7136 replies to this topic

[MrsM75]

Inspire by the thread what did you see last night with 4 inches scope or smaller. (so thank you to Sir of that thread for give me inspiration for this thread)

 

I want to have a little space for this thread (if it okay) for those who live in Bortle 7 or 8 or 9, can share what they see in their scope in their sky throughout the seasons.

And it a way for me to learn too as if you can see it in your sky then I can try to look it at my sky too, as I live in Bortle 7 (according to the light pollution map).

 

I'm just a beginner so I don't understand much, but the way I see it, the dark sky is what matter most. 

 

I give example, two people bring out a 4 inches scope. One person live in Bortle 7 sky, and one person live in Bortle 4 sky, both have a small aperature scope, but the one with Bortle 4 sky will see ALOT more.

 

Now let see, two people live in Bortle 8 sky, one bring out a 4 inches scope, and one bring out a 6 inches scope. Tbh, I think they see very much the same, even the bigger 6 inches scope with that much light pollution and grayish sky, you won't see much. 

 

It su-ck and I admire those who live in darker sky. 

 

I live in Bortle 7 and I'm limited to what I can see here, but hey, it better than nothing.

 

So if you can share what do you see in your sky Bortle, and I learn from you and try to find those objects that you see too. I mean if we both live in Northern  sky, then hopefully we should be able to see the same objects since we live in the same heavy light polluted sky Bortle.

Edited by housewife, 27 June 2023 - 03:20 PM.

[Astrojensen]

During summer, my sky is very bright, because the Sun never dips below 18° under the horizon. Around summer solstice, it's never lower than 11.5° under the northern horizon. 

 

Under these bright skies, it's of course impossible to see faint deep sky objects. And what little night there is, is very short, too. Still, some objects are visible. I mainly go for the Moon and the planets, obviously, as well as double stars. And summer is rich in beautiful doubles, so there's plenty to go for there, already. The challenge can be in finding them.

 

As for deep-sky objects, I mainly go for the bright globulars and planetary nebulae. In my 6" scope, I can resolve the brighter globulars, such as M13, M22 and M5, though they're not super impressive. 

 

More interesting, at least for me, are the bright planetary nebulae, such as NGC 6543, 6210, 6826, etc. These have very high surface brightness, much higher than any other deep-sky objects, and cut through light pollution like it's no ones business. They're well visible in even the smallest telescope. The main issue is that they're small and almost stellar at magnifications under 100x, so the challenge again becomes in finding them. It's unfortunate, that the very objects that are best seen in light pollution, are the ones that are most difficult for the beginner to find. Once found, these small planetaries will take very high magnifications. They easily take 3-400x in a 4". In my 6", I regularly use almost 500x. 

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

Edited by Astrojensen, 27 June 2023 - 05:05 AM.

[joshua_vise]

I don't own a scope anymore, because this is the environment I live in.

/not my pic, but a good representation of what I experience.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[jcj380]

I'm in a B8 or so, but mostly what I've seen the past two weeks is wildfire smoke.   

[Olimad]

During summer, my sky is very bright, because the Sun never dips below 18° under the horizon. Around summer solstice, it's never lower than 11.5° under the northern horizon. 

 

Under these bright skies, it's of course impossible to see faint deep sky objects. And what little night there is, is very short, too. Still, some objects are visible. I mainly go for the Moon and the planets, obviously, as well as double stars. And summer is rich in beautiful doubles, so there's plenty to go for there, already. The challenge can be in finding them.

 

As for deep-sky objects, I mainly go for the bright globulars and planetary nebulae. In my 6" scope, I can resolve the brighter globulars, such as M13, M22 and M5, though they're not super impressive. 

 

More interesting, at least for me, are the bright planetary nebulae, such as NGC 6543, 6210, 6826, etc. These have very high surface brightness, much higher than any other deep-sky objects, and cut through light pollution like it's no ones business. They're well visible in even the smallest telescope. The main issue is that they're small and almost stellar at magnifications under 100x, so the challenge again becomes in finding them. It's unfortunate, that the very objects that are best seen in light pollution, are the ones that are most difficult for the beginner to find. Once found, these small planetaries will take very high magnifications. They easily take 3-400x in a 4". In my 6", I regularly use almost 500x. 

 

 

Clear skies!

Thomas, Denmark

Thank you Thomas, 

hen clouds or humidity are not bad, i usually woke up from 2 to 4 local time to observe and always found the back of the sky in my EP brighter than during winter or spring nights .... Could be the explanation why . It didn´t come to my mind ..... 

Also thank you for this objects lists, I surely will look at them ... if sky allows....

[UnityLover]

Clouds. Last time I stargazed was like a month ago...

[Bearcub]

Saturn.. and it was not night but evening. Looked just as sharp as at night. Bright too.

[kasprowy]

Smoke and Clouds

[KBHornblower]

snip...

 

I want to have a little space for this thread (if it okay) for those who live in Bortle 7 or 8 or 9, can share what they see in their scope ini their sky throughout the seasons.

And it a way for me to learn too as if you can see it in your sky then I can try to look it at my sky too, as I live in Bortle 7 (according to the light pollution map).

 

...snip

I would take the Bortle number and sky brightness data on that map skeptically.  Many observers report that their sky is brighter than what the map shows, typically by about half a magnitude.  It appears that the study was done with satellites observing lights on the ground that were shining straight up, and that they underestimated the ill effects of sloppy lighting that was going horizontally and lighting up the lower atmosphere over a considerable distance.  In addition the range of brightness I found by spot checking in a reputed 5 zone north of Glendora was much wider than what Mr. Bortle specified in his studies.  In skies that ranged from magnitude 22 (very dark) to 18 (typical inner city) he numbered them according to half-magnitude increments of his personal naked eye star limit (NELM).  His NELM ranged from near 8 to about 4 (he must have had an owl's night vision), so I would expect the sky brightness to also be in half magnitude limits.  The range for that reputed class 5 north of your mountains was closer to a whole magnitude.

 

My educated guess is that your sky is much darker to the north than it is over the built-up Los Angeles to San Bernardino/Riverside corridor to the south.  That is based on my own observations from astronomy club sites a few miles west of the western edge of the greater Washington area.  Faint objects that are obliterated low in the east over Washington become relatively easy at the zenith.  That included M3 in my binoculars ten days ago, in spite of lingering smoke.

 

As your observing skills improve, you can judge your sky from NELM just as Mr. Bortle did in a wide range of sky conditions.

[vtornado]

horizontal visibility has dropped to less than 2 miles because of the smoke of canadian wildfires.   The moon is well placed for viewing now, and can burn through the smoke.

[Echolight]

My first nights out in a couple of months(clouds) has been mainly on the Moon.

 

It doesn't get really dark until midnight, if the Moon's not out. And by that time I'm done getting bit by mosquitoes.

 

But the solstice has passed. And as it dries out the mosquitoes will begin to fade. 

I'll be checking out all the DSO in Sagittarius and Scorpius soon enough.

Cygnus with binoculars and extra widefield scope.

And then Saturn and Jupiter, and so on.

 

But I like the Moon a lot.

Edited by Echolight, 27 June 2023 - 02:27 PM.

[MrsM75]

.......

 

My educated guess is that your sky is much darker to the north than it is over the built-up Los Angeles to San Bernardino/Riverside corridor to the south.  That is based on my own observations from astronomy club sites a few miles west of the western edge of the greater Washington area.  Faint objects that are obliterated low in the east over Washington become relatively easy at the zenith.  That included M3 in my binoculars ten days ago, in spite of lingering smoke.

 

As your observing skills improve, you can judge your sky from NELM just as Mr. Bortle did in a wide range of sky conditions.

Thank you Sir. I agreed with you, thank you for teaching me this. 

 

I do feel my North part of the sky where the mountain range is it actually dark, because I see the whole Big Dipper (Ursa Major) strikingly clear in the sky, like I see all the stars, this same with the Little Dipper where Sirius is too, and the Little Dipper is alot fainter stars but I see it come out of Sirius. And that house Cepherus.

 

It not that bad sky then if those constellation show up clear in the sky like that, actually I see alot if I look into the mountain range, because it dark there.

 

BUT facing the South, problem. last night I actually saw the Scorpius head (those faint stars of Scorpius head), then I see 3 brighter stars and few more stars of the body, and that it. So I'm missing out alot on the Scorpius constellation body here, so definately the South sky facing LA is alot brighter.

 

---------------

 

I was told I live in Bortle 8 because city has change and way more lights now, shrug. But I think I'm still in Bortle 7

 

May I should ask here, those who live in Bortle 8, were you able to see the "Little" Dipper clearly? I mean Big Dipper is strikingly clear here is normal because it the Big Dippers. BUT Sirius is a faint star and the tail of Little Dipper come out of Sirius. Can you see the whole Little Dipper? like the whole thing.

 

And Google oddly told me Little Dipper is not easy to see because the stars so faint. But I see the whole thing where the mountain range is. 

 

It suck there not much to see North, or else I be aiming my Mak at the mountains all night lol. I busy point my scope to the Southern part because there more things to see, and my sky su-ck in that area.

Edited by housewife, 27 June 2023 - 03:47 PM.

[zach__]

Saturn and Jupiter early morning. Just getting started actually.
My patio slab is not steady for some reason. I have to set up in the yard.
It was in the mid 80's and humid. Same forecast for the next few days.

[Ionthesky]

...

 

May I should ask here, those who live in Bortle 8, were you able to see the "Little" Dipper clearly? I mean Big Dipper is strikingly clear here is normal because it the Big Dippers. BUT Sirius is a faint star and the tail of Little Dipper come out of Sirius. Can you see the whole Little Dipper? like the whole thing.

 

And Google oddly told me Little Dipper is not easy to see because the stars so faint. But I see the whole thing where the mountain range is. 

 

It suck there not much to see North, or else I be aiming my Mak at the mountains all night lol. I busy point my scope to the Southern part because there more things to see, and my sky su-ck in that area.

Just to clarify, housewife, are you looking in the right place?  Sirius (known familiarity as "the dog star") is the brightest star in the night sky, and is the alpha star of the constellation Canis Major.  Yes, the "little dipper" can be very difficult to see naked-eye in Bortle 7 and brighter skies.  My sky is approximately a bortle 6 at best, and can be as bright as 9 on some nights.  I have trouble seeing Ursa Minor without aid most nights.  With practice, I've been able to find Polaris most nights.

 

Regards,

Dave 

[Waynosworld]

Bortle ratings are just a guess, I bought a sky meter last year and a lot of the time I am Bortle 9, but I have had a Bortle 7 18.73 reading in my backyard in the past, most the time I now get a lower 18.30ish reading on a good night, except for Galaxies I at some point have found most everything in the book "Turn Left at Orion", a few globs are tough to find/observe but I can find them on a good night most the time, but they may not be anything but a very dim gray smudge.

 

I try to find all what I call the greatest hits every time I go out to observe, it makes finding new things much easier, I have even found things I cannot see from my backyard, but I know I am looking at them because of the stars that are visible in or around them, then when I go to a dark site I can find them right away.

 

In my opinion not all Bortle 9 areas are Bortle 9 all the time, I believe in the past I have had Bortle 6 or even Bortle 5 nights, but one needs a sky meter to know as Bortle ratings are determined by sky meter numbers.

 

Conditions at Zenith

Descriptions are approximate. Your sky may vary.

Bortle 1 - 22.00 to 21.99

 

Bortle 2 - 21.99 to 21.89

 

Bortle 3 -  21.89 to 21.69

 

Bortle 4 - 21.69 to 21.25

 

Bortle 4.5 - 21.25 to 20.49

 

Bortle 5 - 20.49 to 19.50

 

Bortle 6 - 19.50 to 18.95

 

Bortle 7 - 18.95 to 18.38

 

Bortle 8 - 18.38 to 17.80

 

Bortle 9 - 17.80 and below

 

I have had a 16.83 reading in the past, the point is that not all your nights are going to be a bortle 7 rating, you can have great nights and you can have awful nights, I have had nights where I have only been able to see Mars and the Moon, and I have had a few nights I thought I was at a semi dark site where globs jumped out at me that most the time I cannot even see/observe, but you have to be out there using your telescope when they happen.

 

I bought my Sky meter(wide field version) from Don at eyepiecesetc.com, to really know what your night is/was you need a Sky Meter.

 

The Bortle rating numbers I posted above were copied from the "Portland Clear Sky Charts", I do not know if they are official numbers, they are what I use to determine the Bortle rating of where I am on any given night.

Edited by Waynosworld, 28 June 2023 - 06:07 PM.

[Josephus Miller]

Good idea for a thread!

 

Whatever the actual, quantifiable condition of my sky, I live in an inner city area so it's challenging for other reasons too... streetlights everywhere, buildings in the way, you name it! I look forward to seeing what my colleagues in urban areas achieve despite those difficulties! There's certainly still lots to see.

 

The moon, for instance, never ceases to amaze!

Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catharina front and center.

 

This was first light (for me, anyway) with my new mak, delivered just last weekend. A good city scope for lots of reasons: portable, easy to store, and good for lunar/planetary work.

[Ionthesky]

In my last post, I failed to answer your question...sorry about that!

 

From my home, most of my observing is of bright objects (duh, right?).  Doubles, open clusters, planets and our friend the moon.  Also some sunspot viewing using my 70mm achro and a white light filter can be enjoyable.

 

Favorite doubles are Albireo, Mizar, Cor Caroli, Castor, and Algieba.  Favorite OCs are Pleiades,  Hyades, the Beehive (M44), the Butterfly Cluster (M6), Ptolemy's Cluster (M7), the double Cluster (NGC 869/884), and the Owl Cluster (NGC 457).  There are others, but those are my "frequent fliers".  My favorite DSO is still the Orion Nebula (M42).  Of course, those if us in northern latitudes will have to wait awhile to observe it again...

 

I've enjoyed all of these (and others) with my 4" achromat and 5" newt/Dob.  I've also observed a few globular clusters under my bright skies, but they're hard to find without setting circles or (better yet!) StarSense.  I've been able to enjoy a lot more "faint fuzzies" since getting the StarSense scope.

 

Regards,

Dave 

[KBHornblower]

May I should ask here, those who live in Bortle 8, were you able to see the "Little" Dipper clearly? I mean Big Dipper is strikingly clear here is normal because it the Big Dippers. BUT Sirius is a faint star and the tail of Little Dipper come out of Sirius. Can you see the whole Little Dipper? like the whole thing.

 

My bold.  Did you mean Polaris?  Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and is about 107 degrees from the north celestial pole, meaning well south of the equator.  It is currently lost in the Sun's glare, and it will reappear in the southeastern sky at dawn in August.

[MrsM75]

My bold.  Did you mean Polaris?  Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and is about 107 degrees from the north celestial pole, meaning well south of the equator.  It is currently lost in the Sun's glare, and it will reappear in the southeastern sky at dawn in August.

Yes Sir KBH, sorry my scatter brain, I mean Polaris (not Sirius), Polaris the Northern star, as I was facing the Mountain range where I live so it North, and I wear contact lenses so maybe it helps with my vision, but I'm able to see both Big Dippers and Little Dippers clearly where the mountain range is.

 

The Big Dipper is strikingly clear, all the stars, I see the whole shape of Big Dipper.

 

Little Dipper now the star is more faint, alot more faint, but I still able to see it, the constellation.

 

Here I show what I see every night so far in month June, my Big Dipper look like this exactly last night, the head face down and the tail face up.

Now the Little Dipper, it tail connect to Polaris star and it head stick up like that.

 

If my Little Dipper look just like that in the pic and I'm able to see the whole shape of it, then I must be in Bortle 7 then. 

I do not think I'm in Bortle 9 at all (Bortle 9 is like the heart of New York City), when there a whole mountain range in Glendora, and Glendora is not a small city, I think I still have Bortle 7 face North where the mountain is.

 

Thank you Sir for your tips and advice in your replied above, noted and will follow when I be out stargazing later tonight.

 

Edited by housewife, 27 June 2023 - 09:44 PM.

[Dave Mitsky]

It was rainy/cloudy here last night but I was able to do a little observing on Sunday night from my driveway.

 

The transparency was very poor, with unwelcome Canadian wildfire smoke present and clouds coming and going, but I did manage to log Epsilon Lyrae (the Double Double), Omicron Cygni, the Heart of the Swan asterism, Collinder 399 (the Coathanger asterism), M11 (the Wild Duck Cluster), and M29 with my Canon 15x50 IS binocular.

 

The highest SQM-L reading that I got was only 18.2 mpsas.  On an average night, the SQM-L reading is around 18.7 mpsas, which "equates" to a Bortle 7 sky, according to Waynosworld's scale.  When the transparency and sky darkness are excellent, which doesn't happen too often, I've obtained readings of about 19.1 to 19.2 mpsas, which means more or less a Bortle 6.

 

I observed and photographed the 47.7%-illuminated Moon using my iPhone, 12.5 and 17.5mm Morpheus eyepieces, and 6" Orion SkyQuest XT6 Dob.  I also observed Alcor-Mizar and Epsilon Lyrae with the Dob.

 

The Lunar V and Lunar X, along with Aries' Hoofprint and the Lunar X3 were visible.

 

One of the afocal photos that I took can be seen at https://www.cloudyni...-x2/?p=12773260

[Olimad]

Good idea for a thread!

 

Whatever the actual, quantifiable condition of my sky, I live in an inner city area so it's challenging for other reasons too... streetlights everywhere, buildings in the way, you name it! I look forward to seeing what my colleagues in urban areas achieve despite those difficulties! There's certainly still lots to see.

 

The moon, for instance, never ceases to amaze!

IMG_1787.jpg

Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catharina front and center.

 

This was first light (for me, anyway) with my new mak, delivered just last weekend. A good city scope for lots of reasons: portable, easy to store, and good for lunar/planetary work.

Same here, very challenging to look at the sky objects from a 5th floor, being surrounded by buildings and city lights. But we still can see things and most important: having time to look at the sky, and i can do it pretty often. We all face limitations, ours are only reached sooner... And more, if we only do visual. 

I remember a nice feeling with the moon, checking when it appears on the side of the building, pointing the scope at the side of the east building and seeing it appearing out of the building.... Very nice, its light intensifying the sky on the side of the building and then the moon surging... 

Edited by Olimad, 28 June 2023 - 02:43 AM.

[Olimad]

In my last post, I failed to answer your question...sorry about that!

 

From my home, most of my observing is of bright objects (duh, right?).  Doubles, open clusters, planets and our friend the moon.  Also some sunspot viewing using my 70mm achro and a white light filter can be enjoyable.

 

Favorite doubles are Albireo, Mizar, Cor Caroli, Castor, and Algieba.  Favorite OCs are Pleiades,  Hyades, the Beehive (M44), the Butterfly Cluster (M6), Ptolemy's Cluster (M7), the double Cluster (NGC 869/884), and the Owl Cluster (NGC 457).  There are others, but those are my "frequent fliers".  My favorite DSO is still the Orion Nebula (M42).  Of course, those if us in northern latitudes will have to wait awhile to observe it again...

 

I've enjoyed all of these (and others) with my 4" achromat and 5" newt/Dob.  I've also observed a few globular clusters under my bright skies, but they're hard to find without setting circles or (better yet!) StarSense.  I've been able to enjoy a lot more "faint fuzzies" since getting the StarSense scope.

 

Regards,

Dave 

 

Amongst others things, part of my fun is searching and tracking these faint fuzzies glob with my table top newton from my 5th floor windows.

[Josephus Miller]

Same here, very challenging to look at the sky objects from a 5th floor, being surrounded by buildings and city lights.
...

And then there’s me, wandering around the neighborhood pointing my phone at the sky so Stellarium can tell me from which sidewalks and street corners Saturn will be visible in the morning. Everyone must think I’m a loon!

[Olimad]

Everyone is free to think what they want and then go back to their netflix, in order to get what they have to think freely. 

[Dave Mitsky]

My wife and I looked at the waxing gibbous Moon using 24mm Explore Scientific 68-degree (50x), 17.5mm Baader Planetarium Morpheus (69x), and 12.5mm Baader Planetarium Morpheus (96x) eyepieces last night.  With a new wave of heavy Canadian wildfire smoke and some high clouds, that was all that we could see.  The smoke imbued the Moon with a pale pink hue.