. This should have been an obvious, easy split in my 60mm refractor. And yet, I just couldn't see the secondary?!

So, to answer the question, what I saw last night was DEA 53 A. 😉

[cloudsweeper]

1 hour ago, The60mmKid said:

Last night, I was surprised by what I didn't see: the B component of the double star DEA 53. Separation: 42.1" Mag pri: 7.20 Mag sec: 9.92. This should have been an obvious, easy split in my 60mm refractor. And yet, I just couldn't see the secondary?!

So, to answer the question, what I saw last night was DEA 53 A. 😉

Just a thought - 9.92 mag is pretty dim, esp. when you only used a 60mm aperture.  (Depends also on seeing and sky quality.)

Doug.

[Mr Spock]

If you are in Bortle 8/9 then 9.92 is going to be difficult. 

[The60mmKid]

I've logged 'em before... Just sayin'. But I'll try again under different conditions.

I was just sharing something that evoked my curiosity... But thanks for the generosity with advice 😉

Edited July 7, 2023 by The60mmKid

[russ]

Out this morning at 3am for Saturn, Jupiter and Moon. All were epic, especially Saturn. Which held up well to 300x using the SVBony 3-8mm zoom in the ED120. Moon was razor sharp. Seeing excellent. Paid for it at work today, felt pretty crummy around 3pm. 

Scope is ready to go for some deepsky action tonight. If i can hold it together that is. 

[russ]

3 hours ago, russ said:

Out this morning at 3am for Saturn, Jupiter and Moon. All were epic, especially Saturn. Which held up well to 300x using the SVBony 3-8mm zoom in the ED120. Moon was razor sharp. Seeing excellent. Paid for it at work today, felt pretty crummy around 3pm. 

Scope is ready to go for some deepsky action tonight. If i can hold it together that is. 

New plan. Can't stay awake. So getting back up for the planets and the moon. Spend Saturday recovering.

[Littleguy80]

Spent most of the last couple days stressing about a new to me eyepiece which arrived with a fault. Was very happy to get out and remind myself that astronomy is what I do to relax 😂

Lovely transparent skies. Started out with Comet C/2023 E1 (ATLAS). A much easier spot than when I last saw it. Followed up with some summer classics: M11 (Wild ducks cluster), M16 (Eagle Nebula), M17 (Swan Nebula) and M24 (Sagittarius star cloud). The Swan, with my OIII, is a real favourite. I have found memories of being really excited to see it the first time. Still brings a smile to my face. 

[Froeng]

Set up at 21.30 last night. The sky had some high clouds, but thankfully the wind was stating to die down. Looked at a boiling Venus crescent for a while, but no cloud detail visible. Epsilon Lyra looked at bit fuzzy in the C8, so the seeing even high up wasn't great. Albireo nice at low magnification. Went to bed around 23.00 and got up at 3am to open the new Jupiter season. The scope was now perfectly "chilled". 18deg ambient temperature at 3am in the morning is really quite nice!

Jupiter was only a very fuzzy ball unfortunately. When I turned around and looked to the SW, I saw dark clouds appearing. Knowing the forecast had said there may be a slight chance of rain, I decided to pack up at around 3.30. All done and back in bed by 4am. I then heard the thunder right overhead and the rain started hammering down! I was glad I had not slept through the alarm clock this time! This could have been a disaster...

[Whistlin Bob]

Odd session last night. Lots of successful views of objects that normally really lift me, but somehow wasn't feeling it. Cygnus was great, but I got frustrated trying to get to targets below Altair, where the sky quality just wasn't up to it- not great views at all. 

Then, I had Almach in my eyepiece for the first time in ages and it was gorgeous- such strong and contrasting colours. And so I went to bed happy 😃.

[Guest]

So we went all in last night.  The 10 and 16 inch light buckets and the Stellina were out.  I was looking at the same target with both big scopes.  The 10 inch gave its normal great images with a 20mm 82 degree eyepiece.  The 16 inch with a 14mm in it.... well we all know the outcome of that fight right?  It was 11pm and still not really dark but M81, the Eagle Nebula, the Dumbell, the Ring and M13 all were observed in our way too short of session.   The 14mm 82 degree eyepiece in the 16 is a combination that will give you a oh wow moment.  I found myself staring at M81 and while i couldnt see the arms per say i could definitely see a lot more then a faint fuzzy.  The view of the night still comes back to M13.  The Herc Cluster was 85 degrees above the horizon, as good as it was going to get.  With the 14mm you dont see the cluster you are seeing individual stars within the cluster.  That was just so cool.  We wrapped up around midnight as i had been up since 0430.

[The60mmKid]

Last night, I had the 5" refractor out and spent about 25 minutes admiring 52 Cygni. This is one of my favorite double stars for a few different reasons. First, it's the star that we may use to find the Veil Nebula. Under dark skies, it looks like there is a river of light flowing through 52 Cygni. In London, the Veil isn't on the menu. But even without the nebula, 52 Cyngi is gorgeous... a bright/intense yellow-orange primary with a faint blue secondary that looks like a phantom alongside. I've resolved it in a 4" scope, but I think that this pair really comes to life in 5" and larger scopes.

[josefk]

Not last night but Mars and Venus have been an enjoyable pairing both to the naked eye and in a 4.5 degree binocular FOV this week under the lovely clear skies of mid Portugal.  I can see phase in Venus at x15 but only just (probably due to my astigmatism and being averse to wearing my glasses while observing)

[SwiMatt]

My good news is that my new scope saw first light yesterday... the bad news is that I could only use it to check the Moon in the morning light (10am, so quite underwhelming)! We just had three cloud-free days in a row, each followed by a cloudy night  And now we expect rain the whole week...

I imagine that second-guessing having astronomy as a hobby is a common sentiment in the community

Edited July 11, 2023 by SwiMatt

[wookie1965]

Nothing because of this thing. 

I cannot view from home now and not found a place I can nip to, to be honest looks like I am going to sell up. 

[cloudsweeper]

21 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

Nothing because of this thing. 

I cannot view from home now and not found a place I can nip to, to be honest looks like I am going to sell up. 

I feel your pain, Paul!  I have new neighbours who are up into the early hours and after several months still haven't put any curtains up.  I have to drape an old curtain on the washing line to block out the glare.  

Hope you can find a way round it, or limit yourself to manageable targets.  Don't despair!

Doug.

[Epick Crom]

Nice and clear currently, finally! Had a nice long look naked eye, through my 10x50mm binoculars and 10 inch dob at the beautiful conjunction between Mars and Regulus, 40' apart. Best view was naked eye, the close pair looking stunning as red Mars contrasts nicely against the blue of Regulus.

Venus looks great in my 10 inch despite being 22° above the horizon. Tried unsuccessfully to locate NGC 5044 galaxy in Virgo. 

If it stays clear I'll be back out in the next few hours to tour Ophiuchus🤞

[Ags]

Lots of mosquitoes. 

[russ]

On 10/07/2023 at 09:25, wookie1965 said:

Nothing because of this thing. 

I cannot view from home now and not found a place I can nip to, to be honest looks like I am going to sell up. 

I feel your pain as well. I have a railway goods yard at the bottom of the garden. They have a hundred of those lamps. Creates a massive light dome brighter than a full moon. I just limit myself to moon and planets mainly.

Our neighbour has also taken to growing huge tree like shrubs all down the fence line. They are currently 10-12ft tall and block my entire North East to South East horizon. I think he has done it to spite me knowing I go out with the scope. 

Lotto win is the answer. House with no neighbours in a bortle 2 sky. 

[StarDuke82]

First night since the 4th that it hasn’t been raining or cloudy so early in the evening I took the opportunity to take a few quick photos of Venus for my my Venus project and do a bit of visual observation then I decided to try my hand at imaging properly for the first time since understanding how to time my exposures for astrophotography so I decided to practice for a while on M27, M57, and C22 while I waited for what I had been looking forward to for over a week to try and see and image again Saturn and Jupiter. The night held out just long enough for me to get good images of Saturn but just as Jupiter was moving above the tree line thick clouds moved in but I had stayed out all night and I was not about to give up. I decided to try and observe and shoot images between breaks in the clouds and snap a few quick photos and pack everything in for the night and hope for better results in the wee hours of the morning Wednesday. Despite the clouds rolling in got image the clouds of Jupiter having seen them for the first time just last week, I’m not sure if it’s having an 9.25” scope or just staying outside longer and letting myself get dark adapted but I am seeing more and more now than I ever did with my 6” or 8” scopes. 

[Stu]

Had a first light with my Canon 15x50is Binoculars this evening. Very clear view of Venus against the blue sky showing a lovely crescent. Took me a while to pick it up but once I did it made a fine sight.

[Stu]

A couple more as it has got darker. Brocchi’s cluster or the Coathanger nicely framed in the 4.5 degree field of view. Vega and the Double Double (or just the Double in this instance 🤪)

Albireo split well, showing nice contrasting colours, and with a bit of imagination Mizar also split, well maybe!!

I had a ping from SkySafari about the ISS and watched this for most of its pass. It looked big, but no detailed other than being faintly rectangular. Plenty of other satellites whining about up there too.

M13, M92 looked good already, but the DC, M81/82 and Kemble’s Cascade need a bit more darkness. I have a 5am start (after a 4am this morning) but will stay up a bit longer for one more look.