What did you see tonight?

[Mr Spock]

Just had a great solar session. With the 102mm and x179, when moments of steady seeing came, the largest of two spots showed much radial structure in its penumbra. 

[PeterC65]

A session with the Photoline 72 APO this evening (a widefield scope with a 432mm focal length), partly because I’d had a session with the MAK earlier this week and partly to check I could still achieve focus with the second filter wheel that I’ve just installed (I can, just).

I aligned the AZ GOTO with Aldebaran and Procyon again since they worked out so well last time. Initially everything went haywire until I realised that I’d entered 5022 as the year!

M42 – good view with the ES 6.7mm and the UHC filter, and with the Binoviewer with no filter with the x2.25 Barlow and with both Barlows (x3.6), but the view is better with the MAK in all cases.

With the APO the Binoviewer needs a x2.25 Barlow to achieve focus and this means a relatively narrow field of view which defeats the object of this widefield scope. It feels like the Binoviewer may be more useful with the MAK.

SAO 132346 Alnilam et al – the three Orion Belt stars were nicely framed with the ES 24mm but I couldn’t see any nebulosity around Alnitak.

M45 – a nicely framed view of the whole group with the ES 24mm, with some nebulosity visible with the UHC filter.

IC 1805 Heart Nebula – my first attempt at this target, with the ES 24mm and the UHC filter I could clearly see some nebulosity around the central star cluster and around the cluster of stars forming the bottom V of the heart shape, I could just about persuade myself that there was nebulosity elsewhere, but no discernible heart shape, without the UHC filter no nebulosity could be seen.

NGC869 / NGC 884 Double Cluster – a nicely framed view with the ES 14mm, the two clusters looked like they were almost touching but still distinct, NGC869 looked the more extensive of the two.

M81 / M82 – one of my favourite targets for the APO as I can see both galaxies together with the ES 14mm, M81 was clearly an elliptical blob and M82 a line shaped smudge.

NGC 2244 Rosette Nebula – with the ES 14mm and the UHC filter I could just make out some nebulosity around the central star cluster.

NGC 2175 – with the ES 14mm and the UHC filter there was just the faintest trace of nebulosity, much less than the ball of nebulosity that I could see with the MAK a few days ago.

SAO 093955 Hyadum III (Hydes) – the ES 24mm just takes in the main group of stars plus the very bright and slightly yellow Aldebaran on the edge of Hydes, this target is way too big for the MAK.

SAO 082291 Coma Star Cluster – the ES 24mm field of view wasn’t quite enough to take in the whole of this very open star cluster, I’ve been waiting to check out the Coma Star Cluster for a while but the stars are all white and of similar brightness so not the most exciting of targets.

M101 Pinwheel Galaxy – the AZ GOTO located this correctly (I checked against Stellarium) but there was no sign of it, not a dicky bird, even with the CO 40mm and its massive 6.7mm exit pupil.

[SuburbanMak]

3 hours ago, PeterC65 said:

A session with the Photoline 72 APO this evening (a widefield scope with a 432mm focal length), partly because I’d had a session with the MAK earlier this week and partly to check I could still achieve focus with the second filter wheel that I’ve just installed (I can, just).

I aligned the AZ GOTO with Aldebaran and Procyon again since they worked out so well last time. Initially everything went haywire until I realised that I’d entered 5022 as the year!

M42 – good view with the ES 6.7mm and the UHC filter, and with the Binoviewer with no filter with the x2.25 Barlow and with both Barlows (x3.6), but the view is better with the MAK in all cases.

With the APO the Binoviewer needs a x2.25 Barlow to achieve focus and this means a relatively narrow field of view which defeats the object of this widefield scope. It feels like the Binoviewer may be more useful with the MAK.

SAO 132346 Alnilam et al – the three Orion Belt stars were nicely framed with the ES 24mm but I couldn’t see any nebulosity around Alnitak.

M45 – a nicely framed view of the whole group with the ES 24mm, with some nebulosity visible with the UHC filter.

IC 1805 Heart Nebula – my first attempt at this target, with the ES 24mm and the UHC filter I could clearly see some nebulosity around the central star cluster and around the cluster of stars forming the bottom V of the heart shape, I could just about persuade myself that there was nebulosity elsewhere, but no discernible heart shape, without the UHC filter no nebulosity could be seen.

NGC869 / NGC 884 Double Cluster – a nicely framed view with the ES 14mm, the two clusters looked like they were almost touching but still distinct, NGC869 looked the more extensive of the two.

M81 / M82 – one of my favourite targets for the APO as I can see both galaxies together with the ES 14mm, M81 was clearly an elliptical blob and M82 a line shaped smudge.

NGC 2244 Rosette Nebula – with the ES 14mm and the UHC filter I could just make out some nebulosity around the central star cluster.

NGC 2175 – with the ES 14mm and the UHC filter there was just the faintest trace of nebulosity, much less than the ball of nebulosity that I could see with the MAK a few days ago.

SAO 093955 Hyadum III (Hydes) – the ES 24mm just takes in the main group of stars plus the very bright and slightly yellow Aldebaran on the edge of Hydes, this target is way too big for the MAK.

SAO 082291 Coma Star Cluster – the ES 24mm field of view wasn’t quite enough to take in the whole of this very open star cluster, I’ve been waiting to check out the Coma Star Cluster for a while but the stars are all white and of similar brightness so not the most exciting of targets.

M101 Pinwheel Galaxy – the AZ GOTO located this correctly (I checked against Stellarium) but there was no sign of it, not a dicky bird, even with the CO 40mm and its massive 6.7mm exit pupil.

Great report on what sounds like a fab session. 

[SuburbanMak]

A moonless clear Friday night? Too good to resist… 

After a tough week all round it was a pleasure to get out with the Mak 127 tonight with both decent seeing and transparency. 
 

Started out with big Messier hunting plans but caved in to a glass (maybe 2)  of wine with dinner which ruled out the drive to my darker site & may have blunted my scientific resolve slightly. 
 

Instead I headed to the park for a Mak tour of the highlights - and it was great. 
 

Got myself oriented in Mizar/Alcor - one of my favourite star fields. Then went to M81/2 to see if galaxy hunting was on - superb view tonight with a dense core and extensive nebulosity in M81 and the cleanest definition in both the shape & dust lane I’ve yet seen in M82. 
Encouraged, I went in search of the UM Measiee galaxies but nope, I’m blaming the slight haze over the wine but hey, they’re still out there for next time. 
 

After that I looked at greatest hits- possibly the best view I’ve had of M13, diamond dust with hints of dark lanes & tendrils in averted vision, superb showing of the double cluster then some wider field views of the Owl (NGC 457), the Beehive & sweeps of the Coma cluster. 
 

Tried for the Leo Triplet but transparency & concentration were deteriorating and the frost building fast so packed up.  Magic sweep of the constellations as I trudged home to thaw the extremities with the help of a wee dram  

Mission accomplished though- feeling much enriched by this spectacular hobby. 

(note to self, never forget gloves again). 

 

 

[Mr Spock]

Supposed to be clear here but a lot of high cloud prevented any observing 

[Stu]

10 hours ago, PeterC65 said:

A session with the Photoline 72 APO this evening (a widefield scope with a 432mm focal length), partly because I’d had a session with the MAK earlier this week and partly to check I could still achieve focus with the second filter wheel that I’ve just installed (I can, just).

I aligned the AZ GOTO with Aldebaran and Procyon again since they worked out so well last time. Initially everything went haywire until I realised that I’d entered 5022 as the year!

M42 – good view with the ES 6.7mm and the UHC filter, and with the Binoviewer with no filter with the x2.25 Barlow and with both Barlows (x3.6), but the view is better with the MAK in all cases.

With the APO the Binoviewer needs a x2.25 Barlow to achieve focus and this means a relatively narrow field of view which defeats the object of this widefield scope. It feels like the Binoviewer may be more useful with the MAK.

SAO 132346 Alnilam et al – the three Orion Belt stars were nicely framed with the ES 24mm but I couldn’t see any nebulosity around Alnitak.

M45 – a nicely framed view of the whole group with the ES 24mm, with some nebulosity visible with the UHC filter.

IC 1805 Heart Nebula – my first attempt at this target, with the ES 24mm and the UHC filter I could clearly see some nebulosity around the central star cluster and around the cluster of stars forming the bottom V of the heart shape, I could just about persuade myself that there was nebulosity elsewhere, but no discernible heart shape, without the UHC filter no nebulosity could be seen.

NGC869 / NGC 884 Double Cluster – a nicely framed view with the ES 14mm, the two clusters looked like they were almost touching but still distinct, NGC869 looked the more extensive of the two.

M81 / M82 – one of my favourite targets for the APO as I can see both galaxies together with the ES 14mm, M81 was clearly an elliptical blob and M82 a line shaped smudge.

NGC 2244 Rosette Nebula – with the ES 14mm and the UHC filter I could just make out some nebulosity around the central star cluster.

NGC 2175 – with the ES 14mm and the UHC filter there was just the faintest trace of nebulosity, much less than the ball of nebulosity that I could see with the MAK a few days ago.

SAO 093955 Hyadum III (Hydes) – the ES 24mm just takes in the main group of stars plus the very bright and slightly yellow Aldebaran on the edge of Hydes, this target is way too big for the MAK.

SAO 082291 Coma Star Cluster – the ES 24mm field of view wasn’t quite enough to take in the whole of this very open star cluster, I’ve been waiting to check out the Coma Star Cluster for a while but the stars are all white and of similar brightness so not the most exciting of targets.

M101 Pinwheel Galaxy – the AZ GOTO located this correctly (I checked against Stellarium) but there was no sign of it, not a dicky bird, even with the CO 40mm and its massive 6.7mm exit pupil.

Great report Peter. Personally I think stuff like this deserves it’s own thread so it doesn’t just get lost in here, so do feel free to start new ones in the reports section 👍

[Stu]

I had a good night last night. Fairly average in terms of seeing and transparency but as others have said, a clear Friday night is not to be sniffed at!

I put the LZOS out on the AZ100 with tracking motors and combined some testing with a decent observing session.

Too much seen here to list out, I’ll post a separate report on it, but plenty of galaxies, clusters and doubles/multiples. I think my favourites were actually Beta Mon and Zeta Cancri. At times the seeing was more stable and  seeing these as beautiful airy disks, each with a stable diffraction ring was a lovely sight. I spent quite a while just gawping at them. In general, the views were not stunning due to the transparency but it’s the best session I’ve had with this scope, and the tracking system was a joy to use.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Herefordshire Astro Society had an observing session last evening at its new site. We were using 2 - 12" Dobs to show a large assortment of objects. Too many objects to list which included a nice view of Uranus.

 

[Stardaze]

Transparency seems poor tonight but the real killer is the wind here. I’ve popped in for a brew and we’ll see whether it calms down a little later. 

[Pixies]

Wind OK here despite forecast. All clear but transparency doesn't look great. Going to do my fist attempt at the CFRE dark sky survey tonight while waiting for scope to cool.

[Zermelo]

The transparency and seeing are about the same here as last night, I think. I could just see all seven in the little dipper, but not as clearly as I have done.

The 6" F/5 gave some nice wide field views of M35 and M44 in the 16mm Nirvana; I've found this eyepiece to be excellent for contrast and colour rendition on open clusters.

I revisited Tegmine, Iota Cassiopeia, Sigma Orionis and my new favourite, 12 Lyncis. The reflector isn't as good as the Skymax 127 on the closest doubles, but it does well on multiple stars where there are very faint companions, especially when used with an eyepiece that gives little scatter, like the BCO 10mm or ES 6.7mm. Tonight, I could see four components in Sigma Orionis, but failed to split 32 Orionis.

I added some new doubles: Σ495, Σ450, Σ422, Σ394, Σ745, but then the wind really did get up, and the 150 was too wobbly to carry on.

Before I came in, I remembered to do the CPRE star count: thirteen stars seen within the corners of Orion.

[Davesellars]

Bit windy...  but clear and the transparency was really quite good!  Got in a 2 hour session (first light) with my Starfield 102 ED f/7 which arrived today!  Did a whistle-stop tour of Messiers - report to come!

[Stu1smartcookie]

Does anyone else have a feeling of guilt when on a clear evening one doesn’t go outside and set up ? I’ve got that tonight and actually trying to justify it by acknowledging  the wind being a bit strong ! Clear nights are at a premium … luckily I will definitely be out tomorrow night ! Promise 

Edited February 26, 2022 by Stu1smartcookie

[Captain Scarlet]

52 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Does anyone else have a feeling of guilt when on a clear evening one doesn’t go outside and set up ? I’ve got that tonight and actually trying to justify it by acknowledging  the wind being a bit strong ! Clear nights are at a premium … luckily I will definitely be out tomorrow night ! Promise 

Oh yes. Especially after a long break from observing, getting set up seems like such a huge effort. But if you set up say the day before, you realize it isn’t so much faff after all.

M

[Pixies]

Went out and let my eyes dark adapt while I set up the dob, collimated it, etc. Once I was ready I looked up and Orion was behind a tree! 🙄 Tomorrow I'll get set up a little earlier! To be honest, I'd been round a friend's all afternoon watching the rugby and had had a few beers!

Pointed the scope at Theta Aurigae and couldn't split the little secondary - so seeing wasn't great here. I sat down in the camping chair and proceeded to do a tour of some binocular targets, including a few I hadn't tried before.

M44 - Beehive cluster. Always nice in binos

M67 - little globular in Cancer. Just a fait circular blob.

M48 - nearby open cluster ticked-off, but not impressive in binos.

NGC 2264 - the Christmas Tree cluster. This is a great little binocular target - the upside-down star pattern of a tree as clear as anything. I dropped further south down to...

NGC 2244 - the Rosette cluster. Easily seen as a small patch of stars. Now - could I see the surrounding nebula? I thought I could make out a circular area around the cluster, slightly brighter than the background and taking up an area less dense of stars. It was probably my imagination - knowing where it should be, fooling my brain into seeing something. Can one see anything of the Rosette nebula in 10x50 binos with no filters?

M53 - globular cluster a faint blob

M3 - larger and less faint blob

M94 - small and faint galaxy but definitely there.

M51 - Whirlpool galaxy. Small and faint with averted vision. Knowing exactly where it is helps locate it.

M81 and M82 - an easy bino target.

At this point I was tired and it was getting cold. I decided to forego any observing with the dob now, and packed things away.

[SuburbanMak]

Out with the ST80 / 31mm Hyperion Aspehric enjoying some widefield wonders and just seen a super yellowish fireball tracking South from the Zenith, through Leo for about 40 degrees. 

[Davesellars]

After a decent break had another couple of hours out from after midnight.  After an abysmal February due to bad weather tonight has almost made up for it...

[Mr Spock]

Nice and clear at the moment. Very wobbly seeing though. This is the best I could do. Nikon D500, Starfield 102mm, LVW 17mm eyepiece projection through a Baader continuum.
A couple of nice spots with lots of smaller ones and some faculae,

 

[Kon]

Last night I had a quick session on pleiades, M42 showing some nice nebulosity, Rosette with the OIII filter, Christmas cluster, a few Leo galaxies (mostly the same as previous reports). I was up at 5am to image ISS and I also managed to see Venus, Mars and the crescent moon (eyes only, it was too low for the Dob) and a gorgeous sunrise. I think the last few nights we have been spoiled with clear skies (despite the awful transparency at least where I am) on moonless nights. I think i need an early night tonight 😴.

[Mr Spock]

Ready to go. Big lad is out cooling 

[Zermelo]

17 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Ready to go. Big lad is out cooling 

I obviously need to move to Delta Vega

[Mr Spock]

Clear blue sky all around here 👍

[Davesellars]

Here too, looking amazingly clear here with a deep blue sky should be fantastic transparency.  I've been out all day but will try to get a good rest and hopefully it will be still like this around 10ish to get the dob out.

[Kon]

You lot are not helping. I am supposed to have an early night and yes the sky does look really good again 🥱

 

[Mr Spock]

Decent night with the 12". Lots of clusters and a few doubles. And the pup - always good to see the pup.