What did you see tonight?

[SuburbanMak]

Sparkly things in the sky naked eye! 
‘scope out to cool. 

[John]

Uranus, 7 Tauri and a few other bits and pieces with the 12 inch dob so far. 

I'll have a break for a society zoom meeting then hopefully get back out again

 

[Saganite]

The seeing is pretty decent at the moment, and with the Moon gone, I just had a fair view of The Crab, so lots of fuzzy hunting tonight I think.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Saganite

[Mr Spock]

Having a great doubles session in Andromeda shortly stretching into Pisces. Report to follow later when I've done.

Seeing is pretty good. In the 102mm at x220 Σ61 is like a mini Castor! Nice airy disc with a single faint diffraction ring. No wobbles!

[mdstuart]

Just had a look at two Markarian galaxies. I have a thing for them at the moment.

I tracked down Markarian 119. Very small and faint even in my 20 inch dob. Markarian 81 in Lynx was a bit easy to spot.

Some Cirrus now but hoping it might clear.

Here is a pic of Markarian 81 off the Internet. Reminds me of a faint andromeda galaxy.

 

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

Local Astro Society had outreach tonight and the sky was very clear at 6.30. Unfortunately by 8.00 the whole sky went milky and we could only just see Orion.

Gave up at 8.15 although we did manage to see the comet c/2019 L3 atlas at about 7.30.

[JDF]

Got another half hour with Bins tonight before cloud came back in, new Amazon basics tripod and trigger head arrived today so got 10x50's mounted up for first time. To be able to spend 15mins just staring at M45 in wide view is something to behold. Mak 127 probably won't be out until the moon is back 🙂

Not sure if anyone else seen this tonight but some meteorite activity for naked eye this evening, one streaked from North to South and the other East to West.

[Mr Spock]

Crabtastic! Picked up the crab nebula in the 102mm. Only a faint smudge, but I bagged it 

[John]

3 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Crabtastic! Picked up the crab nebula in the 102mm. Only a faint smudge, but I bagged it 

Great stuff !

Such a famous object but so hard to see much of it with a scope

[Mr Spock]

Wait till I get the 300 on it!

Oops, spoiler alert 😜

[Mr Spock]

I should add the 102mm with the 42mm LVW gave a spectacular view of the Pleiades. What a sight!

[jock1958]

1 hour ago, Mr Spock said:

Crabtastic! Picked up the crab nebula in the 102mm. Only a faint smudge, but I bagged it 

I found it very faint through my FC-100DL so popped in a UHC filter and that made all the difference! 

[Saganite]

I have picked out the Leo Galaxies M65 and M66 and M95 and M96 but with averted vision mostly.  I also got M81 in Ursa Major but not  M82.  The sky has been darker, because these Galaxies usually stand out well from my garden. I have certainly seen them better, before tonight, with the Dob.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Saganite

[Kon]

ISS before dinner, M42, Rosette, beehive cluster, Owl and the accompanying M108. Some light clouds kept creeping. A few open clusters as well.

[cajen2]

I was out with the intention of upping my splitting doubles bag (previously standing at two!😆). Orion looked splendid tonight at first and there are a lot of doubles, trebles, etc so I went there.

So, list of successes, all with a Pentax XW 14mm (x54) or 5mm (x150). Seeing was pretty good at first.

Easy: Theta 2 Or., Struve 761, 745 and 747

Mixed difficulty: Sigma O. (all four stars), Hatsya (three stars)

Difficult (but done before): Alnitak.

So that's six new multiple systems for me. I'm well chuffed, even if many of you experienced types have hundreds, no doubt!😄

[PeterStudz]

I was in the middle of finishing off a batch of marmalade so not the best evening for me to any observing. But when I popped out and looked at the sky it was exceedingly clear for my light polluted Southampton ski. Typical!

So I took my Skywatcher 200p Dob out and left it to cool. Going in and out in order to check my marmalade setting point didn’t give me quality time at the eyepiece and wasn’t great for dark adaption. However, I got some of the best views of the Orion Nebula that I’ve had from my back garden. Transparency was very good. I also managed to see Regal B without much effort, although I’ve not really tried before. I haven’t been that interested in splitting doubles but maybe there’s something in it after all. It was somewhat captivating. 

[Zermelo]

It seemed very clear here tonight. I was testing my eyes on the fainter stars in UMa and got down to 5.5 (and my eyes aren't the best).

Some favourites: Rosette, Crab, M81/82/51/31/33. And a first time Messier, M48 in Hydra.  I almost convinced myself on M74, but probably not.
Also looked out w Orionis after it being mentioned previously - that must be the reddest star I've seen.

[SuburbanMak]

I could only get out mid-evening for an hour & seeing was yet to settle down - not bad, around 3/5, but too wobbly for close doubles and with a  slightly milky quality that seemed to amplify localised light pollution to North and West, opted for a quick GoTo  tour of a few clusters with Mak 127 & Baader Hyperion 8-24 Zoom & 24mm fixed. 
 

Enjoyed M35 - sparkling diamond dust at the foot of Gemini. 
NGC 2264 - Christmas tree cluster. Lovely field at around 100x. No sign of Cone  Neb

NGC 2392 - Eskimo Neb, nope, needs a proper look from  a dark site. 
 

NGC 2169 - the “37” cluster. A smaller target than I remembered & the numbers mirror image in the Mak but still very Douglas Adams. 
 

M42/M43, NGC: 1973, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1990. - Long tour of Orion Neb, belt & sword areas - looking stunning. 
 

Swung to tour NGC 869/884 The Double Cluster, NGC457 The Owl & NGC7789 Caroline’s Rose - the first two not at their best in the LP, Caroline’s delicate rose undetectable. Really do only have S & E usable from the garden.  
 

Nice session revisiting some faves from last winter & might get a few hours Saturday, fingers crossed…

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by SuburbanMak

[Davesellars]

The transparency last night was the best I've seen it this year - truly excellent.   I wasn't feeling 100% though so instead of the dob I opted to take the 120ST with a BCO 10mm and 32mm (as my finder) in my pocket out on to park next to me where I wouldn't be impeded by a streetlight to attempt NGC 1788 - a reflection nebula in Orion. .  Unfortunately I didn't take out my iPad for SkySafari reference and ended up looking a little bit too low.  It was one of those time where I should have taken out my S&T pocket atlas!   Anyway, M42 looked superb with the 10mm and the running man was also easily visible.  M31 (just visible naked eye) really showed a good area of dust in the 32mm and almost filled out the 10mm.

I switched to binoculars for an easier tour around without any real targets in mind.  I revisted M31 and then on to  M33 which rather unexpectedly showed a patch of light but no detail.  The milky way was easily visible naked eye last night and could followed from Gemini through to Cassiopeia.  The double cluster was stunning and just above that the area around the Heart & Soul nebula really showed extensive structure and a kind of density to it with the bins although difficult to say if I was seeing any nebulosity against the background of the milky way.  Plieades was obviously a great view but could not discern any nebulosity.

 

[Jem7]

(28-01-22)  M1 took some finding! After much back and forth from the house checking stellarium I knew I was looking in the right place. For almost an hour I was unsure if I could detect a faint smudge using averted vision or not. At midnight the sky just seemed to pop, or else my eyes were now fully dark adapted but almost like flicking a switch way more faint stars were observable at the eyepiece and a faint elongated patch of light appeared, but still much better using averted vision.

They say M1 is the hardest of Messier's first catalogued objects to observe. I will not argue with that. Not an object I can observe in a 70mm ETX with any real detail but rather just acknowledge its existence and to know I have seen it. Moon was not in the sky and skies were dark. During my time observing the object slowly drifted from a SW aspect to more of a W aspect and was reasonably high in the sky. For me observing became easier and M1 was much easier to see as it drifted to the west. Very pleased to have got my first  glimpse of M1 with my little 70mm scope.  I was using the supplied 25mm eyepiece.

[Stu1smartcookie]

Although it was clear all evening i elected to get out early and have a "scan the skies " session with my newly acquired SW ED80 . Mainly to test the difference between the stock focuser and a baader steeltrack . Using a 36mm Baader EP i hit the usual winter targets . My mount was an Omegon AZ-baby ( weight limit 4kgs - which i exceeded ) on a skywatcher ally tripod . 

Obviously the Orion Neb screamed out for more magnification but even in the 36mm it was , as usual , a lovely sight . Plaides , Hyades , doubles ... and andromeda which was a very small smudge and very high up . Its just nice to be able to actually see some clear skies isn't it ?

Stu

[F15Rules]

That's a great spot with such a small aperture, congratulations!👍

Dave

[Mark at Beaufort]

After the frustration of the outreach event I came home to a totally clear and transparent sky. Unfortunately my 12" Dob , star maps and eyepieces were all in the car.

Anyway I grab my 130P Heritage and the SvBony 10-30 zoom (on PST) and had an hour session. First up the comet c/2019 L3 (Atlas) which was a  faint smudge. Then I had a tour around M1, M44, M67 M35 + NGC 2158, NGC2244(no nebula filters in car), M38, M36,M37, M81, M82, NGC7789 and finally M33.

It was surprising that my 5" Newt was showing more detail than my 12" Dob a few hours before so at least the observing night ended in a high.

[jock1958]

1 hour ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

After the frustration of the outreach event I came home to a totally clear and transparent sky. Unfortunately my 12" Dob , star maps and eyepieces were all in the car.

Anyway I grab my 130P Heritage and the SvBony 10-30 zoom (on PST) and had an hour session. First up the comet c/2019 L3 (Atlas) which was a  faint smudge. Then I had a tour around M1, M44, M67 M35 + NGC 2158, NGC2244(no nebula filters in car), M38, M36,M37, M81, M82, NGC7789 and finally M33.

It was surprising that my 5" Newt was showing more detail than my 12" Dob a few hours before so at least the observing night ended in a high.

Congratulations on seeing M33, I tried again last night for the umpteenth time with my 4” Tak & 31mm Nagler but not even a hint of a smudge!
Maybe because it’s a face on galaxy, my bortle 5 skies and relative small aperture are my problem 🤔

I have similar issues with M51, the best I’ve seen is what looks like a pair of very small cats eyes with hints of nebulosity.
Looks like Ive reached the limitations of what I’ve got and I’ll have to invest in a light bucket 😩
 

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by jock1958

[Mark at Beaufort]

1 hour ago, jock1958 said:

Congratulations on seeing M33, I tried again last night for the umpteenth time with my 4” Tak & 31mm Nagler but not even a hint of a smudge!
Maybe because it’s a face on galaxy, my bortle 5 skies and relative small aperture are my problem 🤔

I have similar issues with M51, the best I’ve seen is what looks like a pair of very small cats eyes with hints of nebulosity.
Looks like Ive reached the limitations of what I’ve got and I’ll have to invest in a light bucket 😩
 

 

Jock my home sky is 20.29 which is bortle 5 and I can see M33 in my 15x70 binos. So your lovely Tak + the 31mm Nagler should detect it.

I am sure giving a good transparency you will get it.