What did you see tonight?

[PeterC65]

I managed a great EAA session last night despite the patchy cloud early on. This was first light for the AZ-EQ5 mount and the Explorer 200PDS which I’ve had for a couple of weeks now and have been itching to try. The mount is an absolute joy and the 200PDS let me see noticeably more than I’ve been able to with the 150PDS.

Given the new kit, I wanted to observe a few different types of target so I chose some nebulae, IC348, M1, NGC1491, NGC1555, NGC1579, a couple of clusters, M35 and the adjacent NGC2158, some galaxies, M74, M81, M82, NGC772, NGC925, and my favourite bits of Orion, M42, IC343, NGC2023, NGC2024.

The field of view of the 200PDS is a bit smaller than the 150PDS so some targets, like M35 and M42, didn’t really fit, but those that did showed much more detail than I have seen before. I had my best view yet of the Horsehead Nebula with some great detail of the adjacent Lump Star …

and the Flame Nebula looked amazing …

NGC772 and NGC925 are new to me and the 200PDS was able to resolve detail in them which is very promising for Galaxy Season in the New Year.

Another first was using the brand new Live Planetary Stacking feature in SharpCap. This is a total game changer for EAA. Observing the planets used to be rubbish with EAA but last night I spent an hour observing Jupiter, coming back to it twice during the session and seeing the Great Red Spot for the first time.

I was observing for six hours which is by far my longest session. By the end the 200PDS primary mirror was covered in dew so it looks like I will need a dew heater for that. The 72mm refractor that I also had mounted on the AZ-EQ5 remained dew free however.

All the attached images are live stacks from last night, just with a bit of cropping.

 

 

[SwiMatt]

22 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

I managed a great EAA session last night despite the patchy cloud early on. This was first light for the AZ-EQ5 mount and the Explorer 200PDS which I’ve had for a couple of weeks now and have been itching to try. The mount is an absolute joy and the 200PDS let me see noticeably more than I’ve been able to with the 150PDS.

Given the new kit, I wanted to observe a few different types of target so I chose some nebulae, IC348, M1, NGC1491, NGC1555, NGC1579, a couple of clusters, M35 and the adjacent NGC2158, some galaxies, M74, M81, M82, NGC772, NGC925, and my favourite bits of Orion, M42, IC343, NGC2023, NGC2024.

The field of view of the 200PDS is a bit smaller than the 150PDS so some targets, like M35 and M42, didn’t really fit, but those that did showed much more detail than I have seen before. I had my best view yet of the Horsehead Nebula with some great detail of the adjacent Lump Star …

and the Flame Nebula looked amazing …

NGC772 and NGC925 are new to me and the 200PDS was able to resolve detail in them which is very promising for Galaxy Season in the New Year.

Another first was using the brand new Live Planetary Stacking feature in SharpCap. This is a total game changer for EAA. Observing the planets used to be rubbish with EAA but last night I spent an hour observing Jupiter, coming back to it twice during the session and seeing the Great Red Spot for the first time.

I was observing for six hours which is by far my longest session. By the end the 200PDS primary mirror was covered in dew so it looks like I will need a dew heater for that. The 72mm refractor that I also had mounted on the AZ-EQ5 remained dew free however.

All the attached images are live stacks from last night, just with a bit of cropping.

 

 

Such amazing pictures you are posting @PeterC65. To be honest, I'm not sold yet but you're doing lots to make me wanna try EAA! 🤩

[PeterC65]

53 minutes ago, SwiMatt said:

Such amazing pictures you are posting @PeterC65. To be honest, I'm not sold yet but you're doing lots to make me wanna try EAA! 🤩

I was pretty blown away by some of the things I saw last night, even though they are familiar objects. I really enjoy doing EAA, but I'm also looking forward to trying visual with the new 200PDS. My plan is to have it mounted alongside the 72mm refractor equipped with the StellaLyra UFF 30mm eyepiece to give me an alternative widefield view of the sky.

 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Seeing here is fairly decent despite terrible weather today.  It cleared up around 4PM and I've had a half-hour or so in the garden.  Jupiter was looking good.  I did a quick comparison between my C5 and my 70ED.  The 70ED won.  The C5 with a 9mm Plossl and a 2x Barlow gave me around 280X apparently - which was a bit stupid and excessive given the mount (an AZ-GTI) and the wind (moderate).  Backing off to the 9mm Plossl at 140X gave reasonable views but I couldn't get 'snap' focus and I wasn't overly happy with it.  So I grabbed the 70ED and with a 20mm WO Swan and the 2X Barlow at 48X, got a better view.  Going to the 9mm Plossl and the 2X Barlow to 106X got me (I think) my first ever view of the Great Red Spot but with some CA, which when I backed off back to 48X was visible but not obvious and without any CA.

Stuck the scope on the Pleiades for 5 minutes or so at the end and have a really stunning view.  Absolutely beautiful and in prime position.  Definitely one to go for again, the 70ED is absolutely razor-sharp on it.  'Diamonds on velvet' or so the cliché goes.

[Ed in UK]

I understand that tonight there was a GRS Transist this evening and tried to see it.

Managed to get Jupiter in the 25mm EP (x36) all good, then onto 8mm EP (x112) then x2 Barlow on 8mm EP (x225). Felt something drop off scope into my hand, it was the retaining screw for the knob on the end of the RA flexi controller.

All fixed, and clouded over. 🙄

Managed to get Jupiter again later down to 8mm with x2 Barlow. Couldn't achieve good focus but saw Jupiter much bigger than before. Clouded over by 7pm so called ita day.

[PeterC65]

On 10/12/2023 at 09:34, johnturley said:

The two saddles are out of alignment in azimuth by 1.2 degrees and there's no adjustment for that so I'll need to give it some thought in daylight.

That's what I found when I mounted both my Tak 100 DZ and ES 127 Refractors on this mount, there is fine adjustment in altitude not not in azimuth, please let me know if you come up with a solution.

The two saddles were converging so today I have set up in daylight, centred the 200PDS mounted on the primary saddle at a distant object and checked the 72mm refractor mounted on the secondary saddle. It was out by 1.2 degrees like I had noticed at night, so I've used a feeler gauge as a shim between the saddle and the dovetail and with 0.5mm of shim the two saddles are aligned.

Searching around for something that is 0.5mm thick I've settled on a piece of my wife's drawing paper and glued that to the inside face of the saddle. It has fixed the azimuth offset, at least for the 72mm refractor. I think good paper should be OK as the dovetail bar has a centre part so the pressure is distributed, and anyway, most of the clamp pressure is on the edges of the dovetail. A metal shim would be better.

[Franklin]

25 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

The two saddles were converging

Get something like this.

 

[PeterC65]

1 hour ago, Franklin said:

Get something like this.

 

The paper shim is considerably less expensive!

[Whistlin Bob]

Nice early doors session tonight. Sky was nice and clear at 6pm, and it wasn't too cold either!!!

Out came the big dob for the first time at home since September, and got straight onto Jupiter. Lots of stunning detail; lost count of bands, with detail in the bands clearly seen. Awesome. Tried my binoviewers, but tonight the best view was with Celestron X-Cel 7.

Next I went wide on the Pleiades with 30mm (50x with coma corrector) - gorgeous view; diamonds on a shimmering granular sheet of nebulosity. Blue and orange star colours readily seen. Lovely.

M31/2/110 very detailed views, 110 just about there with direct vision. Dark lanes quite nice and prominent

NGC7129 and environs. I went for this one because I had the imaging rig working on it, and it's always good to see what they look like in real life. A couple of pretty little clusters popped into the eyepiece; no nebulosity seen. The highlight of this view was the hop across from Alderamin: lots of lovely little clusters and asterisms. Definitely a neglected part of Cepheus for me.

Almach. Gold and white and gorgeous.

And then it clouded over, but a really nice few hours 😃

Edited December 11, 2023 by Whistlin Bob
Too many typos!

[Whistlin Bob]

6 hours ago, Franklin said:

Get something like this.

Don't want to wander off topic, but could you post a link to this? I've a dual rig and it could come in handy...

[Stu1smartcookie]

The First light of my "new" Lyra 102 , which unfortunately didnt really go to plan . Firstly i was late setting up , so i was rushing to catch the window of clear sky . Polar alignment was a joke ( although not funny ), plus i forgot to align the finder with the scope zzz  and a real schoolboy error was when i didnt extend the tripod enough to compensate for the length of the scope . I did see a few objects though and was suitably impressed how sharp the stars were . This scope was made for planetary and luna and the next time i am rewarded with a clear sky , there will be NO rushing around . Lesson learnt ....AGAIN !!!

Edited December 12, 2023 by Stu1smartcookie

[Mr Spock]

1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

The First light of my "new" Lyra 102 ,

Is that f11? Nice looking scope.

[Stu1smartcookie]

4 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Is that f11? Nice looking scope.

Hi Michael , Yes F11 ... the focuser is absolutely superb on it ( moonlite) .. I did once have a Red Starwave F11 and stupidly sold it , so i was more than delighted to be able to buy this one . 

[Saganite]

1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

The First light of my "new" Lyra 102 , which unfortunately didnt really go to plan . Firstly i was late setting up , so i was rushing to catch the window of clear sky . Polar alignment was a joke ( although not funny ), plus i forgot to align the finder with the scope zzz  and a real schoolboy error was when i didnt extend the tripod enough to compensate for the length of the scope . I did see a few objects though and was suitably impressed how sharp the stars were . This scope was made for planetary and luna and the next time i am rewarded with a clear sky , there will be NO rushing around . Lesson learnt ....AGAIN !!!

Beautiful telescope Stu, you will be delighted with it.  I had a Starwave f11 several years ago and it was excellent on Planetary and double stars.

[Stu1smartcookie]

Its a real looker for sure ...  Its crazy sometimes where this hobby takes us , i was sure i wanted smaller scopes but i always gravitate to the more traditional larger ones . Something very satisfying looking through a scope like this . 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Went out for about 45 minutes this evening.  Air completely still, although clouds to the North - but South and West were fairly clear.  Got a quick look at Jupiter but spent most of my time on the Pleiades.  One of those short sessions where the longer you look, the better it gets and the more you see.  Turned to M42 (as ever) and with averted vision had a wonderful view of the whole shape of the nebula, with the 'wings' covering most of the FOV at 42X and a good view of four trapezium stars.  At 21X a great wide-field of the general area around M42 as well.

I think I get refractors now...

Edited December 12, 2023 by GrumpiusMaximus

[John]

Quite clear here at the moment. Seeing still a little "iffy" though. Some nice views of Saturn and Neptune despite this. Hopefully things will settle down later by the time Jupiter comes into my view.

 

 

[Zermelo]

Further South, the forecast is for a couple of hours early evening, but cloudy at the moment.

[Stu1smartcookie]

Damp dreary drizzly = disappointment. Zzzz

[Mr Spock]

Just put the 4" out to cool. Initially Jupiter looks mushy.

[andrew63]

It's a lovely clear night here - out looking for Geminids. Nothing seen in the last hour, hoping things improve as the radiant rises.

[Astronomist]

Cloudy here at the moment, but last night the seeing was excellent, with quite a few meteors.

[John]

56 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Just put the 4" out to cool. Initially Jupiter looks mushy.

While it's not the best I've seen it, Jupiter from here seems better than the last two occasions that I've tried to observe it. Quite a number of cloud belts showing and some structure to the main pair of equatorial ones.

150x seems quite good with the ED120.

[Nigella Bryant]

Had a nice solar session earlier on this afternoon. Two large tree prominence on the south Eastern and North Eastern quadrant. Counted 28 filaments, mostly small but a few longer broken filaments. C1.9 flare from AR3519. Several active regions in both Calcium II k and hydrogen alpha. 

[cloudsweeper]

Out early - 4.45pm.  Jupiter + 4, low, east; Saturn + 1, low, south. 

The AR102S achromat showed CA at x75 in a Hyperion with Jupiter, but not with the dimmer Saturn.  At x50, very little.  At x100 with the TV Radian, the CA was not so pronounced, despite the greater mag.  Was that due to the EP??

Doug.