6326 replies to this topic

[desert_sage]

The weather has been poor for astronomy lately, with clouds and haze (but decent daytime weather for winter), but a hole did open up last night about 10pm and I spent 15m or so with naked eyes and  the Canon 12x36 IS just enjoying a sparkling Orion and surrounds. 

 

Sometimes the unexpected short opportunity is nice, when the hole closed up I went back inside content.

 

A nice night.

[dexter77]

My report from November observations:

https://www.cloudyni...x70-binoculars/

[PatientObserver]

Went stargazing for the first time in a while. Between being sick and cloudy nights, I have not had an opportunity to stargaze the last few weeks. Mostly due to ease of use, I selected my MB2 9X45 to view Jupiter, Pleiades, Andromeda, and the sky between. It was nice to relax and look at the night sky again.

[michaeledward64]

Well most of my new equipment is here , but not all. 

 

But I had to at least get a peek through my BT-100XL. A very brief time out. Long enough to spy Jupiter, Saturn, the Pleiades, and the Orion Nebula at 40x.

 

I will say, I forgot my telescope flips everything upside down. The double double in Lyra was on the wrong side of Vega.

 

I'm eager to give it a true workout , when the package is complete.

[Masonry00]

Spin Around the Double Star Block

The OB BT was mounted on a 608 video head, and on top of a Gitzo series 3 (tall) tripod with center elevator.  That's a sweet set-up for this BT I am finding, since it is so light (12.5 Ibs) and nimble.  The alignment work I did initially with this BT, and the first light experience, had given me complete confidence in its initial deployment, probably more so than any other BT up to this point.  The resistance setting I had established for this BT/video head inside the house, seemed to fall apart under the outdoor colder weather.  But a simple adjustment of adding more resistance (not friction) enabled the BT to remain in position wherever I put it without adding any friction.

 

I have a very similar setup with a heavier 5 series tall tripod and find the Gitzo carbon tripod to be super stable and damp, even when extended above my head (and I'm 6'-04"). The weak link is the azimuth mechanism on the 608 video head. I find I need to clamp the azimuth lock firmly to eliminate shakes that can take a couple of seconds to dampen whenever my face touches the eye cups. It seems the 608 video head is solid except for that azimuth mechanism which needs to be locked down at powers of 40X and above which is kind of a shame since otherwise it can be pointed anywhere at will without having to operate locks. I've tried to just lightly snug it down so I can still rotate the binoculars but if I do it lightly enough that they still rotate easily, I have to wait for the vibrations to dampen.

 

I was thinking of trying to lubricate the portion that bears the weight with some powdered graphite to see if that allows me to still rotate smoothly when I have the azimuth lock snugged up enough to eliminate the vibrations.

[j.gardavsky]

December 7th, 2023, first cloudless observing session since October

 

Binoculars: 8.5x42 Swarovski EL Swarovision

 

Orion:  M42, Cr70 open cluster across the Belt, Sh2-276 Barnard's Loop very faint, Lambda Ori Cluster Cr69, and the Lambda Ori Nebula Sh2-264 very faint

 

Monoceros: Rosette Nebula with its cluster

 

Taurus: Hyades, and the molecular nebular field MBM 109, 108, 107, 106, crosing Epsilon Delta Tauri,

Pleiades M45 and the LBN 774 - MBM 105 field of molecular clouds

 

Auriga: Mel 31 Flying Minnow open cluster, M38, M36, M37

 

Gemini: M35

 

Perseus: Alpha Persei Moving Group Mel 20

 

Cassiopeia: Pazmino's Cluster St23, Double Cluster NGC 884 and 869, St2

 

Ursa Minor: Arc of molecular clouds crossing beta-gamma UMi (these are an IFN candidate, extending across kappa Draconis)

 

The observing conditions under our backyard covered in snow have not been particularly favourable.

 

Clear skies,

JG

[DeanD]

A good list JG! What is the SQM reading of your sky? Some of those nebulae are difficult to see even in a very dark sky- so well done!

 

- Dean

[j.gardavsky]

Hello Dean, my old friend!

 

I don't have any SQM, the skies over our backyard are nominally Bortle 4, sometimes Bortle 3, as we are at the border between the both.

 

Yesterday night, the transparency of the skies has been mostly miserable, some areas of the skies have been still useable.

 

Even if the roof prism binoculars are often regarded as inferior to the Porros, I have been again surprised, how good performing the Swarovski EL Swarovision are.

 

Some of the nebulae in the circumpolar region have a large extent, and the low magnification binoculars may turn out to be a good choice.

 

Clear skies to you,

JG

[norvegicus]

There is definitely an IFN around Polaris.  Here is a photo made by a friend of mine:  https://www.astrobin.com/gwe8pf/D/

[Fiske]

I did first light with the Celestron 6SE last night, despite considerable clouds.  Managed to see two brighter stars for sky alignment. My third point was Jupiter. It worked remarkably well, I have to say. You don't even have to know what the stars are, just center brighter stars in different parts of the sky (and based on your location) the computer does the rest. Pretty remarkable. One of the stars was actually centered through the branches of an enormous pin oak tree behind my house. (And I have no idea what it was.  ) The other star was Caph in Cassiopeia.

 

I viewed a series of double stars, most of which weren't visible naked eye (because of the clouds) but were fully resolved with the telescope. It was somewhat surreal, admittedly. The goto function worked well, however, and each double was in the field after the scope slewed to it. 

 

I observed 6 Trianguli, Almach (which could be seen naked eye), Archid (ditto), Sigma and Iota Cassiopeiae, STF 3062 (seen as two stars in contact), Mesarthim in Aries, and STF 369 in Perseus. 

 

The clouds did clear off somewhat after the first hour, so I had nice views of M 34 and M 52. I had a look at Jupiter but the seeing was a disaster. I was using an Explore Scientific 24mm 68* for my "wide field" eyepiece (62.5x) and a Baader Morepheus 14mm for my high magnification eyepiece (107x), which is about the most the sky conditions would support. 

 

The SQM-L reading (after the clouds mostly cleared out) was 17.86 mpsas, fairly good by MT4 Tokyo standards. 

Edited by Fiske, 08 December 2023 - 11:46 AM.

[desert_sage]

Windstorms and haze and high clouds here.

 

I did get out and peek at Mercury (pretty sure) in the SW just after sunset, in a light haze with the Canon 12x36 IS.

 

( Bino Bandits also keep one’s eyes from tearing up when looking directly into a strong wind! )

 

In the pre-dawn morning there was a nice orange crescent Moon rising just south of due east, again in the haze, very pretty. I found myself fiddling with the focus try to get a sharper view, but, to butcher the Bard, the fault was in the stars (air, actually), not me.

 

Ah well.

Edited by desert_sage, 08 December 2023 - 11:05 AM.

[Fiske]

Windstorms and haze and high clouds here.

 

I did get out and peek at Mercury (pretty sure) in the SW just after sunset, in a light haze with the Canon 12x36 IS.

 

( Bino Bandits also keep one’s eyes from tearing up when looking directly into a strong wind! )

 

In the pre-dawn morning there was a nice orange crescent Moon rising just south of due east, again in the haze, very pretty. I found myself fiddling with the focus try to get a sharper view, but, to butcher the Bard, the fault was in the stars (air, actually), not me.

 

Ah well.

Very poetic! 

[SStoffer]

Nothing is too bright for observing - at least for Sun, Moon and double stars. Now 8°F - THAT might give me pause in being outside with anything other than handheld binos for a quick Look. This pampered coastal observer starts being uncomfortable when it gets close to 32°. So my hat's off to those who endure much worse temperatures and light pollution.       

 

Clear Skies,

Russ

I know what you mean being east here in lower western Michigan. So far this year it has been warmer and cloudier than ever. 

[norvegicus]

I know what you mean being east here in lower western Michigan. So far this year it has been warmer and cloudier than ever. 

It's raining right now up here in the U P...

Edited by norvegicus, 09 December 2023 - 09:13 AM.

[Nankins]

The one clear night we've had that I could observe I went out with my telescope.....  It's been so cloudy I haven't had a chance to pull out my binoculars, then when it's clear and I go to observe I don't use them.

[Dave Mitsky]

It cleared up as Friday morning began so I went outside and logged Jupiter, 31 Orionis, 119 Tauri, the Davis's Dog asterism, the Kemble's Cascade asterism, the Kids asterism, the Leaping Minnow asterism, the Little Kids asterism, the Sword of Orion asterism, Collinder 65, Collinder 69, Collinder 70, Melotte 20, Melotte 25, M31, M34, M35, M36, M37, M38, M41, M42, M44, M45, M47, M50, NGC 1980, NGC 1981, NGC 2169, NGC 2244, and NGC 2264 from my red zone home using my new 10x50 Nikon Action Extreme and my not so new Canon 15x50 IS.  The views through the Canon surpassed those through the Nikon, as might be expected, but the 6.5-degree field of view of the Nikon was certainly appreciated, although its lack of image stabilization was certainly noted.

 

It was chilly but the skies were quite transparent.  I got a high SQM-L reading of 19.01 magnitudes per square arc second.

[Dave Mitsky]

I also did some telescopic observing on Friday morning.

 

https://www.cloudyni...ope/?p=13121030
 

[Dave Mitsky]

The transparency was mediocre at best early Sunday morning but I was able to log Jupiter, 31 Orionis, 119 Tauri, the Davis's Dog asterism, the Golf Putter asterism, the Kids asterism, the Leaping Minnow asterism, the Little Kids asterism, the Sword of Orion asterism, Collinder 65, Collinder 69, Collinder 70, Melotte 20, Melotte 25, M34, M35, M42, M44, M45, NGC 869 and NGC 884 (the Double Cluster), NGC 1980, NGC 1981, and NGC 2169 from my red zone home with my 10x50 Nikon Action Extreme binocular before going to bed.  A number of those objects were difficult to discern due to the poor transparency.

[Shannon Foye]

I saw everything last night. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration but I saw quite a bit being 200 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on a night of excellent transparency.

 

I became interested in binocular astronomy while working offshore. Specifically, it was those exceptionally transparent, clear nights that follow a cold front which led to my obsession of looking for faint DSOs with binos. Clear, moonless nights in the gulf, although dark, are often not great for stargazing due to the haze and humidity.

 

Last night was one of those beautifully transparent (post cold front) and totally dark (moonless) nights offshore in which you could see nearly everything you could expect to see with handheld  binoculars. I used Kowa BDII 6.5x32 binos. 

 

- The Cygnus area of the Milk Way setting on the port side

- Orion rising on the starboard side

- Pleiades above the mast

- My "dark site" setup on the bridge wing

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by Shannon Foye, 11 December 2023 - 09:08 PM.

[PatientObserver]

It is nights like these that I am glad I found binocular astronomy. With my family sick (I think four different viruses have past through my household of the last couple of months), the ease of use of hand held binoculars means I get to observe on a night I otherwise would not. Stargazing adds some peace to an otherwise chaotic day.

This time of year, Jupiter is high in the sky, and Orion is right out my sliding glass door. Seeing was poor according to Astrospheric, but I still could make out all for Galilean moons. The Orion Nebula is a colorless smudge in my light populated skies, but still beautiful. Cannot wait to view it from a dark site.

Edited by PatientObserver, 12 December 2023 - 02:41 PM.

[Scott99]

PO -  I had the illness last month and it's sweeping through the area now - North Shore - I know a half-dozen people have been racked by it in the last week.  It seems to make you feel like you need to be hospitalized for 3 days and then suddenly it gets better quickly.

 

I did a short but interesting session last night.   Got 3 binos out to look at the southern Milky Way - Puppis is one of my favorite constellations and I can see about half of it above the treeline.  M46 and M47, M50, M41, M35 and other OC's. 

 

Orion had slid further into the light dome to the west.  Interesting experiment.  I used my 10x35 E2's, 8x42 Zeiss SF's, and the 10x56 Swaros.  I looked at M42.  The 10x35 Nikons actually showed more nebulosity than the 8x42's, and it wasn't close.  The higher power and smaller exit pupil darkened the sky enough to make up for the aperture difference.  The 10x56 has brighter sky background but showed more of everything, same with the OC's, more stars and resolution with the 10x56 beast.

 

Every time I use the 10x35 E2 I think to myself, these are superb binoculars.  An MVP of optical value.  I love holding them, the shape and light weight are perfect.  The compact porro body is noticeably easier to hold steady at 10x than longer roof-prism binos. 

 

The Zeiss SF 8x42 continue to impress.  They have the cleanest optical train of anything.  Viewing Jupiter was typical example of this.  Io and another moon were perched just above the bright disk and very close together.  It was like trying to resolve a giant triple star. 

 

Of all my binos the SF's show the tighest, cleanest disk of Jupiter, just no scattered light whatsoever, razor sharp.  They cost a small fortune, kind of a ridiculous amount for 42mm binos, but I can see the benefits.  The stars appear to be the smallest specs of any of my binos.  That's always how I judge refractor and eyepiece optics, by how small the starpoints are, the SF excels at this sharpness

[jcj380]

Popped out for just a few minutes with my 15x70s for a look at Mirfak and cluster.

[Hawkeye17]

With unusually warm temperature (38°F) and clear skies I took several binoculars out last night.  I have a lot of trees in my yard and plenty of lights at neighbor's houses, so I have to pick and choose from what is visible.  I was out for about one hour, 10-11PM ET. 

 

Used a Pentax 20x60 SP WP on a tripod to view Jupiter with four moons visible, Orion, Hyades and Pleides.  The Trapezium appeared to be three stars in the Pentax 20x60; next opportunity I will try this with the Nikon 18x70 and the 22x60.  The Pentax is a good value and spends a lot of time on the tripod in my front room for viewing Lake Superior shipping, waterfowl, etc. and I just grabbed it for a quick look last night, but I will definitely use one of the others the next clear night. 

 

I also used an older Eagle Optics 8x42 Platinum Ranger, the Fujinon FMT-SX 10x50 and the Vortex 10x50 Viper HD.  I was able to find the Double Cluster in Perseus as well as M31, M36, M37, M38 in all three binoculars handheld.  I started with the 8x42 and was pleased to find all of those targets, but when I switched to the Fujinon 10x50 it seemed like a big step up.  I realize now that my eyes were also just getting more adapted to the dark, which would have enhanced the view as well.  By the time I switched to the Vortex 10x50 (the view seemed quite comparable to the Fujinon) I could pick out each of those targets naked eye.  I love my Fujinon's, but that Vortex Viper HD 10x50 is a nice alternative with center focus and twist up eye cups.

 

Forgot to mention seeing eight Geminid meteors in that hour I spent out last night...

 

- Russ

Edited by Hawkeye17, 15 December 2023 - 12:52 PM.

[JoeFaz]

I had maybe the best transparency I've ever had at my home last night and had a very successful outing hunting down DSOs and a few doubles. I was just able to make out M97 in my 20x80s. I probably won't have another night where that's possible for quite a while. I was able to observe six different galaxies throughout the night, which was an unusual treat as well (M31, M32, M110, M81, M82, and NGC 2403).

[Scott99]

Supposed to be clear last night - then the forecast turned to "partly cloudy" in the afternoon.  I went out for a 2nd night of Geminid-watching and binocular work, it was 90% cloudy....so typical of this area!  Good thing I spent an hour watching Geminids the night before, even though transparency was poor.

 

I did get a look at Jupiter in a sucker hole for a minute with the 10x35 E2.  3 moons in a straight line on one side.  Always good to check in with Big J and see what's going on

Edited by Scott99, 15 December 2023 - 12:24 PM.