What did you see tonight?

[DirkSteele]

Just been broadcasting with BBC London radio from Primrose Hill. Dragged the LZOS 130/1200 across London. Glad I did. Saturn was a bit special this evening.

[Ags]

Thinking about it, maybe I can get more backfocus by getting a TS or Baader T2 prism...

[PeterC65]

4 hours ago, Ags said:

Thinking about it, maybe I can get more backfocus by getting a TS or Baader T2 prism...

The Baader T2 Prism Diagonal (35mm optical path length) used with a Baader Ultrashort Clamp (20mm optical path length) will give you the 55mm of backfocus needed by the FMA135 provided you use a Baader T2 / T2 Inverter Ring to connect the diagonal to the finderscope (0mm optical path length).

I use all three of these components in various configurations both to minimise optical path length (sometimes needed to focus) and to get the backfocus just right for a reducer. All three are very handy pieces of kit!

[PeterC65]

16 hours ago, PeterC65 said:

The Baader T2 Prism Diagonal (35mm optical path length) used with a Baader Ultrashort Clamp (20mm optical path length) will give you the 55mm of backfocus needed by the FMA135 provided you use a Baader T2 / T2 Inverter Ring to connect the diagonal to the finderscope (0mm optical path length).

I use all three of these components in various configurations both to minimise optical path length (sometimes needed to focus) and to get the backfocus just right for a reducer. All three are very handy pieces of kit!

Thinking about this some more, you wouldn't need the Baader T2 / T2 Inverter Ring as the FMA135 has a male M42 thread and the diagonal has a female thread on the scope side. So you just need the diagonal and the ultrashort clamp. Bear in mind though that eyepieces may not fit fully in to this ultrashort clamp (they will not hit the prism though as the Baader T2 Prism Diagonal has a slightly narrower than 1.25" collar inside).

[Stu]

Just had a lie out in my hammock again for ten mins or so. I saw a couple of sporadic meteors, five or six satellites and the Milky Way was showing well.

Heading back to the house, I had one last look and caught an absolute belter of a Perseid! It must have been mag -6 or -7, much brighter than Venus and it left a strong tail which persisted for about 15 seconds or more. Best meteor I’ve seen for years 👍

[badhex]

6 minutes ago, Stu said:

Just had a lie out in my hammock again for ten mins or so. I saw a couple of sporadic meteors, five or six satellites and the Milky Way was showing well.

Heading back to the house, I had one last look and caught an absolute belter of a Perseid! It must have been mag -6 or -7, much brighter than Venus and it left a strong tail which persisted for about 15 seconds or more. Best meteor I’ve seen for years 👍

Fantastic! I observe vicariously through you 😂

[SwiMatt]

I also got semi-lucky tonight, I caught a few stars through the clouds in my binoculars!  Not much, I just about made out Mizar and Alcor from my window (always beautiful in binoculars!) and then I turned towards Boötes to randomly find a double I didn't know, which I later identified as Nu Boötis. Quite nice in binoculars, according to wiki it should show colors but I didn't see any (high LP where I live). I will look for it once I get to better skies - hopefully next week.

...that's all I coul identify through the clouds...

Edited August 15, 2023 by SwiMatt

[Spile]

Finally got my first clear skies in months. No perseids but started with Alberio, the beautiful coloured double in Cygnus before moving to the much tighter Izar in Bootes. Then a few Messier objects in in and around Sagittarius (M29, M24, M20, M28) . Saturn was as impressive as ever with the rings more edge on than last time I observed it. Finished with the mesmerising M13 In Hercules.

[Captain Scarlet]

Likewise the first clear night for me in weeks last night. Very early start the following morning so no scope, but I did allow myself 30-40 minutes in a chair with bins in the back field. Half a dozen perseids, quite bright, transparency very good indeed, MW really stark and detailed, I could even vaguely detect colour (brownish-yellow) in the central region. And when I went back inside, I checked the top of my car … no dew. Due to be similar tonight, fingers crossed, I’ll get my 12” out.

Also M31, M32, M110, M33, M52, Airplane, Coathanger, Albireo through the 15x56s.

Magnus

Edited August 15, 2023 by Captain Scarlet

[bosun21]

Well the clouds stayed away long enough for me to get first light with the 150PL and my Apollo 15x70 binoculars. I didn't go out until 11pm to allow some transient clouds to pass. I had to start with Saturn with the 150PL which was still relatively low in the sky. I was surprised how much the planets orientation had changed since last year with the rings being edge on not far away now. I started at 120x with the UFF 10mm then pushed it with the addition of an ES 2x extender to 240x. Great to see the gas giant back in the sky. The Cassini division clearly seen with also one darker band on Saturn itself. The seeing was good, although this would deteriorate as the night went on due to rising humidity and quite heavy dew accumulation. A thin cloud started coming in from the south putting an end to Saturn. I then had a quick look with the Apollo binoculars on a pistol grip tripod at M92 and M13 in Hercules followed by a scout around the clusters in Casseopia. I was impressed with the performance of the Apollo binoculars especially nearer the edges. I then did a star test on Polaris to check my handiwork in collimating the scope. Pleased to say all was well. I then had a look at M27 hanging ghostlike in the sky. Next was NGC6572 in Ophiuchus which is another PN i like to observe. It was showing a green tint to it in the eyepiece. My night was cut short due to the secondary mirror misting up with dew as well as the bino objectives. ( dew shield has been ordered). The clouds are starting to advance across the sky in any case. I caught a few perseids tonight with one extremely bright one actually making me jerk my head as it passed from north to south. Despite it being a  relatively short session it was great to be under a clear sky again. First light on both completed.

[SwiMatt]

I don't wanna make anyone jealous, but I'm in southern Switzerland (Bortle 4) for holidays and, despite some clouds, lightnings on the horizon and artificial lights in some corners of my backyard, I just saw with binoculars more than in the last 4 months in Sweden. 

Today was just a quick session, and the skies are announced even better next week, but for now: M13, M92, Cr399, and then checked a couple of doubles, among which the same I saw two days ago (Nu Boötis) and Nu Draconis. Oh, and I didn't even bother sitting down 🤣

Edited August 16, 2023 by SwiMatt

[F15Rules]

I reckon it's been nigh on 10 weeks since my last observing session. My FS128, "Trinity",  has been in her Oklop holdall in our cool dining room for the past 5 weeks or so, due to the number of Thripps, Thunderflies etc.

Like many SGLers, I've found this summer to be a very depressing time, astro-wise, following on from the dreariest Spring I can remember since 2007.

All the above said, it may explain why I have felt that I've had a real tonic in the past few days..

Firstly, on Saturday night, my wife and I attended a talk on the Perseid meteor shower hosted by East Lincolnshire Astronomy Club, in Scamblesby village hall in the middle of the Lincolnshire Wolds. It was run in partnership with the Lincolnshire body who have promoted the Lincolnshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) for the past 50 years since the area's designation as an AONB.

After the talk we went to the nearby Red Hill nature reserve observing site (Bortle 4), with the aim of observing some Perseid meteors and other celestial objects. The sky did have some gaps in the clouds and we did get to see some cracking meteors, before the holes closed up at c 11pm. We also got the chance to see a few nice scopes up close, including a Tele Vue 102 and a huge 20" Dobsonian. Sadly, the skies prevented any proper viewing, but the ELAC club members are to be congratulated for welcoming some 20+ strangers to their talk and subsequent observing site..and, best of all, my lovely wife came with me and enjoyed herself!🤗

Secondly, last night (Tuesday) was by far the best night for literally months in my home location at the bottom end of the Wolds.. I got out my vintage Vixen 80mm F15 achromat to check out a few favourite summer doubles..

This scope just takes me back to my youth..long, thin tube but just looks so cool..this one has a 2" retrofitted focuser, and I put in my decloaked huge Celestron Axiom 31mm to look at Albireo..this scope will never be a widefield scope, but honestly, the field presented by this combination, with Albireo centred, was jaw dropping, with great colour rendition and negligible CA.

Using my Pentax XL zoom I moved through the magnifications up to 8mm, giving 150x in this scope.. perfect bullseyes, with a steady, single diffraction ring around each component. Beautiful!

After fully half an hour just gazing at Albireo and it's Milky Way background, I moved to Delta Cygni, a wonderful, (and not easy at 80mm aperture) close double at c 2.4" of arc. At 150x, I glimpsed the faint companion sitting right on the diffraction ring, and the scope took up to 260x with a 2.25x barlow, still delivering a clear image.

The only other objects I looked at were Vega and Epsilon Lyrae (the double double) and a nice view of Saturn, which was lowish down to the south east.

Exhilarated, and mojo recharged, I packed up at c 12.20am after 90 minutes or so of pure bliss.

Roll on the autumn and winter skies!!👍

Dave

 

[Epick Crom]

I had my best ever views of Mercury yesterday evening! Started observing the closest planet to the Sun just after sunset whilst it was 20° above the horizon with my beloved 10 inch dob. 

Seeing was very steady and I observed Mercury as a crescent for the first time. My session was enhanced by being joined by my wife, daughter and son. They were very impressed with the rare sight of crescent Mercury 😊

[Mandy D]

@Epick Crom How wonderful! It is so nice when you can get others interested in actually looking through the eyepiece, especially younger family members. I have a small gap in the tree line exactly where the Sun set last night, but my 200P on it's original Dobsonian mount can't see over the garden wall, so I missed it. I can't wait for my Skytee mount to come back so I can see such low things. If the sky is clear tonight (unlikely) I might try moving it to another location away from home. I need an image of Mercury (other than in transit) to complete my family portrait of the planets.

[badhex]

On 16/08/2023 at 22:52, F15Rules said:

I reckon it's been nigh on 10 weeks since my last observing session. My FS128, "Trinity",  has been in her Oklop holdall in our cool dining room for the past 5 weeks or so, due to the number of Thripps, Thunderflies etc.

Like many SGLers, I've found this summer to be a very depressing time, astro-wise, following on from the dreariest Spring I can remember since 2007.

All the above said, it may explain why I have felt that I've had a real tonic in the past few days..

Firstly, on Saturday night, my wife and I attended a talk on the Perseid meteor shower hosted by East Lincolnshire Astronomy Club, in Scamblesby village hall in the middle of the Lincolnshire Wolds. It was run in partnership with the Lincolnshire body who have promoted the Lincolnshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) for the past 50 years since the area's designation as an AONB.

After the talk we went to the nearby Red Hill nature reserve observing site (Bortle 4), with the aim of observing some Perseid meteors and other celestial objects. The sky did have some gaps in the clouds and we did get to see some cracking meteors, before the holes closed up at c 11pm. We also got the chance to see a few nice scopes up close, including a Tele Vue 102 and a huge 20" Dobsonian. Sadly, the skies prevented any proper viewing, but the ELAC club members are to be congratulated for welcoming some 20+ strangers to their talk and subsequent observing site..and, best of all, my lovely wife came with me and enjoyed herself!🤗

Secondly, last night (Tuesday) was by far the best night for literally months in my home location at the bottom end of the Wolds.. I got out my vintage Vixen 80mm F15 achromat to check out a few favourite summer doubles..

This scope just takes me back to my youth..long, thin tube but just looks so cool..this one has a 2" retrofitted focuser, and I put in my decloaked huge Celestron Axiom 31mm to look at Albireo..this scope will never be a widefield scope, but honestly, the field presented by this combination, with Albireo centred, was jaw dropping, with great colour rendition and negligible CA.

Using my Pentax XL zoom I moved through the magnifications up to 8mm, giving 150x in this scope.. perfect bullseyes, with a steady, single diffraction ring around each component. Beautiful!

After fully half an hour just gazing at Albireo and it's Milky Way background, I moved to Delta Cygni, a wonderful, (and not easy at 80mm aperture) close double at c 2.4" of arc. At 150x, I glimpsed the faint companion sitting right on the diffraction ring, and the scope took up to 260x with a 2.25x barlow, still delivering a clear image.

The only other objects I looked at were Vega and Epsilon Lyrae (the double double) and a nice view of Saturn, which was lowish down to the south east.

Exhilarated, and mojo recharged, I packed up at c 12.20am after 90 minutes or so of pure bliss.

Roll on the autumn and winter skies!!👍

Dave

 

They don't say F15Rules for nothing! Lovely report and always nice to read about mojo rejuvenation! I too, like many others, have had a long stretch without observing and also recently pulled out and old scope for use, which is always exciting! 

Edited August 18, 2023 by badhex

[badhex]

Had a very quick testing first light with a refurbished Bresser AR-152S, and coincidentally my "first light" , so to speak, in my new flat! Wordy version here, for those that fancy it:

 

[SwiMatt]

Yesterday no clouds, but the stars were a bit fuzzy. Still, enough to enjoy a short session, this time using my dad's old Carl Zeiss Jenoptem 8x30. I quite enjoyed the larger field of view compared to my 10x50, although some objects resulted a bit too faint to be observed with certitude (M13, M92), had I not known in advance where to look. In any case, I spent most of my time looking (and, I'm pretty sure, glimpsing) for M39 in Cygnus, which in binoculars is a pretty nice sight.

I'm hoping to put in a longer session soon and wait out a few things that are currently behind a mountain at 22h (such as the double cluster and M31)! 

[Ratlet]

Went up to see some friends up north after work and packed the LT80 and the Starsense unit to give it a spin.

Setup and let everyone have a look at the showpiece items: double cluster, M13, albireo, m31, m57 and even managed some questionable observations of Jupiter and Saturn although neither were much above 15°.

They've got a fantastic horizon out here, down to about 5° to the south and bortle 3.  Was really good. 

My friends daughter loved using the scope.  They were adamant that I come back up with the bigger kit later in the year when I don't have to work.

Got to get up for work in 4 hours but well worth it.  Just hoping for the weather forecast to hold out so I can get the big lad out tomorrow.

Loved the pinpoint stars with the refractor but didn't enjoy the seeming unlimited variation in where the eyepiece would end up as I haphazardly rattled through objects to observe.

[StevieDvd]

12 hours ago, Ratlet said:

Went up to see some friends up north after work and packed the LT80 and the Starsense unit to give it a spin.

Setup and let everyone have a look at the showpiece items: double cluster, M13, albireo, m31, m57 and even managed some questionable observations of Jupiter and Saturn although neither were much above 15°.

They've got a fantastic horizon out here, down to about 5° to the south and bortle 3.  Was really good. 

My friends daughter loved using the scope.  They were adamant that I come back up with the bigger kit later in the year when I don't have to work.

Got to get up for work in 4 hours but well worth it.  Just hoping for the weather forecast to hold out so I can get the big lad out tomorrow.

Loved the pinpoint stars with the refractor but didn't enjoy the seeming unlimited variation in where the eyepiece would end up as I haphazardly rattled through objects to observe.

The accuracy of the Starsense depends on the alignment.  I do a rough alignment on a local tv aerial when it's too light, use the zoom in on the phone to get the best alignment. Then later I re-align on a known star/planet and again zoom in for better accuracy on other targets.

Last night I aligned on Saturn which was low down but still a good view. Managed to get the coat-hanger, Andromeda (very feint), Deneb, double-cluster to name but a few.  Quite pleased as it was the first light for a new ZWO 2" eyepiece and a hastily re-configured base for the Starsense to fit the Lyra 102mm all of which worked well.

 

[Ratlet]

34 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

The accuracy of the Starsense depends on the alignment.  I do a rough alignment on a local tv aerial when it's too light, use the zoom in on the phone to get the best alignment. Then later I re-align on a known star/planet and again zoom in for better accuracy on other targets.

Last night I aligned on Saturn which was low down but still a good view. Managed to get the coat-hanger, Andromeda (very feint), Deneb, double-cluster to name but a few.  Quite pleased as it was the first light for a new ZWO 2" eyepiece and a hastily re-configured base for the Starsense to fit the Lyra 102mm all of which worked well.

 

I messed up there.  That's what I get for writing the report whilst I really should have been sleeping.

The Starsense worked REALLY well.  Very impressed.  It did struggle to identify stars sometime, but I think that's because I was using an old mobile with a pretty duffed up lens.  Usually I just moved the unit a bit and it would be fine.

My issue was more that it felt that moving from something low on the horizon to something high up the eyepiece went through a fantastic array of heights.  I had to adjust the legs quite frequently which was a bit cumbersome.  If I was more prepared I would have had my chair with me and that would have helped massively.  If I had an actual plan I would have worked my we up or down rather than pinballing about the sky.  It was meant to be me just testing out the Starsense, then the friends daughter came out for a quick look and ended up being a 2 hour mini outreach session 😁

With the 130PDS on AZ5 or AZ-Gti the eyepiece tended to end up in a very narrow range of positions.

But just to be clear:  Starsense is brilliant, my planning for observing is awful.

Apart from the planets, The Double Cluster was by far and away the most popular object.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Ratlet

[Mr Spock]

Looks clear at the moment. I have put the 12" out to cool. Fingers crossed 

[Mr Spock]

It's still clear, but, it has to be some of the worst seeing I've seen. Even at x51 the image is dancing around 

[bosun21]

Same here. I was thinking about putting my 12” out along with the Starfield but when I saw the stars twinkling so much I left the dob inside.

[wulfrun]

Same here too, seeing is atrocious. I was out last night and it wasn't good but tonight is worse. I've settled for a mooch at lots of things with the 10x50s and a reclining chair!

[globular]

Jet stream is about as bad as it gets

Edited August 20, 2023 by globular