Mixed bag tonight with the Veil as the highlight

[John]

Despite one abortive attempt earlier this evening thwarted by cloud cover and a promise to help my son with his geography coursework , I've managed to get the 12" dob out again and had a rewarding hour under a patch of good seeing.

My main target was to get the 12" onto Jupiter but it had not risen above the surounding rooftops when the scope had cooled (for the 2nd time tonight !) so I surfed around the sky for a while. M2 was a nice, bright, tight globular cluster with densly packed tiny stars around a tight core. The Dumbell and the Ring nebulae looked great unfiltered as they usually do in the 12". M31, M32 and M110 were easlily seen but not at their best because they were still dipped in the Bristol nightglow to the east. I thought I'd have a shot at Iota, one of my favourite triple stars, in Casseopea - it's a bit of a challenge with small apertures as it's two brightest componants are relatively close and uneven in brightness but the 12" dob split the 3 componants pretty easily at 169x (9mm Nagler).

I then noticed that the Cygnus area was very clear - the milky way showing clearly through it. As Jupiter was still hiding I put my 31mm Nagler in the drawtube with the Astronomik OIII filter attached and sought out my favourite DSO - the Veil Nebula. Wow - the best view I have ever had of this object from my back yard - even better than the exellent the view though another 12" dob I'd had earlier this year from a dark sky sight at the SGL4 star party. Both the east and west portions of this nebula were clearly defined, with details such as the "bristles" end of the witches broom portion (as it's known) visable fanning into space, the handle of the broom resembling a milky, meandering, tapering river of misty light. Across the nebula the knots and twists in the "bridal veil" part were showing nicely as it curved right across the Nagler's field of view just like lace draped against the stars - Superb . The highlight

though was the elusive Pickerings Triangular Wisp - a rather ill defined and much fainter patch of nebulosity below and to the right of the "handle" of the witches broom between it and the bridal veil. It was faint alright but definately there - I panned the scope a bit and came back at it from the other direction to make sure - the faint Triangular Wisp (only very vaguely triangular and elongated I thought) and the handle section of the broom could be seen in the same field of view. Thats a first for me .

And, lo, Jupiter hove into view at last, with clouds hot on his heels as well, so I snatched a few minutes with the 9mm Nagler on him. A very nice view while it lasted (not long enough ). The planet is low down and over roof tops so seeing is very variable for me. During the short steady patches nice details of the belts and zones were glimpsed and the Great Red Spot was on show. The GRS actually looked faintly pinkish tonight and the GRS hollow in the south equatorial belt seemed to be edged in a lighter hue than the spot itself, framing it so to speak.

And then the clouds spread in from the eastern horizon and my sky show was at an end ..... for this evening anyway

Not a long session by any means but very enjoyable, and well worth the 2nd attempt at setting up.

John

[Andrew*]

Great result, John. Your description of the veil components is very vivid - just how I remember the views I had last year with tthe 16".

Thanks for sharing your report

Andrew

[lunator]

John

Nice report.

I spent a couple of hours wandering around Cygnus last night.

Cheers

Ian

[bish]

Interesting read. The veil is the only DSO I have seen looking like the photos (apart from the colour) when I saw it through a big dob with an oIII filter from a dark site. I could have spent ages looking at it but I was using somebody elses scope so couldn't take too long! Where abouts are you west of Bristol? I used to live in a village not too far from Bath where there is very little light pollution and took it for granted that you could see the milky way until I moved up to Dudley.

[mike.brightmore]

Nice report John. You obviously have a lot less light pollution than I do. Jupiter was good and I kept having a look at in between touring open clusters. At one stage Io and Europa were so close it was almost like splitting a double.

[John]

Interesting read. The veil is the only DSO I have seen looking like the photos (apart from the colour) when I saw it through a big dob with an oIII filter from a dark site. I could have spent ages looking at it but I was using somebody elses scope so couldn't take too long! Where abouts are you west of Bristol? I used to live in a village not too far from Bath where there is very little light pollution and took it for granted that you could see the milky way until I moved up to Dudley.

Hi Bish,

I'm at Portishead, about 12 miles SW of Bristol on the Severn Estuary. There is a fair amount of skyglow from Bristol to the NE but the fact that we are 300 ft up on a hill might help with transparancy although we get loads of nights when it's not so good as well

John

[Doc]

Great read John. Have yet to see this elusive Veil Nebula. Cannot wait to Salisbury to maybe catch a glimpse.

[Taff]

Hi John' Thats a nice write up on your night.Mark

[mdstuart]

Im jelous, I still have not seen that red spot. I think there are some transits of Jupiter so I might try to pick those out as well. It is still clearish here to the north of Bristol.

Mark

[Talitha]

Thanks, John. Had my first glimpse of the broom's 'bristles' a few nights ago with the 8"SCT and O-III. The sky was nearly transparent, which isn't too common here. Lovely sight.

[SAB]

Nice report! I was going to catch the Viel the other night but it sank behind the treetops before i got to it!

[AndyBooth]

Great report John, I too had my 12" Flexitube out, with the same patchy cloud, looking at Jupiter.

[mdstuart]

I also could see more of the veil last night really superb, must have been a good night for it.

[John]

I also could see more of the veil last night really superb, must have been a good night for it.

Thats great

Do you find you need your OIII filter to really see the Veil ? - I can see it very faintly without a filter but an OIII makes a huge difference.

John

[Beulah]

Thats great

Do you find you need your OIII filter to really see the Veil ? - I can see it very faintly without a filter but an OIII makes a huge difference.

John

In my opinion, that's exactly what a OIII filter was made for. Practically impossible to find without it, but with it, the detail is astonishing and I find myself gazing at it for many minutes. I was surprised to find the eastern side of the neb too: but with a 26mm EP, I had to switch between both sides.

Thought I commmented on this thread this morning, looks like I didn't after all - must be losing it. I'm commenting now , and it's a great read. I do enjoy reading other's responses to what they see, and what they can see through various apetures. Thanks.

[mdstuart]

I can see the veil with my new 12.5mm Wollensak 2 inch lens but it is faint. You put in the OIII and it is so much more obvious. I could see the patch of neb between the east and west section for the first time as well...

Mark