I spent some time today cleaning my 10" Euopra's mirrors with fantastic results.
During my last two session out observing I noticed that my primary mirror was quite dirty looking with a some scummy patches also so over the weekend I searched my memory on how I did it the last times I cleaned them. I went over the methods that worked well and mistakes I made so during the weekend I came up with good plan and put it into action today. Normally it would take me 2-3 hours to clean them but today it only took me 45 minutes to clean the primary and secondary.
I feel very confident doing the work now, where as in the past I'd feel nervous of making a scratch on the mirrors surface or something else.
The amount of dirt on the primary was shocking after I had removed it from the tube but with a combination of Isopropanol, distilled water, 100% cotton pads and an ultra high quality cleaning cloth for special glasses and the job was over.
My mirrors look brand new and I was able to get perfect collimation in 10 minutes so I can't wait for the next clear night and see the difference.
I wonder if I will get to see all five members of Stephen's Quintet...
Tuesday 22 September 2009
Sunday 20 September 2009
19/20 September 2009 - Report
It was a mixed day of weather, starting of wet and windy in the morning to a partly sunny afternoon with broken cloud. By evening things really improved with cloud becoming less and less until it reached the point of clear blue skies from horizon to horizon.
I did make a silly mistake that didn't end in disaster. I started adjusting my tripod legs, forgetting that I didn't have my mount head securely screwed in, and after a bit of pushing and pulling my mount head feel off but lucky I my reflexes were fast and most of the mount landed on my hand. I had very sore fingers for a while but my hand will heal my mount wouldn't. The worst of the damage was some minor cosmetic chips.
The drop kind of turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it messed up polar alignment so I had to redo it from scratch and ended up with my best polar alignment yet.
The night sky was beautiful with a dominant milky way running from east horizon to west. The wind had died down to a gentle breeze that eventually died down to an infrequent breeze for most of the night.
Some light cloud did role in around 01:00 spoiling views but this gave a welcome time out to get the kettle on and warm up with some hot coffee and good conversation. It took slightly over an hour for the cloud to clear and when it did the beautiful skies returned with awesome Orion in the sky with Sirius creeping above the eastern horizon.
These exceptional skies gave me a chance to learn some new constellations that I normally wouldn't see very well and with help from Stevie I can now see Pieces, Lacerta and Monoceros.
There was some very light meteor activity through the whole night.
I also took some time out to try imaging Jupiter again and my best image results are at the bottom.
Stevie and I stayed on after Mark and Jonathan left for home to do an all nighter and didn't call it quits until sun rise had started. We slowly packed up and then watched the sky brighten with beautiful colours on the east horizon and fog filling the low lying ground in the distance.
It was great and another memorable night.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3
Trans = 4
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 10" Orion Europa, Toucam II and Laptop.
Start Time = 21:33
My observations for the night are as follows:
M22 = A really beautiful sight, filling the FOV marvellously with the stars appearing rich and very well defined. A really good and memorable open cluster.
M8 = This is the first time I've been able to see the nebula itself. Even without the UHC-S filter it looked good, filling half the FOV. A real delight to see this.
M20 = Not much to see here. A very faint haze was all I could pick out, even observing with the filter or low power made no difference.
M21 = A spare, scattered open cluster that showed up nicely.
M23 = A beautiful, wide, open cluster giving wonderful views in the 25mm (56x). I never looked at this object before and I am so glad I did now. Certainly one to remember.
M9 = A faint globular cluster with average detail but a fist time see for me so I am very pleased in the respect that I have nailed another new Messier object.
M18 = A small and sparse open cluster with only a handful of stars to count but still a nice sight.
M17 = A breathtaking view with stunning detail and the UHC-S filter gave a great amount of extra contrast with in the nebula. Without a doubt a treasure of the sky.
M14 = This globular cluster looked large in the eyepiece but stars were not resolving well and could only really see individual stars with AV.
M26 = Looking as good as always. This is starting to become one of my favourite open clusters.
M11 = Another stunning view of this magnificent open cluster. I honestly do think I could look at this all night.
NGC 6781 = What a surprise this planetary nebula was. A large nebulous disk filling a lot of the FOV and showing good detail.
NGC 6804 = A small but nice planetary nebula. Not much detail to see but well defined.
M94 = A good view considering how low this was in the sky. The galactic disk was bright and easy to see.
M51 = Not a good view but even when so low down the nucleus of this and the background galaxy was visible and a faint airy disk surrounding M51.
M63 = Very faint and not much to see. One to leave until spring time.
M101 = The disk was fairly noticeable but no detail or spiral arms to be seen.
M97 = An average view, the structure was decent and some detail was there but nothing near as good as the last observation on a previous night.
NGC 7331 = A very nice view. A long disk with a bright core. I could also clearly see a fuzzy patch slightly south (visually) that looked like another galaxy to me. I believe it to mostly likely be another member of the deer lick group.
Stephen's Quintet = Two of the galaxy members were to be seen with a hint of a third.
NGC 891 = For a few moments I had a fantastic view with the galaxy easily seen from edge to edge along with the dust lane running right through the centre of the disk.
I took another look later on in the night and the view was more consistent and the details slightly easier to see.
M34 = A lovely scattered looking open cluster that comfortably filled the FOV of my 25mm.
NGC 752 = A vast open cluster extending beyond the FOV. A very nice cluster but one for binoculars.
NGC 1023 = I never seen this galaxy before and a beautiful sight it is. Appearing almost edge on with a bright nucleus and a nice wide airy disk with hints of spiral arms towards the south of the galaxy using AV.
NGC 1275 = Another first see and not much to look at. Just the appearance of a small nucleus and a very faint small disk.
NGC 147 = Disappointing. Just a vague, very faint, fuzzy looking object.
NGC 185 = This galaxy appeared face on and was faint but the disk could be seen with out AV.
NGC 457 = Another one of my favourite open clusters and looking great. 175x in the 8mm allowed the cluster to fill the FOV perfectly.
NGC 1501 = My first time seeing this rather pleasant planetary nebula, with its nice airy disk easy to see - even unfiltered.
M82 = Almost looking as good from the previous night.
M81 = Looking very nice with spiral arms easy to pick out around the edges of the galaxy's disk.
M1 = A decent view. Well defined and strong structure but not much detail.
M78 = An average view. Nebulosity was, even when filtered. The star that lights up this reflection nebula could be seen well.
M42 = A breath taking sight. Long arching arms extending outwards from each side of the nebula and extending well beyond the FOV and dark regions and lanes was visible around the trapezium area.
IC 424 (Horse Head) = For a few moments I was getting vague impressions of nebulosity but I can't be 100% sure so it's one to retry again on the next good night.
NGC 2244 = A lovely open cluster in the heart of the Rosetta nebula but sadly no sign or hint of the nebula itself.
NGC 2261 (Hubbles Varible) = A really fine sight on a nebula I thought I wouldn't be able to see. A nice irregular shaped nebula. It was quite faint but the shape was easy to make out.
Finish Time = 05:45
I did make a silly mistake that didn't end in disaster. I started adjusting my tripod legs, forgetting that I didn't have my mount head securely screwed in, and after a bit of pushing and pulling my mount head feel off but lucky I my reflexes were fast and most of the mount landed on my hand. I had very sore fingers for a while but my hand will heal my mount wouldn't. The worst of the damage was some minor cosmetic chips.
The drop kind of turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it messed up polar alignment so I had to redo it from scratch and ended up with my best polar alignment yet.
The night sky was beautiful with a dominant milky way running from east horizon to west. The wind had died down to a gentle breeze that eventually died down to an infrequent breeze for most of the night.
Some light cloud did role in around 01:00 spoiling views but this gave a welcome time out to get the kettle on and warm up with some hot coffee and good conversation. It took slightly over an hour for the cloud to clear and when it did the beautiful skies returned with awesome Orion in the sky with Sirius creeping above the eastern horizon.
These exceptional skies gave me a chance to learn some new constellations that I normally wouldn't see very well and with help from Stevie I can now see Pieces, Lacerta and Monoceros.
There was some very light meteor activity through the whole night.
I also took some time out to try imaging Jupiter again and my best image results are at the bottom.
Stevie and I stayed on after Mark and Jonathan left for home to do an all nighter and didn't call it quits until sun rise had started. We slowly packed up and then watched the sky brighten with beautiful colours on the east horizon and fog filling the low lying ground in the distance.
It was great and another memorable night.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3
Trans = 4
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 10" Orion Europa, Toucam II and Laptop.
Start Time = 21:33
My observations for the night are as follows:
M22 = A really beautiful sight, filling the FOV marvellously with the stars appearing rich and very well defined. A really good and memorable open cluster.
M8 = This is the first time I've been able to see the nebula itself. Even without the UHC-S filter it looked good, filling half the FOV. A real delight to see this.
M20 = Not much to see here. A very faint haze was all I could pick out, even observing with the filter or low power made no difference.
M21 = A spare, scattered open cluster that showed up nicely.
M23 = A beautiful, wide, open cluster giving wonderful views in the 25mm (56x). I never looked at this object before and I am so glad I did now. Certainly one to remember.
M9 = A faint globular cluster with average detail but a fist time see for me so I am very pleased in the respect that I have nailed another new Messier object.
M18 = A small and sparse open cluster with only a handful of stars to count but still a nice sight.
M17 = A breathtaking view with stunning detail and the UHC-S filter gave a great amount of extra contrast with in the nebula. Without a doubt a treasure of the sky.
M14 = This globular cluster looked large in the eyepiece but stars were not resolving well and could only really see individual stars with AV.
M26 = Looking as good as always. This is starting to become one of my favourite open clusters.
M11 = Another stunning view of this magnificent open cluster. I honestly do think I could look at this all night.
NGC 6781 = What a surprise this planetary nebula was. A large nebulous disk filling a lot of the FOV and showing good detail.
NGC 6804 = A small but nice planetary nebula. Not much detail to see but well defined.
M94 = A good view considering how low this was in the sky. The galactic disk was bright and easy to see.
M51 = Not a good view but even when so low down the nucleus of this and the background galaxy was visible and a faint airy disk surrounding M51.
M63 = Very faint and not much to see. One to leave until spring time.
M101 = The disk was fairly noticeable but no detail or spiral arms to be seen.
M97 = An average view, the structure was decent and some detail was there but nothing near as good as the last observation on a previous night.
NGC 7331 = A very nice view. A long disk with a bright core. I could also clearly see a fuzzy patch slightly south (visually) that looked like another galaxy to me. I believe it to mostly likely be another member of the deer lick group.
Stephen's Quintet = Two of the galaxy members were to be seen with a hint of a third.
NGC 891 = For a few moments I had a fantastic view with the galaxy easily seen from edge to edge along with the dust lane running right through the centre of the disk.
I took another look later on in the night and the view was more consistent and the details slightly easier to see.
M34 = A lovely scattered looking open cluster that comfortably filled the FOV of my 25mm.
NGC 752 = A vast open cluster extending beyond the FOV. A very nice cluster but one for binoculars.
NGC 1023 = I never seen this galaxy before and a beautiful sight it is. Appearing almost edge on with a bright nucleus and a nice wide airy disk with hints of spiral arms towards the south of the galaxy using AV.
NGC 1275 = Another first see and not much to look at. Just the appearance of a small nucleus and a very faint small disk.
NGC 147 = Disappointing. Just a vague, very faint, fuzzy looking object.
NGC 185 = This galaxy appeared face on and was faint but the disk could be seen with out AV.
NGC 457 = Another one of my favourite open clusters and looking great. 175x in the 8mm allowed the cluster to fill the FOV perfectly.
NGC 1501 = My first time seeing this rather pleasant planetary nebula, with its nice airy disk easy to see - even unfiltered.
M82 = Almost looking as good from the previous night.
M81 = Looking very nice with spiral arms easy to pick out around the edges of the galaxy's disk.
M1 = A decent view. Well defined and strong structure but not much detail.
M78 = An average view. Nebulosity was, even when filtered. The star that lights up this reflection nebula could be seen well.
M42 = A breath taking sight. Long arching arms extending outwards from each side of the nebula and extending well beyond the FOV and dark regions and lanes was visible around the trapezium area.
IC 424 (Horse Head) = For a few moments I was getting vague impressions of nebulosity but I can't be 100% sure so it's one to retry again on the next good night.
NGC 2244 = A lovely open cluster in the heart of the Rosetta nebula but sadly no sign or hint of the nebula itself.
NGC 2261 (Hubbles Varible) = A really fine sight on a nebula I thought I wouldn't be able to see. A nice irregular shaped nebula. It was quite faint but the shape was easy to make out.
Finish Time = 05:45
Thursday 17 September 2009
16/17 September 2009 - Report
The weather was mostly broken up cloud allowing sunny spells during the day. The was minimal to non exsistent. As the eveing hours came closer the cloud broken further to give large areas of clear sky and as night closed in cloud started to evaporate away. The wind did pick up to a strong breeze for a short time but then died away to a completely still night.
Seeing conditions started off good and became excellent as the night progressed. Transparency never really got above average but after midnight any remaining haze - mostly caused by aircraft - did clear away to give an exceptional sky and tranparency conditions were very good towards the zenith.
It was a really good night with some fantastic observations and also some poor ones but all in all I had a great and another very rewarding night.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3/4
Trans = 3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and 10" Orion Newtonion
Start Time = 22:28
My observations for the night are as follows:
NGC 6781 = My best view yet of this tricky PN. Showing good detail with AV and strong looking structure. The view was just a pleasing without the UHC-S filter.
NGC 6760 = A rather faint cluster but appearing well and covering a nice amount of the FOV in the eyepiece. Averted vision only showed signs of the stars resolving.
M71 = A lovely open cluster with resolving nicely indeed. Very pleasing to the eye.
NGC 6888 = A rather poor view of this nebula. Even with filtered and at low magnification it was barely visible. It was a dissapointing object tonight but I can't complain, I've had some fine veiw over the past few months.
IC 1318 = Still no luck on this nebula. The view that appeared to me was only a hazy like cloud around the Gamma Cygni - almost the same kind of haze you'd see when looking at a bright star through a misted up eyepiece. This is one to try again on a night of better transparency.
NGC 6826 = A lovely view of this and further enhanced by using the UHC-S. Quite bright looking with nice structure and detail.
M15 = Sadly I only got an average view of this amazing globular. Haze, mainly caused by aircraft, moved in over the east sky covering much of Pegasus which, as a natural result, took down the seeing conditions a fair bit.
NGC 7331 = A nice white, long, disk appearing well but very little detail showing. I was going to try and look for Stephen's Quintet after his but I decided to wait until the hazy mess moved away.
M92 = A stunning looking beauty tonight. Stars resolving really well and filling almost all of the FOV at 175x
M13 = A very pleasing sight too with strong detail but not my better views.
NGC 7008 = A fantastic PN that turned out to be a nice surprise to me. A lovely shape with a decent amount of detail.
NGC 40 = Not my vest view but still looking well though not much detail.
M52 = A stunning open cluster. Filling all of my FOV at 175x. A shear delight of varying star brightness throughout the cluster.
M27 = A fantastic sight tonight with amazing structure and more nebulosity extending further out from the dumbbell shape - which in itself was very bright in the eyepiece.
M57 = Another fine view with easy to see detail but no sign of the central star.
NGC 891 = At last!! After years of trying to observe this galaxy I finally have been able to. With transparency conditions improving as the night got colder I decided on giving this a try and there it was. A beautiful edge on disk filling the FOV with a delicate buldge in its center.
Stephen's Quintet = After my success of NGC 891 it was a clear sign to me that transparency had improved so I slewed the scope to this group of very challenging galaxies - for any scope.
For the first time ever I could see two members of the galaxy group, they were very faint but I could pick them out. Using AV for a while I could also get the hint of a third galaxy and had repeat looks at the eyepiece in case my imagination was getting the better of me but I really don't think it was.
I really hope I get even better conditions again soon so I can take another look at this fine group.
M82 - An excellent view with beautiful detail. Dark lanes and patches running through the centre of the galaxy.
Finish Time = 00:20
Seeing conditions started off good and became excellent as the night progressed. Transparency never really got above average but after midnight any remaining haze - mostly caused by aircraft - did clear away to give an exceptional sky and tranparency conditions were very good towards the zenith.
It was a really good night with some fantastic observations and also some poor ones but all in all I had a great and another very rewarding night.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3/4
Trans = 3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and 10" Orion Newtonion
Start Time = 22:28
My observations for the night are as follows:
NGC 6781 = My best view yet of this tricky PN. Showing good detail with AV and strong looking structure. The view was just a pleasing without the UHC-S filter.
NGC 6760 = A rather faint cluster but appearing well and covering a nice amount of the FOV in the eyepiece. Averted vision only showed signs of the stars resolving.
M71 = A lovely open cluster with resolving nicely indeed. Very pleasing to the eye.
NGC 6888 = A rather poor view of this nebula. Even with filtered and at low magnification it was barely visible. It was a dissapointing object tonight but I can't complain, I've had some fine veiw over the past few months.
IC 1318 = Still no luck on this nebula. The view that appeared to me was only a hazy like cloud around the Gamma Cygni - almost the same kind of haze you'd see when looking at a bright star through a misted up eyepiece. This is one to try again on a night of better transparency.
NGC 6826 = A lovely view of this and further enhanced by using the UHC-S. Quite bright looking with nice structure and detail.
M15 = Sadly I only got an average view of this amazing globular. Haze, mainly caused by aircraft, moved in over the east sky covering much of Pegasus which, as a natural result, took down the seeing conditions a fair bit.
NGC 7331 = A nice white, long, disk appearing well but very little detail showing. I was going to try and look for Stephen's Quintet after his but I decided to wait until the hazy mess moved away.
M92 = A stunning looking beauty tonight. Stars resolving really well and filling almost all of the FOV at 175x
M13 = A very pleasing sight too with strong detail but not my better views.
NGC 7008 = A fantastic PN that turned out to be a nice surprise to me. A lovely shape with a decent amount of detail.
NGC 40 = Not my vest view but still looking well though not much detail.
M52 = A stunning open cluster. Filling all of my FOV at 175x. A shear delight of varying star brightness throughout the cluster.
M27 = A fantastic sight tonight with amazing structure and more nebulosity extending further out from the dumbbell shape - which in itself was very bright in the eyepiece.
M57 = Another fine view with easy to see detail but no sign of the central star.
NGC 891 = At last!! After years of trying to observe this galaxy I finally have been able to. With transparency conditions improving as the night got colder I decided on giving this a try and there it was. A beautiful edge on disk filling the FOV with a delicate buldge in its center.
Stephen's Quintet = After my success of NGC 891 it was a clear sign to me that transparency had improved so I slewed the scope to this group of very challenging galaxies - for any scope.
For the first time ever I could see two members of the galaxy group, they were very faint but I could pick them out. Using AV for a while I could also get the hint of a third galaxy and had repeat looks at the eyepiece in case my imagination was getting the better of me but I really don't think it was.
I really hope I get even better conditions again soon so I can take another look at this fine group.
M82 - An excellent view with beautiful detail. Dark lanes and patches running through the centre of the galaxy.
Finish Time = 00:20
Monday 14 September 2009
13 September 2009 - Report
It was another great sunny day with no wind or cloud. The sky conditions during the day were better than the last two days but when the skies got dark they weren't as transparent as the night before.
After two nights of observing I was too tired to stay out for another full night so I decided to trying to image Jupiter again.
I had the pleasant company of my mother at this session and she seemed to enjoy what I showed her and liked the site at Bragan.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3
Trans = 2/3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro with 4" Refractor, Toucam II and Laptop.
Start Time = 22:17
Jupiter = There was a lot to be seen on Jupiter tonight, a transit and shadow transit of Europa, the GRS and the emergence of Europa after its transit.
Spent almost all of my time capturing AVIs. I got some good results and some poor ones.
Visually the detail was superb. The seeing conditions really became excellent for a while so I got my 5.1mm eye piece out and sure enough the image was very crisp and detailed. I saw other bands between the zones, lovely fine lines of cloud running along the disk. The shadow of Europa was a fantastic sight and even more thrilling to watch the moon slowly drift off Jupiters disk and standing out against the blackness of space.
I observed Jupiter for just over an hour and had so much fun and enjoyment from doing so.
The best of my images are below:
After two nights of observing I was too tired to stay out for another full night so I decided to trying to image Jupiter again.
I had the pleasant company of my mother at this session and she seemed to enjoy what I showed her and liked the site at Bragan.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3
Trans = 2/3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro with 4" Refractor, Toucam II and Laptop.
Start Time = 22:17
Jupiter = There was a lot to be seen on Jupiter tonight, a transit and shadow transit of Europa, the GRS and the emergence of Europa after its transit.
Spent almost all of my time capturing AVIs. I got some good results and some poor ones.
Visually the detail was superb. The seeing conditions really became excellent for a while so I got my 5.1mm eye piece out and sure enough the image was very crisp and detailed. I saw other bands between the zones, lovely fine lines of cloud running along the disk. The shadow of Europa was a fantastic sight and even more thrilling to watch the moon slowly drift off Jupiters disk and standing out against the blackness of space.
I observed Jupiter for just over an hour and had so much fun and enjoyment from doing so.
The best of my images are below:
After I had finished imaging I gave my mother a short tour of some other fine objects, which were:
Almach
Albireo
M57
M27
M31, 32
M11
M31 was a fine sight in particular but objects like M11 and M57 just don't show well on this scope when compared to my 10", especially M11.
All in all another great and very rewarding night with some more experience in imaging.
I just hope for more clear skies this coming weekend.
Finish Time = 23:45
Sunday 13 September 2009
12/13 September 2009 - Report
Another fine day , very similar to yesterday. No clouds, no wind and there was considerably less horizon haze than yesterday too, giving the feeling of an even better night ahead.
A night started to close in the conditions kept looking more promising every passing minute.
I went to Bragan and waited in Clogher to meet up with fellow club members and then we all left for the observing site.
Upon arrival the sky was beautiful with any high altitude haze evaporating quickly and later in the night the horizon haze made a hasty retreat to the lower ground as fog.
The seeing conditions for the first half of the night - before the moon rise - were excellent and the transparency was very good too but as the moon did rise the transparency was reduced by quite a but and seeing started to fluctuate between good and poor.
During the night I got to borrow a 17mm 2" Nagler eyepiece of Neil and I was very impressed with the sharp images I was getting. Thanks to Neil for allowing me to use this and further enhance my night of enjoyment.
There was also good meteor activity. I counted 14 meteorites during the course of the night and also got to see two very impressive fireballs. One that Neil also saw and the other was also seen by Mark.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4
Trans = 4 (became less as the moon rose)
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newtonian.
Start Time = 21:16
The observations for the night are as follows:
M108 = A lovely view and is has been a very long time since I observed this galaxy. It has a lovely wide disk but detail was average at time of viewing and there was a bright star of our own galaxy places almost center of the M108 giving a pleasing view and giving an extra sense of depth.
M97 = A fine view withe the dark gaps, that make the owls eyes, clearly visible and observing through UHC-S didn't really improve anything so I knew at this point the night was very good.
M109 = Not a great view but with the UHC-S I got to see the nucleus and some scattered structure. One to try again on a night with excellent transparency.
M106 = I got a nice view of this galaxy through the 17mm Nagler. Lovely long elongated disk that appeared to be almost edge on.
M63 = Not much too look at. I've never had much luck observing this galaxy. Even with the UHC-S it just appeared as a smudge with no detail or structure of any kind.
M10 = A beautiful sight, almost filling the FOV in the 8mm. Stars resolving really well from the core right out to the edges.
M12 = Another fine sight. Resolving just as finely as M10 making it a pleasurable observation.
M11 = A stunning view of this cluster. One of my best observations of this. A sea of stars to drift away and get lost in, heavenly...
M26 = My first time seeing this cluster and so pleased I did. A lovely small group of stars that, for me, created the asterism of a candy cane. One to remember.
NGC 6712 - I never looked at this globular before. It was very faint with stars only appearing with AV.
NGC 7331 - Not my best view and eve with mixed magnifications and trying the UHC-S there was no change in detail or contrast. I think it was around this point that the moon had made and appearance on the horizon and conditions started to degrade a little.
NGC 7662 - Very bright and easy to see with good detail under UHC-S. One of my best views for this PN.
NGC 7009 - This was my best veiw I'd had of this PN in years. With out a filter the detail and brightness was excellent, with the small extending globules of nebulous matter extending from either side of the PN seen well with AV and under UHC-S the contrast and detail improved a bit allowing for a higher magnification view. My highlight of the night.
NGC 6946 - This was very faint with only a vague hint of the galaxy at low power.
NGC 7023 - The best view I've ever had with this very tricky reflection nebula. My UHC-S helped a great deal in cutting down the brightness of the central star, allowing me to see the surrounding nebulous cloud with AV, even some hints of structure was visible from time to time.
M2 - A decent view with stars resolving quite well but overall looking faint due to the moon being higher in the sky at this point.
M72 - Very faint and difficult to see with only a hint of stars using AV.
M73 - I never looked at this open cluster before and I now knew why I never bothered to. Very disappointing with just a hand full of faint stars.
Caldwell 19 - The stars around the nebula could be seen well but I got not hint of any nebulosity, even when filtered.
E2816 Cepheus - A stunning triple system that I bumped into while having a failed attempt at observing IC1396. It's a fine sight under any magnification above 50x
Finish - 03:48
It was a very memorible and enjoyable night for me. Neil and Mark left just after 01:00 but Stevie and I stayed on for a few hours more and left just after 04:00.
I really appreciate them travelling down all this way to observe at this site and I hope they enjoyed the night as much as I did and that we will get to observe again soon.
Today is another fine day so I am looking forward to getting out again tonight.
A night started to close in the conditions kept looking more promising every passing minute.
I went to Bragan and waited in Clogher to meet up with fellow club members and then we all left for the observing site.
Upon arrival the sky was beautiful with any high altitude haze evaporating quickly and later in the night the horizon haze made a hasty retreat to the lower ground as fog.
The seeing conditions for the first half of the night - before the moon rise - were excellent and the transparency was very good too but as the moon did rise the transparency was reduced by quite a but and seeing started to fluctuate between good and poor.
During the night I got to borrow a 17mm 2" Nagler eyepiece of Neil and I was very impressed with the sharp images I was getting. Thanks to Neil for allowing me to use this and further enhance my night of enjoyment.
There was also good meteor activity. I counted 14 meteorites during the course of the night and also got to see two very impressive fireballs. One that Neil also saw and the other was also seen by Mark.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4
Trans = 4 (became less as the moon rose)
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newtonian.
Start Time = 21:16
The observations for the night are as follows:
M108 = A lovely view and is has been a very long time since I observed this galaxy. It has a lovely wide disk but detail was average at time of viewing and there was a bright star of our own galaxy places almost center of the M108 giving a pleasing view and giving an extra sense of depth.
M97 = A fine view withe the dark gaps, that make the owls eyes, clearly visible and observing through UHC-S didn't really improve anything so I knew at this point the night was very good.
M109 = Not a great view but with the UHC-S I got to see the nucleus and some scattered structure. One to try again on a night with excellent transparency.
M106 = I got a nice view of this galaxy through the 17mm Nagler. Lovely long elongated disk that appeared to be almost edge on.
M63 = Not much too look at. I've never had much luck observing this galaxy. Even with the UHC-S it just appeared as a smudge with no detail or structure of any kind.
M10 = A beautiful sight, almost filling the FOV in the 8mm. Stars resolving really well from the core right out to the edges.
M12 = Another fine sight. Resolving just as finely as M10 making it a pleasurable observation.
M11 = A stunning view of this cluster. One of my best observations of this. A sea of stars to drift away and get lost in, heavenly...
M26 = My first time seeing this cluster and so pleased I did. A lovely small group of stars that, for me, created the asterism of a candy cane. One to remember.
NGC 6712 - I never looked at this globular before. It was very faint with stars only appearing with AV.
NGC 7331 - Not my best view and eve with mixed magnifications and trying the UHC-S there was no change in detail or contrast. I think it was around this point that the moon had made and appearance on the horizon and conditions started to degrade a little.
NGC 7662 - Very bright and easy to see with good detail under UHC-S. One of my best views for this PN.
NGC 7009 - This was my best veiw I'd had of this PN in years. With out a filter the detail and brightness was excellent, with the small extending globules of nebulous matter extending from either side of the PN seen well with AV and under UHC-S the contrast and detail improved a bit allowing for a higher magnification view. My highlight of the night.
NGC 6946 - This was very faint with only a vague hint of the galaxy at low power.
NGC 7023 - The best view I've ever had with this very tricky reflection nebula. My UHC-S helped a great deal in cutting down the brightness of the central star, allowing me to see the surrounding nebulous cloud with AV, even some hints of structure was visible from time to time.
M2 - A decent view with stars resolving quite well but overall looking faint due to the moon being higher in the sky at this point.
M72 - Very faint and difficult to see with only a hint of stars using AV.
M73 - I never looked at this open cluster before and I now knew why I never bothered to. Very disappointing with just a hand full of faint stars.
Caldwell 19 - The stars around the nebula could be seen well but I got not hint of any nebulosity, even when filtered.
E2816 Cepheus - A stunning triple system that I bumped into while having a failed attempt at observing IC1396. It's a fine sight under any magnification above 50x
Finish - 03:48
It was a very memorible and enjoyable night for me. Neil and Mark left just after 01:00 but Stevie and I stayed on for a few hours more and left just after 04:00.
I really appreciate them travelling down all this way to observe at this site and I hope they enjoyed the night as much as I did and that we will get to observe again soon.
Today is another fine day so I am looking forward to getting out again tonight.
Saturday 12 September 2009
11 September 2009 - Report
It was a fine day with blue skies, no wind and warm air. As sunset closed in some light upper atmospheric haze developed but started to evaporate away or fall to lower ground as night started to fall, leaving a fairly decent sky.
I was in the mood for trying some imaging with my Toucam again and since I was going to the Bragan site I knew I wasn't going to get a better spot and conditions for imaging so I brought the laptop and cam with me.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4
Trans = 3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro with 4" Refractor, Toucam II Pro, Laptop and 15x70 Binos.
Start Time = 21:35
The observations for the night are as follows:
Jupiter = I started off the night trying to image Jupiter with my Toucam and got some decent results. I processed the AVIs when I got home and the best result is below to see. Visually the view was fantastic, with strong contrasts in the bands and in between the zones with a lot of detail. One of my finest views.
M57 - The finest view I've ever had of this through my refractor. Very crisp image with good contrast but detail cannot compare to my 10".
M101 - I decided to have a go with my binoculars now and I wasn't disappointed. The view was decent, the galaxy easy to see with most of the disk visible. This alone proved the good conditions of the night, before the moon made an appearance.
M31 - A stunning sight in the binos. Filling most of the FOV with M110 easily seen to the north. I can't remember having such a pleasing view of this galaxy in binos.
M51 - I was very surprised to see this in the binos but there it was and fairly easy to see with its bright nucleus catching the eye even with out AV.
Eta Cas - I now got back to using the scope and resuming my double star observations with Cassiopeia and who better to start with than Eta Cas. My finest view yet with great sharpness and pin point stars. The secondary star radiating an obvious shade of brown.
Alpha Cas - A decent looking double wiht quite a wide separation. This is a double I've overlook and am glad I didn't this time, certainly worth a look.
E3053 Cas - A lovely faint pair. Goldish central star with a blueish companion.
h 1088 Cas - The companion star was very faint which added to the delight I felt observing this system, very pleasing.
NGC 663 - This cluster was very close to h 1088 so I couldn't move in with out having a look. At low power this open cluster is rather nice with bright stars running through the cluster making a pleasing view.
NGC 654 - A complete reversal. Faint. not much to see and medium power (125x) revealed the best that this cluster had to offer, and it wasn't much.
h 1000 Cas - A strange but nice pair to view. The secondary being very faint, making it easy to over look. A thin wisp of haze passed over, probably a jet engine chem trail, causing the star to blink in and out of view.
Psi Cas - A fine double with a golden primary star and a very faint secondary and tow other fainter member of the system further out, and at at equal distances, making this a quadruple system.
Moon - The moon was about 15 degrees high now and still in an imaging mood I got the cam out again and started shooting. My best result is below to view. Visually it was a stunning sight. The great seeing conditions allowed for amazing resolution of small craters and peaks. I spent a while touring around the moon and then decided to call it a night.
Finish Time = 23:55
I was in the mood for trying some imaging with my Toucam again and since I was going to the Bragan site I knew I wasn't going to get a better spot and conditions for imaging so I brought the laptop and cam with me.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4
Trans = 3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro with 4" Refractor, Toucam II Pro, Laptop and 15x70 Binos.
Start Time = 21:35
The observations for the night are as follows:
Jupiter = I started off the night trying to image Jupiter with my Toucam and got some decent results. I processed the AVIs when I got home and the best result is below to see. Visually the view was fantastic, with strong contrasts in the bands and in between the zones with a lot of detail. One of my finest views.
M57 - The finest view I've ever had of this through my refractor. Very crisp image with good contrast but detail cannot compare to my 10".
M101 - I decided to have a go with my binoculars now and I wasn't disappointed. The view was decent, the galaxy easy to see with most of the disk visible. This alone proved the good conditions of the night, before the moon made an appearance.
M31 - A stunning sight in the binos. Filling most of the FOV with M110 easily seen to the north. I can't remember having such a pleasing view of this galaxy in binos.
M51 - I was very surprised to see this in the binos but there it was and fairly easy to see with its bright nucleus catching the eye even with out AV.
Eta Cas - I now got back to using the scope and resuming my double star observations with Cassiopeia and who better to start with than Eta Cas. My finest view yet with great sharpness and pin point stars. The secondary star radiating an obvious shade of brown.
Alpha Cas - A decent looking double wiht quite a wide separation. This is a double I've overlook and am glad I didn't this time, certainly worth a look.
E3053 Cas - A lovely faint pair. Goldish central star with a blueish companion.
h 1088 Cas - The companion star was very faint which added to the delight I felt observing this system, very pleasing.
NGC 663 - This cluster was very close to h 1088 so I couldn't move in with out having a look. At low power this open cluster is rather nice with bright stars running through the cluster making a pleasing view.
NGC 654 - A complete reversal. Faint. not much to see and medium power (125x) revealed the best that this cluster had to offer, and it wasn't much.
h 1000 Cas - A strange but nice pair to view. The secondary being very faint, making it easy to over look. A thin wisp of haze passed over, probably a jet engine chem trail, causing the star to blink in and out of view.
Psi Cas - A fine double with a golden primary star and a very faint secondary and tow other fainter member of the system further out, and at at equal distances, making this a quadruple system.
Moon - The moon was about 15 degrees high now and still in an imaging mood I got the cam out again and started shooting. My best result is below to view. Visually it was a stunning sight. The great seeing conditions allowed for amazing resolution of small craters and peaks. I spent a while touring around the moon and then decided to call it a night.
Finish Time = 23:55
Thursday 10 September 2009
09 September 2009 - Report
Weather wise the day was very nice. Mostly sunny with little cloud around and next to no wind. Conditions improved as night skies got closer, leaving a very clear night. There was some light atmospheric haze towards the horizons, probably caused from the high pressure system itself.
Overall I found the short observing session to be very rewarding and felt happy with all the new objects I observed.
The light haze in the atmosphere caused the light of the moon to scatter making it look brighter than it actually was but just polluted the sky and visual magnitude of the stars, so as it rose above the roof of my parents house I decided to call it a night.
Location = Fivemiletown
Seeing = 2
Trans = 2
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and 4" Refractor.
Start Time = 21:14
My observations are as follows:
Jupiter = A fine view tonight with a lot of detail to be seen all over the disk. Europa and Ganymede's orbits brought them very close together providing a lovely sight itself.
Almach = I thought I would start of my double star night with my personal favourite. The colours are even richer through my WO Star Diagonal (which was first light for it)
5 Ursa Minor = A very wide pair with a vibrant gold coloured main sequence star, other than that not much to look at.
Pi 1 Ursa Minor = Not an exciting pair. Both appearing similar in size, brightness and colour.
40/41 Ursa Minor = A fairly pleasing view with the pair being relatively close to each other and like Pi 1, similar in size, brightness and colour - which has the look of a washed out shade of gold.
Kappa Cepheus = A stunning pair! A nice tight double with the secondary star significantly fainter than it's main sequence star. One to remember.
Beta Cepheus (Alfirk) = Another delightful pair and very similar to Kappa in appearance and seperation with the only visual difference being the secondary giving a hint of colour in the light blue shade.
E2883 Cepheus = A fine faint pair. The parent star a pale goldish shade with a pale blue companion.
E2923 Cepheus = Quite faint and small but a pleasing sigh all the same. The secondary appeared very faint and flickered in and out of view due to the poorish seeing conditions.
Omicron Cepheus = A very tight pair and very pleasing to observe. 196x splits the pair very nicely, revealing the parent star to have a nice gold look and the secondary to have a plae blue shade. I think I observing this for more than five minutes.
Xi Cepheus = Another nice pair and fairly tight. Colour was hard to pick up but gave the impression of even paler shades to that of Omicron.
Garnet Star = I couldn't finish my night and leave Cepheus without a look at this gorgeous star. A colour so rich it just draws you in.
Finish Time = 23:34
Overall I found the short observing session to be very rewarding and felt happy with all the new objects I observed.
The light haze in the atmosphere caused the light of the moon to scatter making it look brighter than it actually was but just polluted the sky and visual magnitude of the stars, so as it rose above the roof of my parents house I decided to call it a night.
Location = Fivemiletown
Seeing = 2
Trans = 2
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and 4" Refractor.
Start Time = 21:14
My observations are as follows:
Jupiter = A fine view tonight with a lot of detail to be seen all over the disk. Europa and Ganymede's orbits brought them very close together providing a lovely sight itself.
Almach = I thought I would start of my double star night with my personal favourite. The colours are even richer through my WO Star Diagonal (which was first light for it)
5 Ursa Minor = A very wide pair with a vibrant gold coloured main sequence star, other than that not much to look at.
Pi 1 Ursa Minor = Not an exciting pair. Both appearing similar in size, brightness and colour.
40/41 Ursa Minor = A fairly pleasing view with the pair being relatively close to each other and like Pi 1, similar in size, brightness and colour - which has the look of a washed out shade of gold.
Kappa Cepheus = A stunning pair! A nice tight double with the secondary star significantly fainter than it's main sequence star. One to remember.
Beta Cepheus (Alfirk) = Another delightful pair and very similar to Kappa in appearance and seperation with the only visual difference being the secondary giving a hint of colour in the light blue shade.
E2883 Cepheus = A fine faint pair. The parent star a pale goldish shade with a pale blue companion.
E2923 Cepheus = Quite faint and small but a pleasing sigh all the same. The secondary appeared very faint and flickered in and out of view due to the poorish seeing conditions.
Omicron Cepheus = A very tight pair and very pleasing to observe. 196x splits the pair very nicely, revealing the parent star to have a nice gold look and the secondary to have a plae blue shade. I think I observing this for more than five minutes.
Xi Cepheus = Another nice pair and fairly tight. Colour was hard to pick up but gave the impression of even paler shades to that of Omicron.
Garnet Star = I couldn't finish my night and leave Cepheus without a look at this gorgeous star. A colour so rich it just draws you in.
Finish Time = 23:34
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