Great scopes and great friends

[Littleguy80]

It had been several months since I last visited my local dark site at Seething, the home of the Norwich Astro Society. Clear skies and knowing that some friends would be observing there was all the reason I needed to pack up the car and head out. I took both my 10" dob and Tak FC100. These scopes sat alongside @Cjg's Astro Physics Stowaway and a stunning 20" Dob. For a bit of fun we pointed the Tak and AP at the Eskimo and Blue Snowball planetary nebulae. The views were just fab in both. Such a treat to look through two top notch refractors. 

With the dob now cooled and my eyes dark adapted, it was time for some serious DSO observing. Starting with the beautiful green glowing M42 with the Running man nebulae. Next came the Flame nebula. Faint but I was soon comfortably picking out the dark lanes. The 25m TV Plossl and HB filter came out and I began tracing the edge of IC434. For 10/15 mins, I traced up and down. The notch of the Horse Head seemed to come and go. I called over T, the owner of the 20" dob. She looked and then swapped the TV eyepiece for her Pentax. Some more careful nudging and then came confirmation of the sighting. I took a look with the Pentax. It took some time to adjust to change in the FOV but eventually I got it again. The big dob was also pointing at the Horse Head. The HH was, as you would expect, an easier spot here though not an easy target. The view in 20" gave me more confidence of what I'd seen in my 10" dob. After the joy of great refractors came the joy of great reflectors. I sat happily with a foot in both camps!

The rest of the evening was filled with touring some other less challenging targets. With the HB filter still in place, I swung back to M42. The view was nothing short of breathtaking. It was like seeing a whole new object. It seemed to extend so much further than I've ever seen it before. No doubt the dark, transparent skies helped. The cluster M46 with the planetary nebula, NGC 2438, within it was awesome in the dob. The PN showing so clearly without needing a filter to see it. M1 showed as textured oval, so much more impressive under dark skies. 

We all took a break and enjoyed cake, homemade soup and some laughs in the clubhouse. It was a great throwback to the times spent observing pre-covid.

The Rosette with a UHC filter easily filling the FOV with my 30mm UFF eyepiece. Thick nebulosity around the bright cluster at its centre. The Christmas tree cluster raised a smile as did Hubble's Variable nebula, the 37 cluster (NGC 2301) and Hagrid's dragon (NGC 2169). I grabbed the Tak and moved so that the tail of Leo sat above the trees. From there, I was able to find Comet 62/P. A small but fairly brightly circular fuzzy patch. For a final hurrah, I pointed the Tak at the Leo triplet. M65 and M66 were bright and easy. With a bit of averted vision came NGC 3628. A really lovely night of observing made so much better by sharing it with some lovely friends.

[RobertI]

What a superb night. It makes such a difference observing with others. Some great targets too, well done for getting the Horsehead with your 10”. 👍

[Stu]

Wonderful Neil, I enjoyed reading that 🤓

[Sunshine]

It sounds like an amazing time, you sold me at home made soup! I am a known soup fiend, my love for soup is insatiable. Soup aside, what a treat to have an FC100 next to a stowaway.

[josefk]

i was also sold at "cake and soup"! Never mind lovely skies and lovely scopes to boot. Sounds fabulous @Littleguy80

[Littleguy80]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I should give full credit to @Cjg for the delicious homemade soup. A man of many talents!

[Cjg]

A great evening, Neil, felt very much like the 'out-of-hours' sessions that we had before the madness of CV19. Observing Barnard 33 has become a bit of an event whenever you and @Helix are on the pads with yours dobs! As for the soup, as much as I'd like to claim an ancient recipe passed down....the soup maker came with a recipe app!!😂

Hopefully more nights like that to come this year,

Chris

[mapstar]

On 11/01/2024 at 21:57, Littleguy80 said:

The tail of Leo sat above the trees. From there, I was able to find Comet 62/P. A small but fairly brightly circular fuzzy patch. 

Nice report Neil and an enjoyable read.

I've posted rarely over the last few months and had a session on Wednesday the 17th. Unfortunately it didn't quite go to plan as I couldn't make it to my usual spot due snow and ice. The usual hour and 20 min drive turned into 2hrs.

When I did plump for a place to set up it was a 6hr wait until the moon dropped out of the sky for some decent viewing. By that time the -7°C and wind chill had taken it's toll and I was frozen to the core. Much like my milk and extra water for hot drinks. I called it a night an hour before the moon dipped.

I did manage a few targets 62p being one of them. Quite an easy find to say. 

 

 

Edited January 21 by mapstar

[Littleguy80]

Thanks Damian! Great to hear from you  Sorry to hear your session didn’t go to plan but glad you managed to get a few targets in before the cold took hold. 62P is sitting quite nicely off Leo’s tail and is quite bright. Not a challenging target but I always observing comets. 

Hope you and the rest of the dob mob are keeping well. 

[wookie1965]

On 11/01/2024 at 21:57, Littleguy80 said:

It had been several months since I last visited my local dark site at Seething, the home of the Norwich Astro Society. Clear skies and knowing that some friends would be observing there was all the reason I needed to pack up the car and head out. I took both my 10" dob and Tak FC100. These scopes sat alongside @Cjg's Astro Physics Stowaway and a stunning 20" Dob. For a bit of fun we pointed the Tak and AP at the Eskimo and Blue Snowball planetary nebulae. The views were just fab in both. Such a treat to look through two top notch refractors. 

With the dob now cooled and my eyes dark adapted, it was time for some serious DSO observing. Starting with the beautiful green glowing M42 with the Running man nebulae. Next came the Flame nebula. Faint but I was soon comfortably picking out the dark lanes. The 25m TV Plossl and HB filter came out and I began tracing the edge of IC434. For 10/15 mins, I traced up and down. The notch of the Horse Head seemed to come and go. I called over T, the owner of the 20" dob. She looked and then swapped the TV eyepiece for her Pentax. Some more careful nudging and then came confirmation of the sighting. I took a look with the Pentax. It took some time to adjust to change in the FOV but eventually I got it again. The big dob was also pointing at the Horse Head. The HH was, as you would expect, an easier spot here though not an easy target. The view in 20" gave me more confidence of what I'd seen in my 10" dob. After the joy of great refractors came the joy of great reflectors. I sat happily with a foot in both camps!

The rest of the evening was filled with touring some other less challenging targets. With the HB filter still in place, I swung back to M42. The view was nothing short of breathtaking. It was like seeing a whole new object. It seemed to extend so much further than I've ever seen it before. No doubt the dark, transparent skies helped. The cluster M46 with the planetary nebula, NGC 2438, within it was awesome in the dob. The PN showing so clearly without needing a filter to see it. M1 showed as textured oval, so much more impressive under dark skies. 

We all took a break and enjoyed cake, homemade soup and some laughs in the clubhouse. It was a great throwback to the times spent observing pre-covid.

The Rosette with a UHC filter easily filling the FOV with my 30mm UFF eyepiece. Thick nebulosity around the bright cluster at its centre. The Christmas tree cluster raised a smile as did Hubble's Variable nebula, the 37 cluster (NGC 2301) and Hagrid's dragon (NGC 2169). I grabbed the Tak and moved so that the tail of Leo sat above the trees. From there, I was able to find Comet 62/P. A small but fairly brightly circular fuzzy patch. For a final hurrah, I pointed the Tak at the Leo triplet. M65 and M66 were bright and easy. With a bit of averted vision came NGC 3628. A really lovely night of observing made so much better by sharing it with some lovely friends.

Wish I had a dark place to go to an hour away and some observation friends to go to. 

[Nicola Fletcher]

Thank you for that great write up! I love the comparisons between the different scopes.