Does the Pinwheel actually exist?

[josefk]

i would also add one's own dark adaptation to the mix of variables to be aware of and to manage - i like to sketch and use a dim red light to do so - many DSO and especially extended ones disappear even after only a few seconds of red light and take a minute or two sometimes to come back into detectability then a bit longer still till "good" visibility. I wouldn't have been quite so switched on to how sensitive (degraded) the eye is to even what i consider a very small dose of red light  if it wasn't for the sketching. The same goes for any mapping SW on a red lit dim screen - it still seems to degrade those last few important percentage points of sensitivity.

[globular]

53 minutes ago, josefk said:

i would also add one's own dark adaptation to the mix of variables to be aware of and to manage - i like to sketch and use a dim red light to do so - many DSO and especially extended ones disappear even after only a few seconds of red light and take a minute or two sometimes to come back into detectability then a bit longer still till "good" visibility. I wouldn't have been quite so switched on to how sensitive (degraded) the eye is to even what i consider a very small dose of red light  if it wasn't for the sketching. The same goes for any mapping SW on a red lit dim screen - it still seems to degrade those last few important percentage points of sensitivity.

Same experience for me too - sketching in the faintest red light conditions possible and maintaining dark adaptation is a real challenge.
I keep my observing eye closed when not at the eyepiece, often under a patch too to avoid mistakes - so easily done when your observing eye is also your main 'doing stuff' eye.
I also often dictate out loud into a voice recording app to note my observations and details - and leave the sketching until after I've studied the object for quite some time. It's amazing how much more you see if you keep your eye at the eyepiece for an extended period.  A comfortable chair or stool helps extend continuous observing time too.

[Stu]

On 15/08/2024 at 04:23, Sunshine said:

I love under bortle 4 skies

Perhaps too much information Sunshine 😉

[Stu]

Just a note to people cutting and pasting from other sources onto a thread. These often appear on a black background and are hard to read. If you select paste a plain text then it will be as normal and much easier to read 👍

[Stu]

3 hours ago, josefk said:

i would also add one's own dark adaptation to the mix of variables to be aware of and to manage - i like to sketch and use a dim red light to do so - many DSO and especially extended ones disappear even after only a few seconds of red light and take a minute or two sometimes to come back into detectability then a bit longer still till "good" visibility. I wouldn't have been quite so switched on to how sensitive (degraded) the eye is to even what i consider a very small dose of red light  if it wasn't for the sketching. The same goes for any mapping SW on a red lit dim screen - it still seems to degrade those last few important percentage points of sensitivity.

This is a very important point. I can’t actually recall the last time I got properly dark adapted, probably on my trip to Saundersfoot when I observed the Veil and other objects with a 14” dob on the Welsh coast in very dark conditions. It makes such a difference! Unfortunately most of my observing, even though my garden is around Bortle 4 is still affected by bright lights in the distance that are hard to avoid looking at. Some form of shielding would help but I haven’t managed to get that up the list of jobs yet!!

[AstroDad74]

Hi all 👋 I have photographed the M101the pinwheel galaxy on my Seestar S50 Smart telescope yes I here you all say what a Smart telescope! 😱🤦🤷‍♂️ But it works 😂

I have had some great pictures taken on the seestar s50, I would like to try and capture it on my Canon 6d with my 135mm f2 lens from samyang tracked on my star adventurer gti. I have included a screenshot of the pinwheel galaxy that was shot on the Seestar s50 with no post processd used and was shot 90mims at 10sec subs.

Regards Roger 

 

[Second Time Around]

Choosing the optimum exit pupil and thus the magnification is important in looking at such objects.  Too high a magnification spreads the light out too much and thus reduces the surface brightness.  Too low a magnification means a brighter sky background and thus less contrast.  

It doesn't normally hugely matter, but with these threshold objects you may struggle to see the object at a given magnification, but may be able to do so with a slight change.

This is one of the many advantages of a zoom eyepiece as it has an infinite number of magnifications within it's range.  

[TiffsAndAstro]

2 hours ago, AstroDad74 said:

Hi all 👋 I have photographed the M101the pinwheel galaxy on my Seestar S50 Smart telescope yes I here you all say what a Smart telescope! 😱🤦🤷‍♂️ But it works 😂

I have had some great pictures taken on the seestar s50, I would like to try and capture it on my Canon 6d with my 135mm f2 lens from samyang tracked on my star adventurer gti. I have included a screenshot of the pinwheel galaxy that was shot on the Seestar s50 with no post processd used and was shot 90mims at 10sec subs.

Regards Roger 

 

I think your 135 will be to small FL for m101

also 540 subs is a lot of data to process.

this is 20x60sec I did as a rough test 420mm imx533 colour bortle 6 for comparison no flats

 

[geeklee]

5 hours ago, AstroDad74 said:

with my 135mm f2 lens from samyang

Here's an hour from a few years ago.  Samyang 135 + 533MC camera.  Just a crop & stretch.

[tomato]

6 hours ago, Stu said:

This is a very important point. I can’t actually recall the last time I got properly dark adapted, probably on my trip to Saundersfoot when I observed the Veil and other objects with a 14” dob on the Welsh coast in very dark conditions. It makes such a difference! Unfortunately most of my observing, even though my garden is around Bortle 4 is still affected by bright lights in the distance that are hard to avoid looking at. Some form of shielding would help but I haven’t managed to get that up the list of jobs yet!!

I have a shiny new LED street light directly opposite my back garden, so dark adaptation is currently nigh on impossible. However the plan is to move the scope location onto the lawn a bit further away from the street light and then myself and Tomatobro plan to erect a temporary screen on top of the adjacent garden shed which should put the telescope location into full shadow. Failing that it will be dismantled for trips to the nearby Long Mynd Bortle 2/3 site...