Telescope Reviews: Success and Failure - The Nighthawk Hunts DSO's

Well I just came in from an observing session in my back yard. Light pollution was brutal! It was hard to make out Sagitarius and Scorpius. Streetlights were shining directly on my location. Hazy clouds covered much of the sky adding to the light pollution effect. Seeing was poor - twinkling stars even at Zenith.

Equipment used:
Stellarvue Nighthawk
LV 8-24mm Zoom (20X-60X)
Orion DeepMap 600
Trusty Red Flashlight (not really needed with the streetlights)

I decided to try for a few DSO's I had hit in the past. I attempted M27 multiple times throughout the night with no success. The sky was just too bright.

Next was M57 - with the EP set at 24mm it appeared stellar, but cranked up to 8mm the ring nebula appeared as a defocused star with direct vision. With averted vision it became a smoke ring with a nice black center (a very small smoke ring).

I decided to check out the Coathanger and with the EP set at 24mm, I was able to fit the whole asterism in the FOV. Very cool! It lives up to its name.

Next on the list was the Double-Double. At 60X, both sets of stars showed elongation with occasional separation as the seeing conditions changed. Not the best I have seen it, but it was pretty none the less.

Alberio made up for that! Absolutely stunning. Deep gold and brilliant blue make this double star a must see in the night sky.

M28 was a new conquest for me and under the horrible conditions and with my smallest scope - I am kinda proud of this one. It took a bit of time to see it due to the fact that Sagitarius was litterally almost faded out due to LP. Once I locked onto M28, I bumped the power to 60X and used averted vision to check out this nice little fuzzball in the sky.

Next was M22 - Much bigger than M28! A lot easier to see and it put on a nice show in the EP. One of my favorites. No resolved stars of course under these conditions, but a really nice Glob.

I attempted M8 and M20, but I failed on both of these. The sky was terribly washed out to the South and the lightning that occasionally lit the sky wasn't helping matters.

Overall it was an incredibly productive evening with the little Stellarvue. The optics on this little scope impress me everytime I use it. Stars are beautiful hard little dots across the FOV. Under the conditions I was experiencing, I think logging a new M-Object isn't too bad.

I hope you all get to play with your scopes tonight and that you enjoy a successful night under the stars.

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Scott
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell
"The measure of a man’s greatness is not determined by what he accomplishes for himself, but by what he accomplishes for others.” -- Some Bald Guy