Session 7 for 2022

[Davesellars]

Session Date: Jan 19th 2022
Scope: 12" Dob.

Part 1
Observing time: 6pm - 9pm
Transparency: very good

(1) Ceres (mag 8.1 Dwarf Planet) - starting with something relatively bright

M31/M32/M110 - Really showing well tonight! M31 large and extended covering the entirety of the Delos 17.3 eyepiece.  M32 showing up like a beacon to one side and M110 easily visible direct vision - determined from this that the transparency was actually pretty good.

Right.. down to work with some faint stuff before the Moon makes an appearance to advance on the Herschel 400

NGC 1055 (mag 10.6 edge-on spiral galaxy in Cetus) - OK...  way to start with a very difficult one!  Easy to find its position below a mag 6.7 and 7.6 stars close together, With the 10mm Delos, this was requiring complete dark adaption for some time and averted vision to spy a small elongated patch.  It was very dim and will attempt this one again to see if I can get more out of this edge-on spiral.

M77 (Mag 9 barred-spiral galaxy in Cetus) - just nudging the scope a touch from NGC 1055 is this wonderful galaxy! After the previous one, this was showing up extremely bright hit you in the eye with the 10mm Delos.  Extremely bright core probably needing even more power to draw out some detail, however the 10mm Delos did show some faint extension which I assume to be bright arms (checked afterwards this was the case).

NGC 936 (mag 10.22 barred-spiral galaxy in Cetus) - reasonable size with the 10mm Delos bright enough elongated core which I assumed to be the bar.  With further dark adaption and some averted vision picked up a wisp of the arms.

NGC 1535 (mag 9.39 planetary nebula in Eridanus) - Using directly the 10mm Delos no colour was seen but the disk of the planetary was very bright.  Could not really determine any structure with this nebula

NGC 278 (mag 10.85 spiral galaxy in Cassiopeia) - small direct vision galaxy quite bright but very compact perhaps discerning a little extension from the core with averted vision.

NGC 1788 (unknown mag medium size refection nebula in Orion) - Well, this was punishing... I spent a good 20 minutes at least on this alone with the 17.3mm and the 10mm Delos getting as dark adapted as possible, averted vision tricks etc - this one would not really show up.  The best I can say is there was a the faintest of an occasional glimpse in the same area.  I will repeat this observation another night.  Referring to Interstellarum Deep Sky Guide this looks to be much more ghostly and extensive than I expected.  Requires darker conditions as was probably showing due to the moon starting to make an appearance.

The moon was just starting to come to play lighting up the east region of the sky.  The zenith was still nice and dark though..

NGC 1502 (mag 6.9 open cluster in Camelopardalis) - On the route to NGC 1501 (below) is this lovely cluster.  Hardest part was getting to this in the first place with a dob pointing pretty much straight up! Mainly mag 9.5 to 10.5 stars in the Delos 10mm showing good brightness across the entire cluster.

NGC 1501 (mag 11.89 planetary nebula in Camelopardalis) - No colour here it was quite visible directly though with no filter required.  However with the astronomik OIII this nebula really stood out reminding me a little bit of a very small fuzzier version of the ring nebula as the nebula showed a distinct ring, darker centre and central star which just about showed through the nebulosity.  Intriguing object - I changed over to the Baader OIII filter which has quite a more limited bandwidth pass for the OIII line.  The contrast was certainly improved for the outer ring nebulosity but at sacrifice to the central region which just dimmed losing and structure.

M42 - I viewed this about 3 times during the session (at the start once it had cleared sufficiently a tree, mid session and at the end with the Moon having risen in the same area.   The structure of the nebula was stunning with the 17.3 Delos at the start when there was absolutely no moon - an incredibly 3D like view with considerable extension to the wings.

At 9pm I just put the cap on the dob and went in to warm up and have something to eat before letting the Moon rise sufficiently.

Part 2
Observing time: 10:30pm - 12:15
Seeing: good to excellent but very inconsistent

I have to say I didn't expect observing the Moon to be so much fun!  My second dedicated time on the Moon I was starting to get the hang of it...

I learnt to relax and spend minutes at the eyepiece keeping both eyes open was a revelation keeping out stray light my covering the open eye with my hood, suddenly a lot more details would appear and I could spend considerably more time at the eyepiece and just take it in.  Like this, more surface details would appear and I could take advantage of the wavering seeing conditions (at brief times it would be truly excellent and others a mess)

I realised that power was actually not conducive to getting detail on the surface of the Moon after changing from the 4mm (300x) back to a BCO 10mm (150x) and then settling on a 7mm Pentax for 214x.  It was contrast that significantly more important to getting to the detail - the dimming affect from being over-powered did not allow me to see more and in fact details were often quite lost in the process particularly in areas that were not at the terminiator.

The 10mm BCO was one of those take the breath away moments - when actual colour seemed to come apparent and it wasn't actually just a grey ball of light.  The 7mm also maintained a reasonable amount but I felt this power was better suited and did not lose any detail through the seeing conditions.

Mare Crisium - This was just perfect illumination with the back of the crater dissapearing into blackness and the edges of the "cliffs" either side of this highlighted magnificently showing considerable detail.   Yerkes E resembles a tadpole with its "tail" that then connects into Yerkes.  Cleomedes standing out to the side of Mare Crisium showed considerable depth to it.

Petavius - Again, perflectly illuminated - the central mountain area showing considerable stirations and irregularity.  The cleave through from the centre to the edge of the crater showed a real depth giving an impression of considerable lava flow from the supposed volcanic activity from this area.

Furnerius - With the depth of illumination and show the craterlets showed easily (numerous to the north (dob view) of the crater.

Demonax (i think) - This was difficult to determine that this was the actual crater and some of the around it because it was directly on the edge of the terminator...  At the very edge looking across the moon, the sheer elevation of these crater cliffs could be seen as from outside of the crater.  Spectacular would be an understatement.

Plato - not easy because of the lack of contrast however at the better seeing moments  I could at least see two of the central craterlets.

Hadley Rille - It took me a little while to gain visual knowledge of the area starting from Mons Hadley and getting a good visualisation of the Mons Hadley Delta consistently and following the mountain line up until the white area ends.  After getting this and with the Pentax 7mm for 214x at the times of excellent seeing (staying at the eyepiece for a good while..) the "river" of the Hadley Rille was easily apparent running upwards ending in much deeper fissured area.  After I had done this once, I was able to repeat again much more easily directly.

Some mountains to directly south (dob view) where the very tips were only apparent from inside the shadow.  I think this may be the Gauss / Hahn region - but I am not sure.

It was pretty difficult for me to teart myself away but it's a school night So... wrapped up at 12:15 to clear up.  Almost 5 hours of observing and the 7th session this month which is incredible!

[Jiggy 67]

Wow, talk about a full night!!…excellent report 

[wookie1965]

Great read I've had some really good nights but unable to go out due to a dental problem which the cold exacerbates it. 

[Stu]

What a great session @Davesellars, and an excellent write up. I must find the time to go and read the other six! Also must get out with the 16” and do some proper deep sky stuff, I’ve just been a bit of a tourist so far, sticking to a few regular targets, so thanks for the inspiration to go after some more varied options.

[Davesellars]

Just now, Stu said:

What a great session @Davesellars, and an excellent write up. I must find the time to go and read the other six! Also must get out with the 16” and do some proper deep sky stuff, I’ve just been a bit of a tourist so far, sticking to a few regular targets, so thanks for the inspiration to go after some more varied options.

Thanks Stu!  Sorry... some of the reports are longish reading!      I'd love to have a 16" but just not really feasbile at the moment - I have to get mine out of conservatory and lug it out up a few steps - i certainly wouldn't want to do that with anything larger than the 12".

Edited January 20, 2022 by Davesellars

[Stu]

15 minutes ago, Davesellars said:

Thanks Stu!  Sorry... some of the reports are longish reading!      I'd love to have a 16" but just not really feasbile at the moment - I have to get mine out of conservatory and lug it out up a few steps - i certainly wouldn't want to do that with anything larger than the 12".

No apology needed. I love to read these reports and it’s great to see the observing section so active now we’ve got some clear skies at last 👍

[Mark at Beaufort]

Excellent observing report Dave so many wonderful objects.

[Epick Crom]

Wonderful report @Davesellars. A lot of variety always spice's up an observing session.