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The most amazing views I've ever had!

george7378

By george7378
in Observing - Reports

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george7378

george7378

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Last night gave me a mercifully clear spot among the clouds, during which I could observe some of my favourite objects with the new scope.

I set up in a quiet part of the garden, and although there was a firework display going off with the occasional Chinese Lantern coming over, and lights turning on and off from time to time, I got the best views of all the objects that I have ever had.

The first thing I centred on was Jupiter. It was easy to find with the optical finder, and helped me align properly. I first tried it with the 10mm @ 120X, and the amazing sharpness of the details just blew me away! I saw the NEB's crisp outline against the light disc, but I was easily able to spot very intricate details such as festoons and boundaries between the light and dark material, and there was even a small 'nick' in the NEB where the light material was cutting into it in the north-east position on Jupiter's disc. As well as this, I could see a faint colouration where the SEB is hiding, and both polar hoods were showing nicely. The south polar zone seemed to have an area of more intense red stretched across it, and I even saw some streaks of red in the SEB's slot. Later on, I watched the GRS quickly appear and rotate towards the central meridian, and it appeared as a sharply-defined oval cutting into the south polar zone.

Aside from the details on the disc, I saw all four moons, and I swear one of them was glowing bright gold - something I have never seen before. This was probably Io. If anyone took and images of Jupiter last night, I would be very pleased if I could see them to confirm what I saw.

So, I saw more on Jupiter last night than I have ever seen in my life, but I didn't focus on this giant planet alone. The first DSO I viewed was the double cluster, which was a fantastic object in my old scope, so you can guess how I responded after seeing it in the 10"! I couldn't believe how many stars filled the FOV, with many peppered around the main cluster as well as a goldmine of bright colours and also fainter stars which I was never able to see with the old scope. Something I like doing is opening both eyes with one looking down the EP and one looking at the scenery around me - I tried it, and the double cluster's star fields were spattered across the hedge and the wall of the house - they all stood out so well even when they were overlayed on the world around me!

I also couldn't resist M31, and when the clouds finally cleared around it, I could see the faint outer regions stretching across the view, which complemented the bright core by giving a real shape to the galaxy. I saw the satellite galaxies as defined ovals too, and the nebulosity of M31 bridged a far larger gap between the objects than ever before, hinting at how much more of the galaxy was visible. I looked at the object from many angles, and I think I also saw a dark dust lane later in the night - it seemed to arc round the core in an oval, and cut through the very diffuse outer regions of the galaxy and disappeared around the front of the core. Trying to entice the details out of this object was very rewarding, and the dark skies at home will be even better at it.

I saw a new galaxy too - the ghost of Mirach. I have never found it before, but as soon as I found Mirach, I could see it - looking very cometary with its elliptical diffuse 'coma'. Mirach and other stars such as Vega and Albireo also showed some beautiful colours, and I was really able to find a lot more double stars than ever before - probably a combination of the light gathering, sharp optics and high magnification.

M33 was quite hard to find, and I think a darker sky is needed to appreciate the details, as it appeared as a rather small glowing mist and it was quite hard to decipher the boundaries of the galaxy, but I appreciate that it is very dim and requires good conditions to see the structure. I can't wait to start exploring the spirals of objects like M33 and M51 when I get a dark sky.

I saw a favourite nebula of mine too - M57. While my previous views of the object were very pleasing, the magnification and light-gathering power of the new scope made it even better. I found it straight away once it was in the FOV, and the sharpness and size of the 'smoke ring' were a great improvement. I was able to use lots more magnification, and the nebula took on a nice ovular shape with the two caps at either end adding to the shape. The centre also showed off some nice faint nebulosity, and I was able to observe without averted vision and see the sharp shape of the outer ring.

I spent the evening flicking between these sights while sitting at the EP until about 22:30, when the clouds rolled in. I really can't wait to see some other planets, especially Saturn, which should give some razor sharp details, especially on the rings. I am also looking forward to observing the previously unavailable intricacies of galaxies with spiral arms and dust lanes - can you recommend any good ones which will show detail?

Thanks, George.

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Chris H

Chris H

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Great report, the 10" is a really great scope IMO. M33 is a bit of a [removed word], it has very low surface brightness and you need really dark skies to see it. It took me ages to find it eventually spotted a 'smudge' in my binos and then was able to locate it in the Dob I think I could just about make out a hint of a spiral structure.

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  • 3 weeks later...
george7378

george7378

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Thanks everyone - the scope is still giving amazing views, from Jupiter's SEB outbreak storms to dust lanes cutting into M82 and M31 - there is so much of the sky to see with a bigger scope! I can't wait for it to clear up so that I can try Jupiter at 240X...

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