2218 replies to this topic

[jiblet65]

Last night we had my wife's old school friend and her son over. They arrived just a few minutes too late to view 12P/Pons-Brooks but they got to see quite a few things. First up was Cor Caroli and then I showed them Chara so they could see what our sun would look like to any distant observers. Then off to M42 and they were very impressed with it. The son commented it looked like flour floating in space. Next up was M41, M45 and some miscellaneous targets and lastly the moon. I put the filter on the 20mm EP to take out some of the brightness and they couldn't believe the view through the refractor. While we were out I pointed out the constellations to them and how Dubhe and Merak point to Polaris. The friend said they had gone through a couple of telescopes over the years but they weren't enjoyable experiences and that last night was an eye opener. I explained how there is quite a learning curve to it but it's well worth it. The son mentioned he'd like to get one but I think mom would rather just come over here. Definitely a great session. 

[Stormchaser95]

So, I live in a Bortle 8 area, in an apartment, and I'm used to seeing the moon and some planets from my balcony. But last week, I had the opportunity to go to my in-laws' house, in a small city which is a Bortle 4, and to their farm, which is a Bortle 2. This was the second time I went there with my scope; the first time, the sky was always cloudy and the scope didn't even come out of the case. A bonus this time was that the moon was not visible, so I had a darker sky!

I live in Brazil, and now it's winter here, which means days with few clouds and starry nights, but also an atmosphere with more dust due to the drought.

In the first days, I forgot to make notes about the objects I'd seen. At my in-laws' house in the city, I used the terrace to stargaze. The only ones I remember seeing are Saturn and NGC 4755, also known as Kappa Crucis Cluster, but popularly called the 'Jewel Box' here.

Unfortunately, the farm has a nearby city (a very small one where the maximum luminosity does not exceed Bortle 3), so I think this may not allow the sky at the farm to be a Bortle 1. The light pollution is in the north horizon and doesn't affect other sky regions.

This was a very different type of stargazing. For the first time, I was able to see a bunch of things that I had never seen with my scope because I have always lived in medium-sized cities, with skies ranging from Bortle 7 to 9. On the night I was at the farm, I saw:

NGC 3532; 3293; 3114; 3372; 4755; 6475.
IC 2602.
M24 or NGC 6603, I don't know.
Coma Star Cluster (Mel 111), and Saturn again.

Unfortunately, I didn't see the Andromeda Galaxy or the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. It turns out I'll have to see them another time.

Below, I'm leaving a photo of when I was assembling the telescope and performing its collimation. On that day, the clouds only did their job of beautifying the sunset, all disappearing soon after dusk. Clear skies for everyone!

 

[payner]

Welcome to Cloudy Nights, Stormchaser95. I enjoyed your report and glad you were able to get to darker skies; that is always a treat. Beautiful setting, too.

[Stormchaser95]

Thank you, Payner! I'm glad you liked my report. It was a great experience. 

[mr.otswons]

I haven't observed for maybe three years, but tonight the dobson 8" is out, collimated and ready.

We have moved to a bortle 4 place, but in this dark place they have street led lamps shining straight into the best observation spot. I've written to the local authorities for two years, and now the lights are finally off. Not sure if it's broken and will be on again, but taking the opportunity.

Wanted to say hi again to this wonderful forum  

[CRAZYeye29325]

Trying to get back into astronomy. Several years ago when Jupiter and Saturn were doing their dance I absolutely loved getting out on the sidewalk and spending a few hours with the planets, but after that the streetlights were tooooo bright to make out any DSOs, so now I'm hunting a better spot.

I went across town lastnihht to 'the road to nowhere', there was just one streetlight I could see down the road, so it was much better, but still the city's glow was bothersome, so I just played around.

Did some star drift fov test and after that a long look at Saturn, then I just hunted constellations. Here's my notes:

Saturn, rings on edge w/zoom 24mm to 8mm
Was able to make out stars in the these constellations:
Cephus (the king (house))
Cassiopeia (the Queen (the big W))
Ursa Major (the big bear (the big dipper))(Mizar)
Ursa Minor (the little bear (the little dipper))(Polaris)
Cygnus (the swan (giant cross))(Deneb)
Lyra (the Lyra (harp)(parallellagram w/handle))(vega)
Bootes (the kite(Arcturus)
Measured star drift in zoom at 8mm & 24mm
Measured star drift in 6x30 RACI, took 30 minutes to cross from edge to edge, hmmm

That's the most I've done in the last 2 years.

Hooray for me, TTYL, Phil

[tea_bird]

It was cloudy and sort of foggy with poor seeing, but for some reason Andromeda was shining brighter than I've seen yet though my 10x50 binoculars. Almost wanted to pull my scope out, but it was a work night and the clouds didn't leave a ton of openings for viewing.

[jiblet65]

Tried finding the comet Saturday night but I think the neighbor's tree blocks our line of sight. Sunday morning woke up early and walked out to cool air and clear skies. I noted the constellations to my wife and we viewed M41, M42, M45 and a few other targets. Last night we drove up to darker skies with a clear shot at the west sky. Venus was shining bright and as twilight started darkening a bit I could see a dim new feature in the sky. Checked it out with the binoculars and confirmed it was Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. It brightened more as the night darkened the horizon. My wife took this through the windshield and it turned out better than the ones she shot outside. I did touch this up a little to bring out more detail. To the left of the shot there are benches and my wife suggested we sit down. The lake was really high and I said no there are probably alligators around. After about five minutes observing outside the car something big moved at the edge of the lake, either a large bass or an alligator. Whatever it was we didn't want to find out so we jumped back in the car as fast as we could. We watched from the car for awhile as the comet made its way to the treeline and then headed home.

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[RogerD]

I saw this magnificent beast: https://rogerdier.co...entury-arrives/

[jimmydemello]

Didn't know where to post this as the Smartphone thread seems to be more for experts these days. I am using a Xiaomi 14 with no telescope on a $50 startracker with one 30 second exposure through hazy skies from the top of our 30 floor apartment building. Mars and Beehive cluster. Just love that a smartphone can see so much.

 

[jimmydemello]

Early this morning, Milky Way , Lagoon Nebula, Sagitarius Star Cloud, and some other clusters. Unfortunately my battery died to my star tracker and got trails. But pretty from a distance. Like my paintings. 30 second exp, 400 ISO with Xiaomi 14 on my dead star tracker. The red cast was caused by the air avoidance lights on the top of our 30 floor building. 

 

 

Edited by jimmydemello, 04 May 2025 - 08:36 PM.

[jiblet65]

Early this morning, Milky Way , Lagoon Nebula, Sagitarius Star Cloud, and some other clusters. Unfortunately my battery died to my star tracker and got trails. But pretty from a distance. Like my paintings. 30 second exp, 400 ISO with Xiaomi 14 on my dead star tracker. The red cast was caused by the air avoidance lights on the top of our 30 floor building. 

 

 

IMG_20250505_041956Gimp PS small.jpg

I got a look at the Lagoon Nebula a couple of weeks ago when it was closer to full Moon. It usually has a pink hue to it but it looked more like a gray cloud wisp from the moonlight. It will always be a favorite because it's the second nebula I found after M42.
 

[jimmydemello]

I got a look at the Lagoon Nebula a couple of weeks ago when it was closer to full Moon. It usually has a pink hue to it but it looked more like a gray cloud wisp from the moonlight. It will always be a favorite because it's the second nebula I found after M42.
 

After M42 I found M31, then I guess the Beehive is really my third one. I need  a real telescope to see the Lagoon up close and personal.

[jimmydemello]

Photo of Mars in Beehive last night. Used Snapseed to make it black and white to show the stars. 30 seconds ISO 640 on a star tracker with Xiaomi 14 using the telephoto lens with no zoom. Zoom does not seem to improve the image any.

 

Edit: oh it looks like I just barely captured the Golden Eye Cluster (M67) on the left hand side of the photo.

Will try to get better photos tonight with my 90mm refractor.

 

 

 

 

Nano Lite star tracker that I attached a red dot finder though it has a built in green laser pointer which I don't like to use as Polaris is right over the airport. This with my Xiaomi 14 is my super portable observatory.

Edited by jimmydemello, 06 May 2025 - 01:50 AM.

[jimmydemello]

I am belaboring the Beehive cluster but it has been kind of educatonal for me in a couple respects. Here is a photo from last night with my 90500 refractor and 40mm Plossel with Xiaomi 14 camera. Less than ,8 sec exposure and 1600 ISO but I used ICE (Image Composite Editor) to mozaic two photos together and it was very easy software to use.

Mars has moved out of the cluster but I will try to get some photos tonight and use ICE to put them back together. 

I only have an alti-az tripod and no motor drive so can't get much detail beyond the big stars.

But I tried star hopping to get the Golden Eye Cluster and then the clouds moved in, so will try for that one tonight.

 

Edited by jimmydemello, 07 May 2025 - 11:25 PM.

[jimmydemello]

Last night I got no clouds nor wind so attempted the Golden Eye CLuster which I finally found just before calling it quits for the night. Also I so wanted to see the Pinwheel galaxy and after an hour of star hopping I found the location of it but could not see it for the light pollution here. But at least I found the location, that was some satisfaction. And of course a shot of the moon, All with 90500 refractor and 40mm Plossel.

 

Would a filter of some kind let me see through the light pollution to see the Pinwheel Galaxy?

 

Ok, I am done for a while. 

 

Golden Eye Cluster

 

Pinwheel Galaxy location but no cigar.

 

Edited by jimmydemello, 08 May 2025 - 09:34 PM.

[jimmydemello]

Older picture from earlier this year. Xiaomi 14 on a star tracker. Then cropped and post processed in Syril with wavelets which really brought out the nebula. I think one 30 second exposure raw photo.

 

[jiblet65]

This morning I saw Saturn naked eye but failed to find anything of significance in the Dob. It looked pretty clear but I think the Sahara dust was affecting the views. I did stumble across Albireo so there's that. Tomorrow morning I'm headed to the coast so I'll take my camera and try to get some sunrise shots with the Sahara dust effect. I took this one 6/23/20. 

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[AngrySchnauzer]

I am limited to the east and northeast skies because of trees in my yard, but I got to see M92, M13, both incredible in my new 8” Dobsonian. Just amazing. My favorite standout object though, was M57, the Ring Nebula. The viewing has been very bad because of the wildfire smoke, and I haven’t made a light shroud yet, but to see a nebula like that, with the green/blue tint, right there in my eyepiece, was just so outstanding. 

 

Up until the last two weeks or so, I’ve only been using a Seestar S50 that I got at NEAF. I got my dob about 2 weeks ago, but the weather has not cooperated in the slightest, last night was the first time I’ve been able to be out for an extended period.

 

Imaging Is cool, but I am finding that observing is just so much more intimate, interesting, and relaxing. Hope everyone has clear skies in the coming days