2287 replies to this topic

[BrentKnight]

Last night, I did some fun lunar observing. I recently picked up a copy of Rukl, and it’s been great to have something to do on clear nights with a big moon! We haven’t lately had a ton of clear nights, but we have had pretty good seeing on those clear nights. My telescope is a 10” dob, so on a night of good seeing, the moon really shows a ton. I was mostly using my ES 82° 6.7mm plus a 3x barlow for ~540x.

I spent lots of time around Aristarchus and the broader area. There’s so much to see! I’ve become a big fan of trying to pry out different rimae. The Rimae Aristarchus and Rimae Prinz were super cool to pull out. I could make out the craters Ivan and Vera during moments of good seeing. Further north, I loved the lava domes near Gruithuisen and the whole area around Marian. I was able to pull out the Rima Marian pretty consistently, but I was only able to see the northern, deeper part of Rima Sharp very inconsistently. All the volcanic features in this area are amazing!

I also spent a bit less time on the far north and far south areas of the terminator. Babbage was absolutely stunning with the lighting — very stark and dramatic. J. Herschel was also super neat. The area around the Mare Humorum and the highlands around Mersenius showed so much it’s almost overwhelming. So many little craterlets and rilles to spot! I’m new enough to lunar observing that it’s hard to make sense of the highlands.

Wargentin, Nasmyth, and Phoclyides stood out dramatically in the light. The ridges in the floor of the former are very cool. I also found Bailly very stark and dramatic, much like Babbage to the north.

I’m starting to really love the moon! It’s always been fun, but now that I have an atlas to make sense of what I’m seeing, it’s easier to spend more time with it than it used to be.

I’d love to start doing some lunar sketches but there’s so much to see, it seems like it’s so much more difficult than DSO sketches. I really bet I’d be able to start pulling even more out of the moon by sketching, but really don’t know where to start.

 

I've got Rukl's Moon, Mars and Venus book - a much smaller version of the lunar atlas in it.  I just picked up the Duplex Moon Atlas by Ronald Stoyan - also looks to be excellent.

 

I enjoy lunar observing as well.  I normally use my AT102ED refractor or the 14" Dobsonian.  The refractor makes finding small details a challenge (which I enjoy), the Dob just makes things easy.  I only wish those rare transparent nights didn't always occur when the moon was high and bright in the sky...

[daveb2022]

This is a fairly long post but I thought I'd add some of what I actually see as compared to just listing object designations. Mind you I don't have a clue how accurate I was. In the past I've gone back to targets and realized I was in the wrong spot. It happens.

 

 

 

March 4th
4” Televue refractor with NVD
Manual tripod with digital setting circles.

Tonight was one of those nights where it started off clear only to quickly cloud up. Shortly after setting up my tripod, I pulled it back down as the sky became solid overcast.  Never even got the chance to set the scope on the mount. But I was able to catch a few cell phone shots of Jupiter and Venus before they were obscured by clouds.

 

 

I then retired into the house a bit disappointed. After making some coffee, I came back out to find it somewhat clear. So back out I went and set everything back up again. Glad I did. With large breaks in the cloud cover I was able to navigate around without too many issues.

 

I revisited most of what I did a few nights ago. About the only change was a more intense moon. The seeing was maybe 2/5 and about the same with the transparency but over the evening both improved a little. Unfortunately, sometimes I was pushed around when clouds would move in. These things were developing and moving faster than normal and seem to come out of nowhere. At least they didn’t hang and usually moved out about as fast as they had evolved. Like a few days ago, I was mainly after open clusters but planned to possibly see what the NVD could do on a few galaxies.  I knew the moons effect would cut down on how apparent the targets would resolve but it would be a good test of my PVS-14. I’ve been totally impressed with my new NVD over my old Collins i3.

   

Being I was delayed for a couple hours due to clouds, I had to skip several after-dusk targets. It was a look into the near future. I do miss the winter constellations and objects as spring rolls around. My light polluted backyard doesn’t do galaxies very well.

 

Starting out, I spied on the Orion nebula for a few minutes and the trapezium was easy as usual…even with the somewhat poor seeing. Cassiopeia was getting low and most of her targets has drifted below my line of sight. Even Andromeda was too low.

 

I jumped to Perseus and started off with M-34. This was a fine cluster tonight even with the moon and I counted close to 60 stars in the main group.

I decided to check out NGC-1502 in Camelopardalis. I could see about 35 stars in the main group and of course I followed the line of stars known as Kemble’s Cascade that flows in or out of NGC-1502 depending on your preference. Scanning the chain of stars was interesting with the NV unit.

 

Back to Perseus I checked out NGC-957 which looked to be a loose scattering of stars.  Its main feature I could see was a line of stars that form a point. The bottom line of stars (away from the point) had a dense and almost washed-out group of stars that would probably have more impact if the moon wasn’t present.

 

On to the Double Cluster. Hard to pick which one is the better of the two but I kind of lean toward 869 as my favorite…at least during this session.

 

Next up was NGC-1220. I had a hard time with this one. I know there is a small dim grouping of stars here but they were unresolvable tonight.

 

NGC-1245 wasn’t much different. All I could make out was a small group of about 6-7 stars situated closer to the two brighter stars of a larger 5-point star asterism. Perhaps I was off target but I didn’t take time to verify anything. Just went to the next object on the list.

 

Before it got too late, I decided to skip over to Taurus hoping most of its objects had not dropped out of sight. NGC-1647 is a very nice large grouping of stars. Even in my 14mm EP, it was larger than the FOV. I counted about 5 brighter stars (two of which dominate) in the main group intermixed with about 60 dim companions.

 

NGC-1746 was another nice group. Overall, it was a wide group but there was a smaller conspicuous line of stars within the group of about 60 other upper-magnitude stars. The “L” shaped line of stars stood out sharply and had quite a few others companions around it, while the rest of the group was a bit more scattered. Still, it was a nice target.

 

NGC-1807 and NGC-1817 are right next to each other. 1817 showed as a horizontal group of about 28 stars. NGC-1807 is similar to 1817 and showed a curved swath of about 25 stars. Both groups fit nicely in the FOV of my 14mm EP.

 

Orion was moving out of view so I decided to hit as much of Canis Major as I could. NGC-2345 is a conspicuous “V” shaped pattern of about 7 brighter stars that are fairly isolated making it an obvious target. I counted an additional 25 scattered stars in the area but the “V” shape asterism is what stood out.

 

NGC-2354 was situated right in the middle of the power pole and the big old transformer in front of my house blocking my lower views of the southern sky.

 

But NGC-2362 was very impressive even though the pole, the power lines, and the transformer were making it difficult. I need to be viewing these clusters about an hour earlier when the constellation is clear of that lousy pole. But 2362 didn’t disappoint, and was showing at least 35 stars a dense group surrounding a brighter star in the cluster. Away from the power line, it might have been more brilliant.

 

I returned to NGC-2354 but the lines were still partially blocking the view yet this time I counted at least 13-14 visible stars even with the man-made mogul blocking most of it.

 

NGC-2367 appeared as a scattered group of about 20 stars but a small triangle or rhombus of stars seemed to stand out. It was small using my 14mm and would have probably been best with a bit more power. As the night continued, it seemed everything was sped up and several of the better open clusters in Canis Major had drifted out of view.

 

At least NGC-2383 was still visible and showed about 25 stars of mixed magnitudes. It was a wide cluster. An additional 30 stars were counted as a loosely scattered group in the total field of view. Not a bad cluster.

 

The last target in Canis Major was M-41. This was a wonderful open cluster tonight even with the moonglow. At least 70 stars were counted in the main group. I’d venture to say it’s the best open cluster in Canis Major and arguably one of the better open clusters in the night sky.

 

Puppis was now close to due south at 2120 hours, and besides the power lines, it was the best time to view this area. Messier 46 didn’t disappoint. This was a fine-grained group of about 80 dim stars visible this night. There is a planetary involved with this cluster but I haven’t had much luck on small planetary nebulae (that are more stellar-like) when using a NVD.

 

As cool as M-46 was, I moved on to another open cluster, M-93 which was also a fine target. It was a smaller group and could have been best framed in my 10mm EP but was fine in the 14mm.  Two brighter stars dominated the cluster but in the 14mm EP, it was a fairly compact isolated group of around 60 stars in FOV of the EP.

 

NGC-2414 was just the opposite and difficult. More of a wide group of 35 scattered stars in mixed magnitudes. But one very small dense area of stars around a brighter single star was just on the edge of visibility.  My guess was this small group was the actual designated target, however it just didn’t stand out much tonight.  Then came the clouds again but thankfully they left as quickly as they arrived and I didn’t have to dodge any.

 

Back to my list, NGC-2451 was next but very low on the southern horizon and I found the city’s light-dome was about as disrupting as the moonlight. Still 2451 was a good bright object with 26 somewhat spaced-out stars in an isolated area.  The fact it was isolated was probably the coolest factor of this group IMO.

 

NGC-2467 was another group that was obliterated by the power lines and again clouds had moved back in causing havoc.

 

Viewing between the clouds, I moved on to NGC-2479. I found this open cluster appeared as a small wide grouping of 30+ stars visible through the thin cloud cover. As the cloud cover increased, the scope sat idle and I elected to grab a few pics of the sky again. After that, with the temps dropping, I decided to go in for a cup of espresso. Now armed with a full cup of high amp coffee, I came out to take a survey of the cloud cover. Wow, they had quickly moved out and the sky had mostly cleared.

 

Back in action, I resumed my target quest and centered NGC 2489. This cluster was really low from my vantage point and I wasn’t sure if it was washed out or I was off target. All I could resolve was a small arched group of 3 or 4 stars. Perhaps it was a combination of being in the light dome, the low position on the horizon, and the moon glow but I didn’t find what I was looking for. It’s funny because sometimes if I slew away and then back, the cluster might just pop into view. Not this time, so I moved on.

 

NGC-2539 was a nice group. It was a fairly isolated group of +/- 50 stars with a brighter local member on the perimeter of the group. I liked this cluster.

 

The last one on the Puppis list was NGC-2579 and of course again the power pole made it impossible to view. Just poor timing on my part. As the sky cleared, the wind kicked up making the espresso a welcomed drink. At least my backyard is highly sheltered from wind and it’s usually not an issue except in very high winds. I did have to put on a heavier jacket though.

 

I finally made it to one of my favorite late winter constellations… Monoceros. I would quickly find that I was running this constellation a bit late, and many of the selected targets were crashing into my neighbor’s roof. But at least M-50 was in view and I’ve always felt it was a fine target. A good 80+ stars were visible even with all the moonlight and it appeared as a nicely concentrated open cluster in the EP.

 

There were several clusters still up and NGC-2236 was next on the list. It appeared as a wide swath stars. About 9 brighter stars stood out as a very small dim group with about 16 lesser ones in the area. Outside the group, a couple close bright stars looked to outshine anything in what I believe was the actual target.

 

In Monoceros, besides M-50, another keeper cluster/nebula is the Rosette Nebula complex NGC-2237 & 2244. I guess NGC-2237 is classified as the Rosette Nebula which is quite spectacular in my image intensifiers using an Ha filter. I’ve even seen it in bright moonlight but tonight I didn’t even get a filter out. I was on an open cluster hunt and NGC-2244 is the open cluster the Nebula surrounds. In full moonlight 2244 is still a fine group. It was very bright and stood out sharply. But the group showed a dimer scattering of stars above the main cluster adding to the total count of over 60 stars seen during this session.

 

Next was NGC-2251 which appeared as an elongated half dome group of stars. Only about 14 stars were visible with a scattering of stars outside the group. This cluster wasn’t overly impressive but was still worth a look.

 

NGC-2252 was baffling as it appeared I’d already seen this one. Perhaps it was memories of a few nights ago. There were +/- 17 stars visible in a slightly more concentrated group among a wider scattering of stars on the perimeter of the 14mm FOV.

 

Another lesser impressive cluster was NGC-2254. If I had this group zeroed in correctly, it appeared as a line of stars that formed the outline of a flat brim hat. I’ll have to revisit this one in the future because I really didn’t have a clue if I was on target.

 

After another round of espresso, I traveled to NGC-2259. This cluster did not stand out much. Most stars were scattered with a very limited central core area holding about 7 stars. This was another group I wasn’t sure if I was on target without looking at a star chart to confirm.

 

NGC-2264 on the other hand was awesome. It was a large inverted U-shaped group of about 35 stars. A brighter locally located star looked to light up a few closer stars. My list showed it as the Cone Nebula but no hint of nebulosity was observed. The 14mm was not the best EP for the cluster and I felt it could have used more magnification. The only thing I could make out was a Y shaped line of around 13 stars with a 4 or more close by. I could almost make out the word “YO” formed as an asterism.

 

NGC-2266 was a long way from all the previous targets and incorrectly listed as an open cluster in Monoceros but was actually in Gemini. About +/-11 stars formed a box like asterism with about 5 or so stars outside the box.

 

Sticking to Gemini, NGC-2304 was a totally confusing area. It seemed like a just a very wide star field. I guess it’s another one I’ll have to research.

 

NGC-2420 appeared as a wide more concentrated group with 5 or 6 stars in the central region. About 20 stars surround the small group.

 

Moving to Cancer I picked up the beehive group, M-44. I didn’t spend too much time on this bright large open cluster but it is very impressive as a wide field object.

 

The last target in Cancer was M-67 which had about 40 stars visible in a somewhat concentrated group using a 10mm EP.

 

Leo was up next. I had wondered how well the PVS-14 would show galaxies and M-65 was the first test under bright moonlight. To my surprise, a few were visible from my light polluted backyard and again the moon wasn’t helping. In my 14mm EP both M-65 and M-66 were visible at least. I felt that was pretty good despite the crappy light conditions.

 

But I didn’t have any luck with M-95 and M-96. M-105 showed up well though.

 

I moved into Coma Berenices and M-64. As I looked through the EP, I noticed an abrupt dimming of the stars in the area. I looked up to see heavy cloud cover moving in, which within a few minutes, robbed me of any more targets. The night was over just past midnight.

Despite the clouds, the night was very productive IMO.

Edited by daveb2022, 06 March 2023 - 10:08 AM.

[WillR]

This is a fairly long post but I thought I'd add some of what I actually see as compared to just listing object designations. Mind you I don't have a clue how accurate I was. In the past I've gone back to targets and realized I was in the wrong spot. It happens.

 

March 4th

4” Televue refractor with NVD
Manual tripod with digital setting circles.

 

 

That is an impressive list and I spent a pleasant 1/2 hour following along in my atlases. Well done!

 

I gather the NVD is a night vision eyepiece and the digital setting circles are a push to, like a Nexus, or something? I'd love links or more info to some of what you use. 

 

There were a number of unfamiliar targets to me, so I am writing them down, and your descriptions were very helpful.

 

A few notes/questions.

 

1. NGC is scattered because there are several clusters there- NGC 1750 and NGC 1758. 

2. You log NGC 1807 twice. I believe the second mention is something else?

3. NGC 2382? I can't find this one. Was it possibly NGC 2383 and/or 2384, visible in the same FOV?

4. Were you able to see the emission nebula at all around NGC 2467?

5. I love 2264, the Christmas tree cluster. It is a very recognizable Christmas tree in a Newtonian and probably upside down in your refractor. Instead of more magnification, you need less to take it all in. This is a binocular object. Its base is the bright star 15 Mon, a triple, and the top is another double, STF 954, with a third double, STF 953 south of that. The Cone nebula is too faint to be seen in just about any back yard scope.

6. While you are in the area, be sure to check out NGC 2261, Hubble's variable nebula.

 

Thanks again for a great report.

[Nankins]

I had my first solar observing session yesterday while trying out my club's solar telescope that I am borrowing for an astronomy class I am teaching. 

 

Once we got things all lined up, it took me a while to find the right magnification, focus, tuning, etc to view the Sun, but eventually I managed to do it, and was able to see a pair of prominences along the northern and western limbs, as well as the large AR that is coming in too. I found that my 5.5 mm EP was the sweet spot for magnification and detail. Plus eventually a second AR with a lot less activity going on.  The first AR at one point showed some evidence of its plages, not too much but enough to give it some depth.  I probably was viewing for about an hour, after which I packed up because even though I could still view occasionally through the clouds, I had lost track of the Sun in the scope and lining things back up was really hard for me to do.  Still, it was really cool to see.  This was the first time I have ever actually handled a solar scope, but the first time I used one was back in 2017 during the solar eclipse.

 

That evening I went out with my binoculars after doing the chores, but the upper atmosphere was so bad that even the Moon had a slight reddish tint.  So I spent most of the time looking at the Moon.  I thought I was able to sort of see the brightest lunar swirl, near the terminator on the eastern limb out past Copernicus, but was not sure.  There did however seem to be a lot of detail coming from Copernicus' and Tycho's ray system though.  I also looked at some open clusters, but they were not very impressive given the Moon and the bad conditions.

[daveb2022]

Thanks Will. I edited the list. It was a late night typo on my part. I was using a crappy hand written notes rather than my normal list. Yeah the Christmas Tree cluster is upside down. Sometimes if I'm using too much magnification I might not grab the full image of the target or realize what it is. The list I had didn't have any stats or descriptions of the targets (used on purpose) to compare to other viewing sessions nights. As far as Nebulae, I also purposely left most of those off that list but some are nice open clusters as well. Same with planetary nebulae... I mainly use glass for those as the NVD has a difficult time with ones that are more stellar like. If an object had some nebulosity, I wasn't actually looking for it and even if it was there, I might not notice it using higher powers. Sometimes I'll just go on a nebula hunt and pick just those targets. I generally filter up on those objects. 

 

As far as the DSC's I use either Lumicon or Televue models. I'd like to move into the better models like the Nexus but these are working OK for me and another operating system isn't on my list to learn. The tripod encoders are Televue as is the tripod itself so all push to. I had cut some of the description in the op out but maybe I should have left it.

 

I did notice some of the targets were much more difficult than during darker conditions. But being able to see what I did with my new intensifier under poor conditions was very satisfying. Galaxies were more visible than I thought they would be. Unfortunately, color is lost in my NVD and small planetary nebulae are better in glass IMO. But being to see so much through a 4” scope from my backyard is a huge advantage especially as far as equipment set up goes. My bigger SCT and Mak scopes are heavy, subject to thermal stabilization and dew, plus are a bit more complicated to set up. Last night I was able to drag out all my equipment, level my tripod, mount the refractor and align my setting circles and was viewing in about 15 minutes. The combo is also much faster than watching a go-to mount slowly slew to objects.The NVD+ 4" refractor seems to rival my 10” SCT from the same location. PVS-14 specs XLSH – 64 Resolution, 27.5 SNR, 1760 FOM, 0.45 EBI, 0.75 Halo, 67165 gain.

 

Edited by daveb2022, 06 March 2023 - 10:55 PM.

[WillR]

Thanks Will. I edited the list. It was a late night typo on my part. I was using a crappy hand written notes rather than my normal list. Yeah the Christmas Tree cluster is upside down. Sometimes if I'm using too much magnification I might not grab the full image of the target or realize what it is. The list I had didn't have any stats or descriptions of the targets (used on purpose) to compare to other viewing sessions nights. As far as Nebulae, I also purposely left most of those off that list but some are nice open clusters as well. Same with planetary nebulae... I mainly use glass for those as the NVD has a difficult time with ones that are more stellar like. If an object had some nebulosity, I wasn't actually looking for it and even if it was there, I might not notice it using higher powers. Sometimes I'll just go on a nebula hunt and pick just those targets. I generally filter up on those objects. 

 

As far as the DSC's I use either Lumicon or Televue models. I'd like to move into the better models like the Nexus but these are working OK for me and another operating system isn't on my list to learn. The tripod encoders are Televue as is the tripod itself so all push to. I had cut some of the description in the op out but maybe I should have left it.

 

I did notice some of the targets were much more difficult than during darker conditions. But being able to see what I did with my new intensifier under poor conditions was very satisfying. Galaxies were more visible than I thought they would be. Unfortunately, color is lost in my NVD and small planetary nebulae are better in glass IMO. But being to see so much through a 4” scope from my backyard is a huge advantage especially as far as equipment set up goes. My bigger SCT and Mak scopes are heavy, subject to thermal stabilization and dew, plus are a bit more complicated to set up. Last night I was able to drag out all my equipment, level my tripod, mount the refractor and align my setting circles and was viewing in about 15 minutes. The combo is also much faster than watching a go-to mount slowly slew to objects.The NVD+ 4" refractor seems to rival my 10” SCT from the same location.

 

101-PVS-14.jpg

Ah, NGC 2345. That was a difficult one for me to recognize when I first looked for it because of its sparseness, but the 'V" is recognizable.

 

Specs on the NVD. This is Televue? I see a couple under your signature.

[daveb2022]

Ah, NGC 2345. That was a difficult one for me to recognize when I first looked for it because of its sparseness, but the 'V" is recognizable.

 

Specs on the NVD. This is Televue? I see a couple under your signature.

Well I don't want to go too far off topic into the equipment realm Will, but I'll edit in the specs in the last post I made. As far as my viewing sessions, what I found was I was often remembering the clusters as seen from my larger scopes which were out of reach using my NP-101 or TV-85 from my light polluted site at home. NGC-2345 is one of many that jogged my memories from the last time (several years ago) I sat up one of the larger scopes at home. In the past few years I've only been using my small refractors at home for several personal reasons. Funny to see those clusters as they appeared several years ago come back to life in my refractor via my night vision units. I also enjoy doing comparisons between full and moonless nights or different sky conditions.

For instance here is a 2-18-23 NV log:

 

NGC-2264 OC/NEB M/3.4-20’ 10mm. This is a very good group in a busy area. About 40 stars around a bright center star. About 11 brighter stars highlight the cluster. This is the Christmas tree cluster/cone nebula. To take in the whole open cluster, it requires a wider field EP.

 

When I view off a list like I used the other night (designation only), without info (as shown above) I'm not biased from some of the objects stats. If I view the object several different nights, sometimes I'll get an off the wall description but most viewing nights are logged with similar visual characteristics.

Edited by daveb2022, 07 March 2023 - 01:15 AM.

[cpman]

I enjoy lunar observing as well. I normally use my AT102ED refractor or the 14" Dobsonian. The refractor makes finding small details a challenge (which I enjoy), the Dob just makes things easy. I only wish those rare transparent nights didn't always occur when the moon was high and bright in the sky...

I love making observations that push my telescope and conditions, too. I just have the 10” dob now (at least until I find tube material for my surplus shed 114/900 mirror set) and want to get a smaller, more grab-n-go setup for the moon and marginal nights.

I did a couple more casual observations on the moon on the night of 3/5 — spent some time picking out rilles around Grimaldi and Darwin and checking out craters near the southern pole. Picking stuff out in the super heavily cratered area around the south pole is definitely harder than in flat marae!

[BrentKnight]

I love making observations that push my telescope and conditions, too. I just have the 10” dob now (at least until I find tube material for my surplus shed 114/900 mirror set) and want to get a smaller, more grab-n-go setup for the moon and marginal nights.

I did a couple more casual observations on the moon on the night of 3/5 — spent some time picking out rilles around Grimaldi and Darwin and checking out craters near the southern pole. Picking stuff out in the super heavily cratered area around the south pole is definitely harder than in flat marae!

If you haven't done it already, I would recommend the AL Lunar program.  Many of the observations require the use of a pair of binoculars or just the naked eye.  Definitely a challenge - but definitely fun!

[wxcloud]

March 9th 2023 short stops.

Got a little telescoping in between the very short window between dark and moon rise but clouds shut that window pretty quick. Actually intended to get a little lunar session in after dinner but clouds had other plans. Sigh. For a clear forecast today there sure was clouds teasing a lot today.

But right at dark (as dark as it usually gets) I took the at80edt out, 24mm pan, 12.5mm Morpheus and at first the 7mm Pentax I also was using a 2" WO dura bright mirror diagonal and went straight for Orion since in a few days it's going to be even closer to setting by the time it gets dark. Skies where hazy from the incoming clouds.

Started in the sword right for m42 framed it up and just took in the whispy haze. The trapezium I think I could make out in the core even in the pan. Went straight to the 7mm which brings the view in closer. Though I could almost make out the outer rim around the core close to m43 where the gullwing is.

The core glowed, also thought I could make out a 5th member of the trapezium but can't confirm being untracked and slightly rickety mount with a bit of cold gusts. The view in the 7mm even at 70° kind of felt a little straw like so I swapped the Pentax for the 4.8mm nagler which was a little bit more difficult to control and coax details out of. Spent a little bit here before going back to the panoptic and locating the giant star Iota Orionis of which I didn't see a whole lot of the system, I did take notice of a tiny white star nearby in the nagler.

From there over to Sigma Orionis and spent a little bit in that system, I think I managed to pick off a couple new companions from one of the end stars in the group I believe possibly strive 761 c/b but catalog numbers and diagrams a way over my head. The diagram I see shows a magnification above what I was using.

I might need to resort to tracking mounts for this higher magnification stuff and or at least try to sketch what I see, might make identification a little easier and help confirm things.

Back in with the finder pan and a trip further north in the hunt for the "37" cluster, NGC 2169 and I thought I saw it again but still couldn't call it but while I was in the area poking around I came across a small pinching of stars that caught my eye, so I popped the 12.5 morph in and the little cluster started to take on a little detail, pushed it more with the 4.8 nagler and it was a little too much but I could almost think I found the 37 cluster and when I went to astronomy tools and popped the eyepiece (5mm nagler as my 4.8mm don't exist anymore) it seems to match my view (besides the massive amount of missing background stars in my washed out sky). The 37 cluster found and confirmed? Getting there. It's way smaller than I expected, but it was a cluster.

From there I made a quick sweep through Monoceros and found NGC 2244, looked better at lower magnification. Also a nice little grouping of stars trickling away from the core group. Spent a little bit trying to locate the Christmas tree cluster and didn't spot it.

Finished off with Canis Major, an open cluster, possibly m41.

During my scanning around, as usual came across some neat grouping of stars in areas.

Went in for dinner after my little half hour session hoping to pick up at the waning gibbous moon but clouds rolled in. When I went back out I tried to see if the thin clouds would do me a solid and maybe allow a split of Sirius. Nope.

I brought the rig back in. I figured it would be another quick session. I didn't take the new monster 30mm 82° ES eyepiece out this go around.

[radiofm74]

Great posts everyone! I've done a lot of astro myself in month since I last posted (8 Feb!) and am only just now finishing to put my notes in order. I will not do one mammoth post. Rather, I'd like to share with you two wonderful DSO sessions I've had in the countryside around last new Moon, and then my "best of" lunar and doubles observations of the month. I'll do four posts, well spaced, trying not to take up too much room. 

 

Without further preamble, a succinct tale of my first night in the countryside North of Lausanne (Switzerland).

 

15.02.23: small refractor delight in Bortle 4, despite passing cloud

Vixen SD81S on Vixen APZ mount – just a session to get my DSO juices flowing again. No exotic objects, but all looking their best ever to me. After a so-so start on NGC1535 (Cleopatra's Eye: blue tint but no detail at all) I focus on objects that can be best seen in a sharp small scope such as mine

 

M45 (Pleiades): first look with UFF 30mm, 70° – so this is diamonds on velvet! Too beautiful to describe. Later with 32 Plössl I see hints of the reflection nebula around the cluster – blueish, pleasant, irregular. First time!

 

Alpha Persei Association (Melotte 20). Amazing. The FoV of my UFF almost embraces it all and it’s such a bright field full of wonderful clumps and groupings of stars. My favorite view is with Alfa Per in the NW corner, part of a bright necklace of stars, and a quartet of bright stars including Sigma Per in the opposite corner. Never seen it so beautiful.

 

In the same FoV, the Double Cluster is a spectacular twin concentration of stars in an extremely rich field. Seldom seen so well! The 32mm Plössl loses field but it’s almost a better view, and better framed: it’s spectacular how a diffuse fine dust of stars identifies the clusters against the field. It’s tonight’s best view and possibly my best ever.

 

In Orion, I start from NGC1980: at 62.5x the cluster is lovely and I also see nebulosity around Hatysa! UHC and averted vision show it even more clearly.

 

The Great Orion Nebula is majestic! I’ve observed it right at the start of the session with the UFF along with the whole Sword and it was quite the start! With the 32 Plössl on, the UHC filter reveals a lot : I see the core and bright “wings”, but also a vast body extending especially brightly to the E side.

 

I move to M78. Thin cloud has accumulated in the area and it really does not help here, but the little ghost is visible as are are its eyes and the smaller reflection nebula N of it. The little clumps of stars around it make for a lovely – if dim and little detailed – field.

 

While I’m labouring in Orion against thin cloud I notice that the Beehive Cluster is high and bright in the sky. I move there and as expected Vicky and the UFF give me a stunning view of it. Back South, I move to Beta Mon: such a marvel. The 6mm splits it clean. Barlowed 10 more comfortably. But also the 10mm alone at 62.5x shows the triple with the tiniest gap between the closest components. What a view.

 

Now I’m cold and part of me wants to call it off, but I am in Monoceros and the night has cleared…

 

NGC2232 is a very nice if sparse cluster at low power.

 

With 32mm and UHC the brighter parts of the Rosette Nebula (NGC2238) are EVIDENT, rather like a fat ring of absence of stars around the cluster (esp to the left side of my FOV, i.e. West and North). This might be my best view of the Nebula so far.

 

Farther north I do not see the Cone nebula at all and do not even try – it’s getting really cold. With the 32mm the Christmas Tree Cluster NGC2264 ain’t really all that much, but the 10mm (62x) brings mag just to the right point and it’s beautiful.

 

I feel the pull of NGC2261 Hubble’s Variable Nebula, which I want to try before packing. At the outset, with the 32mm then the 10mm filtered, it’s barely visible. I’m too cold to try much harder. But then I put on the 10mm without filter and the nebula appears more clearly: small but perfect fan or comet shape. Lovely!

 

I look North and Ursa is in a cloudless part of the sky. Although I am by now cold and tired I cannot go home without visiting Bode’s Pair. I am rewarded with a wonderful view of both galaxies so clearly visible, and so perfectly framed in the 18mm. Spectacular. Spring is on its way, but I still have much to see in Monoceros, Canis Major, and also in Orion.

Edited by radiofm74, 11 March 2023 - 05:34 AM.

[Jehujones]

 

...Spring is on its way, but I still have much to see in Monoceros, Canis Major, and also in Orion.

Me too but we've had so much rain and clouds here I just haven't been able to get out. 

 

I'm not really complaining, it's nice to see all the green hills and snow in So Cal.

Brings back memories.

[radiofm74]

Hello all – so here is instalment II, the answer to the close of my previous post … "there is much to see in Monoceros, Canis Major, and also in Orion" as I wrote mid-February.

 

20.2.23 – C6 on Vixen APZ mount in Villars-Tiercelin in wonderful conditions, while my SD81S is shooting the Christmas Tree cluster atop a Vixen AP

 

I spend the first part of the evening setting up my imaging gear at dusk, then eating something in the car in order not to get too cold. 

 

When I come out the naked eye sky is a marvel and for the first time I see the Gegenschein, Zodiacal band and Zodiacal light: a pillar of light in the East crossing the whole sky like an arch and setting in the W, bisecting the Milky Way. The reason why I see it more clearly in the East is likely that the sky is pristine there, and slightly more light polluted to the W. The time confirms the sighting: 1-2h after dark in February. Conditions are marvelous and there are so many naked eye objects in the sky I get lost in them at first!

 

When I get to observing through a telescope I start from Rigel, just to focus and align finders. I’ve learned where the little secondary is, and spot it. So cool. NGC1535 is a nice puff but already way low. Not much to see here. The Great Orion Nebula by contrast is beautifully detailed. I can just make out E and F the two dimmer members of the Trapezium, with tiny and constant diffraction ring surrounding the Airy disks of the brighter members. What a sight!

 

After a failed attempt to see the Flame Nebula, I move to M78: the little ghost is well in evidence tonight and I enjoy the view the most with the 18mm at ≈52x. Very nice medium power object! Seeing is very good and despite being under a good rural sky I feel the pull of challenging multiple stars – and yield. 32 Ori is a spectacular double: tiny gap with the 6mm (reducer on), two slightly unequal pearls of pure white forming a little 8, surrounded by their tiny diffraction rings. Delightful! 52 Ori requires all my powers (no reducer, 6mm=250x) to reveal a wonderful super tight white pair! Queen Meissa is a beauty tonight as well. It takes a rich field scope to really make the whole cluster around it enjoyable, so that’s not in the cards tonight. Spotting Lepus below the Hunter, I go for M79. It’s rare to have the conditions to see it at my latitude so I drop by to say hello. It barely clears the trees: easy bright patchie of light but I can’t resolve anything.

 

After a pause to attend to my imaging session, I start to observe in Canis Major with M41: too large and coarse to show well in the C6, even with the reducer back on. NGC2345 is a lovely little patch in a wildly rich part of the Milky Way. A little more power (up from 29x to 52x) reveals a little stardust. For NGC2359 (Thor’s Helmet) I need to put on the OIII and I observe it at low (29x) and medium (52x) power. It is complex and quite large, a bit like a face in silhouette? It’s one of those elusive objects that are hard to put a definite shape on. I try UHC but see less than with the OIII. NGC2360 (Caroline’s cluster, C58), which I never observed this well before, is a beautiful objects! It benefits from a little mag (18mm=52x) but not too much (10mm=95x is already a bit much). At the right power it’s a beautiful “stardust” cluster a little in the style of M46. Very beautiful, and I include into my “favorites” category. I was less impressed on other occasions, so this means that it requires the right instrument and the right conditions. NGC2362 (Tau CMa) is magnificent, a must see on every night in Canis Major! The Winter Albireo (Herschel 3945) just above it might well be my favorite “easy and colorful” double bar none.

 

Wandering further towards M46 and M47, I stop by NGC2467 and thinking of it as a simple cluster I note “very inconspicuous (perhaps owing to its being so low) but nice. Kinda like a bright halo around a few bright stars”. At home I realize it’s a cluster with a nebula and should have used a filter – still, nice that I could spot the nebulosity so casually. To close, I stop by M46 and M47 and they are truly a fabulous pair: bright and beautiful and coarse M47, absolutely stunning M46 – my best view ever of it, a field tightly packed with medium-brightness stars. Also my best view ever of NGC2438: with the OIII on, it’s a large and conspicuous bubble floating in front of the tightly arrayed star cluster. It’s a spectacular close for a memorable session.

 

Besides: the image of the Xmas tree came out nice with just 3hrs of integration! It won't upload to Imgur for reasons I can't fathom but if I manage I'll post it later… 

[jc482p]

 

NGC2360 (Caroline’s cluster, C58), which I never observed this well before, is a beautiful objects! It benefits from a little mag (18mm=52x) but not too much (10mm=95x is already a bit much). At the right power it’s a beautiful “stardust” cluster a little in the style of M46. Very beautiful, and I include into my “favorites” category.

I saw this last week for the first time.  I only saw one or two stars at low power (28x, 49x).  Since I hardly saw anything at low power, I was a bit surprised when I tried high power (163x) that I saw 20 or so stars.  I had to use high power because of all the light pollution around here.  I had to use averted vision, but not too much of it, to see all 20, but that made it look nicer because of the effect of the stars twinkling on and off as you move around your eye.  My high power eyepiece is a UWA so the cluster was still framed pretty well.

 

It does look like M46.  They're both shaped like a roughly rectangular blob of stars.

Edited by jc482p, 14 March 2023 - 10:37 AM.

[dave253]

Clear skies last night!

 

 I had the little Vixen out, doing some star hopping with sky safari.

 

Easily tracked down NGC 2903, M 104, and just a general pan around. Such fun!

[Nankins]

It was finally very clear for a long time here yesterday, so I took my 10" out for a bit.  M31, along with M32 and M110, was getting lower in the west and was the first object observed.  In part because I observed this when there was still some sunlight in the sky, I was not able to see as much detail as I would have otherwise like.  I also observed M42 and M43, which both showed lots of detail, and I was able to tell that M42 extended down into the Hatsya area because there was some haziness around those stars.  The Fish's Mouth showed a really good amount of detail, with averted vision (and somewhat with direct vision) I was able to tell that the dark nebulosity in this area connected M42 with M43 and even extended out to the right of the eyepiece a little too.  The Running Man nebula was also visible to the north (down in my eyepiece) of M43.  When I was looking around Orion, even before the sunlight was completely gone I was actually able to see NGC 2024's faint shadow near Alnitak, which was a good indicator of how good viewing would be.  I did think of trying Barnard's Loop, but I was focused on working with some Messier objects instead and wanted to get through that.  

I also viewed M45.  There were quite a few stars visible, and I might have been able to see somewhat of the surrounding nebula if I had looked more carefully.  I was trying my hand at sketching (those actually turned out OK!), so I was focused on the stars themselves.  

M46 was next up.  There are quite a few stars in this cluster, so the eyepiece was pretty well full of faint pinpricks.  The planetary nebula made itself quite well visible as well.  M47 was nearby, and so I also sketched this.  I found out just how many star patterns and bright stars there are in this little cluster!  The rest of the time I spent panning around a little and also enjoying a few other objects, including Mars, which I discovered was not really wanting to show any detail past its ice caps although it was looking nicely colored. 

[radiofm74]

My lunar/doubles report for February/March is still in the works, but meanwhile I've had this fine little impromptu session in Lausanne under Bortle 6 and thought I'd share. I used my C8 on the APZ mount (a perfect match).

 

Seeing (or thermal adaptation) was not good enough to reward my attempts at tough doubles. However I had a lot of fun going through the brightest galaxies in Leo – not for detail (urban sky) but for the pleasure of the hunt and to gauge the potential of 8".

 

I started from NGC2903 and located it easily, a lovely milky patch in Lausanne’s sky. Moving to the Trio, M66 showed as a bright nucleus and vertical halo, M65 as just a milky elongated nucleus and a little halo in AV. No Hamburger galaxy despite my best attempts.

 

I moved N to a little favorite of mine, thinking I would not see it: the small cluster of galaxies around NGC3607. To my delight I could spot the brightest members A little father, NGC3632 was just a milky grain of rice in the urban sky. Throughout, I used the reducer and the 18mm ortho, which seemed to give me the best exit pupil.

 

Moving to the "other trio", I located easily M105 and NGC3384 as two bright nuclei. M96 was evident and easy to find, whereas M95 made me work a little harder.

 

A reasonable person would have stopped at this point but seeing Cor Caroli right above my head I went for a couple more peeks. The only negative of the session was using a straight-thru optical finder (help… I can't do that anymore!) so it was a bit difficult to find my bearings. I eventually manage to center on Mizar and take it from there. The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) was two bright nuclei surrounded and united by a bright halo – a “bridge” of light uniting them. Moving to another zone, the Sunflower (M63) which I always found to be pretty difficult was easy to spot and very nice – elongated core and halo. Thank you C8! I closed on M94, so much easier than any other galaxy observed tonight in an urban sky!

 

All in all, a nice, fun intro to galaxy season! Can't wait to take this rig to the countryside and see how much more it will show me than what I'm used to with my 6 inchers… 

 

PS: here's the pic of the Xmas Tree cluster and surrounding nebulae I took in February in Villars.

 

[Jim in PA]

First night-time observing session of 2023, due to heavy clouds and very poor seeing so far this year in my little woodlot in NE PA.  Seeing 3/5 (avg), transparency 3/5 (avg) per CDS website.  The best it’s been this year.

 

Out I went at 0300 EDT, armed with my little f/7, 102ED refractor on a thoroughly tightened up ES TW1.  Bouncy at high power, nonetheless my GnG at this time. Seeing wasn’t good enough for anything approaching high power anyway.   I used my Baader 2” Ziess-spec prism, and took out the APM 30mm UFF along with some Hyperions (8/13/21) and Morpheus (17.5).

 

Everyone has their favorite star, and mine is Alpha Scorpii, Antares.  It means summer is coming.  Seemed like it was, being at this time of year a comfortable 25F when I set up.

 

I wonder who it was that first looked up and saw what they thought was a scorpion in the sky?  I wouldn’t be surprised if this person pre-dated the arrival of Homo sapiens by a very long time.  Did the appearance of fiery red Antares in the early morning hours mean the same to them, that summer was coming?  Probably so. 

 

What would they say if they had my scope back then, with no light pollution?  This person would be elected High Priest for sure.  Why was the scorpion found on the mace-head of the oldest known Pharaoh of Egypt?   The scorpion is also seen at Gobekli Tepi, probably carved around the end of the last ice age.  Fitting that I’d be following in those ancestral footsteps to admire the scorpion, for my first observing session of 2023.  

 

I got centered on Antares with the 30mm (24x) and by rote feel, turned over to M4.  First DSO of the year.  Skipped down to the 13mm Hyperion (55x) and looked hard, but couldn’t make out anything that looked like an individual star.  Still smudgy.  I knew it would be, but hey.  Back to the 30mm, again by rote feel, up to M80.  Did I say I didn’t bother installing a finder?  I was using the scope as a finder, “twist-hopping” the TW1 by memory, and with the 70° AFoV was able to find M80 easily.  This was also no more than a smudge when I swapped to the 13mm Hyperion.  I started over towards the Milky Way, back with the 30mm, cruising the stars…and then took a break at 0400 EDT, as the moon was already starting to wash out the Milky Way as it inched closer to the horizon.

 

Threw some wood on the fire at 0558, back out the door to look at the waning crescent moon at 0600.  Popped in the 8mm Hyperion (90x).  Splat!  I see you Kepler.  Apollo 11 landing site, which started all this astronomy stuff for me, is in darkness.  Copernicus is pretty much in shadow.  Nice relief and shadows down around Wilhelm.  My EP must be fogging up, no, it’s a cloud, wispy but ruining the view.  Looking up, I see there’s more on the way.  Back in the door by 0615.

 

Well, that’s it, a small start but not too bad for the first observing session of the year!

Edited by Jim in PA, 16 March 2023 - 05:45 AM.

[jc482p]

I had to go to work the next day and the seeing was below average.  On the other hand, since it was after a snowstorm, the sky was unusually clear, and especially unusual for this winter.  So I had an observing session last night.

 

9:05-9:45pm, 38 degrees, 18.52 sqm, avg transparency, below avg seeing, clear

Equipment: Skywatcher 120 Pro ED F/7.5

 

R Leporis - Hind's Crimson Star - carbon star - mag 8.1 - At 28x (32mm), it was looking very dark red, and dim at mag 8.

Alpha Canum Venaticorum - Cor Caroli - double star - sep 19.3" - At 28x, it was already split into a pinpoint white secondary ENE of a big bright white primary.  Nice size contrast.  Colorless but pretty, like diamonds are.

Messier M94 - galaxy - mag 7.9 - Initially, I didn't see it at 28x.  At 49x (18.2mm), it was a definitely non stellar fuzzball compared to the star SAO 44351 to its right.  The more I looked, the more the fuzzball looked like a vaguely fat oval.  At 163x (5.5mm), the ovalness was a bit more accentuated.

Y Canum Venaticorum - La Superba - carbon star - mag 5.3 - At 28x, it was a bright whitish red color.  It was a lot whiter and bigger than Hind's Crimson Star, but definitely tinged with red.

ST Ursae Majoris - carbon star - mag 6.8 - At 28x, it was a whitish red color.  It was less red than La Superba but definitely a warmer color compared to the mag 6.9 star HD 99606 to its right.

2 Canum Venaticorum - double star - sep 12.1" - At 28x (32mm), it was a now you see it now you don't split.  At 49x, the very small bluish secondary was clearly split off to the NE of a big orange yellow primary.  The colors reminded me of Albireo/Winter Albireo, but the difference in the stars' size made 2CVn unique.

Edited by jc482p, 16 March 2023 - 04:31 PM.

[dave253]

My seeing was bad last night, Rigel was a furry blob at 72x. Very occasionally the little companion presented as a flickering spark and promptly disappeared.

 

So I just panned around at 28x. 

[daveb2022]

March 16 2023

Another red eye report. Hopefully no typos but here it goes.

 

Viewing site was my light polluted backyard in the California central valley.

 

4” TeleVue refractor, PVS-14 night vision device using a 7mm Delite, plus 10, 12, 14, 18mm Radian EP’s

 

Push to navigation via Nexus Pro digital setting circles on a TeleVue Gibraltar tripod with encoders.

 

Seeing was average to slightly above average. I’d say 7/10 and even though it looked clear, the transparency seemed about the same in the 7/10 zone. With no clouds and no moon, I had no complaints.

 

The last few days have been warmer ranging from the mid-60s to morning lows around the mid-40s, which is reasonable to my taste.
I started about 7:30PM and packed it up about 5AM. 

 

Finally, a clear night and for the first time in a while and there was not a cloud seen all night long. To tell the truth, I’m not much of a fan of the daylight growing longer plus the time change throws another mogul into evening viewing. Sorry, but I’m just not thrilled about crawling out of bed to capture early morning constellations rising. However, I’ll sacrifice my sleep to view while the temps are mild.
I have not stayed up this late since last fall. I began in Perseus and migrated through the usual winter suspects still up. Orion, Taurus, Monoceros, and Auriga were on the list. Those areas kept me busy enough that I really didn’t get much of a chance at Canis Major or Puppis. By early morning I had to ford the galaxy river. I’m not thrilled about galaxies from my backyard using a small scope but it’s that time of year. While I often miss the targets of the last few months that have dropped out of my viewing zone, this time of year does bring back a few late summer objects provided I stay up late enough (or get up early enough) to see them. It was nice to see the Ring Nebula again.

The evening stated with Venus and M-42. Then I jumped to M-34. From there NGC-869/884, 1220, 1245, 1333, 1342, 1444, 1496, 1513, 1528, 1545, & NGC-1582. Taurus was next with M-1, NGC-1647, 1746, 1807, 1817, then on to the Orion and Monoceros area with NGC-1981, 2112, 2169, 2186, & 2194. Monoceros started with M-50, NGC-2215, 2232, 2236, 2237, 2244, 2245, 2251, 2252, 2254, 2259, 2262, 2264, 2506, 2353, 2324, 2311, 2309, 2302, 2301, 2286. In Auriga I slewed to NGC-1664, 1778, 1857, 1883, 1893, M-37, 36, 38, NGC-2281, then on to a couple in Cancer, M-67, & M-44 the beehive cluster.

 

 

By midnight I was jumping around as I entered the main galaxy zone with M-81, 82, 101, NGC-3268, & M-104. Globular cluster M-53 was a keeper, then back to mainly galaxies with M-49, 61, 60, 59, 58, 87, 86, 84, 89, 90, 91, 88, 99, 100. Globular clusters M-5 and M-3 finally came into view. These globulars were stunning as was M-13 and M-92. M-57 was a treat I haven't seen in months.  M-51 which was at zenith earlier moved to a position I could view it from. I finished with M-109, 108, 40, and even M-10 & 12 in Ophiuchus floated into view. Galaxy wise, I thought M-81 and 82 were nice and M-104 was also a good one. I finished off the night with some Ha viewing around Cygnus.

 

 

Late night sessions will improve IMO as the early morning constellations move closer to my viewing zone just after midnight. Scorpius and Sagittarius are slightly low and a bit difficult from my location (similar to Puppis) but when due south, I’ll have a shot at some of those great targets. It will be a while before that happens.
Overall, it was a pretty nice evening. Too bad the weather is going to be clouding up for the next several days as storms move through the region.

[radiofm74]

On Friday night I was in Levanto (IT), with C6 (reducer on) and APZ. The place, a seaside village in Liguria, is a solid Bortle4 but plagued by aggressive street illumination. I find a nice corner: a wooden, low pier that turns around a rock promontory leaving the lights behind you as you face the South. Seeing is bad and I could not acclimate the scope, but transparency is good and I have available many Southern constellations that are usually out of reach.

 

To “warm up” (it is chilly and humid) I start in Cancer (M67, a glimpse of M44, 24 Cnc, a nice matched pair). Then decide I'll run along Hydra: STF 1347 is very easy (32mm) with nice colors, and Tau Hya to the S is even easier, white and copper or lilac (?). Seeing and lights interfere but NGC3115 the Spindle is always nice: an intense elongated core and, using AV, a sharp, long halo. Best in 10mm or 18mm. Nearby BU 1072 is nice and easy (32mm): a fairly well matched white-blue primary and yellow secondary. NGC3242 (Ghost of Jupiter) is bright bubble displaying a beautiful teal color at low power. Higher power makes it bigger but does not show more in tonight’s sky, as do filters. So tonight it’s a large, bright blue disk in my 32mm. I move to V Hya, a fiery orange star with a very dim secondary to the S. Another dim star W of it makes for a nice color contrast being a beautiful shade of blue to my eyes (teal blue?). I end my run by observing 17 Crt / N Hya, a lovely matched double of pure white entering my catalogue of favorite doubles.

 

Corvus and Crater have now cleared the low hill to my S/SE and I move to observe NGC4037/38 the Antennae Galaxies. Together they compose a mysterious, beautiful faint fuzzy: an irregular milky patch, at times revealing in AV its double branches like a deformed “L”. They are definitely visible but faint and as is often the case my 18mm ortho seems to provide the right level of magnification. It’s the first time I positively see them, and they are a new favorite. Nearby NGC4361 (Lawn Sprinkler Nebula) is also very interesting: a central star illuminating a relatively dim (but clear in AV) irregular shape. best 10mm no filter or 18mm OIII. I center for a moment on Algorab (easy, unequal, very beautiful colors) and from there hop easily to M104 the Sombrero. I dwell there for a good moment, observing it and seeking to determine the best magnification. With the 10mm I strain a little (likely getting tired) but at 18mm it’s small but beautiful, with a bright elongated nucleus and in AV a sharp horizontal cut.

 

I feel the pull of the Virgo cluster so I center on Vindemiatrix and just sweep through: the beautiful duo of NGC4762 (sharp!) and NGC4754; the trio of M60, M59 and NGC4638; splendid M58 beside its 7th mag star, then similarly arranged M89 (and S, a hint of NGC4567/68 the Siamese Twins); super-bright M87, and then the target I’ve been strolling to: Markarian’s chain. Tonight I can see it all clearly: M86, M84 and NGC4388, the two Eyes Galaxies, the other couple in a clump of stars (NGC4458 and NGC4461), and to close the chain NGC4473 and NGC4477. Even with a reducer, my C6 cannot take it all in so I sweep over the chain several times taking in its magnificence. I could, of course, keep galaxy-hopping all night but it’s 2 am already and in the morning I’ll be going for a hike with the family so must close the session soon.

 

In hopes of getting the southernmost Messiers, rarely visible for me, I move again down to Corvus. On the way, I enjoy beautiful M49 and rather evident M61, then get to M68. It’s my second meeting with it. As seeing is bad (for instance, it proved impossible to split Porrima cleanly) hi power is not in the cards and I must be content with seeing it as a pleasant smudge with the 18mm. I’d like to observe M83 but it’s still behind the hill and I do not want to go to bed past 3, so I instead close my session on the Leo Triplet and am rewarded by a stunning, stunning view of it – this time, with NGC3628 also in evidence.

 

Galaxy season is definitely on!

[BrentKnight]

My lunar/doubles report for February/March is still in the works, but meanwhile I've had this fine little impromptu session in Lausanne under Bortle 6 and thought I'd share. I used my C8 on the APZ mount (a perfect match).

Seeing (or thermal adaptation) was not good enough to reward my attempts at tough doubles. However I had a lot of fun going through the brightest galaxies in Leo – not for detail (urban sky) but for the pleasure of the hunt and to gauge the potential of 8".

I started from NGC2903 and located it easily, a lovely milky patch in Lausanne’s sky. Moving to the Trio, M66 showed as a bright nucleus and vertical halo, M65 as just a milky elongated nucleus and a little halo in AV. No Hamburger galaxy despite my best attempts.

I moved N to a little favorite of mine, thinking I would not see it: the small cluster of galaxies around NGC3607. To my delight I could spot the brightest members A little father, NGC3632 was just a milky grain of rice in the urban sky. Throughout, I used the reducer and the 18mm ortho, which seemed to give me the best exit pupil.

Moving to the "other trio", I located easily M105 and NGC3384 as two bright nuclei. M96 was evident and easy to find, whereas M95 made me work a little harder.

A reasonable person would have stopped at this point but seeing Cor Caroli right above my head I went for a couple more peeks. The only negative of the session was using a straight-thru optical finder (help… I can't do that anymore!) so it was a bit difficult to find my bearings. I eventually manage to center on Mizar and take it from there. The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) was two bright nuclei surrounded and united by a bright halo – a “bridge” of light uniting them. Moving to another zone, the Sunflower (M63) which I always found to be pretty difficult was easy to spot and very nice – elongated core and halo. Thank you C8! I closed on M94, so much easier than any other galaxy observed tonight in an urban sky!

All in all, a nice, fun intro to galaxy season! Can't wait to take this rig to the countryside and see how much more it will show me than what I'm used to with my 6 inchers…

PS: here's the pic of the Xmas Tree cluster and surrounding nebulae I took in February in Villars.

Nice report.

I captured NGC2903 back on 11 March for the EAA challenge.

Link from AstroBin
NGC2903 | Captured with my AT72EDII

Very interesting galaxy that shows some interesting details. Not a lot of color though, but some highlights from bright star regions in the arms near the core. The bar has been compared to a beam of light shooting out from the bright core. It almost looks like there are two spiral arms connected to each end of the bar (making a total of 4), but it's actually just one arm on each end that wind very tightly and almost touch the ends after they go half way around. Once the arms break free of the inner region, they fan out quite far giving a clear "S" shape in my capture. An unusually bright region on the north (right) side of the core was seen by William Herschel as a separate object and given it's own designation (NGC2905). UGC 5086 is a 16.8m irregular galaxy up at the top (east) edge of the field.

[weis14]

Skies were clear tonight, but it was cold with a strong west wind (which my house doesn't block).  I set up my smaller scope after dinner with the plan of going after at least a few double stars and NGC 2169, which is one of the last winter objects I need to finish the AL Urban Astronomy list.  I headed out around 9:15pm and was out for under an hour due to the wind.  Still, I observed a few targets and had a couple of firsts, including a probable split of Sirius in the Stowaway, which would be the smallest aperture I've ever used, by far.

 

Scope: 92mm f/6.65 refractor; 10x50 Binoculars
Mount: Half Hitch MkII+
Eyepieces: 22mm Nagler (28x in Stowaway); Swarovski Zoom (33-66x); 4.5mm Delos + 1.8x APM Barlow (245x)
Books/Charts/Software: SkySafari 5; Pocket Sky Atlas
Observing Site: Midland, Michigan
Transparency: Average; Seeing: Average;  
Weather: Windy (20+ mph gusts), Low 30F, low humidity

 

I started with Rigel, which I wanted to use to gage the seeing.  I split it easily at 66x, which told me that Sirius might be in play.  

 

From Rigel, I moved up to M42.  A good amount of detail in the nebula was visible and the Trapezium looked like pinpoints at 66x.  Trapezium E faded in and out, which is a first for me in any 90mm refractor.  Even after 2.5 years, the Stowaway is still amazing.  

 

NGC 2169 was a harder target. I did not adequately prepare for this one and was looking for a much bigger target initially.  It wasn't until I looked at the Pocket Sky Atlas and realized that it had the default smallest open cluster symbol, that I was able to find it.  The star hop from ​Betelgeuse is easy once you know what you are looking for, but I probably spent 20 minutes on it.  There is a nice asterism of stars in a line running east to west that looks a bit like a snake with the cluster as its head.  Parts of this asterism are actually plotted in the Pocket Sky Atlas as 6-7 magnitude stars.  At 66x, the cluster was still small.  I did not see the "37" shape that the cluster is famous for, but that was probably a function of not having enough aperture.  I think this object would look a lot better in the C9.25.

 

From there I went to Sirius.  Last year, I split Sirius for the first time using my CFF160 refractor.  That scope is gone, but I keep thinking that the split should be possible in much smaller scopes.  An 11" split is normally not a challenge for a 90mm scope (for example, Epsilon Lyrae is pretty easy at 2.3"), but as everyone knows the magnitude difference is key for Sirius.  I threw as much magnification as I can muster at it (245x) and I am confident that I saw the Pup during moments of good seeing.  It was there, just barely peeking out from Sirius's Airy Disc, but over 10-15 minutes I repeatedly saw and tracked it just NE of Sirius itself.  

 

I should also mention that Venus was a bright beacon in the west when I first went out.  It was so bright that I suspect that it would have significantly impacted my night vision at either of my dark sites.  Of course, in my backyard that is not an issue as there are lights all over.

 

Finally, I know this is not an equipment thread, but I need to really give kudos to the setup tonight.  Two things in particular stood out (the Stowaway is always amazing).  First, the new APM 1.8x barlow looks to be a real winner.  Stars remained sharp in it and it is so easy to use when screwed on to an eyepiece that it almost disappears in use.  Second, the Half Hitch MkII+ mount continues to wow.  I rarely use its slow motion controls, but I did tonight and had almost no damping time after each move with the Stowaway at 245x.  That is pretty good for a grab and go mount.  Charles Riddel was a genius.  

Edited by weis14, 19 March 2023 - 10:32 PM.

[Nankins]

I got out with my 12x50s yesterday evening, was going to go out with the scope but I was too grouchy and tired from 4 hours of shed hunting that afternoon.  

 

M42 was the highlight, as usual.  I feel like there seemed to be a little less detail visible than normal, but maybe this was because I am now used to using the telescope and not the binoculars anymore.  M43 though did show up better than it sometimes has, looking like a little comma next to M42.  I also managed to see M78 as a small, faint diffuse spot in an area largely devoid of stars (which is nice, you can get to the area and then ID the nebula because it's literally the only object around!).  I also searched for Barnard's Loop a little, and got to the area, but I feel like I did not see it, although the entire Orion constellation to me looked a little mottled and cloudy (could have just been due to some not so nice atmosphere conditions and also be related to the time of night I was out (a little after 9 pm)).  M41 showed up very nicely, and also I realized that M46 and M47 as a pair are visible to the naked eye where I live as a mottled spot in the Puppis/Canis Major Milky Way.  They looked amazing in the binoculars.  M35 was also very visible, in fact I think I was able to completely resolve it.  The open clusters in Auriga again were there for the taking, and I looked hard to try and see the Flaming Star Nebula, but I don't think I saw it.  I also looked for the California Nebula in Perseus, but did not find it, and instead came across an open cluster that I think was M34 based on the location.  There were also one or two noticeable clusters seen in Cassiopeia as I was panning.  

I did more panning in Canis Major and Puppis, and I think actually came across M93 for the first time.  I knew it was possibly this cluster because of the location.  There were also other unidentifiable clusters scattered throughout the area, which was not at its best tonight (although the skies further south looked better in general than they usually do, which was surprising).  I did a little panning around the southern sky literally into the treetops, and the best I got out of that was just stars.  I also checked out the Rosette Nebula with the UHC filter, could only just tell it was there.  And I used the OIII filter to look for Thor's Helmet, which I was not able to find. 

In Cancer I checked out M44, the Beehive Cluster, which was pretty bright and obvious to my naked eye.  I did not note any star colors, but the beehive pattern was very clear. In Ursa Major I checked out M82 and M81, which were both visible as dim grey spots, but could not see any detail. I also tried to view M109, M108, and M97, but not sure if I saw any.  M109 might have JUST barely been there, in fact I did think I could sort of see something that appeared to be playing tricks with my eyes. M108 I don't think was visible at all, which M97 may have been seen barely.  All in all, a good night.