Short f15 80mm session on a moonlit mix...

[SuburbanMak]

I managed to get out for just over an hour last night with my "new" Towa 80mm f15, in theory to "test and make sure everything was undisturbed after lens cell removal and cleaning", in reality because I was excited to look through this light-sabre again and confirm it was as good as my impressions from first light. 

The 89% moon was unavoidable so a good place to start and I spent a long time marvelling at the crisp contrasty detail. Gassendi and Mare Humorum were showing particularly well with the rilles and mountains in the crater very clean, I got up to 9 or 10 tiny craterlets in Mare Humorum and kept losing count.   The view with the BCO 18mm is very satisfying in this 'scope with the whole disc of the moon filling around 80% of the field but enough magnification to tease out detail (67x).   I stepped up the magnifcation to 120x (18mm) and 200x (6mm) and seeing was definitely more steady than last time. 

Jupiter - quite low down but an enjoyable view with the main equatorial banding visible & the galilean moons all strung out on the Eastern side and what I now know to be 45 Cap to the W.  Couldn't pick out the GRS which was theoretically rounding the limb around this time. 

Capella - to do a quick star test and confirm what I suspected above that all was well after cleaning. 

Polaris  - success and a lovely view tonight from 67x up. The secondary really is presenting as a tiny point source -  pleased to get this as for whatever reason couldn't pick it up in the Towa last time ( seeing, my screen-tired eyes after work...).

Almach - abandoned as too close to Zenith, am too old for rolling around on the floor. 

Auriga was well (sensibly) positioned so I checked the classic doubles list in Sky Safari and move to check out Theta Auriage which I haven't looked at before, and its a cracker!  Secondary was clear at 120x (10mm) and at around half past eleven (RACI view & Auriga in the NE), sitting just outside the first diffraction ring as a pale but distinct white full-stop.  I had the primary as yellow-tinged white.  I did note a couple of faint stars in the same field in the 10mm but only realised later that there is a visible C&D component to this system which i may have been picking up, never mind - gives me a reason to visit this lovely system regularly over the winter.  (Pleased that the 80mm f15 is emerging as the double-hunter it should be, it presents tight stars as tiny discs and narrow rings which definitely helps with close-ish doubles of differing magnitude). 

In a break from the eyepiece I was rewarded with what can only have been an ISS pass low to the South. 

M37 - Nice if slightly moon-washed view with the Starfish pattern evident and a "diamond dust" effect as stars resolve in AV as I looked around, a bit like M13 in the Mak 127. M36 & M38 were less satisfying, come back on a moonless night...

Pleiades - rude not to and as lovely as ever, enjoyed making faint triangles at higher magnifcation. 

Thought I would end back on the moon but remembered that Uranus was close by,  I did use a GoTo for this one as transparency in the moon's quadrant of the sky was worsening fast by this time.  Am 90% certain I got it based on the starfield (halfway along the side of a triangle between 29, Omicron & 31 Arietis plus the fact that mount seemed to be behaving itself.)  A pale, vaguely greenish dot that became possilby a full-stop at 200x.  Not much to write home about but fascinating the thought of what's being seen.  One to revisit to confirm. 

Finished back on the moon for some more high-def fly past this time enhanced by tracking.

Another hour and half well spent - loving these quick early evening sessions! 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by SuburbanMak
Repetition

[wookie1965]

Lovely report just shows what you can do with a moderately sized scope. 

[Pixies]

Nice. Theta Aurigae can be a bit tricky - it all depends on the seeing conditions. Good that it's doable in an 80mm scope. Once I get the Vixen 80 back up and running, I'll be giving it a shot.

[Captain Scarlet]

Yes I’ve stolen theta Aurigae for my next list too.

Edit: I've just tried to look up Theta Aurigae B as a separate entity in its own right. It should have one, as a mag 7.2 star, surely? But Sky Safari only refers to it as a companion to Theta Aurigae A, I can't get it to appear separately on a sky-shot in SS. None of the identifiers I get for it from SIMBAD are recognized by my version of SS7, which I think is Pro, and I've set the limiting magnitude in settings to max. Also I've seen SkySafari screenshots of double stars with orbit and sep angle on a single screen, can one do that for this double? Calling in @Stu as our resident SS expert!

Edited November 17, 2021 by Captain Magenta

[Stu]

9 hours ago, Captain Magenta said:

Yes I’ve stolen theta Aurigae for my next list too.

Edit: I've just tried to look up Theta Aurigae B as a separate entity in its own right. It should have one, as a mag 7.2 star, surely? But Sky Safari only refers to it as a companion to Theta Aurigae A, I can't get it to appear separately on a sky-shot in SS. None of the identifiers I get for it from SIMBAD are recognized by my version of SS7, which I think is Pro, and I've set the limiting magnitude in settings to max. Also I've seen SkySafari screenshots of double stars with orbit and sep angle on a single screen, can one do that for this double? Calling in @Stu as our resident SS expert!

Unfortunately Theta Aurigae isn’t one that shows the secondary or it’s orbit. It shows for ones where the pro it is well defined I think, although there are plenty of exceptions.

[Zermelo]

There's more about theta aurigae in this thread, with some interesting comments/links from @John: