An Unexpected Night 10/12/21

[wibblefish]

I am still not sure I feel experienced enough to post an observing report (or if anyone will be interested!) but I thought I would give it a whirl. Any comments or advice gratefully received!

After what has felt like months there was an unexpectedly clear night. With the temperature dropping it was very good and stable seeing as far as I could tell.

The first real use of my new Starwave 102ED with the heavy duty Skytee2 and it was a vast improvement over my old Evostar 90/660. Despite them being similar aperture instruments the ED produced much brighter and sharper images using the same eye pieces and diagonal. The Skytee was great, I had originally baulked at spending about the same on a mount and tripod (and saddle replacement) as the OTA but it is worthy rock solid and smooth (bar some slight play on one of the slow-mo’s).

As it is my favourite target I started with M42. It always impresses me but this time it seemed a lot clearer with defined dust and gas clouds billowing out. I decided to take advantage of the my two new filters (Svbony UHC and Astronmik OIII) to see if they made a difference. The answer is an impressive amount. The reduction in skyglow from the UHC made the nebula stand out whilst keeping it bright. The OIII made everything darker but the nebula was even better looking, clear wisps of gas and dust, it seemed to create more contrast and allow for finer detail than the UHC. I compared both using my 12mm BST eye piece.

After that I decided to turn to another old favourite the bright cluster of Pleiades. The wide 16mm Nirvana really impressed me here, I can easily see it becoming my go-to eye piece, able to bring the whole cluster into one wide view from edge to edge. The difference in the OTA again was surprising, the stars brighter and crisper again and the Skytee solid even pointed high in the zenith.

I am not sure why I decided to hunt toward the more light polluted side of the garden for M31 but I found it easily enough. It was a little clearer but Andromeda was still mostly a smudge of fuzzy grey around the brighter core. What did surprise me was I could see M32 and a very faint M110 which I don’t remember seeing before. I had to double check the star maps several times to ensure it was correct.

With a lack of planetaries to try the OIII on I decided to have a go at Caldwell 39 “Eskimo Nebubla”. I have tried and failed to locate this a few times but with the assistance of the OIII filter I was able to discern it. It appeared as a small blue fuzzy next to a brighter star.

A final gaze at M42 rounded off my unexpected night. I am hugely impressed with the new kit and relieved I can see a real difference. Looking forward to many more nights to explore if the weather graces us with any more clear weather (this was the first since early Oct?). 

[Kon]

Very nice report, and a lot of nice targets there.

[wibblefish]

Thanks! I stuck to ones I knew as all the weather had said full cloud cover. I usually like to plan things a bit better if I have time

[John]

Great report of some excellent sights through your 4 inch refractor 😀

It's fun to play around with the UHC and O-III filters to see what difference they make on various targets.

Other good planetary nebulae are the "Cats Eye" NGC 6543 in Draco and the "Blue Snowball" NGC 7662 in Andromeda. The O-III filter might also give you a sight of "The Owl" nebula, M 97, in Ursa Major.

Apologies if you know about these and have spotted them already !

[wibblefish]

Thanks @John I wasn’t aware of them I will add them to the list! Alas a number of targets were to low as Im in a built up area surrounded by trees! I fear I may have missed the Veil Nebula this year

[wookie1965]

Great report it's so nice to read new to the hobby astronomers posting well done wait to see the planets. 

[domstar]

Great report. I'm very happy with my 4-inch and I like reading about what others do with theirs. 

[John]

1 hour ago, wibblefish said:

Thanks @John I wasn’t aware of them I will add them to the list! Alas a number of targets were to low as Im in a built up area surrounded by trees! I fear I may have missed the Veil Nebula this year

I'm surrounded by trees and houses as well. I treat many targets as seasonal and look forward to when they can be seen from my back yard as the months progress. They come back year after year and it's nice seeing these "old friends" again as well as seeing them, and others, for the first time

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by John

[Pixies]

3 hours ago, wibblefish said:

I am still not sure I feel experienced enough to post an observing report (or if anyone will be interested!) but I thought I would give it a whirl.

You're joking?! More!

If you can see M110, it's worth having a shot at nearby M33. Both are pretty faint, so your skies should be reasonable?

 

Did you get a chance to use the filters on the dumbell nebula when it was higher earlier in the year? That always benefits from either and shows a good difference.

[wibblefish]

10 minutes ago, Pixies said:

You're joking?! More!

If you can see M110, it's worth having a shot at nearby M33. Both are pretty faint, so your skies should be reasonable?

 

Did you get a chance to use the filters on the dumbell nebula when it was higher earlier in the year? That always benefits from either and shows a good difference.

M110 was really a faint smudge of grey with averted vision that I barely could ascertain, so I need to revisit and reconfirm though the star placements did look correct. I shall have to try M33 next time 

Alas I only got the filters recently but I will bear it in mind for when I do have it as a target thanks!

Edited December 12, 2021 by wibblefish

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Great report Wibblefish and I am most relieved you are happy with the Starwave! 😬

[wibblefish]

2 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Great report Wibblefish and I am most relieved you are happy with the Starwave! 😬

I am to, big investment for me on astro kit so I did worry but it’s looking good so far

Edited December 13, 2021 by wibblefish

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

16 minutes ago, wibblefish said:

I am to, big investment for me on astro kit so I did worry but it’s looking good so far

A big investment for me too... I was interested particularly in your use of the OIII filter. I have a UHC, but believed the 'not in small aperture' advice/mythology about the use of an OIII. What brand do you have and do you think it is worth buying to compliment UHC?

[Stu]

Great report @wibblefish. You’ve nicely summed up the differences between UHC and OIII I would say 👍

You can’t beat a 4” apo, everyone should own one! And don’t believe that stuff about them being too small for a an OIII @ScouseSpaceCadet, keep the exit pupil large, and shield yourself from any glare with an observing hood and you will be surprised I’m sure.

[wibblefish]

1 hour ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

A big investment for me too... I was interested particularly in your use of the OIII filter. I have a UHC, but believed the 'not in small aperture' advice/mythology about the use of an OIII. What brand do you have and do you think it is worth buying to compliment UHC?

I bought an Astronomik one, very expensive and a Svbony UHC. I haven’t been able to use them till now so I can’t really say however give me a few more nights snd different targets and I might be able to venture an opinion though just on the orion nebula I am impressed so far lol that was using both a 16mm nirvana and a 12mm bst for reference though it is a very bright target!

Edited December 13, 2021 by wibblefish