It was a day that didn't seem to hold much promise for a clear night. Windy wiht breaking cloud and the odd shower of drizzley rain but as the sun begun to set the clouds cleared away leaving a stunning looking sky with clear air.
Some cloud did being to form again but it mostly stayed towards the horizon with only small parts of cloud passing by fast.
Seeing = 4
Trans = 3
Equipment - EQ6 Pro and 10" Orion Optics Newt
Start time - 23:17
Albireo - It has felt like an age since I used my newt last and was blown away with the very sharp and crisp imagages I was getting. The colours of the pair were more striking that usual and much richer than that of the 4" Refractor views. The night is of to a might good start.
M13 - It wasn't all that dark yet but the view was great with a feast of stars resolving easily in the eyepiece at 155x
M29 - Looking very nice and I was able to count 18 stars around the cluster region.
M39 - A nice yet dispersed open cluster. It was best viewed in my 26mm 2" eye piece and a faint meteor also passed the FOV, which is always a pleaser.
NGC 6960 - The sky was still on the bright side but with the help of the OIII filter the view was exceptional. Long arching arms of nebulosity. Not my best view but still a fine sight.
52 Cyg - Staying in the same FOV I increased my magnification to 155x to try and split this stars' companion and at 155x it did so beautifully. The primary star itself a lovely topaz and the secondary, being very small, appearing to exhibit a darker shade, more orange than gold. A fine double.
M71 - Surprising to say but one of my best views of this cluster. Stars resolving nicely with AV in a plesantly rich starry porton of the sky.
M27 - My vest view all summer, with the bell structure bright and with good shape but no arching arms of nebulosity that I have observed in the past.
Observing under OIII showed faint lobs of nebula extending outward from the brighter part of the dumbell, lovely!
M56 - A fantastic globular. Small yet showing countless stars at 155x and set amongst the richness of the milky way. The view was more than just pleasing.
M11 - One of my best views. This cluster is ro rich it is nothing short than breath taking. A real corker for sure! And an emotional observation for me.
M10 - The best I have ever seen this globular. Countless stars resolving that I never saw before and so sharp thanks to the really good seeing.
M12 - A tricky glob and probably my best view of it. AV showing bags of detail. Direct vision makes you think that you are seeing an open cluster, a fun object for playing eye tricks.
M14 - The only disapointing view of the night so far. Apearing bright but fuzy with no stars resolving at any magnification. This is one to try again on a darker night.
NGC 6760 - Small and faint with not many stars to be seen but still a nice object to see.
M26 - A nice open cluster with varying magnitudes of stars and I also had some fun creating my own asterisms.
68 Ophi - A wide double star and both of a similar white colour.
70 Ophi - A beautiful golden pair, splitting perfectly at 274x and still looking good at 155x
67 Ophi - A wide pair with a white primary and, what seemed, a blueish white secondary.
M57 - I got stunning views at 274x with strong structure in the ring and the surrounding stars were easily seen but so sign or hint of the centeral star. It is my best view of the summer.
Elipsion Lyra - A fine sight tongiht, proving the good seeing condition as but double were split and very sharp looking at 274x
Jupiter - A stunning sight and one of my best views in years. So many bands and zones I lost count and with the good seeing the image was sharp and steady at 274x and when the seeing steadied out more it allowed the GRS to jump out at you and make itself obvious.
Shadow transit of Io started to become visible at 02:04 and coming nicely into view by 02:25.
Almach - What can I say. My favourite double star and on a steady night at high magnification it blew my socks off - not literally no.
Eta Cas - My best view yet of this gorgeous double, with the colours showing best and most striking at 155x
Finish time - 02:37
sounds a great evening, shame I had an early start today :/
ReplyDeleteIt was a great evening. The only reason I went out is that I am self employed now and didn't have a lot of work on for today so naturally I couldn't resist. Thanks for subscribing to my blog by the way :D
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