A Bonus Planetary Session in Super Seeing + some Bino touring...

[SuburbanMak]

I had that "its Friday I don't want to go to bed yet" feeling around midnight last night and was mulling over which movie to watch when I noticed Jupiter shining like a headlight to the South East and even through the window looking particularly steady.  The Mak 127 was still all set up from last weekend so in 5 minutes I was out and aligning.  It was a warm, damp night smelling of the recent rain and with a little low mist around and some big high banks of thin cloud in stripes N-S  and from time to time, lumps of lower cumulus drifting through, I didn't know how long I'd get. 

I decided to use the AZGTi tracking so that I could use the narrow field Baader Classic Orthos without constant re-adjustment.  I took some care levelling the tripod with the bubble gauge on the Berlebach report and then into the familiar routine of North Level alignment, which I have found gives the best results.  I drop the Baader Hyperion Zoom in set on 24mm and centre on Polaris using the Telrad, zoom in to 8mm  - noting a very steady split of the secondary at all magnifications, very promising especially as the Mak still had some cooling to do!   This gives a reliable North direction and then I set the scope level just by eye - if I've spent the time to properly level the tripod in the first place this seems to work well. 

Aligned on Jupiter and with the Zoom the view was immediately great - rock steady seeing, an unusually crisp oblate disc and plenty of banding, back in a moment...  Next alignment target Vega, equally steady and once centred at 188x I diverted to the Double Double (Epsilon Lyrae) to check that seeing and wow!  A superb view of two rock steady pairs with perfect diffraction patterns hanging in the eyepiece and splitting clearly from around 100x on up.   

Back to Jupiter and a switch to the BCO 10mm with a Neodymium filter - just lovely detailed views at 150x.  North and South Equatorial and temperate bands readily visible with much texture, particularly in the NEB where the disturbance and bulge so clearly captured in @Kon's brilliant photo from last night were plainly visible in the Western hemisphere.  The moons were pin sharp and disc-like (I need to do a bit of maths to figure out if I was actually resolving their discs or whether this was an Airy effect, either way they looked superb). I had obviously recently missed a shadow transit with Io (I think)   close in to the West and below the plane of the other moons, love the 3D planetary system effect this kind of arrangement gives and it always makes me think of Galileo watching this night after night and thinking "hang on a minute, I get what's going on here...".  

For a laugh I dropped in a UHC filter and despite the weird green cast and considerable darkening of the image it certainly teased out some crispness in the turbulence visible in the banding and added some definition to the fainter bands.  After a few minutes I reverted to my normal Neodymium and some of that definition persists, as if the eye builds up a composite and after seeing with the filter some of those details are easier to perceive.     I lost some time doing all this and realised that Saturn had now emerged from the trees but was also about to be engulfed by cloud.  I slewed across but was only granted a frustratingly quick glimpse of what looked like a superb view before the cloud rolled in. 

Stepping back and looking around there were still some big holes about, and Cygnus & Lyra were clear so I spent a happy half hour looking at M57, the mini-Beehive like M39 in Cygnus, the "Cooling Tower" of M29, Alberio and the even, fairly wide (28") Yellow/Off White pair 61 Cygni, a nice double. All  the while checking to see if Saturn had emerged.  Instead the cloud thickened and the holes were smaller and fewer so I gave up with the main scope and, still enjoying being out, popped inside for my trusty Celestron Nature ED 10x50s, dried off a sunlounger and enjoyed sweeping whatever popped through - Cassiopea's rich star fields, the Alpha Persei cluster probably my favourite binocular field and the Pleiades.  

As I was looking at the Pleiades I realised that the cloud had evaporated across a huge swathe of the sky so Saturn was back on & back to the Mak!   The best view was with the BCO 18mm barlowed 2.25x to 8mm, giving 188x.  The BCO 18mm is I think the crispest EP I own and  loses little paired with the Baader Barlow also giving a comfortable eye-relief. The physical length of this combo makes it easier to use in the Mak too, the shorter orthos requiring care not to bang your head on the Telrad and disturb the view!     Rock steady, photo-like view of Saturn with the rings well delineated and visible even against the disc, Cassini division well seen and almost constantly visible, the shadow of the planet on the rings which again I love seeing for the depth it gives, 3 bands plainly visible despite their subtle colours and 3 moons.  I watched this awe inspiring field until it started to pick up the next band of approaching cloud, all the time requiring on a couple of small adjustments to keep the tracking centred - fab stuff. 

It was by now very late/early and with cloud building from the South again I switched to Mars, by now at 30 degrees or so to the East.  Mars has been a checkbox for me so far having bought the Mak as the planet was already receding from its last opposition. I looked quickly earlier in the summer but still had that "small planetary blob, sandy coloured, a bit fuzzy - check" experience so wasn't expecting much but thought it worth a look given the still super seeing. 

It was immediately apparent that this was a better view in the BCO 10mm at 150x - a much crisper gibbous disc with graduated brightness N-S and, as the image steadied and I looked longer very definitely a white pole!   Longer still and I thought I could pick out a broad grey/green patch at the equator  which became a sideways Y shape heading East across the face ending about 3/4 of the way across.   The SW quadrant of the disc was a notably ruddier shade than the bright, sandy N and E.   Switching to the 6mm BCO at 250x confirmed these views and proved another job for this EP that often only seems to improve image size, in this case though that really helped and made Mars a still small but very real, spherical looking planet occupying around 15% of the FoV.   Chuffed and excited to become a regular Mars watcher as it approaches opposition this December! 

A fab, ad-hoc night with familiar gear working perfectly that left me on one of those post-astro highs! 

Clear Skies.

Mark 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by SuburbanMak

[Stu]

Excellent stuff Mark, thanks for writing this up, it deserves a separate report 👍

It really just shows what most of our scopes are capable of when we get some good seeing. We mess around with changing kit so much then realise much of the time we just need good skies!

That said, it sounds like you’ve got a good setup there. The BCOs working well for you. I should have a second 10mm BCO soon so will try binoviewing with them. Should be good!

Just wait till you get a similar night with Mars at opposition. Quite amazing what you can see! Don’t listen to the naysayers who think Mars is boring! 👍👍

[Kon]

Great report and it seems that you had ideal conditions as well. I regret not taking a look at Jupiter with the eyepiece as I was busy with imaging, it seems it gave a nice show for visuals.

[PeterC65]

Great report and very good to know. I have the Mak 127 and the 6mm and 10mm BCOs, ready to observe Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Mars hasn't been visible for me since I first bought a scope and Jupiter and Saturn disappeared for me before I bought the BCOs so your report has reminded me to give this kit a try. I've been preoccupied with exploring EEVA recently but fully intend to get back to pure visual.

[SuburbanMak]

Thanks @Stu - I use the BCOs way more than I thought I would, originally bought them as a lightweight minimum glass option for Classic ‘fracs but they are just so sharp & contrast y I use them all the time.

 Binoviewing is definitely something I’d like to try at some point and think the BCOs look ideal (and cost effective!) for that. 

I am considering treating myself to something shorter for the Mars opposition however, maybe in the Pentax XW range. 

[SuburbanMak]

18 hours ago, PeterC65 said:

… but fully intend to get back to pure visual.

Thank you. For me the idea of physically experiencing the photons that have travelled across space is part of the appeal - and the Mak 127 is a great way to collect them! 

[SuburbanMak]

19 hours ago, Kon said:

Great report and it seems that you had ideal conditions as well. I regret not taking a look at Jupiter with the eyepiece as I was busy with imaging, it seems it gave a nice show for visuals.

Thank you! It is a great picture though… 

[Captain Scarlet]

Very nice inspiring read. It makes me want to get a Mak out, neither of mine have seen the sky for a while now.

Cheers, Magnus

[IB20]

On 03/09/2022 at 13:51, SuburbanMak said:

I had that "its Friday I don't want to go to bed yet" feeling around midnight last night and was mulling over which movie to watch when I noticed Jupiter shining like a headlight to the South East and even through the window looking particularly steady.  The Mak 127 was still all set up from last weekend so in 5 minutes I was out and aligning.  It was a warm, damp night smelling of the recent rain and with a little low mist around and some big high banks of thin cloud in stripes N-S  and from time to time, lumps of lower cumulus drifting through, I didn't know how long I'd get. 

I decided to use the AZGTi tracking so that I could use the narrow field Baader Classic Orthos without constant re-adjustment.  I took some care levelling the tripod with the bubble gauge on the Berlebach report and then into the familiar routine of North Level alignment, which I have found gives the best results.  I drop the Baader Hyperion Zoom in set on 24mm and centre on Polaris using the Telrad, zoom in to 8mm  - noting a very steady split of the secondary at all magnifications, very promising especially as the Mak still had some cooling to do!   This gives a reliable North direction and then I set the scope level just by eye - if I've spent the time to properly level the tripod in the first place this seems to work well. 

Aligned on Jupiter and with the Zoom the view was immediately great - rock steady seeing, an unusually crisp oblate disc and plenty of banding, back in a moment...  Next alignment target Vega, equally steady and once centred at 188x I diverted to the Double Double (Epsilon Lyrae) to check that seeing and wow!  A superb view of two rock steady pairs with perfect diffraction patterns hanging in the eyepiece and splitting clearly from around 100x on up.   

Back to Jupiter and a switch to the BCO 10mm with a Neodymium filter - just lovely detailed views at 150x.  North and South Equatorial and temperate bands readily visible with much texture, particularly in the NEB where the disturbance and bulge so clearly captured in @Kon's brilliant photo from last night were plainly visible in the Western hemisphere.  The moons were pin sharp and disc-like (I need to do a bit of maths to figure out if I was actually resolving their discs or whether this was an Airy effect, either way they looked superb). I had obviously recently missed a shadow transit with Io (I think)   close in to the West and below the plane of the other moons, love the 3D planetary system effect this kind of arrangement gives and it always makes me think of Galileo watching this night after night and thinking "hang on a minute, I get what's going on here...".  

For a laugh I dropped in a UHC filter and despite the weird green cast and considerable darkening of the image it certainly teased out some crispness in the turbulence visible in the banding and added some definition to the fainter bands.  After a few minutes I reverted to my normal Neodymium and some of that definition persists, as if the eye builds up a composite and after seeing with the filter some of those details are easier to perceive.     I lost some time doing all this and realised that Saturn had now emerged from the trees but was also about to be engulfed by cloud.  I slewed across but was only granted a frustratingly quick glimpse of what looked like a superb view before the cloud rolled in. 

Stepping back and looking around there were still some big holes about, and Cygnus & Lyra were clear so I spent a happy half hour looking at M57, the mini-Beehive like M39 in Cygnus, the "Cooling Tower" of M29, Alberio and the even, fairly wide (28") Yellow/Off White pair 61 Cygni, a nice double. All  the while checking to see if Saturn had emerged.  Instead the cloud thickened and the holes were smaller and fewer so I gave up with the main scope and, still enjoying being out, popped inside for my trusty Celestron Nature ED 10x50s, dried off a sunlounger and enjoyed sweeping whatever popped through - Cassiopea's rich star fields, the Alpha Persei cluster probably my favourite binocular field and the Pleiades.  

As I was looking at the Pleiades I realised that the cloud had evaporated across a huge swathe of the sky so Saturn was back on & back to the Mak!   The best view was with the BCO 18mm barlowed 2.25x to 8mm, giving 188x.  The BCO 18mm is I think the crispest EP I own and  loses little paired with the Baader Barlow also giving a comfortable eye-relief. The physical length of this combo makes it easier to use in the Mak too, the shorter orthos requiring care not to bang your head on the Telrad and disturb the view!     Rock steady, photo-like view of Saturn with the rings well delineated and visible even against the disc, Cassini division well seen and almost constantly visible, the shadow of the planet on the rings which again I love seeing for the depth it gives, 3 bands plainly visible despite their subtle colours and 3 moons.  I watched this awe inspiring field until it started to pick up the next band of approaching cloud, all the time requiring on a couple of small adjustments to keep the tracking centred - fab stuff. 

It was by now very late/early and with cloud building from the South again I switched to Mars, by now at 30 degrees or so to the East.  Mars has been a checkbox for me so far having bought the Mak as the planet was already receding from its last opposition. I looked quickly earlier in the summer but still had that "small planetary blob, sandy coloured, a bit fuzzy - check" experience so wasn't expecting much but thought it worth a look given the still super seeing. 

It was immediately apparent that this was a better view in the BCO 10mm at 150x - a much crisper gibbous disc with graduated brightness N-S and, as the image steadied and I looked longer very definitely a white pole!   Longer still and I thought I could pick out a broad grey/green patch at the equator  which became a sideways Y shape heading East across the face ending about 3/4 of the way across.   The SW quadrant of the disc was a notably ruddier shade than the bright, sandy N and E.   Switching to the 6mm BCO at 250x confirmed these views and proved another job for this EP that often only seems to improve image size, in this case though that really helped and made Mars a still small but very real, spherical looking planet occupying around 15% of the FoV.   Chuffed and excited to become a regular Mars watcher as it approaches opposition this December! 

A fab, ad-hoc night with familiar gear working perfectly that left me on one of those post-astro highs! 

Clear Skies.

Mark 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great read. Glad you’re enjoying the BCO range, IMO they are the best bang for buck eyepieces on the market. A 2x barlowed 10mm BCO in my 8” dob gave wonderful views of Mars last opposition.

[wookie1965]

What a great night I was going to buy a Mak when I started but settled on a 150p I would really like to have a look through one though. 

Thanks for posting great read thanks. 

[Zermelo]

A very enjoyable report.

I'm looking forward to getting my 127 back onto the planets in the next few months. I used the 6 and 10 BCOs last year and they were excellent.

[SuburbanMak]

On 04/09/2022 at 22:41, IB20 said:

A 2x barlowed 10mm BCO in my 8” dob gave wonderful views of Mars last opposition.

Thank you - that's a good tip, will try this both in the Mak 127 & 10 inch GSO Dob. 

[SuburbanMak]

41 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

A very enjoyable report.

I'm looking forward to getting my 127 back onto the planets in the next few months. I used the 6 and 10 BCOs last year and they were excellent.

Thanks @Zermelo  -  I find the Mak a great compromise between aperture, sharpness, portability & ease of handling vs my f15 fracs & a 10' Dob on many nights - good views, an easy setup and when used with the tracking on the AZGTi the narrower field of view of both the scope & BCO's is largely mitigated. Look forward to your reports!