Hallelujah!

[Trentend]

I'm not a man of faith but wow what an experience last night - by far the best ever session in all my years looking up. Quite emotional!

I made the 45 minute journey out of the city to a local bortle 3/4 site. It was a perfectly still night, little wind, cool but not too cold, beautifully clear skies and (importantly for Scotland) consistent conditions for more than the usual 30 minute window. Also no moon - I was here a few months ago during the quarter moon and then last weekend when nearly full and boy what a difference with no moon at all. I ended up at the site a full 4 hours!

Usual kit; C11, FC100, 55/67 combo, various filters (3.5, 7, 12, 642 & 685) plus Carson and OVNI-B gear.

First up just looking skyward soaking up the stars. The milky-way was more noticeable than my previous two visits stretching all the way from the North, directly overhead, running just left of Orion and to the horizon in the South.

I then picked up the Carson handheld x1 with the filter wheel and that really blew my socks off! I've seen the phrase "filthy with stars" in NV forums before but the milky-way was just "filthy with nebula" - and I'm not talking small grey splodges - they were all along the spine and really bright. Not 100% sure what I was looking at but suspect Elephant trunk, Heart & Soul, California, Cone and Rosetta along the way. Barnard's loop was also spectacular (just like the photos Gavster and Co have posted on this site). I tried various filters and just a tweak to the manual gain to get eyepiece like views. I think my favourite filters were the 7 & 12. Then changed over to the OVNI-B and whilst not as sharp/bright (understandable given the difference in tube specs) still very impressive and a definite "upgrade" compared to the views from back-home in the city.

Giddy with excitement I then loaded the 55/67 in to the C11 with the Carson for a tour. The usual suspects really impressed (notably M42, Flame and a crystal clear Horsehead nebula). Firsts for me though were the Crab and Rosetta - both brilliant. Not as clear/bright as the photo's on this forum but could clearly make out structure. Most of the targets I'd set up though were too large for the FOV so I then had a go with the Tak for the first time - what a surprise - was neat seeing both M42 and Horsehead in the same frame. Rosetta was stunning as was Pacman and Jellyfish. I think at this point I had another go handheld with the filter wheel - I really must get one of those photo-lenses...

Finally (non NV related), I picked up some Denkmeier 21mm LOA (the 3D eyepieces) a few years ago but had never got around to using them. Last night was the first time and they were really neat. Pointed the Tak at Pleiades and there was a definite 3D effect with what looked like real depth. Suspect these will be great on globular clusters but I'll save that for another day (need to see if Russ can make these for NV!).

So all in all a stunning night with all of the kit working like clockwork - feels like years of planning and "kit collecting" all came together.

Drove home with a smile on my face trying to work out how to get the big Dob in the back of the car for even brighter views next time....

Edited January 25, 2022 by Trentend