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Skymax 180 Session: Tuesday 11th Jan 2022.


Captain Scarlet

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Wow a second actual session in just a few days! I was in two minds about whether to write it up in short form in the “what didst thou see tonight“ thread; or create a separate Observing Report for it. I chose the latter, as proper sessions involving getting all my bits out, especially the observing chair, have been rare enough lately.

The last few days here near Skibbereen have been beautiful days of winter sun, although the evenings less reliable. Monday 10th Jan evening was forecast for cloud, and when I checked around 7pm I was surprised to find it clear. So I put out my Skymax180 on my Ayo2 to cool just in case. Unfortunately after dinner, the forecast proved itself, everything was dew-laden and cloud cover was 100%. The Ayo2 on Berlebach Uni is not Grab-n-Go, but not too far off, and it didn’t take too long to get it back in again.

The optical train I’d planned was my  Skymax180 and Baader Zeiss 2” prism diagonal. It sports the Feathertouch microfocus unit, directly replacing the stock focus-knob. The focuser is very good. Even at 614x whilst inspecting Polaris’ patterns to test the collimation, shifting in, through and out of focus, there was no hint of mirror-shift.

_DSF0945_Skymax180_20210111.thumb.jpg.234983890562fabacb264d502a68ad3f.jpg

Anyway, the next night, Tuesday 11th Jan, was similarly forecast for cloud, with extra fog promised as a bonus. I put the same kit out to cool around 7pm again anyway. After dinner I nipped out and was delighted to see it still clear and not a hint of dew. Everything was still perfectly dry. And so it stayed for the rest of the night. SQM-L gave me 20.24 at zenith.

Alignment Fail - I’d taken out my Nexus DSC and wasn’t sure whether I’d bother using it, since I wasn’t planning anything especially difficult, target-wise. The night was more an opportunity to use my Skymax180 which hadn’t seen sky probably for 6 months. In the end I did a quick Align, nothing to lose, and good to get a bit of practice with it. I used Polaris for Align 1 and Deneb for Align 2, pressed OK and big beep: “ALIGNMENT FAIL”. Oh. I tried starting again, this time from a Park position, and changed to Aldebaran for my second Align 2. “ALIGNMENT FAIL”. Grrrr. Then I realized. The last scope I’d had the Nexus on was my AZ-EQ6, and it still had those settings enabled, Phew! I quickly selected the “Ayo” settings from the list of pre-sets, and it aligned fine.

Mizar/Alcor – I put in my monster Nagler 31 (91x, the lowest this scope can go with the eyepieces I have, giving 0.88 degrees). I never tire of this system and I was gratified to see lovely pinprick stars across the field.

M51 – when touring this area with 56mm binoculars lately I’ve always gone through the sequence M51, M101, M81/2. Given my 7 inches of aperture, this night I was expecting no problems identifying any of those. But it took me a long time to find M51, and in the end I could barely detect it. Right on the edge of perception. I re-aligned locally on nearby stars to be sure, and yes I was in the right place: it was hardly noticeable. I think it was the combination of being only 18 degrees up, right above the local light dome from Skibbereen 7 miles away, and I suspect some low-elevation cloud that often sits atop Lough Hyne hill. On that basis I didn’t even bother with M101.

M81/2 – I moved up instead straight to M81, more than 50 degrees up, and it was indeed easy to find and significantly brighter than I see it through my 15x56s. There seemed to be structure to it, too. Similarly for M82, in the same field of view, and the diagonal dark feature through its centre was evident.

M42 – the Great Nebula in Orion had risen sufficiently above my roof to become a viable target. Go-To was spot on, and the 4 little pinpoints centred in milky nebulosity came straight to centre-field. Immediately, I could see the E star quite plainly. The F was just about there for small moments, but I probably needed more magnification. I was impressed at how good the nebulosity was in the 180, actually. Being such a long-focal-length scope, I’d never pointed it at M42 before. Anyway, I switched up to the DeLite 18.2 for 158x, and yes, there was the F star too. Not quite as steady as a few nights ago in my 12”, but it did endear the neglected Skymax to me.

Rigel – I moved quickly to Rigel to tick it off as a split. Sirius and the Pup were out of the question as I was on the wrong side of the house, so I moved along to

M45 – the Pleiades. I’d put my Nagler 31 back in. This time I did not confuse M44 and M45, and also this time I was quite sure that the haze around some of its brighter stars were indeed nebulosity. There was no dew, and up there at the time, no cloud. I also enjoy the asterism “Ally’s Braid”, the shallow “V” of 5 similar-brightness stars stretching south from Alcyone.

Uranus – next up was Uranus, a lovely turquoise-ish disc, seen at 158x with the 18.2. I looked up SkySafari to discover where its moons might be, looked very closely for them … and didn’t see any hint. Luna must have been too close, perhaps, a bit over 5 degrees away.

The Moon – finally, not having wanted to blow what little dark-adaptation I might have with the Moon up, I pointed to it. I used the Nexus’ directions to guide me to it, totally unnecessary I know, but I get a childish pleasure in seeing the Nexus screen telling me I’m there, and simultaneously noticing out of the corner of my eye, my eyepiece flashing white as it alights on target. I travelled up and down the Terminator. I particularly wanted to see if I could detect any craterlets in Plato. I have seen the four main ones (A, B, C & D) before, from Esher in Middlesex, through my LZOS 105 IIRC, but tonight none were on show. I was using the Ethos 13 by now, giving 222x.

A question to those more experienced: If E and F are showing in the Trapezium, should craterlets ABCD+ be on show in Plato? The Moon was wobbling a little, and in that direction lies Baltimore village 2km distant so there may have been turbulence arising from there. I also recognized the only other crater system I know, Clavius.

I finished off with a Collimation check on Polaris, using the Ethos 4.7 at 614x. This scope is indeed nicely lined up, it seems.

Thanks for getting this far, I do go on!

Cheers, Magnus

Edited by Captain Scarlet
typo
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Great report, Magnus.

You're lucky to live in one of my favourite parts of the world. My first ever visit to Ireland was to Ballingskellig on a two-month camping trip when I was a teenager. Went to the Fleadh and had an unforgettable time. Went back a couple of times but Kerry's getting very touristy these days.

There must be some great dark skies around there? 

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16 hours ago, cajen2 said:

Great report, Magnus.

You're lucky to live in one of my favourite parts of the world. My first ever visit to Ireland was to Ballingskellig on a two-month camping trip when I was a teenager. Went to the Fleadh and had an unforgettable time. Went back a couple of times but Kerry's getting very touristy these days.

There must be some great dark skies around there? 

Well if you’re ever in this area you’re welcome to visit. I’m sure I could rustle up a scope or two 😁.

The best dark site near me is behind my house, which is regularly 21.8+ on my meter. That was a major part of my agreement to relocate here, where a lot of my wife’s family live.

I must revisit Kerry at some stage. Although it doesn’t look too far, along the coastal roads it takes hours! And the Fleadh looks interesting.

M

Edited by Captain Scarlet
typo
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Yes, the Fleadh is wonderful....or at least, it used to be. Haven't been for many a year.

I'd really love to take you up on your invitation (the Captain goes white with shock😆) but in the current climate, it's not a good idea, I suppose. I'd really love to see Cork and Kerry again. The last time I was in Ireland, I went to the Beara Peninsula and loved it there too. Must be some great dark skies there.

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10 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

I'm so jealous I have never seen M51 from home so your lucky in that respect. 

Merseyside looks to me very like where I used to live (Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex) LP-wise. IE max darkness 19.05. I have seen M51 from there, but I needed to know I was looking in exactly the right place, and it was very high up. Just a smudge to tell you it wasn't just orange soup, but definitely there. I can't remember what I was looking through. I think it was before I got my 8" newt, so it would have had to be my Skymax127, I think. I reckon you should make a project of it. April-May it'll be very high up giving the best chance.

M

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