19 replies to this topic

[Aquarellia]

The weather is nice here, so I have some delay to post in CloudyNights, mainly because of the forum name .

 

I was wondering how Uranus and Neptune looks like in my new Mewlon 250CRS ?

Our atmosphere was not perfect but I was able to detect some difference in the one of Uranus, for Neptune out of the color and a little bit more brillant near the limb, there's nothing to detect.

I did two quick B&W sketches with accurate reference to the colors, then I made a watercolor with the exact complementary color.  Here it is:

After that I just have to invert the two full sketches.  I'm happy because the result is exactly what I observed.
Here the final view:

 

To show to all of you my installation, here follows a watercolor made from my small observatory with me looking through the eyepiece; well this is a new type of astro-self-portrait .

 

Clear sky to you all !

Michel

Edited by Aquarellia, 29 August 2018 - 08:58 AM.

[RyanSem]

Great sketches! Also I went back to find your topic on building the observatory - it's awesome!

 

Thanks for sharing

[frank5817]

Michel,

 

My hat is off to you or it would be off if I was wearing one.

 

Spectacular sketches of the distant planets and a wonderful rendering of the scope in the dome.

Always so impressive to see your sketches and you observing and sketching.

 

Frank

[tommy10]

Wow great job,we seldom see sketches of the outer planets, especially moons of the outer planets, thanks for sharing.

[Edrow10]

Michel,

 Wonderful self portrait in your observatory, nicely done. Shouldn't the serial plate of the big Takahashi have some sort of mystical glow, LOL. 

 Good job also on Uranus, Neptune, and moons.

 

Regards,

[Aquarellia]

Thank your for all the like I receive here, this is always a good motivation to continue here !

 

Great sketches! Also I went back to find your topic on building the observatory - it's awesome!

 

Thanks for sharing

Thank you Ryan, Indeed my observatory is not common and I feel quite artisitic,...
Michel.

[Aquarellia]

Michel,

 

My hat is off to you or it would be off if I was wearing one.

 

Spectacular sketches of the distant planets and a wonderful rendering of the scope in the dome.

Always so impressive to see your sketches and you observing and sketching.

 

Frank

Sorry to know that you don't have a hat  .  Thank you Frank, I think that make such a selfie for our friends astrophotographs must not be a piece of cake for them... Look here the result :

 

 

Michel

Edited by Aquarellia, 29 August 2018 - 09:54 AM.

[Aquarellia]

Wow great job,we seldom see sketches of the outer planets, especially moons of the outer planets, thanks for sharing.

Thank you Tommy, as all of us here I like difficulties.  The only time that I was able to sketch Uranus was through a 25" scope, but too quick : f3.3, (focal length 2m) so the focal length of mine 2.5m give me a better view.

Michel

[Aquarellia]

Michel,

 Wonderful self portrait in your observatory, nicely done. Shouldn't the serial plate of the big Takahashi have some sort of mystical glow, LOL. 

 Good job also on Uranus, Neptune, and moons.

 

Regards,

Hi Ed, thank you a lot for your nice comment.

On the original watercolor if you zoom enough(*) you can see that this scope have the number 6.
(*) It's not true...

Michel

[Edrow10]

  

[niteskystargazer]

Michel,

 

Nice sketches of  Uranus, Titania, Neptune, Triton and… myself  .

 

CS,KLU,

 

,

 

Tom

[Special Ed]

Michel,

 

Nice selfie!  Good portraits of the Ice Giants and their moons, too.  I'm a little surprised at your mottled rendering of Uranus--to me, it always looks bland with only very subtle differences in the cloudtops.   

[Aquarellia]

Thank you Tom.

 

Michel,

 

Nice selfie!  Good portraits of the Ice Giants and their moons, too.  I'm a little surprised at your mottled rendering of Uranus--to me, it always looks bland with only very subtle differences in the cloudtops.  

Ok Michael, that's strange.  The focal of your SCT is more than 3.5m so you have to detect more details than me.

I already saw some clouds on Uranus too but that was using a 25" reflector f3.3 so the focal resultant was only 2m.

Mine is 2.5m.

For this observation I don't see any details on Uranus but the color difference between blue-green and light yellow was conspicuous, well,... ok, just from time to time.

Two nights after my observation on Alpo we have two images one sketch by David Gray and a photo made by Nobuya Minagawa, the photo correspond to what I saw, David uncredible image show a lot of details but not the color difference, the photo yes (left-right inversion).  Link here: http://alpo-j.asahik...18/u180825z.htm

So maybe we need to use a shorter focal lenght, I don't now ???

Michel

Edited by Aquarellia, 30 August 2018 - 11:37 AM.

[Randolph Jay]

Your creativity and talent never cease to amaze me!  How wonderful!

Regards,

Randolph

[Susan H]

Awesome, Michel. Simply awesome. 

[iainp]

Wonderful! I got my first serious look at Uranus through the 20" scope the other night but only saw a tiny very pale disc with no detail or difference in tone at all, even at magnifications up to 900x, and seeing conditions seemed quite stable. 

Clearly Uranus does not give up its secrets easily! There was no hint of any moons either though not surprising given that it's sitting in a terrible light dome of nearby town at the moment.

Iain 

[Daniel Mounsey]

The weather is nice here, so I have some delay to post in CloudyNights, mainly because of the forum name .

 

I was wondering how Uranus and Neptune looks like in my new Mewlon 250CRS ?

Our atmosphere was not perfect but I was able to detect some difference in the one of Uranus, for Neptune out of the color and a little bit more brillant near the limb, there's nothing to detect.

I did two quick B&W sketches with accurate reference to the colors, then I made a watercolor with the exact complementary color.  Here it is:

UetN_orig.jpg

After that I just have to invert the two full sketches.  I'm happy because the result is exactly what I observed.
Here the final view:

UetN_l.jpg

 

To show to all of you my installation, here follows a watercolor made from my small observatory with me looking through the eyepiece; well this is a new type of astro-self-portrait .

observateur2_ll.jpg

 

Clear sky to you all !

Michel

[Aquarellia]

Thank you so much Susan, Randolph and Daniel.

 

Wonderful! I got my first serious look at Uranus through the 20" scope the other night but only saw a tiny very pale disc with no detail or difference in tone at all, even at magnifications up to 900x, and seeing conditions seemed quite stable. 

Clearly Uranus does not give up its secrets easily! There was no hint of any moons either though not surprising given that it's sitting in a terrible light dome of nearby town at the moment.

Iain 

Thank you too Iain, it's always nice to share with Cambridgeshire!

Not sure but maybe 900x is too much ?

I dont' know if you know this old post about Uranus ?  This comment from Stanislas-Jean gives a lot of ideas about such difficult observation and the ideal material.  Have a look to the link here : https://www.cloudyni...anus/?p=6346988 

This exactly this type of comments that I find here and there on CN, that push me to order a Dall-Kirkham Takahashi scope.

Michel

[Special Ed]

 

...Ok Michael, that's strange.  The focal of your SCT is more than 3.5m so you have to detect more details than me.

I already saw some clouds on Uranus too but that was using a 25" reflector f3.3 so the focal resultant was only 2m.

Mine is 2.5m.

For this observation I don't see any details on Uranus but the color difference between blue-green and light yellow was conspicuous, well,... ok, just from time to time.

Two nights after my observation on Alpo we have two images one sketch by David Gray and a photo made by Nobuya Minagawa, the photo correspond to what I saw, David uncredible image show a lot of details but not the color difference, the photo yes (left-right inversion).  Link here: http://alpo-j.asahik...18/u180825z.htm

So maybe we need to use a shorter focal lenght, I don't now ???

Michel

Well, just seeing the difference in intensity or hue of the color is a pretty good detail.     David's sketch shows the lighter clouds towards the pole--just not as pronounced as in your sketch and in Minigawa's image.

 

I agree I should be able to see some detail with the big f/11 Cat--I'm going to have to try harder.  I don't have a whole lot of experience observing Uranus but the only way to get it is to do it.  

 

The last time I observed Uranus, the seeing supported fairly high magnification.  At low power, Uranus appeared globe-like and a pale aqua (blue-green)--at higher magnifications it appeared paler (maybe Iain is using too high a magnification at 900x as you point out).  I suspected belts or banding at 489x and especially at 652x but my floaters were a problem at that exit pupil (0.5mm) and sometimes masqueraded as belts.  The belts or banding (if I saw them) were best seen unfiltered or with a W#11 ( I also tried #21, 23A and 57 filters).

 

Since I made this observation I've changed my observing eye so I have fewer floaters.  That's helped a lot with Mars--it'll be crucial for Uranus.   

[iainp]

Yes you are probably right guys, I've got used to using the highest possible magnification on planetary nebulae so immediately go to 900x on everything, which is not always a good idea (as I found out on the moon recently: it's boiling porridge at  900x!) I'll experiment with lower magnifications .

Iain