What did you see tonight?

[josefk]

I can't believe i nearly talked myself out of going out last night - the late afternoon/early evening rain was off putting. In the end i had a super session "ticking" a few Herschels identified as September targets by Steve O'Meara (mostly open clusters in Vulpecula) and an absolutely breakthrough observation session on various Nebula targets in Vulpecula, Cygnus and Delphinus including a first for me on the Eastern Veil (i've never seen it before) using a newly acquired UHC filter. High altitude targets were fantastic from Northamptonshire - and the dark skies a real treat.

All my kit was swimming in condensation by 01:00 though and in the end foggy eyepieces curtailed the session - till next time 🙂

[Mr Spock]

Disappointed to miss out on last night. After spending the afternoon gardening I was just too tired to shift off the settee... 😜

[josefk]

47 minutes ago, josefk said:

I can't believe i nearly talked myself out of going out last night - the late afternoon/early evening rain was off putting. In the end i had a super session "ticking" a few Herschels identified as September targets by Steve O'Meara (mostly open clusters in Vulpecula) and an absolutely breakthrough observation session on various Nebula targets in Vulpecula, Cygnus and Delphinus including a first for me on the Eastern Veil (i've never seen it before) using a newly acquired UHC filter. High altitude targets were fantastic from Northamptonshire - and the dark skies a real treat.

All my kit was swimming in condensation by 01:00 though and in the end foggy eyepieces curtailed the session - till next time 🙂

For anyone with time on their hands this Sunday morning a longer report posted here - 

 

[PeterStudz]

A gap in the clouds allowed us to observe Jupiter and the second half of the Europa transit. Seeing average overall to a bit wobbly at times, especially later on. 

However, me and my daughter were able to clearly see the shadow transit plus Europa itself as it passed over Jupiters disc. I did find that upping the magnification to 240x on our 200p really made the shadow + Europa pop, even though this was too much for Jupiter itself. The GRS also visible. Might just be me but the SEB around the GRS doesn’t seem to look as prominent as it was a year ago. 

As the clouds came back in watched Europa pass Jupiters edge as Io passed behind the back of the planet.

Edited September 25, 2022 by PeterStudz

[Mr Spock]

Forecast is clear for tonight. Putting the big lad out soon. Just holding off as there might be a light shower in the next half an hour or so. My eyepiece table has my LVW collection on ready and waiting (I do like using these in the Dob).
I have a doubles session planed for near γ Cyg. There are about 80 doubles in a 3.5° x 2.5° area just below and to the right of γ Cyg, so, plenty to go at 

[Mr Spock]

I was out to check on it about 20 mins ago and the sky was clear. Just gone out to start observing and not only is it cloudy there's a light shower! I haven't brough the scope in just chucked a raincoat over it 😜 Should be over soon, there's nothing on the radar.

[Mr Spock]

Just having a break after my first hour - EQ platform reset 

Plenty of doubles so far. Some faint ones too - MLB21 at 11.7 and 12.0 is the faintest so far.

[Epick Crom]

14 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

Just having a break after my first hour - EQ platform reset 

Plenty of doubles so far. Some faint ones too - MLB21 at 11.7 and 12.0 is the faintest so far.

I hope you have an enjoyable doubles session Mr Spock!

[Ian McCallum]

I've been imaging Jupiter and I'm now imaging M31.🤞 I saw a bit of Saturn, but couldn't get the framing right.  I also saw Neptune, but again only the live image and no recording...

[Kon]

I had a look at Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter showed some banding and the GRS was coming in and out. Saturn no details whatsoever. I tried some imaging but everything is too soft.

[Ratlet]

First observation of the double cluster.  I'm starting to realise that you can see some of this stuff naked eye, including this.  Which is a good thing because I'm awful at star hopping.  Andromeda.  Very faint, but a definite cloudyness there about the size of the moon.

A very pleasing sight.  I would love to have attempted to sketch this, but I've lost my head torch.

Also M31 and Albireo because honestly I don't think I can get bored of them.

I'm quite enjoying naked eye stuff.  Hopefully get my 2x42 binos built shortly if I can find another tc-e2 cheap.

[Mr Spock]

Saturn looked like mush, as usual. A fair bit of detail on Jupiter though not very contrasty - seeing just a but mushy overall.

Double session went well - 25 seen. Tightest split, 0.8"; faintest companion 12.6. Faintest star seen 13.8 at x190.

[Stu1smartcookie]

Set up the scope at around 9pm after a passing shower and hoped to get a good view of Jupiter and Saturn . It looked really clear out there but in essence it was terrible . I was trying out a new zoom EP from SVBony ( 9-27) but the images were really soft . Saturn in particular was , as people have already commented, “mushy” .. it almost looked out of focus ! Jupiter gave a bit more but only the main bands were visible , I did get my first glimpse of the GRS however it was not the clearest and overall the seeing conditions spoilt the session . Managed a better view of M31 though . I think I need to invest in a quality prism diagonal rather than mirror diagonal I use . 
out early this morning and caught Orion and Mars and Antares … along with the plaides . These were all with the eye rather than the scope but somehow all the more pleasing for it . 

[josefk]

Just a short 15x binoculars session last night. Breezy here in Stamford and a school night. Ostensibly I was going out for a look at Jupiter but it wasn’t very satisfying. I think I need to get my eyes checked to see what my new astigmatism prescription is - Jupiter was very spiky. 😞

M31 was nice in Andromeda. Very wide left to right and a strong glowing core.
In Cassiopeia and a bit below it the Owl Cluster and Double Cluster were both very nice and Melotte 20 was just rising over the tree line - very bright blue stars.  I was really looking for Caroline’s Rose a bit higher up but didn’t find it definitively- I think I had the wrong expectations looking for a small sprinkling of stars (like the owl) when I think at 15x this may show as a small patch of haze (which I DID see). Will hopefully try again more carefully later this week. 
 

cheers

[cloudsweeper]

2.00am Weds., still, clear - beautiful starry sky, and bright Jupiter highish south.  A little cloud low south.

ES ED80 on AZ4 - great grab 'n' go set-up: telescope stable (since I relocated the finder so don't need to use the L-bracket), and mount very easy to use.  

JUPITER very bright at x16, better at x27 - two moons each side, all in a line.  Clearer at x48, then beautifully sharp at x80, and glare greatly reduced.

At x120 and x160, detail was very sharp, although (as others have said) I could see no more than two belts.  At x192, the view was less crisp.

PLEIADES - quick look, x11 - the cluster occupied the central 2deg of the huge 5.7deg FOV.  A lovely sight!

Cloud took over after 70 minutes, but it was a pleasing session with a fine telescope on a smooth, easy mount.

Noticed I used 10 EPs.  Couldn't manage with just three or four.  I like to see the subtle changes with small gradations in mag, as well being able to find when seeing effects become noticeable.

Doug.

[wookie1965]

1 minute ago, cloudsweeper said:

2.00am Weds., still, clear - beautiful starry sky, and bright Jupiter highish south.  A little cloud low south.

ES ED80 on AZ4 - great grab 'n' go set-up: telescope stable (since I relocated the finder so don't need to use the L-bracket), and mount very easy to use.  

JUPITER very bright at x16, better at x27 - two moons each side, all in a line.  Clearer at x48, then beautifully sharp at x80, and glare greatly reduced.

At x120 and x160, detail was very sharp, although (as others have said) I could see no more than two belts.  At x192, the view was less crisp.

PLEIADES - quick look, x11 - the cluster occupied the central 2deg of the huge 5.7deg FOV.  A lovely sight!

Cloud took over after 70 minutes, but it was a pleasing session with a fine telescope on a smooth, easy mount.

Noticed I used 10 EPs.  Couldn't manage with just three or four.  I like to see the subtle changes with small gradations in mag, as well being able to find when seeing effects become noticeable.

Doug.

Brilliant I need a quick grab and go set up the mornings I've been up and seen pristine skies and only able to use binoculars as trying to set up will take 40 minutes to an hour without my son helping. 

[Astro_Dad]

Enjoyable long session on Jupiter last night with the 6 inch Newt (Heritage), seeing reasonable but over about an hour or so was good enough at times to tease out lots of detail. At times the planet was looking very sharp with new BST 2x Barlow (first light with this)  - particularly with my 15mm BST (giving 100x) power.

Also was an opportunity to test two filters side by side - Wratten 21 (orange) and the venerable 80A (blue). The 80A provided the most obvious contrast enhancement showing the belts more clearly, and slightly dampening down the extreme brightness (one day post opposition),  providing a more comfortable view. The #21 provided an initial subtle increase in belt detail, and despite a strong orange cast over the time of the session enabled quite a lot of additional detail to show through - including a very clear GRS. Also cut out substantial glare. 

Moon formation always interesting - as noted above they were spaced out quite widely in a line with Callisto out to the East. No imaging attempts this time, just the simple pleasure of observing.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Astro_Dad
Typo

[cloudsweeper]

1 hour ago, wookie1965 said:

Brilliant I need a quick grab and go set up the mornings I've been up and seen pristine skies and only able to use binoculars as trying to set up will take 40 minutes to an hour without my son helping. 

Yes Paul - I was impressed with this arrangement, in the astro-shed, ready to go.  The 8SE, Dob, and long frac are not grab 'n' go.  The short 102 frac is close, though a little bulky if handled while on the mount.  But the little ED80 Apo is easliy lifted when on the AZ4, so I was observing within a minute or two.  

I had thought about a mount with slow-mo cables, but the AZ4 with its lever arm is really smooth and easy.  The ED80 would only go on it with an L-bracket (to stop the finder going beneath the 'scope), which was very wobbly, so the breakthrough was when I recently found a way to relocate the finder to a better position above the tube.  See pic.....

Doug.

[lvan]

9pm Tues. Vixen ED80SF on eq3-2 with eq5 tripod. Had to raise the tripod close to maximum extension to clear horizon. Still solid and sturdy, tripod upgrade win! Used the flip mirror diagonal in straight thru mode for comfortable viewing on garden chair. Viewed Saturn and Jupiter, sharp at 100x and ok at 150x. Used a wixey to adjust my alt and maneuvered above Mirach to view Andromeda first at 25x, then 50x. Nice.

Edited September 28, 2022 by lvan

[Stu1smartcookie]

55 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Yes Paul - I was impressed with this arrangement, in the astro-shed, ready to go.  The 8SE, Dob, and long frac are not grab 'n' go.  The short 102 frac is close, though a little bulky if handled while on the mount.  But the little ED80 Apo is easliy lifted when on the AZ4, so I was observing within a minute or two.  

I had thought about a mount with slow-mo cables, but the AZ4 with its lever arm is really smooth and easy.  The ED80 would only go on it with an L-bracket (to stop the finder going beneath the 'scope), which was very wobbly, so the breakthrough was when I recently found a way to relocate the finder to a better position above the tube.  See pic.....

Doug.

lovely , the AZ4 is a really nice sturdy mount , wish i never sold mine ... hmmm , better look on FLO , RVO etc etc.. i feel a purchase coming on ! 

[josefk]

Another short binocular session in Burghley Park last night. I wanted to confirm NGC 7789 Caroline's Rose from the night or the 27/09 and indeed it was correct. It is quite a bit bigger in bino's than i was originally looking for but also very much fainter. A hazy fingerprint in an oblique parallelogram arrangement of four stars to the west of Caph.

I also took a look at NGC663, NGC 654 and M103. All open clusters in Cassiopeia and all three sit in the same binocular FOV. NGC 663 is the brightest and prettiest at this scale. For me NGC 654 could be missed if it weren't colocated with the others.

I finished on M34. Found by panning west from Mirfak. I couldn't definitively identify NGC 752 a few degrees even further west but its highly probable the next distinctive group of stars in that westwards pan is NGC 752.

This is my "grab 'n' go" in the lovely dark park. Jupiter showing above.

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by josefk

[rojay]

I've just seen a really nifty conjunction of Io and Europa! They are still pretty close as I type.

[Davesellars]

Doing a bit of AP taking some pictures of the Veil first with the 80ED.   Will then switch over to the 102ED for some visual later on...  Lovely and transparent tonight!

[IB20]

Saturn looks mesmerising tonight. Its planetary disc casting a shadow on the far side of the ring system. Plenty of banding visible on the northern hemisphere,  each a different sandy hue. Cassini division nice and clear at each ansae. Transparency really good too so easy spotting of Titan, Rhea and Dione in the 3” frac. Best views were with the 7XW at 82x & 0.93mm exit pupil, everything just popped so clearly. 🪐

[Ed the Fox]

For the first time in weeks I took the scope out into the back garden at about 9pm. Allined the GTI mount but from my vantage point nothing was available so let the scope cool down for a bit. Seeing was 4 but I'm in Bortle 7 skies here in St. Helens so the GTI mount is very much needed. 

Once back out, Saturn was my first target and I was not disappointed even though it looked a bit "soft".  Using the 8mm BST eyepiece  it really looked impressive, much better than last year. Jupiter was up next and it was bright. Could easily make out the banding through my 130m with all four Galilayan moons all lined up nicely.

Had a brief look at M31 before moving onto a target I know would be pushing my scope and that was Uranus. The GTI put it right in the middle of the field of view and seeing an extremely small pale blue dot I knew instantly it was one off my list. It looked better through the 10mm that came with the scope rather than the 8mm BST as the skies in the East where not good this evening. 

All in all a productive and rewarding 90 minutes and mount and scope both performed well,