Cygnus nebulosities

[Nyctimene]

Astronomical darkness has returned here in SW Germany  (49.36° Lat.) for already almost three hours; enough time to revisit some targets high up in Cygnus with the 12" f/5 traveldob. The sky was rather dark  with SQM-L 21.1, but transparency was not quite correlating with just 5.2 NELM (UMi). Aiming directly at Sadr with a Rigel Quikfinder was too much stress for my aging neck, so I started at 01.15 CEST from beautiful Albireo and worked my way up with mag 50x (30 mmf/77° Wild-Heerbrugg). Star-hopping was not easy along the dense Milky Way starfields, even with 1.5 TFoV; and I skipped Minkowski's Footprint and Campbell's Hydrogen Star. Finally arriving at the Crescent nebula NGC 6888, I was able to make out very faint nebulosities around the three embedded stars. Adding a Astronomik 2" UHC revealed the oval shape, moderately bright, and most prominent in the NW part. Basel 6, a nice open cluster with a triangular form was in the same field of view. Passing the SW part of the Gamma Cygni nebula complex, I found, with the  UHC,, the two eastern parts quite obvious and well structured, with a rather dark "sound" between them both. A nice contrast was the open cluster 6910 (the "Rocking Horse" cluster, as I learned later) with three star chains; the same went for oc M 29 the "cooling tower"  2° S of Sadr. Over to the North America nebula; huge and bright, with a very prominent "golf" region. The sky was slowly brightening, so I postponed further observations for darker skies and finished with Saturn at the meridian. With 167x mag, the Cassini division was quite obvious during seconds of better seeing; no surface details. Titan, Rhea and Dione. Finished at 02.45. Nice to observe again in light clothing - and awaiting the longer autumn nights coming.

Thanks for reading

Stephan

[cloudsweeper]

Very encouraging report, Stephan!  I've not been out for ages, and am feeling rusty on the theoretical principles and practicalities of observing.  Hope I can get back into the swing of it all very soon!

Doug.

[Nyctimene]

1 hour ago, cloudsweeper said:

the theoretical principles and practicalities of observing

The same for me at the moment with the 12" traveldob, A beauty, with excellent optics and smooth working mechanics, but, at the same time, a somewhat sensitive plant (focus issues with many of my eyepieces, balance problems, wind vulnerability, no real finderscope etc.). Constantly learning with it, but very rewarding. The weight of just 12 kgs in toto has it's price. Have a look:

Stephan

[cloudsweeper]

Crikey - what a great way to get a decent and manageable 12" aperture, in spite of the obvious problems!  How well does it hold collimation?  

Doug.

[Nyctimene]

It holds collimation quite well - ok; it's not always assembled before observing, but rests in full ornament in the shed at ambient temperature, together with it's mates. Primary adjustment once, with minor corrections, every 6-8 weeks.

Stephan

[Paz]

Great report, I'm looking forward to having a good look at Cygnus but haven't had a chance yet this time around.

Regarding the travel do is there any way to lash a small right angled finder to it, say a 6x30 or such?

[Nyctimene]

57 minutes ago, Paz said:

Regarding the travel do is there any way to lash a small right angled finder to it, say a 6x30 or such?

After the last observing session, I've been considering such a solution. For balancing the scope, when using heavy 2" eyepieces, I have to add a variable plug-on counterweight to the rockerbox anyway, so this shouldn't be a problem. Which brand/model 6x30 RACI of good quality would you suggest?

Stephan

[Paz]

 

On 26/07/2022 at 16:52, Nyctimene said:

After the last observing session, I've been considering such a solution. For balancing the scope, when using heavy 2" eyepieces, I have to add a variable plug-on counterweight to the rockerbox anyway, so this shouldn't be a problem. Which brand/model 6x30 RACI of good quality would you suggest?

Stephan

I am happy with a skywatcher 6*30 raci finder. They are quite light compared to a 9*50 so useful if your trying to keep weight down, and the extra 2 degrees fov compared to a 9*50 is quite handy also.

[dobbyisbest]

Very encouraging report.  Can’t wait for astronomical darkness to arrive in the UK. 
 

Did you build the or buy that dob? If the latter, would you please link me to the vendor?

[Nyctimene]

19 hours ago, dobbyisbest said:

Did you build the or buy that dob? If the latter, would you please link me to the vendor?

Unfortunately, the very small company  Hofheim Instuments (actually a couple) is no longer in business (since 2021); but their website still exists (in German only):

https://www.hofheiminstruments.com/willkommen.html

Maybe, you could get a used one from the second hand market; more probably the 8" (browse mainly websites of the German speaking countries);  not cheap, but very recommendable!

Stephan

 

[Captain Scarlet]

Superb report Stephan, detailed enough that at my next clear sky I’m going to attempt to reproduce the session in detail … you describe objects that I’m not familiar with.

Thanjs, Magnus

[Nyctimene]

Continued the observation yesterday evening with the 18" f/4.5 Obsession under sub-average skies (NELM 5.0; SQM-L 20.52). After a short look at Pi Aql (split with 155x), I visited the most famous Cygnus nebulosity, the Veil, with a 24 mmf/82° Maxvision and 2" Astronomik UHC filter, giving 85x mag and a TFoV of just 1 degree. For almost half an hour I enjoyed scanning the different parts of the E and W Veil; the Witches' Broom was clearly split; Pickering's Triangular Wisp was obvious. Many fainter parts of the complex to the S and SE were visible. Upcoming high haze and some clouds prompted me to choose another target - the Pegasus galaxy 7331.  With 155x mag (Docter 12.5mmf), it was already slightly washed out, and  the accompanying smaller galaxies, the "fleas", could not be made out, so I had little hope to spot Stephan's Quintet close by. To my surprise, four of it's members were just visible with averted vision, without any detail. I finished with Saturn, with it's clearly visible Cassini division, a "belly band" and four moons. Very pleased with the pleasures of a big dob under appropriate skies, and so to bed after 1 1/2 hours at 23.30 CEST.

Added: a guide to the Veil: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-blogs/explore-night-bob-king/explore-veil-nebula/

Thanks for reading

Stephan

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by Nyctimene