A Few Good Hours

[Talitha]

It was clear for a while on Thursday and Friday nights, and i was finally able to get some viewing done under a moonless sky. Wow, i felt like a kid in a candy shop, i couldn't wait to run down the next aisle and sample more goodies. Oh, and those two sessions made it clear that Lurch needs a new name. Lurch seemed fitting at first, but after seeing what the 16" LB can do on a moonless night, i'm changing the name to something very appropriate... Seymour.

My first target on Thursday was M22. It had so many resolved stars, it looked like a string of Christmas lights that got tangled up into a ball. Then i decided to try for my first 'ladder-assisted' target: M-13. A step-stool would suffice, but i feel safer holding on to a ladder for steadiness. M13's dark propeller was very evident, and the cluster took on a brilliancy i'd never seen before. In the past when seeing M13 through the 8"SCT, i'd avertedly detected faintly illuminated 'streams' extending from the cluster. But the 16" didn't show me faint streams.. it showed me bright stellar rivers.

Then it was time for a look at the Veil and to be perfectly honest it literally took my breath away. At 133x with the O-III filter, the supernova remnant took on depth and structure, and was definitely a 3-D experience. The entire complex carried details i'd never seen before. Wispy threads worked their way around one another, their interplay laid out like a beautifully choreographed ballet of smoke and mist. After about 20 minutes the view suddenly began to deteriorate and i looked up to see that the predicted clouds were beginning to roll in. I went home shortly after midnight.

Friday was clear until just past midnight when hit and miss clouds moved through but i still got a few more good hours of dark sky. Using the 2" 26mm QX supplied with the scope (70x, 59.7° fov) i toured the southern Milky Way for quite a while, concentrating on the congested area of the Teapot's steam trail while waiting for the twilight in the NW to darken. When the NW sky was dark enough, i swung over to M51. A month ago in my 'Wahoo' thread (Astro Lounge), member mdstuart [Mark] had posted "Please draw some galaxies for me. Perhaps M51 and its neighbour?" so i decided to make them the subject of my very first DSO sketch with Seymour. It will be scanned asap and posted in my album.

Visually the galaxy nearly extended to the full size seen in images, and the spirals i'd worked so hard to squeeze out of the 8"SCT were very evident, the brighter portions available to direct vision. I'd hoped to see the bridge connecting M51 and NGC 5195, but all i could detect was the portion which came out of the smaller galaxy, and the arm reaching out from M51.. no bridge was seen, but maybe next time.

Then it was M31's turn where, for the first time ever, i saw the dust lane. With the 8"SCT it had always appeared to be a sudden dark and flat border with nothing beyond it, but on Friday i actually saw the dust lane flowing across the nebulosity. Then i decided to try for the PacMan Nebula and found it quite easily. It took up a good portion of the fov and was enhanced quite a bit when i held the 1.25" O-III filter between my eye and the eyepiece.

At 11:30 i tried for the mag 13.3 center star in M57 but couldn't separate it from the nebulosity. The seeing had deteriorated when a slightly warm-ish breeze started, maybe that's why i couldn't pull the star out of there? At 12:15 clouds moved in so i sat down to relax with a cup of tea for 1/2 hour till they were gone. Then it was on to Hickson 92, aka Stephan's Quintet but all too soon the clouds moved in again so i decided to leave this galaxy group to another time when conditions were better. The clouds were horizon to horizon but it wasn't totally overcast so i just cruised around till 1:25 and got lucky when there was a rather large opening allowing access to the Dumbbell Nebula. It was bright enough without the O-III, so i just messed around with different magnifications, making mental notes on my preferences for when it comes time to buy a few really nice eyepieces. I cruised around some more till 1:45 and then decided to call it a night and was back home in about 1/2 hour.

Till next time...

[John]

Great report Carol

Seymour - I didn't get it at 1st (I conjured up an image of Rick Moranis in "Little Shop of Horrors" to start with !) but it's a very apt name for such a "big eye" of course.

The Veil is my favorite DSO and your description of what 16" can do on it is truly mouthwatering - it's what big dobs and OIII filters were made for !.

How are you finding the Meade 26mm QX ? - I have to admit that the one I had when I had a 12" Lightbridge was not that great - I had to have it hanging out of the drawtube to reach focus and the stars in the outer 30% of the field of view were a very odd shape !.

Your description of M51 and M31 showing off their dust lanes and spiral structure is great - I must take a look at your drawing.

The only problem with the reports your are posting on this scope is that they are in danger of giving me a dose of aperture fever again !.

Thanks for sharing your experiences

[johnkirkpatrick]

Love the new name, goes well with that monster of a scope lol, and a great report as per usual..

[Talitha]

Thanks! Thunderstorms are in the forecast all week, so i guess that's it for a while.

The QX does ok John. I've never had to let it hang out of the drawtube to gain focus, anyway. As far as the stars looking funny towards the outer edge, they weren't pinpoints, but that doesn't bother me because i look at the center of the fov. I've been wearing glasses since the age of 10 (except when i wore contacts for a while) and am accustomed to seeing peripheral lens distortion. I'll make a point of checking next time i'm out, though.

[peeceeTal2M]

A great report Carol, it makes me want to move to a dark sky site and get a lightbridge as well. I think Seymour is a very apt name too, I can't wait to read your next report.

[Doc]

I'm glad you are loving your scope Carol. The Veil is awesome with an O111 filter as you say wisps and knots all over the place.

Could you actually see the pacman shape as I'm yet to see this?

Have fun and I'll look forward to your next report.

[Talitha]

Thanks Phill. I hope you get the chance someday.

Thanks Mick. PacMan's right side (East?) was a continually rounded nebulosity of even brightness. The left side's nebulosity looked 'interrupted' (for lack of a better word), and gradiently faded as it neared the edge. The mouth area seemed to be a bit mottled... i'd like to re-check this one when it gains altitude.

[mdstuart]

Looking forward to your M51 sketch...

MY best WOW moment recently was seeing the Sagitarius star cloud M24 for the first time in binoclars. It was so packed with stars. There are just some sights that are best with binoculars!

Mark

[Talitha]

What movie does that quote come from "My God, it's full of stars!"?

That's what i think of every time i wander near that Star Cloud, no matter if it's with binos or a scope....

it's got to be one of the most congested areas in the sky.

(here's the sketch)

[Beulah]

What movie does that quote come from "My God, it's full of stars!"?

That's what i think of every time i wander near that Star Cloud, no matter if it's with binos or a scope....

it's got to be one of the most congested areas in the sky.

(here's the sketch)

It's lovely reading your observation reports, as I am too experiencing the joys of recently acquired larger aperture - although in effect you have doubled yours and are seeing massive leaps in detail.

BTW, that quote comes from the book "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Arthur C Clarke and wasn't in the film, although it was put in the film "2010".

[iamjulian]

Sounds like an amazing experience. So do the O-III filters make a difference for smaller aperture scopes? Or are they only worth having for light buckets?

[mdstuart]

Talitha

Absolutely great sketch of M51. The filed star embeded in the spiral arms reminds me of my last view of it.

Thanks for doing the sketch for me.

Mark

[Talitha]

Thanks everyone.

Sam, i'd seen the quote used in group signatures but never knew where it came from, thanks for finally lifting the fog.

Julian, it's good for everything. When used with small aperture it literally makes nebulae appear like magic, provided it's something within the grasp of the scope to begin with. When i sketched the entire Veil complex using the 80ST, i had the proper starfield in the eyepiece but couldn't see a thing without the filter. Add the O-III, and there it was.

You're welcome Mark, TBH i couldn't have come up with a better choice of galaxies than magnificent M51.