What did you see tonight?

[Franklin]

8 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

5 moons.

? Me to, out with the SD81S but I could only see the 4 moons, one just coming out from the back of Jupiter, presumably Io. SSW5mm and Baader Neodymium filter, eq bands very clear. Too light for Saturn but the Moon last night was showing amazing detail along the terminator and Clavius was awesome, even gave the SLV2.5mm a spin and the view held up just fine (x250 in the SD81S), great seeing here for a change.

[LaurenceT]

9 minutes ago, Franklin said:

? Me to, out with the SD81S but I could only see the 4 moons, one just coming out from the back of Jupiter, presumably Io. SSW5mm and Baader Neodymium filter, eq bands very clear. Too light for Saturn but the Moon last night was showing amazing detail along the terminator and Clavius was awesome, even gave the SLV2.5mm a spin and the view held up just fine (x250 in the SD81S), great seeing here for a change.

Actually, thinking back I only saw 4 moons so I'll edit my post!

[Franklin]

1 minute ago, LaurenceT said:

Actually, thinking back I only saw 4 moons so I'll edit my post!

You may have been seeing a background star? If you pump up the magnification the 4 Galilean moons show very tiny discs themselves. Some of the guys on here can tell which moon is which by the difference in size of the discs, which I think is remarkable. Great observing skills and obviously fantastic optics.

[Mr Spock]

Be mindful that with small apertures moon discs look a lot like Airy discs 

[Astro_Dad]

23 hours ago, Mircea said:

for a closer view I use a TS UWA 7mm for 171x

Thanks @Mircea, yes a well recommended eyepiece and equivalent to the OVL Nirvana? I’ve read these work well in fast f/4.7 ‘scopes - good to have some more real world feedback !

Andrew

Edited July 10, 2022 by Astro_Dad

[markse68]

Had some nice views of 4 planets last night with the Tal 200k  Saturn was crisp and sharp and I could see 4 moons clearly- Tethys, Dione and Rhea arranged in an arrow head pointing to Titan. I was fooled into thinking i could see Lapetus beyond Titan but on checking it was too dim and it was a background star. Cassini division very clear.

Jupiter was beautiful too although no GRS or transits- clear bands and 4 moons visible.

Mars started as a multicoloured blob but got clearer as it rose. By about 3:30 it was sharp though tiny. Surface variations could just about be made out but couldn’t really discern an ice cap. Clearly not round

Venus was like a horizontal traffic light at first but rose enough to just about make out it’s gibbous form by the time our local star appeared.

I’ve missed the planets- it was a long satisfying night

Mark

[LaurenceT]

37 minutes ago, markse68 said:

Had some nice views of 4 planets last night with the Tal 200k  Saturn was crisp and sharp and I could see 4 moons clearly- Tethys, Dione and Rhea arranged in an arrow head pointing to Titan. I was fooled into thinking i could see Lapetus beyond Titan but on checking it was too dim and it was a background star. Cassini division very clear.

Jupiter was beautiful too although no GRS or transits- clear bands and 4 moons visible.

Mars started as a multicoloured blob but got clearer as it rose. By about 3:30 it was sharp though tiny. Surface variations could just about be made out but couldn’t really discern an ice cap. Clearly not round

Venus was like a horizontal traffic light at first but rose enough to just about make out it’s gibbous form by the time our local star appeared.

I’ve missed the planets- it was a long satisfying night

Mark

Lovely description, about what time was your observation?

[markse68]

Just now, LaurenceT said:

Lovely description, about what time was your observation?

Hi Laurence, I was imaging with my other scope so it was a long night- started at about 11 and finished about 4:30 😳 but I think long warm summer nights are best spent observing the planets  

Mark

[Mr Spock]

Have the 102mm out now looking at the sun. At x118 the two massive sunspot groups (plus lots of smaller ones) have amazing detail when the seeing steadies for a moment. 

[PeterStudz]

17 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Have the 102mm out now looking at the sun. At x118 the two massive sunspot groups (plus lots of smaller ones) have amazing detail when the seeing steadies for a moment. 

I agree. I’ve been looking at the sun too at around x100 in the Dob and those two massive groups are beautiful. Normally by mid-day things turn a bit pear shaped seeing ways but it still looks good!

[wulfrun]

Having not been out "in anger" for quite a while (the weather, obviously!), I had the little Heritage Virtuoso out last night, with low expectations. Surprising it was really clear and reasonably steady. I'd been looking at the moon in the late afternoon and left the scope out in hope.

I spent most of my time looking at clusters, including the double clusters, summer beehive, cooling tower and lastly the owl/ET. All of them looking mighty fine, just using either a 16mm or 9mm all night.

I tried for the ring nebula but failed to spot it, oddly since I have (just about) seen it before despite the small 114mm aperture. Finished up on Andromeda galaxy, just a smudge but nice to see, before a cloud-enforced retreat about 12.45am.

Didn't see anything not-before-seen but after so long since decent skies I was more than satisfied!

[markse68]

Well that’s embarrassing- just checked skysafari and there was GRS and Io transit last night- I didn’t notice! Thinking back there were only 3 moons visible when Jupiter was first high enough to be out of the unsteady seeing and when i was packing up there were 4 so I think i must have missed the shadow, and GRS was close to the limb and didn’t really stand out. Shame to have missed them though

Mark

[Franklin]

3 hours ago, markse68 said:

so I think i must have missed the shadow,

The shadow must have been in front of the transit this time round and thinking about it, being West of the Sun, it would be. I observed Jove around 3.30ish and Io had just left the disc and was visible. Because I could see no shadow I assumed, wrongly, that Io was in egress and if I'd not been so lazy and had got out of bed when my alarm actually went off at 2.00am I would have seen the shadow transit of Io. Doh.... Great seeing though, detail looked etched.

[Astro_Dad]

Continuing my challenge of observing and capturing the monthly lunar targets highlighted in S@N, this time Kepler. 

This ray crater optimally played 9-10th July. Last night the seeing was good enough to observe it properly, but on the image hard to really make out Kepler B and F. Kepler A shown (I think - always find it a challenge he to not only compare the reference photo to my own image along with the associated mental gymnastics of working out image orientation).

For this session I used the 102mm Maksutov on equatorial mount, 25mm Plossl. 

Packed up at 23.45 ish - starting to be eaten alive by midges etc!

Edited July 13, 2022 by Astro_Dad

[StephenRh]

A nice clear night and despite Mr Moon being in the wrong place (again) got a good view (first time) of M13 aka Hercules Great Globular Cluster.

[scotty1]

Quite warm for sleeping 27C in bedroom, so had a check for NLCs, but nothing about. 

ISS came over about 02.20,  Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Capella, and in the west Arcturus was on show from the garden.   

Jupiter + Mars 

Edited July 13, 2022 by scotty1

[Astro_Dad]

Impromptu binocular (10x50s) session last night - enjoyed the moon a day before full. Swirling dynamic clouds of various shades reflecting the moonlight low in the South created an almost artistic impression with the moon appearing and disappearing from view.  Photo did not do justice. Mesmerising and a welcome contrast to recent detailed crater observation! Hopefully tonight will be similar. 

[Astro_Dad]

Only one target tonight - the moon at perigee - impressive but not as much as last night from my vantage point. Last night was able to view much lower on the horizon, providing a more dramatic illusion of size and brightness, and clouds not adding to the overall spectacle today. Still a treat through binoculars though, and the Heritage 150p for a closer view. 

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Astro_Dad

[scotty1]

The good news... we have a power cut! 

The bad news... power is scheduled to come back on at 23.00  

Power is back on already 💤

Edited July 14, 2022 by scotty1

[Astro_Dad]

A good clear night last night but the moon and general lack of darkness certainly made things harder. Several of my DSO targets around the Summer Triangle were fairly washed out. 

I was out with the 10” Dob.

Cygnus the Swan was particularly prominent so I went straight for the “head” for a nice easy opener in Albireo.

I’m generally aiming to increase my Messier count whilst frequently going back to well known targets, so this time I headed for new to me target M29, an open cluster close to Sadr in Cygnus. Given the visibility of Sadr this was an easy find (48x power using my 25mm X-Cel) - an interesting sprinkling of stars with six or so brighter ones forming two lines that splay outwards, with a central trapezoid shape quite evident. I can see how this is sometimes likened to a “cooling tower” shape. This will be one to go back to next time. 
 

I then turned to the StarSense to quickly find more objects. M57 and M27 planetary nebulae were located quickly and although helped by using an OIII filter did not pop with the contrast I recall last time, battling against the light. 

I was hoping to catch comet C/2017 K2 as ought to have been easy given it’s close proximity to M10, but despite a reasonably thorough search couldn’t pick out with my eyes - M10 was quite faint and getting into the early hours I’d probably left it too late. Will try this again!

Then a quick look at globular M14 (which presented as a fairly amorphous fuzzy patch ) rounded off my DSO attempts. 

On to planets and Saturn at this point (3am BST) was shining brightly up in the South, NW of the moon. I took in some excellent crisp views of the planet - the first in my new 10”- looking particularly sharp and well defined in the 8mm BST. I could clearly see one moon to the NW of the planet, later identified as Rhea.
I took a few video clips to have a go at stacking a few frames later - will be experimental! 
 

 

Then Jupiter - not as “contrasty” as it can be and I didn’t stay long here, but the two main belts were clear. The most interesting aspect for me was the arrangement of the four visible moons, forming two pairs positioned either side of the planet. Callisto and Ganymede to the SE, Io and Europa to the NW. 

4am finish!

 

[cajen2]

I'm on a short break in Sennen, by Land's End, so brought my Heritage Flextube 6" dob - no room for the 8" in my little van! I was really looking forward to viewing in really dark skies. But the missus could only get this half week off and of course the moon is just past full. So I got out at 1am but dark skies? Hardly - the moon was washing out everything except the brightest targets and there was quite a lot of wispy high cloud and haze.  Still, I got reasonable views of Jupiter and Saturn. The images were very small since my highest mag EP was 6mm (125x) and of course I'd forgotten my Barlow.

My clearest view was with my new Morpheus 9mil - first light with this. Only 83x mag so not much detail to be seen on either planet but beautiful views nonetheless. All four larger Jovian moons in sight - one right next to the planet. Nice separation of Saturn's rings plus what I assume was Titan. I just wish I could have Barlowed the Morph down to 4.5.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, cajen2 said:

I'm on a short break in Sennen, by Land's End, so brought my Heritage Flextube 6" dob - no room for the 8" in my little van! I was really looking forward to viewing in really dark skies. But the missus could only get this half week off and of course the moon is just past full. So I got out at 1am but dark skies? Hardly - the moon was washing out everything except the brightest targets and there was quite a lot of wispy high cloud and haze.  Still, I got reasonable views of Jupiter and Saturn. The images were very small since my highest mag EP was 6mm (125x) and of course I'd forgotten my Barlow.

My clearest view was with my new Morpheus 9mil - first light with this. Only 83x mag so not much detail to be seen on either planet but beautiful views nonetheless. All four larger Jovian moons in sight - one right next to the planet. Nice separation of Saturn's rings plus what I assume was Titan. I just wish I could have Barlowed the Morph down to 4.5.

 

That's exactly what it was like here last weekend.  The moon was so bright i was making shadows and I didn't really even need my red light.

[badhex]

Had a go at C/2017 K2 Panstarrs the other night unfortunately to no avail, but did have more luck with Jupiter (no surprise there!). 

Wordy version here:

 

[Ags]

It was a surprisingly dark night, with Achird easily visible to my unaided eyes. In my C6 the pair seemed yellow and orange, matching the spectral classes of G and K.

I noticed in a book today that Alphirk in Cepheus is a double so had a look. The companion seemed greenish somehow.

Delta Cephei is one of my favorites, yellow and blue like Albireo but more balanced. After admiring these two, I switched to 61 Cygni, which is always a struggle to find. The 2 ancient stars (10 billion years old) are separated by about 84 AU.

No summer night is complete without a good look at Lyra, so I took in M57, and the doubles Beta, Zeta and Epsilon. I finally had a patch of clear seeing with all components of Epsilon surrounded by their diffraction rings and separated by black sky.

Aside from Alphirk, I stuck to familiar old targets, why stress 😀

[LaurenceT]

The ISS passing over Camberley at about 23.30 with the naked eye. Never seen it before in the UK, once before in Florida about 10 years ago.