What did you see tonight?

[Pixies]

41 minutes ago, Xgaze said:

First view of Mars at 5:30am this morning.
Was a little underwhelmed, I have to say! but the seeing was pretty bad so much wobble. Although, I was just about able to make out the dark shape in the middle of Mars. 
Jupiter was okay, I kept swithing between the two. My eyes adjusted and seemed to improve a little more of the blured detail on Mars. 
Still quite pleased as it was my first view of the red planet. Looking forwards to December when it's closest!
I wonder if it's worth saving for a 5mm EP? currently using an 8mm BST. What do people think?

Thanks,

T

What scope  do you have?

[Xgaze]

32 minutes ago, Pixies said:

What scope  do you have?

Skywatcher Heritage 150p Dob.

 

[Pixies]

51 minutes ago, Xgaze said:

Skywatcher Heritage 150p Dob.

 

A 5mm will give you x150. That'll be fine with the gas giants. If you have a Barlow, the 8mm will go down to x190-ish.

[Xgaze]

13 minutes ago, Pixies said:

A 5mm will give you x150. That'll be fine with the gas giants. If you have a Barlow, the 8mm will go down to x190-ish.

Many thanks!
I thought that a 5mm would be on the upper limit.
I do have a barlow but I always find I loose too much definition so, don't really bother with it.

[Kon]

I had an excellent session last night looking at fuzzies at my southern horizon; Milky Way was very prominent. M17, M24, M25, M8,  M20, M23, NGC6539, IC1276, M22, M28 and many more clusters. It is a shame that anything below the M8 is becoming hard to see due to atmosphere and the woods in the nearby farm. I will try write a full report tomorrow.

[Stu]

3 hours ago, Xgaze said:

First view of Mars at 5:30am this morning.
Was a little underwhelmed, I have to say! but the seeing was pretty bad so much wobble. Although, I was just about able to make out the dark shape in the middle of Mars. 
Jupiter was okay, I kept swithing between the two. My eyes adjusted and seemed to improve a little more of the blured detail on Mars. 
Still quite pleased as it was my first view of the red planet. Looking forwards to December when it's closest!
I wonder if it's worth saving for a 5mm EP? currently using an 8mm BST. What do people think?

Thanks,

T

Don’t worry too much. Mars can be a tough target and it is still a long way away. It grows in size dramatically at opposition so by far the best views will be hard then.

Your scope is quite capable of showing excellent views of it, and I would certainly recommend getting a decent high power eyepiece for it. 8mm is only x94 which is pretty low for Mars.

Looking back at this post...

.... I see I used up to x300 in my Heritage 150p with x220 preferred on a night of very good seeing at Opposition. Mars does need high power to get the best out of it. The 5mm would certainly be useful, but even the 3.2mm BST would likely be useful on Mars at opposition and for the Moon too.

The images in my post were taken with a smartphone, and show some detail, but visually through the scope the views were noticeably better, more detail visible than in the images.

[Ags]

I see clear skies, but where is the telescope??? I was busy prepping my semiregular game of Dungeons and Dragons, and forgot to put out the telescope to cool! I hope the clear skies hold, and that 1 hour is enough time for a C6 to cool!

[RobertI]

Just had a nice session of mainly DSOs and Jupiter. Good seeing tonight! More details here: 

 

[Zermelo]

The jet stream has passed off to the East now, so tonight with the Mak was a big improvement on Friday.

Although for the first hour things were very jumpy and murky, so I think there was some high level cloud coming and going. But after a while it settled down and became really very good.

Doubles included Sigma Cas, Alkurah, SAO 110099, HD16694 and HD 9817 (1.8").  The Little Dumbell was just visible, and the double cluster fitted nicely into the 24mm UFF.

But the highlights were the planets. For the first time I saw all the outer planets in one session. Saturn was not well placed above rooftops and a little unsteady, though I identified Titan, Rhea and Dione. Mars appeared late above the fence and showed atmospheric fringeing, but I did see some darker areas, and was that a white cap on the North pole? I've only seen one on the South pole before*. Uranus looked very green in the Nirvana 4mm, and Neptune distinctly blue. For the first time, I could make out an actual disc for Neptune.

Jupiter was perhaps the best, once it had risen to a decent angle and the sky had calmed. The first view was just as Io was clearing the limb, which looked impressive. When I returned later on, I could see some nice detail in the NEB/SEB, a further two bands to the South and one to the North. The BCO 10mm and Morpheus 9mm were both excellent on planets and doubles tonight, and in the end I couldn't separate them.

[EDIT:  *yes, it probably was the North polar cap, as it was quite prominent at the time I was observing:

(from https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/interactive-sky-watching-tools/mars-which-side-is-visible/#)]

 

Edited September 19, 2022 by Zermelo
Mars update

[Sunshine]

Just watched with bino's as the ISS pass over my home, it was cool.

[Kon]

Another stunning transparent night for DSOs. Andromeda and M33 (probably one of the best i have seen) both showing nice structure. A first, Blue Snowball.  Followed by the old favourite double persei, and many more. I need to catch up on full reports.

[Stu1smartcookie]

13 hours ago, Xgaze said:

I wonder if it's worth saving for a 5mm EP? currently using an 8mm BST. What do people

Dont be too hard on yourself regarding planetary viewing , there will be much better night's "seeing",  sometimes adding magnification doesn't improve things . I concur with your viewings that the planets have been underwhelming.. but it will improve . 

[countwitte]

After a couple of aborted attempts to observe from my garden with binoculars over the past couple of weeks (street lights on all sides!), I saw some patches of clear sky and headed up the hillside over looking our town.

Clouds rolled in but I had a clear view of Mars, Elnath & Aldebaran, spent some time looking at the cluster around Aldebaran and was suprised how many stars you start to pick out if you can steady the binoculars. I was particularly drawn to Theta and Sigma Tauri

[Xgaze]

22 hours ago, Stu said:

Don’t worry too much. Mars can be a tough target and it is still a long way away. It grows in size dramatically at opposition so by far the best views will be hard then.

Your scope is quite capable of showing excellent views of it, and I would certainly recommend getting a decent high power eyepiece for it. 8mm is only x94 which is pretty low for Mars.

Looking back at this post...

.... I see I used up to x300 in my Heritage 150p with x220 preferred on a night of very good seeing at Opposition. Mars does need high power to get the best out of it. The 5mm would certainly be useful, but even the 3.2mm BST would likely be useful on Mars at opposition and for the Moon too.

The images in my post were taken with a smartphone, and show some detail, but visually through the scope the views were noticeably better, more detail visible than in the images.

Many Thanks Stu!
That is both useful and encouraging!
I hadn't thought about getting a smaller EP but, it seems as you say, I could manage a 3.5 which I might go for. I'm guessing it would make a bigger diference than that between 8 - 5mm.
Best,
T

[Davesellars]

Cleared here for a while so took the opportunity with the 102ED and viewing Jupiter with the binoviewers.  Seeing was quite good - the GRS very distinct with good intense colour at 120x and really nice fine detail coming through at 180x  Cloud over again just after 1am - it's pretty cold and damp tonight.

[Ratlet]

It's wild but I don't think I really looked at the stars properly or rather I don't think I've thought about what I was looking at.

M42.  Just a quick bino peek before going to work.  It's still there.  Also you can see nebulosity naked eye.  Or at least fuzzyness.

I also saw a noctilucent jet.  Off to the east in the very rough Orion area heading north.   Just a faint white line of chemtrail across the dark sky.  I was driving at the moment and very nearly stopped (involuntary) so I had to wait for the car to face the right way lol.

First observation of noctilucent anything.

Edited September 21, 2022 by Ratlet

[Astro_Dad]

20/21 Sept

Stunning clear sky last night - better than the forecast I checked earlier in the day suggesting “fair” conditions. I’d expected a brief session with the six inch and even checked collimation and adjusted secondary mirror tilt in preparation! (hadn’t got around to tweaking the secondary since travelling to and from  Scotland last month…) but the night clearly lent itself to some action with the 10”. I was out before properly cooled just to make the most. 

Saturn first - seeing good and was rewarded with a very sharp view with moons Titan and Rhea clearly visible. Hints of a few others. I spent a good half hour on the planet trying to soak up as much detail as possible, interesting features included the brownish N equatorial belt, the Cassini Division and a clear dark line delineating the lower edge of the rings to the south - possibly just a contrast difference or a shadow cast by the rings on the globe?

Onto DSO’s - for interest tested a UHC filter side by side with O-III on M57 (Ring nebula), but even without a filter the ring was as sharp and bright as I’ve seen. Lovely view. 

Onto the Veil nebula (East NGC 6992 and  West NGC 6995) - a target not seen since holiday in Scotland - looked Incredible with O-III in place. Lots of detail and clarity showing on the two brightest arcs of this target with their interconnecting stands of nebulosity. 

Quick look at Kemble’s cascade again - the associated open cluster NGC 1503 looking particularly striking and contrasted against the dark background. 

Another look at M15 - spectacular tonight particularly at high power (up to 200x) with many stars resolved around the outer halo and somewhat further in, and showing it’s bright dense core. 

M2 next - less impressive than M15 as expected but still a delight. 

Finally finished on Jupiter - seeing appeared excellent at this point, with the planet absolutely steady with clear image at moderate to high power. 

Called it a night at around midnight - earlyish start as normal the following morning…

[PeterStudz]

Southampton. Morning of 21/09/22, Skywatcher 200p Dob on DIY EQ platform. 

I haven’t done much observing in the last month as I’ve been recovering from COVID - been too tried to stay up late or wake up in the early hours. But the last few days I’ve had more energy so I decided go to bed early and wake up at ~4am and have a “quick” look at Mars, while testing/fiddling with the EQ platform. The forecast looked good too with the jetstream well out of the way. 

Telescope out at 4:15am to cool, although I started a bit early and had a look at the Orion Nebula for a while. Always nice to see but I’ve seen it better. The (rather nice) rising crescent moon probably didn’t help. Seeing and transparency good. Then onto Mars. I could have also had a look at Jupiter but didn’t want to push it.

Mars is getting high! Not much dew this morning but I can see how that might be a problem as we go into winter. I played around with different magnifications going up to 340x with a 7mm plus 2x Barlow. A little too much, perhaps, but I wanted to see how the EQ platform coped. Worked well and I could get Mars to stay towards the center of the FOV for 6-7 mins - nice to have it just hang there, a real bonus. I also played around with a variable polarising filter, just enough to eliminate or almost eliminate diffraction spikes. Seemed to improve the view until the sky started to brighten with the approaching dawn.

On Mars I could make out a distinctive slightly wavy band/dark area in the southern region. And a white area at the north polar region. Didn’t look like ice. Maybe clouds? Probably got the best views at around 5:30-6am. Even at 340x there were moments of good seeing - great stuff. Mars seems to be able to handle a decent amount of magnification which is just as well. It’s high in the sky too. I can see that this will be fun over the next few months. 

Packed up at just after 6am. Went back to bed for an hour as I had work to do. Not too tired which is good!

Edited September 21, 2022 by PeterStudz

[Zermelo]

15 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

a white area at the north polar region. Didn’t look like ice. Maybe clouds?

There was certainly ice visible, so it may have been that:

(06:00 BST 21/09/22, N at bottom)

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

More of a what did I see this morning , a bit too much for me to get the scope set up so I took a photo of a lovely crescent moon through my phone cam 

[PeterStudz]

9 hours ago, Zermelo said:

There was certainly ice visible, so it may have been that:

(06:00 BST 21/09/22, N at bottom)

 

Interesting, thanks for that. And a useful website that I didn’t know about. 

[Kon]

9 hours ago, Zermelo said:

There was certainly ice visible, so it may have been that:

(06:00 BST 21/09/22, N at bottom)

 

Several of the recently posted images of Mars in the planetary section, including mine, seem to indicate clouds so it could be what @PeterStudzsaw? 

[Captain Scarlet]

A change in forecast caught me out, I had no time to set anything up so I took out my Kowa 88mm spotting scope with Tak 7.5 eyepiece giving 68x; and my 15x56 bins for a couple of hours. Jupiter had too much CA, sitting directly over a large house. Saturn much nicer further West, really quite sharp but 68x not really enough to get any real detail. Still stunning though. Mars rising with lots of CA and extremely red.

Then sitting in a chair with the bins I hunted down M51, M81/82, M52, M31, M33, M38, Pleiades, Kemble's Cascade, Coathanger, and a nice binoculars-friendly double in the head of Draco, I must look that up (Nu 1 & 2 Draconis aka Kuma). And a few shooting stars, mostly fairly dim.

Tomorrow's looking good too, so with forewarning I might get my 12" out.

Cheers, Magnus

[ONIKKINEN]

57 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Then sitting in a chair with the bins I hunted down M51, M81/82

Im curious, how detectable are these with the 15x56mm bins? With my 7x50mm i admit i have seen at best kind of hallucinations of these. They are very small and something i could only call "perhaps seen" kind of objects. I am sure i have seen them, but just not sure at all how to describe the seen part as they are so ghostly. Just about detectable in SQM 21.2 skies.

I admit they have been handheld, and i think this is a major issue with bins.

[Ratlet]

Up at 0230 for some observing today.  Didn't really expect it to be clear so didn't have a plan.

This is definitely a night of mediocrity.

I did a star test using an 8mm BST in a 2*Barlow and I'm sure it is off slightly.  I had a look at mars but it was very wavy so I think the seeing wasn't that great either.

Also had this weird flare coming off all the stars, a single spike.  Seemed to be pointing roughly north in the eyepiece.  Not sure on that.  I still had the wonky m54 extension screwed in so might be related to that.

Fortunately you don't everything to be perfect to look at M42 and I just enjoyed that for a while and just admired the sky in general with my tc-e2.  The Pleiades were particularly nice.