6337 replies to this topic

[Dave Mitsky]

After returning home from attending a concert by the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra at a local college with my wife, I drove to the orange-zone Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's Naylor Observatory for a very late-night observing session on the morning of July 4th.  I didn't expect the transparency to be very good judging from the smoke map on the Clear Sky Chart but it turned out to be quite the opposite.  My best SQM-L reading was 19.87 mpsas.
 

Much to my surprise I was able to see the dark nebula B142-143 (Barnard's E) in Aquila with my Canon IS 15x50 binocular.  The other celestial objects observed with two eyes included Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Albireo, Alcor-Mizar, Epsilon Lyrae, Omicron Cygni, the Golf Putter asterism, the Heart of the Swan asterism, Collinder 399, IC 4665, Melotte 20, Melotte 111, M4, M5, M6, M7, M8, M11, M13, M15, M16, M17, M22, M27, M28, M29, M31, M33, M39, M52, M103, NGC 457, NGC 663, NGC 752, NGC 869 and NGC 884 (the Double Cluster), NGC 7789, Stock 2, and Trumpler 2.

 

I had much better views of NGC 6309 (the Box Nebula) using the observatory's 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain on this occasion.  I also observed the planetary nebulae NGC 6369 (the Little Ghost Nebula), NGC 6445 (which is also known as the Box Nebula and the Little Gem Nebula, as well as the Crescent Nebula), NGC 6818 (the Little Gem Nebula), and, after observing Saturn, NGC 7009 (the Saturn Nebula).  I was even able to see a hint of NGC 7293 (the Helix Nebula) using a 56mm Meade Series 4000 Super Plössl eyepiece and the club's generic narrowband filter.  Other targets were Comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS), Jupiter, and the Messier objects M4, M8, M14, M17, M22, and M30.

[dries1]

Lots of satellites.

[Fiske]

Lots of satellites.

  

[BinoBug]

For me the satellites are more of a brief distraction than a real problem, although I am coming across more and more almost every time!
Light pollution is by far the biggest issue here, and trying to find Neptune last night was very tricky because I could barely see any stars in Pisces without the aid of binoculars. Luckily there were a string of stars which led me to the planet, right on the very edge of visibilty and very easily missed if it wasn't signposted so clearly.
Thankfully I did also have the opportunity to see Jupiter peeking over the neighbours' houses, including each of the Galilean moons. This sight is always unique for me, nothing else in the night sky reminds me that we are actually seeing three-dimensional objects, aside from the Moon.
In the limited time I had I did get the opportunity to measure some more variable stars. Those in Lyra that I observed in my last post are now almost right at the zenith and therefore hard to look at with hurting my neck, so instead I have been looking at some in little Delphinus and Vulpecula:

U Del 7.4 - not far from the 7.6 minimum
EU Del 6.2
CT Del 7.6
FI Vul 8.0 - also not far from the 8.3 minimum

All four are semi-regular pulsating variables. At some point I would like to get onto eclipsing variables, whose journey to minimum and back again can sometimes be monitored overnight, and although opportunities are limited as only so many are possible to measure fully with binoculars, they are there!

[MT4]

Last night was another cloudy night but since I just got a mini Borg 54mm F/5.6  as my new optical finder I decided to check it out anyway.  I also had my Zeiss 15x60 BGAT* with me but for the most part was just having fun with the mini Borg on the p-gram mount.

 

As I was packing up for the night, I happened to glance in the southern direction and noticed a star that was much bigger and brighter than all the others (well, not that many other stars visible naked eye under my Bortle-9 skies.)  So I put the Zeiss 15x60 BGAT* back on the p-gram mount and it took me just a second to recognize Jupiter, a clear favorite from last summer.   It was the first time for me this year to see this old friend and it immediately put a huge smile on my face.

 

Jupiter looked fantastic in the Zeiss 15x60 BGAT*.   Perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me but I thought I saw the tiniest hint of a gap between Jupiter and its rings.  I was out testing the mini Borg and finding it to be a great optical finder for my Bortle-9 skies but Jupiter in the Zeiss was by far the best view of the night.  I went to bed a happy man.

 

 

Edit:  Silly me.   It was Saturn that I saw, not Jupiter 

Edited by MT4, 08 July 2022 - 09:50 PM.

[Dave Mitsky]

The conditions were poor tonight with a bright waxing gibbous Moon and a partly cloudy sky but I was able to view a bright pass of the Atlas 5 Centaur rocket body, the Moon, Alcor-Mizar, and Epsilon Lyrae using my 8x42 Celestron Noble binocular.

 

I also observed and photographed the Moon using my 6" f/8 Orion SkyQuest XT6 Dob, a 25mm Orion Plössl, and an 8-24mm Tele Vue Click Stop Zoom eyepiece. 

[Fiske]

I had a nice observing session Saturday night, July 9, 2022, which lasted about an hour. The temps weren't too bad. Low 80s, maybe. But it wasn't super humid, which helped. I used the fan to keep mosquitoes at bay. I observed with the 82XL+20mm XWs (did not swap in any other eyepieces). Also had the 10x, 12x, and 15x56 Maven cohort along for the ride.

 

A 10 day waxing gibbous moon was in the sky, 75% full. I started the session with some lunar views. Here is an image I captured with my android phone and the 82XL w/20mm Pentax XW eyepieces.

 

 

Notable highlights included Mare Humorum in the south, Rima Mersenius just on the edge of the terminator was seen to good effect, Gassendi and Latronne strikingly contrasted, as an intact crater (Gassendi) and a similar companion but almost completely flooded (Latronne). In the north the crater John Herschel was striking along with the ridge formed by a series of craters extending north of Herschel including Anaximander, Carpenter, Anaximenes, and Philolaus. The 11 day image in the Legault/Brunier atlas almost makes the area just north of Herschel appear to be a much larger crater, but it isn't identified as such and is perhaps a plain?  Sinus Iridum and Plato are a treat, as always.

 

Following my lunar excursions, which I actually did from the yard because the moon was too far to the west to be seen from our driveway, I tried unsuccessfully to observe the comet K2 PANSTARRS, having identified its current position with this In-The-Sky.org online atlas, which is more helpful than the the star field just to the west, which is rich and pleasing with binoculars.

 

I started at Cebalrai, more by accident than by design, and of course had a quick peek at various favorites – 61 Oph, IC 4665, NGC 6633, NGC 6527 (stellar), and S 694. Could not resolve 70 Oph with the 82XL+20mm XWs.

 

I had the position indicated as near HR 6367, part of a triangular asterism I hopped to from 41 Oph. I used the Maven 10x56 to get oriented. Could not see the comet even with the 82XL, though. Possibly due to the moonlight. I had also noted a string of stars south of 41 Oph, the brightest member of which is STF 2173, now far too close to resolve with most amateur equipment – 0.2" separation. I noticed that M14 is nearby, and was able to observe it with the 82XL, faint but held steadily in averted vision. I worked down to the globular cluster NGC 6366 but was not able to observe it.  After wandering about in the general vicinity of 41 Oph I headed north to Rasalgethi (Alpha Herculis), not with any hope of resolving it at 22.5x with the 82XL, but because I wanted a closer look at the star field just to the west, which is rich and pleasing with binoculars.

 

 

One binocular highlight near Rasalgethi  is STFA 33, a bright and wide double star in a long arc of stars, which is more prominent visually than in this image.

 

STFA 33
17h03m +13*36'
5.91/6.17 304.9" 117*

Readily observed with hand held 10x instruments, the components are light yellow and blue white stars.

 

WEB 6
16h35m +17*03'
6.41/7.26 155.3" pa 1*

 

Noticed this double while reviewing the star fields using Sky Safari after my observing session. It should be readily seen with 10x binoculars hand held. Discovered by Thomas William Web, famed British astronomer and Anglican minister (1807-1885), and author of Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes.

 

Really, there are some nice binocular pairs to identify and write notes about, but after admiring the field briefly, I continued working west to have a look at the planetary nebula I.4593, aka the White Eyed Pea, which I may have observed telescopically in years past, though I have not found a record of it in my journals yet. Anyway, it is on the south end of a string of stars beginning with 49 Serpens and running along Hercules/Serpens border, actually in Hercules despite the star name. 49 Ser would be a nice double for higher magnification BT views. I wonder if I could resolve it with the 82XL and 7mm XWs? Probably.

 

STF 2021 / 49 Ser
16h13m +13*32'
7.43/7.48 4.05" pa 358.4

 

I resorted to Sky Safari to pinpoint the location of I.4593 and was able to detect a stellar something which I take to be the central star of the planetary, but I did not see anything non-stellar. It was challenging in averted vision with the 82XL+20mm XWs. The 10.84 magnitude central star is HD 145649. Here is a sketch of the planetary posted on CloudyNights by the late Steve Coe (1949-2018). Coe was observing at 330x with a 13 inch Newtonian when he drew I.4593.

 

I noticed that 7 Her / STF 2010 / Marsic was due north, so I hopped up for a quick peek, partially to confirm the position of 49 Serpens while tracking down I.4593. Wonderful as always. :-) And I realized an odd thing – both Ophiuchus and Hercules contain stars named Marsic, which I guess means elbow in Arabic? So the elbows of Ophiuchus (10 Oph / Lambda Ophiuchi) and of Hercules (7 Her / Kappa Herculis) respectively.

 

Just across the border from 49 Serpens, actually in Serpens, I found this beautiful double star, the surprise highlight the session.

 

STF 2007
16h06m +13*19'
6.89/7.98 37.7" pa 322*

Well resolved with the Maven 10x56 binocular mounted, the components are yellow and bluish white, an excellent double stars for mounted 10x binoculars.

 

Thank you for reading my report. 

Edited by Fiske, 11 July 2022 - 09:58 AM.

[aznuge]

Fiske,

Nice lunar description and photo and great report!

What adapter are you using to connect your BT to your phone?  I have been using PhoneSkope adapters for my iphone.

Thanks,

nuge

[Fiske]

Thanks, Nuge.

 

I use Pentax XW eyepieces, which have rubberized volcano tops, so I hold the phone horizontally across both eyepieces and line up the camera in the right EP. Not great, but it works. I tried a Celestron digitizing adapter, but it was not good. I've been meaning to try another one, but have been too busy buying binoculars. 

[Fiske]

I forgot to mention that in my quest to observe I.4593, the White Eyed Pea, I resorted to a technique inspired by a Cloudy Nights friend, though using a slightly more orthodox aid following the example of an ASKC friend from our last observing session at Lewis Young Park.

 

Rather than pulling my tee-shirt over my head, I used a hand towel as an impromptu hood, finding it perfectly sized for the task. And it is even astronomy themed.   Going forward it will be a permanent addition to my astronomy toolkit. It did help me detect I.4593.

 

Edited by Fiske, 11 July 2022 - 09:30 PM.

[aznuge]

 

 

Excellent!  Can't wait for the "cape" version to come out

[Dave Mitsky]

I was at the Naylor Observatory tonight for the July meeting of the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg.  After the meeting, I viewed passes of the Atlas 5 Centaur rocket body and the ISS and the waxing gibbous Moon using one of the club's 8x40 binoculars.

[Masonry00]

I checked the sky last night briefly naked eye but the large bright moon was overwhelming the details of the night sky so I went to bed. I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't fall back asleep so, after an hour I rolled out of bed and stumbled outside. The dawn light was already surprisingly bright for this hour and not one star was visible even though I knew it was clear because Jupiter was ablaze, the only thing visible naked eye, it looked bigger and brighter than I can ever recall seeing it, like it was on fire, especially considering the sky was already too bright to see a single star.

 

Without pausing to make coffee, I set up my BT-XL100 ED on the patio with my just received Pentax 7mm XW eyepieces and saw a beautiful view of Jupiter with the largest twin dark bands easily visible and the four tiny but bright moons extending out to the East. After checking that the focus was perfect, I slowly scanned the sky all around Jupiter and beyond, looking for a single star to no avail. After a couple of minutes of scanning blank sky, I gave up and continued to enjoy the surprisingly clear view of Jupiter, even as the sky continued to lighten. Never in my life have I seen Jupiter so bright and contrasty when there was not a single star to be found anywhere. 

[Luke Archon]

Could not sleep last night so went out at around 2 am and looked at M31 for about 20 minutes through my 8x40 that I recently found in a box. On a related note UPS is delivering my Oberwerk deluxe 15x70 within the hour and I’m suuupppeeerrr pumped.

I’m new to bino viewing and have been gazing via my 10 inch dobsonian for around 5 years on and off. Once I looked through these beat up and old 8x40 I knew I needed to take the plunge into something of quality .

Edited by Luke Archon, 13 July 2022 - 01:23 PM.

[Terra Nova]

It was a lovely cool evening last night and I observed almost the entire pass-over of the ISS shortly after 10:40 EDT. I used my Nikon Monarch 10x42 HD binoculars and they didn’t disappoint. The Space Station was very bright! And seemed big! Definitely not just a point of light. It really had dimension to it. The orbital declination referenced to my horizon was quite high. The app said 70° but it seemed higher when it passed the zenith, almost as if it went right over me. I was lying on the ground looking up with my binoculars during that part of the pass which provided an interesting perspective! It began in the southeast and I noticed it when it was about 10 or 15° above the horizon. I watched it until it disappeared in the treeline of the low hill just north of me. The entire pass was supposed to take 7 minutes, horizon to horizon. I saw it for about 6 minutes. As the Space Station was arcing high across the sky, the hugh July full moon that had risen not much earlier and was low in the eastern sky. And what a big bright silvery moon it was! After the Space Station was out of sight I turned the binoculars towards it and it was almost blinding it was so bright. It was quite a Supermoon, to add to the show.

Edited by Terra Nova, 13 July 2022 - 02:21 PM.

[Masonry00]

It was a lovely cool evening last night and I observed almost the entire pass-over of the ISS shortly after 10:40 EDT. I used my Nikon Monarch 10x42 HD binoculars and they didn’t disappoint. The Space Station was very bright! And seemed big! Definitely not just a point of light. It really had dimension to it. The orbital declination referenced to my horizon was quite high. The app said 70° but it seemed higher when it passed the zenith, almost as if it went right over me. I was lying on the ground looking up with my binoculars during that part of the pass which provided an interesting perspective! It began in the southeast and I noticed it when it was about 10 or 15° above the horizon. I watched it until it disappeared in the treeline of the low hill just north of me. The entire pass was supposed to take 7 minutes, horizon to horizon. I saw it for about 6 minutes. As the Space Station was arcing high across the sky, the hugh July full moon that had risen not much earlier and was low in the eastern sky. And what a big bright silvery moon it was! After the Space Station was out of sight I turned the binoculars towards it and it was almost blinding it was so bright. It was quite a Supermoon, to add to the show.

It sounds like SpaceX might be taking exactly the wrong strategy in going out of their way to install solar shades on their dark-colored satellites to make them less visible to astronomers and keeping them so small and in such a low-earth orbit so they are only visible around twilight hours.

 

Maybe they should make them bigger, fly them higher (so they are visible more hours through the night) and put a variety of shapes of solar reflectors on them to make them more interesting to observe?  OK, just kiddin'

[celestronlover57]

Not binoculars, but I found a crude homemade telescope that I used as a demonstration in a physic class I teach.  I duct taped a surplus 50mm achromatic lens of 600mm focal length to a cardboard tube with a smaller tube holding a 20mm Huygens eyepiece.  I propped this 30x instrument on the roof line of my van and studied the waning gibbous moon for a few minutes just before dawn this morning.  Still works well.  I must get some pvc and an inexpensive focuser and mount the lenses more securely.

[jrazz]

Brilliant night yesterday. 

Went to a site slightly north of me to a 21.5 mpsas sky. Worth it! My back yard, as nice as it is, has a big light dome to the South and the view is blocked to the east so while the sky is nice and dark (up to 21 mpsas on great nights) it is somewhat limited at times. We (daughter and me) brought the BT-100XL, the 10x56 and the 10" Dob. And now I know, I just need the BT-100. It was by far the best instrument for these conditions. Can go wide enough to see the bigger stuff while powerful enough to see Saturn well. It was awesome! 

 

So yeah, Saturn poked it's lovely rings out and was a great sight. Could definitely see some moons. I believe we could see Titan, Rhea, Dione and Tethys but I didn't spend enough time trying to identify them all. I will do that next time. The rings were well defined and I could easily see the gap between them and Saturn. It was, however, extremely bright and I couldn't really see any details on the surface. 

 

But there was way too much to see!

Sagittarius star cloud was incredible. The BT-100 brought out the dust lanes so well. It really looked like some cloud in front of the stars. Omega, Eagle and Lagoon Nebulae were all really really bright blue-green. Ptolemy's Cluster filled the view at 23x and just a whole mess of globular clusters. We started picking those off and figuring out what we were looking at rather than trying to find a particular cluster.

 

I did sneak a peek at C2017 Panstarrs but even in these incredible conditions it was just "meh".

 

Overall an amazing night. I don't know if you can tell but I'm having a hard time describing everything. I'm really happy I found this place. Super fun and nice and no neighbors with back yard lights! Best of all the BT-100 was really quick to set up. Definitely less than the mythical 5 minute mark. Really just open the tripod, put the BT on it, get the chair, pop in eyepieces and we're off and observing.

[duck2k]

I love reading y’all’s reports. It’s all I can go on since there has been clouds from the monsoon here in AZ. At one point we had a temperature of 114 degrees with 14% humidity. My astronomy friends and I have agreed to meet back in the first week of September.

 

Keep the reports coming!

[duck2k]

I forgot to mention that in my quest to observe I.4593, the White Eyed Pea, I resorted to a technique inspired by a Cloudy Nights friend, though using a slightly more orthodox aid following the example of an ASKC friend from our last observing session at Lewis Young Park.

 

Rather than pulling my tee-shirt over my head, I used a hand towel as an impromptu hood, finding it perfectly sized for the task. And it is even astronomy themed.   Going forward it will be a permanent addition to my astronomy toolkit. It did help me detect I.4593.

 

Here is my hood for using over my head for those targets bathed in streetlights.

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[Napp]

Last night I used my Oberwerk 15X70 LW's to observe Comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) through suckerholes at a Bortle 4 site.  I was surprised to locate it during twilight before it got totally dark.  Several satellites crossed the field of view.

[Dave Mitsky]

I did some observing from the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg's Naylor Observatory on Tuesday night, July 19th.  The observatory has Bortle 5 skies on a good night.  That night wasn't one of the best.  The sky at the zenith wasn't too bad but the transparency was mediocre near the horizon.

 

A fellow ASH member and I attempted to spot C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) with 50mm binoculars.  I had my Canon IS 15x50.  We both saw M10 and M12 and an area that was just a bit brighter than the background sky where the comet might have been, which I did not count as a sighting.

 

I tried to locate the comet using the observatory's 8" Dob, which is currently equipped with only a Telrad, but was unsuccessful.

 

However, I was successful in finding the comet using the observatory's 17" classical Cassegrain but by then Ophiuchus was heading into the southwest.  Comet PanSTARRS K2 was rather dim even with 17 inches of aperture.  I was unable to see the comet through the 5" refractor that serves as a finder scope for the classical Cassegrain.

 

I had had much better views of the comet previously using my 10" Dob, the observatory's 12.5" Newtonian, and its 17" classical Cassegrain.

 

Other celestial objects observed with the Canon IS 15x50 included the waning gibbous Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Albireo, Alcor-Mizar, Epsilon Lyrae, the Heart of the Swan asterism, B142-143, Collinder 399, IC 4665, Melotte 111, M6, M7, M8, M10, M11, M12, M16, M17, M22, M23, M24,  M27, M28, M29, M39, M103, and NGC 869 and NGC 884.  I also saw several satellites.

[Dave Mitsky]

I've seen Comet C/2017K2 (PanSTARRS) a number of times using 10", 12.5", and 17" telescopes in recent weeks but I've had no luck seeing it using a binocular.

 

However, I was able to detect the comet from the orange-zone Naylor Observatory on Wednesday night, July 20th, for the first time without using a telescope.  It was a very difficult observation but my Canon IS 15x50 showed me a very faint patch of light to the east of the inverted L-shaped asterism shown on the right of the fine finder chart that I've attached.

 

I also observed the comet with the observatory's 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 170x and the 5" f/5 refractor that serves as its finder scope at 19x.  This was the first time that I was able to detect Comet PanSTARRS K2 using the 5" refractor.

 

I also viewed Jupiter, Saturn, Albireo, Alcor-Mizar, Epsilon Lyrae, Omicron Cygni, the Heart of the Swan asterism, B142-143, Collinder 399, IC 4665, Melotte 111, M3, M4, M5, M6, M7, M8, M11, M13, M15, M16, M17, M22, M23, M24, M27, M28, M29, M39, perhaps M57, and M92 with my Canon IS 15x50 binocular.  I tracked four satellites too.

[Dave Mitsky]

I traveled to the orange-zone Naylor Observatory again on Thursday night, July 21st, where I successfully observed Comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) once more with my Canon IS 15x50 binocular.  The comet appeared as a very slight brightening and was quite difficult to see.  The current fine finder chart from Heavens Above shows that the inverted L-shaped asterism it's approaching is actually a zig-zag pattern.

 

However, I did have a good view of Comet PanSTARRS K2 through the observatory's 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at 170x.

Over the course of the session, I viewed most of my usual list of late spring and summer targets with my Canon 15x50s.  My favorite binocular object of the night was IC 4665.

 

I had brought my Sky Quality Meter along but forgot to take any readings.

[Dave Mitsky]

I viewed Comet PanSTARRS K2 once again on Friday night, July 22nd, from the Naylor Observatory, first using my Canon IS 15x50s and then later through the observatory's 14" f/10 Meade LX200 SCT and 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain.  The temperature inside the French Dome was a toasty 89 degrees Fahrenheit (31.7 degrees Celsius) when I opened it.

 

This time I remembered to take SQM-L readings.  The highest figure I got was 19.8 mpsas.  The readings in the southern sky in the region of Ophiuchus were 19.6 and 19.7 mpsas.

 

The transparency didn't seem to be any better than the previous night but I was able to see Comet PanSTARRS K2 almost immediately and relatively easily through the 15x50s on this occasion.  It was my best two-eyed view of the comet so far.

 

The views through the two large telescopes, however, were surprisingly dim, whereas on Thursday night the 17" reflector provided a far better view.  Perhaps the transparency was changing for the worse as the night progressed.

 

I also observed Jupiter, Saturn, 53 Ophiuchi, Alcor-Mizar, Epsilon Lyrae, Omicron Cygni, the Heart of the Swan asterism, Collinder 399, IC 4665, Melotte 111, M3, M4, M5, M6, M7, M8, M10, M12, M11, M13, M14, M16, M17, M22, M23, M24, M25, M26, M27, M28, M29, M39, M52, M92, M103, and NGC 7789 with the 15x50s.

 

I showed some fellow ASH members the comet, M8, and M17 using the 17" telescope.  I viewed M10 early on before locating Comet PanSTARRS K2 and Saturn and Jupiter shortly before heading home.  

 

This was the fourth consecutive night that I was able to conduct some observing at the observatory.

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