This was one of those days where you plan every and nature tries its best to ruin your plans. I'd contacted a couple of members that it was going to be clear down at Bragan so a star party was formed. The forecast showed it would be clear for 21:00 but of course it wouldn't be. I was there first, just after 20:30 so I turned of the engine, put back the seat and turned on Classic FM and lay back to have a snooze until the other members arrived. It was 21:15 when the first car showed up and it was still cloudy and it stayed that way until near midnight. It took patience but once the skies did clear the clarity on the stars and the milky way was stunning. It was the kind of sky you'd happily just lay down and stare up at all night and not even worry about looking through a scope but I had my 14" with me so of course lots of observations were going to be made.
Seeing = 4
Trans = 4
Equipment = 14" Skyliner
Location = Bragan
Start Time = 00:40
M82 = A lovely view, with fine details to take in around the central region with dark lanes and features running throughout.
M97 = An average view.
M108 = Bright with decent detail.
NGC891 = Simply stunning!! It was like looking at a black and white photograph. The galaxy really stood out, with a beautiful bright core with that perfect fried egg shape. The edge on disk stretching out with the bold dark lane running right through the view. Wonderful details and clearly seen. A really are treat to see this galaxy so good.
M33 = Really good. Two spiral arms clearly seen with nice details.
M1 = Another average view but the 'S' shape easily seen with out any need for filters.
M78 = No discernible details but bright and the nebula was large.
M42 = I think this is the best view I've ever had. Breathtaking levels of detail all over the FOV. Great levels of varying contrast in and around the nebula giving a superb sense of dimension.
M79 = A first time observing this and a fantastic object. Stars resolving wonderfully with a bright core.
NGC2903 = A very nice galaxy. Nice spiral shape with equally as pleasant varying levels of contrast throughout the galaxy.
M109 = Rather disappointing.
NGC6503 = Appearing to be almost edge on and looking very nice. Bright with solid structure.
M63 = An average observation.
M94 = A decent view, some details were apparent with averted vision.
Finish = 04:20
I left the site with a wonderful feeling of satisfaction and contentment. The quality of the sky was what you'd wish for every observing night. The clarity of the constellations was picturesque, with all the stars looking extra bright, sharp and next to no atmospheric twinkle - Sirius was even very steady. The milky way was very strong and prominent, arching right through Cygnus all they through to Monoceros. Getting to see Canis Major and Lepus in their entirety was so thrilling.
A night to remember, certainly worth loosing sleep over and it will take a lot to beat it.
Sunday 7 November 2010
30th October 2010 - Report
This was an interesting night, not only because it was nice and clear but because I had just got home from holiday and got all my scope gear into the car the moment I got home.
I was much later arriving at the site than I had planned but another member from the club was already there before me so it was just a matter of getting set up and observing.
Seeing = 4-5
Trans = 3
Equipment = 14" Skywatcher Dob
Location = Bragan
Star Time = 21:16
NGC891 = Faint but well seen with averted vision. The shape was well seen with the lovely dark features running through the centre of the centre of the core all the way out to the edges of the disk.
M33 = A really nice and fine view! The central core easily seen with two spiral arms whipping around is a wonderful arching shape in a ghostly appearance and the emission nebula, whose NGC number escapes me at the moment, was very bight and easy to spot.
NGC7331 = A remarkable view! Detail wasn't brilliant, at first, but I could see three other members of the Deer Lick group. I spent a long time observing this sight and as seeing conditions got better I could even see spiral arms on one of the galaxies and moving the scope really made the details of 7331 jump out.
No doubt about it, the best observation I've ever had of this object and group.
Stephen's Quintet = Incredible!! A very emotional moment for me, bringing tears to my eyes. All five members of the group were standing out really well and with averted vision spiral arms started to appear on one and maybe two of the galaxies. A truly thrilling observation for me, I spent a long time on this too and this object alone justifies the money I spent on this scope.
NGC7662 = A really nice view. Excellent structure with a strong presence of the colour blue.
M74 = Very nice looking. The bright core and milky looking disc were easy see, with a dark region surrounding the core but no sighting of any spiral arms.
M77 = A very bright core with a faint/hazy disk.
NGC7339 & 7332 = A fine sight. Both looking bright and sharp with some lovely details the be had in 7339.
NGC6826 = Very strong with the central star very bright and obvious. The nebula was displaying a greenish colour too.
NGC6946 = Barely visible, just a ghostly presence.
Jupiter = Exceptional details once again.
M1 = Very dull indeed. Even with a UHC-S filter it just about managed to display the nebula in that 'S' shape you expect to see.
Finish = 00:26
I was much later arriving at the site than I had planned but another member from the club was already there before me so it was just a matter of getting set up and observing.
Seeing = 4-5
Trans = 3
Equipment = 14" Skywatcher Dob
Location = Bragan
Star Time = 21:16
NGC891 = Faint but well seen with averted vision. The shape was well seen with the lovely dark features running through the centre of the centre of the core all the way out to the edges of the disk.
M33 = A really nice and fine view! The central core easily seen with two spiral arms whipping around is a wonderful arching shape in a ghostly appearance and the emission nebula, whose NGC number escapes me at the moment, was very bight and easy to spot.
NGC7331 = A remarkable view! Detail wasn't brilliant, at first, but I could see three other members of the Deer Lick group. I spent a long time observing this sight and as seeing conditions got better I could even see spiral arms on one of the galaxies and moving the scope really made the details of 7331 jump out.
No doubt about it, the best observation I've ever had of this object and group.
Stephen's Quintet = Incredible!! A very emotional moment for me, bringing tears to my eyes. All five members of the group were standing out really well and with averted vision spiral arms started to appear on one and maybe two of the galaxies. A truly thrilling observation for me, I spent a long time on this too and this object alone justifies the money I spent on this scope.
NGC7662 = A really nice view. Excellent structure with a strong presence of the colour blue.
M74 = Very nice looking. The bright core and milky looking disc were easy see, with a dark region surrounding the core but no sighting of any spiral arms.
M77 = A very bright core with a faint/hazy disk.
NGC7339 & 7332 = A fine sight. Both looking bright and sharp with some lovely details the be had in 7339.
NGC6826 = Very strong with the central star very bright and obvious. The nebula was displaying a greenish colour too.
NGC6946 = Barely visible, just a ghostly presence.
Jupiter = Exceptional details once again.
M1 = Very dull indeed. Even with a UHC-S filter it just about managed to display the nebula in that 'S' shape you expect to see.
Finish = 00:26
Sunday 17 October 2010
16th October 2010 - Report
Today was my lucky day. A spell of dry sunny weather with a good clear night forecast. I did not expect to get using my new scope so soon! I was able to have first light from the night before but that was only to be sure that I could set it up and to check the optics.
I arrived at Bragan nice an early, around 18:50, so I could take my time in setting up and try to get some photos taken of my new setup.
Firstly, the scope itself. I am really impressed with the optical quality of the scope, it has already provided me with some of the best views I've ever had so I can feel many years of rewarding nights and a good relationship developing.
The bad news, where is the bad new? Sadly there is plenty. GOTO doesn't seem to work and Auto tracking gave up on my half way through the observing session but I think this is my mistake than anything because when I got home I took the manual out again and read through it and (because of my dyslexia I did not see how obvious this was) saw that there are two ways of aligning this mount, while so far I've been setting it up very similar to how I would with the EQ6 Pro. Sadly that means waiting for another clear night to try all this out again.
Apart from the mounts troubles it was a fantastic night with a nice turn out of other club members. Including myself, my brother and some other guy who came up to do some astrophotography there was 9 of us there. The crack was excellent and the observing was equally as good despite a very bright moon.
I took a look around the moon before I began my session and the views were extremely crisp and clean with sharp focus all the way down to 323x. One of the members is highly knowledgeable of the moon so he was able to guide me to places I normally wouldn't have taken much notice of - it was a long time since I enjoyed observing the moon like that.
One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that my mount got christened. While setting up the base I walked back to the car to get some more equipment when a big black Labrador dog came walking past, went over to my scope, cocked its leg and took a leak on it! Luckily it wasn't much and I had a window cleaning scrim to clean it off. What a start for a new scope though. No wonder the GOTO didn't work.
Equipment = Skyliner 14"
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3\4
Trans = 2
Start Time = 20:07
M57 = The finest structure I've seen in a long time. Even the central star was making an appearance through moments of steady seeing.
M13 = A breathtaking view. I never seen so many stars resolved so clearly in the eye piece before.
Juipter = A mind blowing view. I never seen Jupiter look this good. The GRS was so plainly obvious and rich in a red colour. The details in the bands were beyond 'wow', small white ovals, streaks and gaps all along the northern band. There was also a lovely shadow transit from one of the outer moons and then later a fresh shadow transit from Ganymede, which was really strong and showing up on everyone scopes. I could also see Ganymede itself moving across the disc of Jupiter. I could also see several other spots along the southern region and I lost count of all the details between the bands and zones.
If these are the kind of views I can expect from this scope then I am going to have some fantastic observing days ahead of me.
M76 = Lovely structure, displaying a strong dumbbell shape with nice dark features in the centre region.
M103 = Very pleasing and nice varying star colours through out the cluster.
M27 = The moon light really washed this nebula out but the shape of the dumbbell was still strong and easy to make out.
Eta Cas = A sublime view! The intensity of colour from the secondary star was nothing I had seen before, the most vibrant shade of dark blood red/brown I have ever seen. A truly unique star and double system.
NGC 891 = Barely visible. Averted vision allowed me to see a ghostly shape of the galaxy but the moon light was too much.
Finish = 00:00
So, overall an excellent night - GOTO issues aside - with some views being the best I've ever had. I really pray for clear nights during the new moon phase next month. I am itching so badly to get some galaxy observing done.
Below are a few photos taken:
I arrived at Bragan nice an early, around 18:50, so I could take my time in setting up and try to get some photos taken of my new setup.
Firstly, the scope itself. I am really impressed with the optical quality of the scope, it has already provided me with some of the best views I've ever had so I can feel many years of rewarding nights and a good relationship developing.
The bad news, where is the bad new? Sadly there is plenty. GOTO doesn't seem to work and Auto tracking gave up on my half way through the observing session but I think this is my mistake than anything because when I got home I took the manual out again and read through it and (because of my dyslexia I did not see how obvious this was) saw that there are two ways of aligning this mount, while so far I've been setting it up very similar to how I would with the EQ6 Pro. Sadly that means waiting for another clear night to try all this out again.
Apart from the mounts troubles it was a fantastic night with a nice turn out of other club members. Including myself, my brother and some other guy who came up to do some astrophotography there was 9 of us there. The crack was excellent and the observing was equally as good despite a very bright moon.
I took a look around the moon before I began my session and the views were extremely crisp and clean with sharp focus all the way down to 323x. One of the members is highly knowledgeable of the moon so he was able to guide me to places I normally wouldn't have taken much notice of - it was a long time since I enjoyed observing the moon like that.
One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that my mount got christened. While setting up the base I walked back to the car to get some more equipment when a big black Labrador dog came walking past, went over to my scope, cocked its leg and took a leak on it! Luckily it wasn't much and I had a window cleaning scrim to clean it off. What a start for a new scope though. No wonder the GOTO didn't work.
Equipment = Skyliner 14"
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3\4
Trans = 2
Start Time = 20:07
M57 = The finest structure I've seen in a long time. Even the central star was making an appearance through moments of steady seeing.
M13 = A breathtaking view. I never seen so many stars resolved so clearly in the eye piece before.
Juipter = A mind blowing view. I never seen Jupiter look this good. The GRS was so plainly obvious and rich in a red colour. The details in the bands were beyond 'wow', small white ovals, streaks and gaps all along the northern band. There was also a lovely shadow transit from one of the outer moons and then later a fresh shadow transit from Ganymede, which was really strong and showing up on everyone scopes. I could also see Ganymede itself moving across the disc of Jupiter. I could also see several other spots along the southern region and I lost count of all the details between the bands and zones.
If these are the kind of views I can expect from this scope then I am going to have some fantastic observing days ahead of me.
M76 = Lovely structure, displaying a strong dumbbell shape with nice dark features in the centre region.
M103 = Very pleasing and nice varying star colours through out the cluster.
M27 = The moon light really washed this nebula out but the shape of the dumbbell was still strong and easy to make out.
Eta Cas = A sublime view! The intensity of colour from the secondary star was nothing I had seen before, the most vibrant shade of dark blood red/brown I have ever seen. A truly unique star and double system.
NGC 891 = Barely visible. Averted vision allowed me to see a ghostly shape of the galaxy but the moon light was too much.
Finish = 00:00
So, overall an excellent night - GOTO issues aside - with some views being the best I've ever had. I really pray for clear nights during the new moon phase next month. I am itching so badly to get some galaxy observing done.
Below are a few photos taken:
Tuesday 12 October 2010
New telescope ordered
After years of saving up for a new scope I finally made the deal. I had pre-ordered a Skywatcher Skylinker 350P GO-TO at Firstlightoptics.com and Steve phoned me yesterday to say they are in stock.
All I could do was whip out the plastic card and make the payment!
I am really looking forward to this scope and it will be nice to get to see it and, hopefully, get to use it before I go away on holidays at the end of the month.
I'll take photos and videos and upload them a few days after it arrives.
All I could do was whip out the plastic card and make the payment!
I am really looking forward to this scope and it will be nice to get to see it and, hopefully, get to use it before I go away on holidays at the end of the month.
I'll take photos and videos and upload them a few days after it arrives.
Monday 11 October 2010
10th October 2010 - Report
Dry weather at last but the air quality is very poor with a thick haze and a muggy feel when outside. Still though, it was a clear night, warm and I was in the mood for observing so I got all set up and got stuck into double stars once again.
It's all I could do with the terrible sky quality but double stars never get boring to me so I was happy enough. Especially so when the night was very mild. In fact I spent the whole session observing in my bed clothes. So a light fleece, a pair of cotton sports bottoms and my comfy slippers was more than enough to keep me warm.
Seeing - 2
Trans - 1
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 10" Newt and laptop.
Location = Home
Start Time = 20:50
M57 = I choose this to start with so I could determine the observing conditions and make final decision on what I will observe. The view was better than I expected.
NGC 7331 = Again a test object to see how galaxies would hold up under the conditions. The result, very badly. A very poor view with only the bright core to be seen. So it was back to double star observing for sure now.
Matar = The star itself is yellowish with the secondary a pale white/blue shade with a large separation.
M15 = This was really showing up well in the muggy sky. Stars resolved well, only the overall brightness was affected.
32 Pegasi = A white coloured primary star with a rather faint secondary star, I could not pick up any hints of colour.
33 Pegasi = The primary star is orange/red in colour with the secondary nicely seperated, about a magnitude fainter and displaying a pale white/blue colour.
HIP108119 = A nice double. Very much like a smaller version of Albireo in Cygnus, colours were very much the same.
HIP114183 = Not much to look at with this double. The secondary star was very hard to see due to the conditions.
HIP115417 = This is a nice beauty of a double. Both stars a deep reddish shade with the secondary very close and very faint but a very fun and challenging to see.
HIP116961 = Another lovely pair with the primary being a deep red with the secondary nice separated and appearing very faint and blue in colour.
HIP115800 = A delightful little pair. So small and so close together it would be easy to mistake this pair as one star under low or medium power. I found that 175x gave the most pleasing view.
Comet Hartley (130R) I am not much of a comet observer or fan but of all the comets I've looked at over the last 10 years this feels as the most disappointing. I think most of the disappointment comes purely from the silly hype it is getting on Sky at Night and other astro websites.
All I could see was the bright core surrounding the nebulous and a hazy cloud around it. You'd think it was a faint galaxy if you didn't know there was a comet there.
Finish Time = 22:07
It's all I could do with the terrible sky quality but double stars never get boring to me so I was happy enough. Especially so when the night was very mild. In fact I spent the whole session observing in my bed clothes. So a light fleece, a pair of cotton sports bottoms and my comfy slippers was more than enough to keep me warm.
Seeing - 2
Trans - 1
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 10" Newt and laptop.
Location = Home
Start Time = 20:50
M57 = I choose this to start with so I could determine the observing conditions and make final decision on what I will observe. The view was better than I expected.
NGC 7331 = Again a test object to see how galaxies would hold up under the conditions. The result, very badly. A very poor view with only the bright core to be seen. So it was back to double star observing for sure now.
Matar = The star itself is yellowish with the secondary a pale white/blue shade with a large separation.
M15 = This was really showing up well in the muggy sky. Stars resolved well, only the overall brightness was affected.
32 Pegasi = A white coloured primary star with a rather faint secondary star, I could not pick up any hints of colour.
33 Pegasi = The primary star is orange/red in colour with the secondary nicely seperated, about a magnitude fainter and displaying a pale white/blue colour.
HIP108119 = A nice double. Very much like a smaller version of Albireo in Cygnus, colours were very much the same.
HIP114183 = Not much to look at with this double. The secondary star was very hard to see due to the conditions.
HIP115417 = This is a nice beauty of a double. Both stars a deep reddish shade with the secondary very close and very faint but a very fun and challenging to see.
HIP116961 = Another lovely pair with the primary being a deep red with the secondary nice separated and appearing very faint and blue in colour.
HIP115800 = A delightful little pair. So small and so close together it would be easy to mistake this pair as one star under low or medium power. I found that 175x gave the most pleasing view.
Comet Hartley (130R) I am not much of a comet observer or fan but of all the comets I've looked at over the last 10 years this feels as the most disappointing. I think most of the disappointment comes purely from the silly hype it is getting on Sky at Night and other astro websites.
All I could see was the bright core surrounding the nebulous and a hazy cloud around it. You'd think it was a faint galaxy if you didn't know there was a comet there.
Finish Time = 22:07
Tuesday 31 August 2010
30th/31st August 2010 - Report
Another beautiful day and with no wind. I was very tempted to go observing at Bragan but with a busy day ahead of me in the morning I decided to stay at home and make the most of my time.
The plan for tonight is to finish of my double tour in Cassiopeia and then make my way onto some of the doubles in Cepheus and then start to capture those images of Jupiter and the Moon that I tried to get from the other night.
Seeing = 3
Trans = 2
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor, Laptop and ToUcam.
Location = Home
Start Time = 22:48
Eat Cas = It is nice to start my night off with a good old favourite. Looking really good with strong colours.
Lambada Cas = A might find double. A very tight pair and the secondary is very faint, which can easily be overlooked by the brightness of the primary star. A great sight and well worth the effort.
Sigma Cas = Another tight pair and another beautiful view. 196x splits this double very nicely. Very little colour to pick up on, both very white.
TYC 3664 = An interesting view. Even at 196x the pair seems to be touching and both are similar size. If it were not for the decent seeing conditions I would not have seen this well enough to tell it was a double.
HIP398 = Another little gem and a real test of eye sight. The secondary star is so faint it took me some time to see it but once I did it was a pleasure. I highly recommend this, if just for the fun of the effort at least.
6 Cas = Almost identical to 398, with the differences being the primary star an orange colour and the secondary on the opposite side of the primary.
Pi Cep = Primary star is a lovely orange/red with the secondary very tight to the primary.
Alfirk = This made a lovely change with a lime green coloured primary star. The secondary is well separated.
HIP109474 = Average looking pair. Not much to write about here.
Kurhah = A lovely sight and a great way to end my session on doubles for the night. Strong colours dominated the view of this double, that provides a memorable view.
Uranus = 196x gave a nice view. The planet disk was apparent and there was also a nice hint of pale green.
Neptune = More star like than planet in appearance but there was a hint of blue.
Jupiter = A quality view. The 8 mm gave the best view with excellent detail in and around the zones and bands. With my imaging problems fixed from the previous nights griefs I got the camera into the eye piece and began recording my AVIs
Moon = I did not bother with a visual observation this time, I went straight into imaging. All equipment worked really well and I achieved very good focus.
Finish Time = 01:06
I had a great time out. Highly fulfilling and that nice feeling of a great night of observing being done.
My imagine results were rather good. Not brilliant but with the short time I spent on them I am pleased with the results.
The plan for tonight is to finish of my double tour in Cassiopeia and then make my way onto some of the doubles in Cepheus and then start to capture those images of Jupiter and the Moon that I tried to get from the other night.
Seeing = 3
Trans = 2
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor, Laptop and ToUcam.
Location = Home
Start Time = 22:48
Eat Cas = It is nice to start my night off with a good old favourite. Looking really good with strong colours.
Lambada Cas = A might find double. A very tight pair and the secondary is very faint, which can easily be overlooked by the brightness of the primary star. A great sight and well worth the effort.
Sigma Cas = Another tight pair and another beautiful view. 196x splits this double very nicely. Very little colour to pick up on, both very white.
TYC 3664 = An interesting view. Even at 196x the pair seems to be touching and both are similar size. If it were not for the decent seeing conditions I would not have seen this well enough to tell it was a double.
HIP398 = Another little gem and a real test of eye sight. The secondary star is so faint it took me some time to see it but once I did it was a pleasure. I highly recommend this, if just for the fun of the effort at least.
6 Cas = Almost identical to 398, with the differences being the primary star an orange colour and the secondary on the opposite side of the primary.
Pi Cep = Primary star is a lovely orange/red with the secondary very tight to the primary.
Alfirk = This made a lovely change with a lime green coloured primary star. The secondary is well separated.
HIP109474 = Average looking pair. Not much to write about here.
Kurhah = A lovely sight and a great way to end my session on doubles for the night. Strong colours dominated the view of this double, that provides a memorable view.
Uranus = 196x gave a nice view. The planet disk was apparent and there was also a nice hint of pale green.
Neptune = More star like than planet in appearance but there was a hint of blue.
Jupiter = A quality view. The 8 mm gave the best view with excellent detail in and around the zones and bands. With my imaging problems fixed from the previous nights griefs I got the camera into the eye piece and began recording my AVIs
Moon = I did not bother with a visual observation this time, I went straight into imaging. All equipment worked really well and I achieved very good focus.
Finish Time = 01:06
I had a great time out. Highly fulfilling and that nice feeling of a great night of observing being done.
My imagine results were rather good. Not brilliant but with the short time I spent on them I am pleased with the results.
Monday 30 August 2010
29th/30th August 2010 - Report
It was a beautiful day with strong winds but those winds calmed down to gentle breezes by night time. The sky quality was very good with a great freshness in the air but it was also very chilly for the time of year so unlike my other nights out at home observing in my bed clothes and slippers I had to dress up for this one.
The plan tonight is to observe double stars in or around Cassiopeia and then, once rising high enough, attempt to image Jupiter and the Moon.
Seeing = 3
Trans = 3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor, Laptop with Starry Night and ToUcam Pro.
Location = Home
Start Time = 22:27
HIP8362 = A rather bland looking double at first appearance. A well separated pair and the primary star displays a strong gold colour.
HIP9312 = This is a fun double. The secondary star is so small and faint that I could only see it with averted vision. There were no apparent colours to me but a very nice pair regardless.
Iota Cass = A stunning triple! It has been a long time since I've seen any new triple systems and this one certainly has the wow factor to it. It takes a lot to split the star into all three members. My 8.1mm Hyperion showed two stars but averted vision kept making me think that I was seeing something very close to the primary star, so I put in the 5.1mm and sure enough there was a third star. Faint and very close to it's parent star. Starry nights' online info about the system said that the two stars are 100AU and 300 AU away from Iota. That to me was a rather mind blowing fact, considering that most doubles you look at are many times that distance from their parent stars. A thrilling observation and one I spend a long time looking at.
48 Cass = Quite a lovely but extremely tight pair which took all the magnification I could manage to split but once split it was a fine sight indeed.
HIP8626 = A standard looking double. Well separated with and orange coloured primary star.
HIP5950 = Very plain and standard looking indeed, with a large separation.
Psi Cass = Beautiful double. The primary star is large and golden yellow in colour with the secondary star a small and faint with a pale white appearance.
Theta Cass = A very tight double that needed the 5.1mm to split and a very pleasing sight to see, which seems to be a recurring pleasure with all the tight doubles tonight.
Moon = I decided that it was now time to start capturing some AVIs in the hope to make a small mosaic of the terminator. It took a long time for me to get things working because during set-up and trying to focus the image on my laptop screen the drivers for the cam corrupted and resulted in my seeing nothing but a black image no matter what I did. So I spent a long time downloading new drivers, editing the inf files so they would work with Windows 7. In the end I got all working and was able to capture 7 AVIs of the moon and two test AVIs of Jupiter. After this I packed up and went to bed and while in bed I had the laptop with me to try stacking the AVIs to preview the results but I was quickly disappointed to discover that during my annoyance of have to fix the cam I forgot to set the resolution to its highest so all my recordings were tiny and useless.
At least everything is working again and will, hopefully, be problem free the next night I use this equipment.
Finish Time = 01:44
The plan tonight is to observe double stars in or around Cassiopeia and then, once rising high enough, attempt to image Jupiter and the Moon.
Seeing = 3
Trans = 3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor, Laptop with Starry Night and ToUcam Pro.
Location = Home
Start Time = 22:27
HIP8362 = A rather bland looking double at first appearance. A well separated pair and the primary star displays a strong gold colour.
HIP9312 = This is a fun double. The secondary star is so small and faint that I could only see it with averted vision. There were no apparent colours to me but a very nice pair regardless.
Iota Cass = A stunning triple! It has been a long time since I've seen any new triple systems and this one certainly has the wow factor to it. It takes a lot to split the star into all three members. My 8.1mm Hyperion showed two stars but averted vision kept making me think that I was seeing something very close to the primary star, so I put in the 5.1mm and sure enough there was a third star. Faint and very close to it's parent star. Starry nights' online info about the system said that the two stars are 100AU and 300 AU away from Iota. That to me was a rather mind blowing fact, considering that most doubles you look at are many times that distance from their parent stars. A thrilling observation and one I spend a long time looking at.
48 Cass = Quite a lovely but extremely tight pair which took all the magnification I could manage to split but once split it was a fine sight indeed.
HIP8626 = A standard looking double. Well separated with and orange coloured primary star.
HIP5950 = Very plain and standard looking indeed, with a large separation.
Psi Cass = Beautiful double. The primary star is large and golden yellow in colour with the secondary star a small and faint with a pale white appearance.
Theta Cass = A very tight double that needed the 5.1mm to split and a very pleasing sight to see, which seems to be a recurring pleasure with all the tight doubles tonight.
Moon = I decided that it was now time to start capturing some AVIs in the hope to make a small mosaic of the terminator. It took a long time for me to get things working because during set-up and trying to focus the image on my laptop screen the drivers for the cam corrupted and resulted in my seeing nothing but a black image no matter what I did. So I spent a long time downloading new drivers, editing the inf files so they would work with Windows 7. In the end I got all working and was able to capture 7 AVIs of the moon and two test AVIs of Jupiter. After this I packed up and went to bed and while in bed I had the laptop with me to try stacking the AVIs to preview the results but I was quickly disappointed to discover that during my annoyance of have to fix the cam I forgot to set the resolution to its highest so all my recordings were tiny and useless.
At least everything is working again and will, hopefully, be problem free the next night I use this equipment.
Finish Time = 01:44
Sunday 22 August 2010
21-22nd August 2010 - Report
I am beginning to feel spoiled by the amount of observing time I've had recently. Mainly due to the unexpected clear spells during the night. Unexpected they may be but I am still very thankful for them all the same.
The only problems with tonight was the moon and the high levels of moisture in the air caused by the shocking down pours of rain from a few shower clouds earlier in the day. Strangely enough I never encountered any dew problems. On nights like these I'd usually be plagued with wet equipment and eyepieces but I never once felt a wet surface or had to de-mist a eyepiece.
The plan for tonight was the same as last night, double star observing - focused around Cygnus - and using my laptop to control the mount as an aid to finding those tricky stars. With the lessons learned from last nights setting up it only took me a few minutes to get everything ready and fully operational.
Seeing = 3
Transparency = 2
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor and laptop with Starry Night Pro 6.
Location = Home
Start Time = 23:35
52 Cygni = A fine sight. I enjoy this double more every time I see it. Beautiful size differences between primary and secondary stars and lovely rich colours.
48 Cygni = Nothing exciting with this pair. A large separation. This could look nice in binoculars.
49 Cygni = This is a stunning double. It took the 5.1mm to split it but the view of the companion was a delight, to say the least. The primary star was a rich amber colour with the companion exhibiting a lovely diamond blue.
E2700 = An average looking pair that are well separated from each other and easy to see at low power. Good display of colour though, with a reddish shade for the primary and a deep blue for the companion.
E2705 = A delightful pair looking like two pin points of light and close together. I could not detect any sense of colour from either star but observing with the 5.1mm made for a fine view indeed.
44 Cygni = I knew trying to split this was a long shot and even after spend quite a bit of time and even trying the 2x barlow lens along with the 5.1mm failed to split the pair.
Lambda Cygni = Not a very excitable pair, rather bland in colour and appearance.
E2762 = A lovely pair. The companion start is so small looking beside its primary that it could easily be overlooked. Both stars seemed to appear as cyrstal blue in colour.
69 Cygni = Average, standard looking double with a large separation. Not much to write about here.
61 Cygni = A neat pair of similar size and colour, which appears as a copper orange.
60 Cygni = Another lovely pair, with the companion very faint and close to the primary. The 5.1mm and averted vision help to show the loveliness of this pair.
59 Cygni = A nice pair that is similar to 60 Cygni but with more separation and the companion being a brighter star.
Omicron 1 Cygni = It has been a while since I observed this system and the striking colours are a wonderful sight indeed, with one of the stars in the group being a, rare, green colour.
Jupiter = A great view. Not as fantastic as last week perhaps but still highly detailed with the GRS clearly visible and all the moons we on view.
Finish = 01:12
The only problems with tonight was the moon and the high levels of moisture in the air caused by the shocking down pours of rain from a few shower clouds earlier in the day. Strangely enough I never encountered any dew problems. On nights like these I'd usually be plagued with wet equipment and eyepieces but I never once felt a wet surface or had to de-mist a eyepiece.
The plan for tonight was the same as last night, double star observing - focused around Cygnus - and using my laptop to control the mount as an aid to finding those tricky stars. With the lessons learned from last nights setting up it only took me a few minutes to get everything ready and fully operational.
Seeing = 3
Transparency = 2
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor and laptop with Starry Night Pro 6.
Location = Home
Start Time = 23:35
52 Cygni = A fine sight. I enjoy this double more every time I see it. Beautiful size differences between primary and secondary stars and lovely rich colours.
48 Cygni = Nothing exciting with this pair. A large separation. This could look nice in binoculars.
49 Cygni = This is a stunning double. It took the 5.1mm to split it but the view of the companion was a delight, to say the least. The primary star was a rich amber colour with the companion exhibiting a lovely diamond blue.
E2700 = An average looking pair that are well separated from each other and easy to see at low power. Good display of colour though, with a reddish shade for the primary and a deep blue for the companion.
E2705 = A delightful pair looking like two pin points of light and close together. I could not detect any sense of colour from either star but observing with the 5.1mm made for a fine view indeed.
44 Cygni = I knew trying to split this was a long shot and even after spend quite a bit of time and even trying the 2x barlow lens along with the 5.1mm failed to split the pair.
Lambda Cygni = Not a very excitable pair, rather bland in colour and appearance.
E2762 = A lovely pair. The companion start is so small looking beside its primary that it could easily be overlooked. Both stars seemed to appear as cyrstal blue in colour.
69 Cygni = Average, standard looking double with a large separation. Not much to write about here.
61 Cygni = A neat pair of similar size and colour, which appears as a copper orange.
60 Cygni = Another lovely pair, with the companion very faint and close to the primary. The 5.1mm and averted vision help to show the loveliness of this pair.
59 Cygni = A nice pair that is similar to 60 Cygni but with more separation and the companion being a brighter star.
Omicron 1 Cygni = It has been a while since I observed this system and the striking colours are a wonderful sight indeed, with one of the stars in the group being a, rare, green colour.
Jupiter = A great view. Not as fantastic as last week perhaps but still highly detailed with the GRS clearly visible and all the moons we on view.
Finish = 01:12
Saturday 21 August 2010
20th August 2010 - Report
It was an unexpectedly, partly, clear night. After a night and morning of terrible heavy rain and strong winds persisting through out the day. It was a welcome sight to see clear skies after such weather.
I decided to stay at home and have some fun with my equipment. I was in the mood for double star observing and for a long time now I wanted to properly use my laptop and Starry Night Pro to control my mount and make observing those hard to find double stars easy to observe.
Seeing = 3
Transparency = 2
Location = Home
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor, Laptop and Starry Night Pro 6
Start Time = 23:12
Sheliak = A nice triple system, all of a similar colour. I always meant to observe this as it's a star that famous to me through Star Trek: The Next Generation.
17 Cygni = A very tight double which was a pleasure to observe. The 8mm eyepiece just managed to split this.
Finish = 23:44
In typical Irish weather fashion the weather decided it would be a brilliant time to cloud over while I was observing my second object. The night end far, far sooner than I had expected but it was time well spent getting my laptop and mount setup, configured and teaching myself how to used it correctly.
As always when you try to use technology there will always be problems to over come and spending time on getting this all set up did use up a lot of valuable clear skies time. At least now I know what is involved and how to troubleshoot any connectivity problems that can occur so future setups like this should only take a few minutes.
I decided to stay at home and have some fun with my equipment. I was in the mood for double star observing and for a long time now I wanted to properly use my laptop and Starry Night Pro to control my mount and make observing those hard to find double stars easy to observe.
Seeing = 3
Transparency = 2
Location = Home
Equipment = EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor, Laptop and Starry Night Pro 6
Start Time = 23:12
Sheliak = A nice triple system, all of a similar colour. I always meant to observe this as it's a star that famous to me through Star Trek: The Next Generation.
17 Cygni = A very tight double which was a pleasure to observe. The 8mm eyepiece just managed to split this.
Finish = 23:44
In typical Irish weather fashion the weather decided it would be a brilliant time to cloud over while I was observing my second object. The night end far, far sooner than I had expected but it was time well spent getting my laptop and mount setup, configured and teaching myself how to used it correctly.
As always when you try to use technology there will always be problems to over come and spending time on getting this all set up did use up a lot of valuable clear skies time. At least now I know what is involved and how to troubleshoot any connectivity problems that can occur so future setups like this should only take a few minutes.
14th August 2010 - Report
The forecast was predicting a clear night even though the day has been completly overcast with heavy cloud. Looking at the weather data online showed that clear skies were moving in for early eveing so I decided to trust the data and load my equipment into the car for a night up at Bragan. Sure enough, by 19:00 the coud started to break and a lovely skies quickly took over.
Two club members joined me for the night but I arrived at the site first and the drive up the mountain I was graced by a fine sunset with a setting moon. It was a beautiful setting to what was going to turn out to be an fine sight.
Seeing = 3
Transparency = 3
Location = Bragan
Equipment = EQ6 Pro & Orion 10"
Start Time = 23:21
The observations for the night are as follows:
M54 = Being so low down I expected this to look average at best and it was rather poor. Starting for a while did start to reveal some stars but otherwise this cluster just looked washed out and blurry.
M22 = A beautiful sight, with so many stars giving a great sense of depth. A rare treat.
M25 = A rather sparse OC that doesn't show very well in a scope but good colour difference could be seen well.
M16 = Pretty much the same thing as M25 and, sadly, no sign of the nebula.
M8 = The best nebulosity I have seen with this nebula but the image was very blurry due to its low position.
M20 = A decent view with a clear view of faint nebula and the dark lanes were easily onbserved.
M21 = A very small OC with only a handful of stars to observe but still pretty to look at.
M23 = A fine sight. Wonderfully dispersed and the imagination can run wild tying to creat asterisms.
M17 = Not as good as last year but still very good. The image of the swan was still very pronounced and strong.
NGC 6781 = Very stong nebula structre. There was actually to much detial seen to be able to see the wonderful faint ring that makes this nebula famous and such a pleasure to observe.
M27 = Looking very good.
NGC 6888 = Very faint. Using AV for a long time shows a ghostly arch. Certainly not my best view.
M75 = A very small and compact looking gobular cluster, appearing nothing more than a fuzzy ball
NGC 7293 = With help from the UHC-S filter I was able to see the Helix for the first time. It was still very faint, and completely invisible with out the filter, but what little detail there was the shape of the nebula was evident and made this a thrilling first time observation.
M15 = As usual, a stunning view with mass of stars.
M2 = Every bit as good as M15. Simply marvlous.
Stephan's Quintet = A fair view, considering the average transparency, with four out of five in the group visable and well seen when viewing conditions permits.
Jupiter = Easily one of the best observations I have ever had. Exquisit details in the zones and bands and the red spot very prominant. This was a view that certainly had the wow factor.
NGC 891 = A fair view of this elusive galaxy. Shape and structure was decent but not hint of the lovely dark features through the centeral region.
NGC 772 = A new object for me and surprisingly good, much better than I was expecting. A bright core with an irregular looking shape.
Finish = 03.15
Two club members joined me for the night but I arrived at the site first and the drive up the mountain I was graced by a fine sunset with a setting moon. It was a beautiful setting to what was going to turn out to be an fine sight.
Seeing = 3
Transparency = 3
Location = Bragan
Equipment = EQ6 Pro & Orion 10"
Start Time = 23:21
The observations for the night are as follows:
M54 = Being so low down I expected this to look average at best and it was rather poor. Starting for a while did start to reveal some stars but otherwise this cluster just looked washed out and blurry.
M22 = A beautiful sight, with so many stars giving a great sense of depth. A rare treat.
M25 = A rather sparse OC that doesn't show very well in a scope but good colour difference could be seen well.
M16 = Pretty much the same thing as M25 and, sadly, no sign of the nebula.
M8 = The best nebulosity I have seen with this nebula but the image was very blurry due to its low position.
M20 = A decent view with a clear view of faint nebula and the dark lanes were easily onbserved.
M21 = A very small OC with only a handful of stars to observe but still pretty to look at.
M23 = A fine sight. Wonderfully dispersed and the imagination can run wild tying to creat asterisms.
M17 = Not as good as last year but still very good. The image of the swan was still very pronounced and strong.
NGC 6781 = Very stong nebula structre. There was actually to much detial seen to be able to see the wonderful faint ring that makes this nebula famous and such a pleasure to observe.
M27 = Looking very good.
NGC 6888 = Very faint. Using AV for a long time shows a ghostly arch. Certainly not my best view.
M75 = A very small and compact looking gobular cluster, appearing nothing more than a fuzzy ball
NGC 7293 = With help from the UHC-S filter I was able to see the Helix for the first time. It was still very faint, and completely invisible with out the filter, but what little detail there was the shape of the nebula was evident and made this a thrilling first time observation.
M15 = As usual, a stunning view with mass of stars.
M2 = Every bit as good as M15. Simply marvlous.
Stephan's Quintet = A fair view, considering the average transparency, with four out of five in the group visable and well seen when viewing conditions permits.
Jupiter = Easily one of the best observations I have ever had. Exquisit details in the zones and bands and the red spot very prominant. This was a view that certainly had the wow factor.
NGC 891 = A fair view of this elusive galaxy. Shape and structure was decent but not hint of the lovely dark features through the centeral region.
NGC 772 = A new object for me and surprisingly good, much better than I was expecting. A bright core with an irregular looking shape.
Finish = 03.15
Saturday 14 August 2010
13th August 2010 - Report
A very cloudy day but the weather forecast did show the night to be clear so I made the decision to join in on the NIAAS annual Perseid meteor watch and BBQ at Killylane.
I also invited my brother along, to which he agreed.
I didn't bring any equipment with me apart from my reclining chair, laser pointer and 15x70 binoculars. I never used the binoculars though so it was an observing night with a set of eye balls only.
There was a nice display of perseids but not as many as I was hoping for.
I did have a gander through Stevie's C6 to see Jupiter, M29 and a very good view of Uranus.
The night was a shortish one as cloud thickened up just after 1am but the food was good and the company and banter even more so.
I also invited my brother along, to which he agreed.
I didn't bring any equipment with me apart from my reclining chair, laser pointer and 15x70 binoculars. I never used the binoculars though so it was an observing night with a set of eye balls only.
There was a nice display of perseids but not as many as I was hoping for.
I did have a gander through Stevie's C6 to see Jupiter, M29 and a very good view of Uranus.
The night was a shortish one as cloud thickened up just after 1am but the food was good and the company and banter even more so.
Wednesday 11 August 2010
10th August 2010 - Report
At last! My first night out of the new observing season, after a summer of bad weather that felt too long and no chance for observing. It felt exciting to be out again.
Seeing = 3
Trans = 3
Location = Home
Equipment = EQ6 and Orion 10"
Start Time = 23:20
M57 = A really fine sight with the nebula very bright in appearance along with some good detail. I looked at this for quite some time.
M27 = A wonderful view. The nebula filled the FOV of the 8mm and after staring for some time I could pick out stars lying in around the same area of the nebula. The 20mm along with the UHC-S filter showed M27 in all it's glory.
M71 = A fine view of a cluster that gets overlooked. A lovely swath of stars that were resolving nicely at all magnifications.
M56 = Resolving well. It has been some time since I looked at this globular cluster last while looking so well.
NGC 6960 = Superb structure, along with some lovely filament like details.
NGC 6995 = So delicate yet so intricate looking. The darker features between the nebulous regions and the areas where the blackness of space peak through and the stars scattered around this large expanse provides for a very moving sight. A truly beautiful part of this glorious SNR.
NGC 6826 = Quite possibly my best view of this PN. The center star showed very brightly and pin point and the strong and well defined nebula was well seen.
NGC 7331 = An average view. Not an ideal night for galaxy observing it seems but bright regions along the central regions provided something interesting to look at.
Almach = I couldn't end my night with out saying hello to my old friend and looking beautiful as always too.
End Time = 01:02
By this time the cloud had started to move in from the north and feeling quite fatigued it was time for bed. There were also some great Perseids on show too. It was a very short but very thrilling observing session and has really wetted my appetite for some serious nights out at Bragan. I just need to find an astronomy site that sells clear skies...
Seeing = 3
Trans = 3
Location = Home
Equipment = EQ6 and Orion 10"
Start Time = 23:20
M57 = A really fine sight with the nebula very bright in appearance along with some good detail. I looked at this for quite some time.
M27 = A wonderful view. The nebula filled the FOV of the 8mm and after staring for some time I could pick out stars lying in around the same area of the nebula. The 20mm along with the UHC-S filter showed M27 in all it's glory.
M71 = A fine view of a cluster that gets overlooked. A lovely swath of stars that were resolving nicely at all magnifications.
M56 = Resolving well. It has been some time since I looked at this globular cluster last while looking so well.
NGC 6960 = Superb structure, along with some lovely filament like details.
NGC 6995 = So delicate yet so intricate looking. The darker features between the nebulous regions and the areas where the blackness of space peak through and the stars scattered around this large expanse provides for a very moving sight. A truly beautiful part of this glorious SNR.
NGC 6826 = Quite possibly my best view of this PN. The center star showed very brightly and pin point and the strong and well defined nebula was well seen.
NGC 7331 = An average view. Not an ideal night for galaxy observing it seems but bright regions along the central regions provided something interesting to look at.
Almach = I couldn't end my night with out saying hello to my old friend and looking beautiful as always too.
End Time = 01:02
By this time the cloud had started to move in from the north and feeling quite fatigued it was time for bed. There were also some great Perseids on show too. It was a very short but very thrilling observing session and has really wetted my appetite for some serious nights out at Bragan. I just need to find an astronomy site that sells clear skies...
Saturday 17 April 2010
14th April 2010 - Report
I had some really good success in repairing my mount over the last couple of days. Thanks to some very helpful chaps over at AstroChat, they were able to provide me a link to a site that explained polar setup and alignment, for the EQ6, in a simple way.
I took the mount out yesterday (13th) in day light hours and had my laptop by my side so I could glance over the guide when needed.
After 20 minutes of work it seemed I had everything working perfectly again so rather than fiddle a bit more with it I left it for the next clear night to test it out, which turned out to be sooner that I thought.
So tonight was clear and I was itching to try out my collimated polar scope so I got the mount setup by 21:30 and the movement of everything in the polar rectal was really nice and pleasing to see.
After a short bit of fine tuning I got my 10" Orion mounted and started to get ready for a short observing session.
When it came to star alignment for the scope my selection was limited. From my back yard the view of the sky is limited to the North, part of the East, zenith and that's pretty much it. A three star alignment was just not going to happen so I decided that a two star alignment would be a great way to test out my work so I choose two stars and then the moment of truth came. With a wonderful feeling both alignment stars were only short distance out of the FOV and once alignment was complete I was anxious to test the GOTO accuracy, so first up was M51- as it was almost straight over head - and the mount stopped with the galaxy almost dead centre of the FOV in a 8mm eyepiece.
With success at hand I decided to make a night of it and since I had a clear view of Ursa Major right down to Leo it was an ideal time for me to start the galaxy hunt I've been wanting to do in that area of the sky for a long time now.
I never took my diary out to make note of my observations so I just wrote down each object on a piece of paper.
The observations for the night are as follows:
M51 = Very good, strong structure and spiral arms could be seen.
M101 = Average, mainly a smudgy blur with washed out details.
M63 - Very good, with strong structure and looking bright along with some nice details.
M107 = A decent view.
NGC 4102 = A nice view, with a Milkyway star placed at the foreground of the galaxy.
NGC 3953 = A very good view.
NGC 4026 = Very nice.
NGC 4088 = An average view.
NGC 4157 = Very good.
M94 = WOW! Great detail in the nucleus and disk.
NGC 4618 = A nice view with another galaxy in the FOV that isn't listed or shown in any of my star maps.
NGC 4490 = WOW! Another fine sight and again has another galaxy in the same FOV.
NGC 5005 = Decent.
NGC 5033 = Decent .
NGC 4145 = Very faint, not a lot to see.
NGC 4244 = A beautiful and very fine looking edge on galaxy.
NGC 4214 = Decent.
NGC 4203 = Quite faint.
NGC 4395 = Too faint to see anything, even with AV it was hard to tell if anything was there.
NGC 4631 = Quite nice.
NGC 4656 = Decent.
NGC 4314 = Decent.
NGC 4274 = Nice.
NGC 4278 = Decent.
NGC 4251 = Faint.
NGC 4136 = Faint.
NGC 3626 = Faint.
NGC 3608, 3607 = A nice view.
NGC 3655 = Faint.
NGC 3686 = Decent.
NGC 3596 = Faint.
NGC 3593 = Decent.
NGC 3628, M65, M66 = A very nice sight tonight, looking strong with some nice details.
Saturn = A very fine sight with good details and three moons visible but thermals from the roof my house was causing it to dance in my eyepiece from time to time.
M97 = A decent view.
M13 = Average.
That completed my night and I was feeling very pleased and also quite astonished with how my galaxies I was able to get through.
There aren't enough nights like these. I am hoping that my next night out at Bragan will be one where everything goes to plan and works really well like tonight.
I took the mount out yesterday (13th) in day light hours and had my laptop by my side so I could glance over the guide when needed.
After 20 minutes of work it seemed I had everything working perfectly again so rather than fiddle a bit more with it I left it for the next clear night to test it out, which turned out to be sooner that I thought.
So tonight was clear and I was itching to try out my collimated polar scope so I got the mount setup by 21:30 and the movement of everything in the polar rectal was really nice and pleasing to see.
After a short bit of fine tuning I got my 10" Orion mounted and started to get ready for a short observing session.
When it came to star alignment for the scope my selection was limited. From my back yard the view of the sky is limited to the North, part of the East, zenith and that's pretty much it. A three star alignment was just not going to happen so I decided that a two star alignment would be a great way to test out my work so I choose two stars and then the moment of truth came. With a wonderful feeling both alignment stars were only short distance out of the FOV and once alignment was complete I was anxious to test the GOTO accuracy, so first up was M51- as it was almost straight over head - and the mount stopped with the galaxy almost dead centre of the FOV in a 8mm eyepiece.
With success at hand I decided to make a night of it and since I had a clear view of Ursa Major right down to Leo it was an ideal time for me to start the galaxy hunt I've been wanting to do in that area of the sky for a long time now.
I never took my diary out to make note of my observations so I just wrote down each object on a piece of paper.
The observations for the night are as follows:
M51 = Very good, strong structure and spiral arms could be seen.
M101 = Average, mainly a smudgy blur with washed out details.
M63 - Very good, with strong structure and looking bright along with some nice details.
M107 = A decent view.
NGC 4102 = A nice view, with a Milkyway star placed at the foreground of the galaxy.
NGC 3953 = A very good view.
NGC 4026 = Very nice.
NGC 4088 = An average view.
NGC 4157 = Very good.
M94 = WOW! Great detail in the nucleus and disk.
NGC 4618 = A nice view with another galaxy in the FOV that isn't listed or shown in any of my star maps.
NGC 4490 = WOW! Another fine sight and again has another galaxy in the same FOV.
NGC 5005 = Decent.
NGC 5033 = Decent .
NGC 4145 = Very faint, not a lot to see.
NGC 4244 = A beautiful and very fine looking edge on galaxy.
NGC 4214 = Decent.
NGC 4203 = Quite faint.
NGC 4395 = Too faint to see anything, even with AV it was hard to tell if anything was there.
NGC 4631 = Quite nice.
NGC 4656 = Decent.
NGC 4314 = Decent.
NGC 4274 = Nice.
NGC 4278 = Decent.
NGC 4251 = Faint.
NGC 4136 = Faint.
NGC 3626 = Faint.
NGC 3608, 3607 = A nice view.
NGC 3655 = Faint.
NGC 3686 = Decent.
NGC 3596 = Faint.
NGC 3593 = Decent.
NGC 3628, M65, M66 = A very nice sight tonight, looking strong with some nice details.
Saturn = A very fine sight with good details and three moons visible but thermals from the roof my house was causing it to dance in my eyepiece from time to time.
M97 = A decent view.
M13 = Average.
That completed my night and I was feeling very pleased and also quite astonished with how my galaxies I was able to get through.
There aren't enough nights like these. I am hoping that my next night out at Bragan will be one where everything goes to plan and works really well like tonight.
Monday 12 April 2010
10th April 2010 - Report
There had already been several days of fantastic high weather as we are being blessed by a lovely high pressure system, so predicting clear night a few days ahead was a lot easier to do. I had made the suggestion to have a BBQ with an observing session afterwards.
The day was lovely with sun shine and warmth. Five members, including myself and one non member join me for the evening as I invited him to come along.
The evening started of great with great food, tea and coffee going around and during our munching a couple on a motor bike stopped to find out what we were up to.
Eventually we all had our gear set up and were waiting for Venus to make her appearance but during that we were displayed with a lovely sun pillar, which I hadn't seen in years.
Eventually Venus was spotted and then Mercury quickly after.
Soon after that it was now dark enough for me to set up my mount and get it polar aligned but I'd been having GOTO accuracy issues due to my polar scope being poorly collimated so I tried to make some adjustments to improve it but in my efforts I made it so much work but allowing a part to fall out. I tried my best to get things up and running but the GOTO just got worse and worse.
I did get a very nice view of Saturn, which tracked very well to for a while, but after that I decided to pack up and just socialise for a while.
On the nice side, word of our presence at Bragan spread across the locals and eventually we have quite a group of people showing up, wanting to see things and asking so many questions. It was a pleasure to talk and show these people their first views of the heavens through a scope.
Another down side is that cloud started to thicken a bit and with the lack of wind it just hung in the sky.
I think it was around midnight when we all begun to pack up. I wasn't happy about leaving early but with no scope to observe with and being under dressed I reluctantly left.
With my mount in dire need or repairs an maintenance this probably means the end of my observing for season...
Below are some pictures of the evening:
The day was lovely with sun shine and warmth. Five members, including myself and one non member join me for the evening as I invited him to come along.
The evening started of great with great food, tea and coffee going around and during our munching a couple on a motor bike stopped to find out what we were up to.
Eventually we all had our gear set up and were waiting for Venus to make her appearance but during that we were displayed with a lovely sun pillar, which I hadn't seen in years.
Eventually Venus was spotted and then Mercury quickly after.
Soon after that it was now dark enough for me to set up my mount and get it polar aligned but I'd been having GOTO accuracy issues due to my polar scope being poorly collimated so I tried to make some adjustments to improve it but in my efforts I made it so much work but allowing a part to fall out. I tried my best to get things up and running but the GOTO just got worse and worse.
I did get a very nice view of Saturn, which tracked very well to for a while, but after that I decided to pack up and just socialise for a while.
On the nice side, word of our presence at Bragan spread across the locals and eventually we have quite a group of people showing up, wanting to see things and asking so many questions. It was a pleasure to talk and show these people their first views of the heavens through a scope.
Another down side is that cloud started to thicken a bit and with the lack of wind it just hung in the sky.
I think it was around midnight when we all begun to pack up. I wasn't happy about leaving early but with no scope to observe with and being under dressed I reluctantly left.
With my mount in dire need or repairs an maintenance this probably means the end of my observing for season...
Below are some pictures of the evening:
Thursday 11 March 2010
9th March 2010 - Report
The weather over the past several days has been fantastic. Warm sunny days followed by crisp clear nights but due family business and work I had to miss out on some lovely nights but not tonight.
Due to the weather system being a high pressure it was only to be expected that horizon views were going to be a bit hazy but considering some of the nights I have been out in similar conditions the haze was not bad at all, only really reaching 5 degrees above the horizon at the very most.
Seeing was fabulous and the air dead still with only hints of a breeze during the night, I couldn't have asked for better in this regard.
My plan for tonight was to have a quick practise run at the Messier marathon, to give me an idea of when to be at the site, set up and when to start observing for any real chances I get to try the marathon out for real. Also to see how many objects are possible to observe from our latitude.
I also had a few new galaxies jotted down in my notes to observe and had been crossing my fingers that transparency would be forgiving enough to allow decent galaxy observing.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4.5
Trans = 2/3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newt
Start = 20:22
The observations for the night are as follows:
M74 = Almost invisible. Low magnification and prolonged AV showed its ghostly shape. I suppose you could say, expectedly poor.
M77 = Surprisingly this was one of my better views of this galaxy but at the same time not much to see. A bright core with the faint fuzzy disk surrounding it.
M33 = Another surprise. I didn't expect to see very much of the galaxy considering how low Andromeda was to the horizon but the central regions was bright and some spiral features could be seen.
M32, M31 and M110 = Easily seen, nice and bright but very little to be seen.
M52 = A very pretty OC and the stars were looking pin point sharp under the great seeing conditions, along with some lovely subtle colours.
M103 = A real beauty of an OC, one of my favourites, displaying stunning star colours.
M76 = A real delight to look at tonight with excellent shape and structure, thanks again to the great seeing, but not much detail to take in. Still though, one of my best view of this PN in a long time.
M34 = A vast OC, fitting well into the FOV of the 17mm.
M79 = Easy to see but washed out due to be so low in, the slightly hazy, horizon.
M42 & M43 = Breathtaking... Easily one of my greatest views this year and last. I never saw the trapezium so pin point sharp - I could even see the stars E and F - and M43 itself was just stunning on its own with excellent detail and AC revealing much more nebulosity in the surrounding area. Brilliant!
M78 = Not a bad sight at all. More nebulosity could be seen than on most other observations and the two stars seemed to help with the contrast. Though it still doesn't compare to the awesome view I had from several years back.
M1 = A nice view with the 'S' like shape appearing nicely. Sadly not transparent enough to show any of the web like details.
M35 = Looking great, as usual, with the fainter NGC 2158 looking every bit as good and really standing out.
M37 = What a delight. I don't think I have looked at this OC in the last five years and how foolish of me. It's a real pleaser the eye.
M36 = Another OC that is a pleasant surprise. A loose pattern of stars.
M38 = This OC fills the FOV of the 17mm perfectly. Stars that are all of similar magnitude, quite nice.
M41 = Rather washed out looking due to the, still present, haze. A real shame.
M50 = Fairly nice but the haze spoils the view again.
M47 = Pretty. A sparse and scattered looking OC with stars of varying magnitude.
M46 = Very nice, with the PN easy to see but not anywhere as good as the night I observed it.
M93 = An exceptional view considering the conditions and how low down this was. An oddly shaped OC and the odd shape itself adds to the charm.
M48 = Fairly nice and yet again oddly shaped.
M44 = Easily seen by the naked eye and no chance of fitting it into the FOV on any of my eyepieces.
M81 & M82 = Both galaxies looked great, particularly M82, displaying fine details.
M108 = Faint but nice. AV helped reveal a lovely thin disk with a very small but bright core. It's been a long time since I observed this last.
M97 = A decent view. Solid structure and reasonable detail with the hollow looking eyes contrasting well with AV.
M109 = Nothing much to see but a faint disk surrounding a bright core.
M106 = Very much the same story as M109 but with a little more detail.
M40 = very fain and only showing itself with AV and not much to look at even then.
M95 = Disappointing. Faint and poor structure.
M96 = Very much the same thing as M95 only a little brighter.
NGC 4565 = A jaw dropping view! What a superb looking galaxy. A needle thin pillar of light as the galaxys' disk with a compact and very bright core. A must see on a better night for galaxies but even under tonight's conditions it was really good and a very emotional observation.
NGC 4244 = Another gem. Similar to 4565 but with a thicker disk and no brightness difference at the centre of the galaxy.
NGC 4449 = A fairly decent view, with the irregular box shape showing well. Another galaxy to make note of to observe under better transparency.
Finish = 22:07
By the time I had to pack up and head home I had a great feeling of satisfaction from my night out. It was only a short time but it felt I was observing hours for hours and hours and the amount of objects I was able to get through was rewarding which also gave me the chance to study and reacquaint myself with objects I hadn't seen in a long time. Some of the great views I had gave me that emotional buzz that just makes me want to shout out wow.
Due to the weather system being a high pressure it was only to be expected that horizon views were going to be a bit hazy but considering some of the nights I have been out in similar conditions the haze was not bad at all, only really reaching 5 degrees above the horizon at the very most.
Seeing was fabulous and the air dead still with only hints of a breeze during the night, I couldn't have asked for better in this regard.
My plan for tonight was to have a quick practise run at the Messier marathon, to give me an idea of when to be at the site, set up and when to start observing for any real chances I get to try the marathon out for real. Also to see how many objects are possible to observe from our latitude.
I also had a few new galaxies jotted down in my notes to observe and had been crossing my fingers that transparency would be forgiving enough to allow decent galaxy observing.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4.5
Trans = 2/3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newt
Start = 20:22
The observations for the night are as follows:
M74 = Almost invisible. Low magnification and prolonged AV showed its ghostly shape. I suppose you could say, expectedly poor.
M77 = Surprisingly this was one of my better views of this galaxy but at the same time not much to see. A bright core with the faint fuzzy disk surrounding it.
M33 = Another surprise. I didn't expect to see very much of the galaxy considering how low Andromeda was to the horizon but the central regions was bright and some spiral features could be seen.
M32, M31 and M110 = Easily seen, nice and bright but very little to be seen.
M52 = A very pretty OC and the stars were looking pin point sharp under the great seeing conditions, along with some lovely subtle colours.
M103 = A real beauty of an OC, one of my favourites, displaying stunning star colours.
M76 = A real delight to look at tonight with excellent shape and structure, thanks again to the great seeing, but not much detail to take in. Still though, one of my best view of this PN in a long time.
M34 = A vast OC, fitting well into the FOV of the 17mm.
M79 = Easy to see but washed out due to be so low in, the slightly hazy, horizon.
M42 & M43 = Breathtaking... Easily one of my greatest views this year and last. I never saw the trapezium so pin point sharp - I could even see the stars E and F - and M43 itself was just stunning on its own with excellent detail and AC revealing much more nebulosity in the surrounding area. Brilliant!
M78 = Not a bad sight at all. More nebulosity could be seen than on most other observations and the two stars seemed to help with the contrast. Though it still doesn't compare to the awesome view I had from several years back.
M1 = A nice view with the 'S' like shape appearing nicely. Sadly not transparent enough to show any of the web like details.
M35 = Looking great, as usual, with the fainter NGC 2158 looking every bit as good and really standing out.
M37 = What a delight. I don't think I have looked at this OC in the last five years and how foolish of me. It's a real pleaser the eye.
M36 = Another OC that is a pleasant surprise. A loose pattern of stars.
M38 = This OC fills the FOV of the 17mm perfectly. Stars that are all of similar magnitude, quite nice.
M41 = Rather washed out looking due to the, still present, haze. A real shame.
M50 = Fairly nice but the haze spoils the view again.
M47 = Pretty. A sparse and scattered looking OC with stars of varying magnitude.
M46 = Very nice, with the PN easy to see but not anywhere as good as the night I observed it.
M93 = An exceptional view considering the conditions and how low down this was. An oddly shaped OC and the odd shape itself adds to the charm.
M48 = Fairly nice and yet again oddly shaped.
M44 = Easily seen by the naked eye and no chance of fitting it into the FOV on any of my eyepieces.
M81 & M82 = Both galaxies looked great, particularly M82, displaying fine details.
M108 = Faint but nice. AV helped reveal a lovely thin disk with a very small but bright core. It's been a long time since I observed this last.
M97 = A decent view. Solid structure and reasonable detail with the hollow looking eyes contrasting well with AV.
M109 = Nothing much to see but a faint disk surrounding a bright core.
M106 = Very much the same story as M109 but with a little more detail.
M40 = very fain and only showing itself with AV and not much to look at even then.
M95 = Disappointing. Faint and poor structure.
M96 = Very much the same thing as M95 only a little brighter.
NGC 4565 = A jaw dropping view! What a superb looking galaxy. A needle thin pillar of light as the galaxys' disk with a compact and very bright core. A must see on a better night for galaxies but even under tonight's conditions it was really good and a very emotional observation.
NGC 4244 = Another gem. Similar to 4565 but with a thicker disk and no brightness difference at the centre of the galaxy.
NGC 4449 = A fairly decent view, with the irregular box shape showing well. Another galaxy to make note of to observe under better transparency.
Finish = 22:07
By the time I had to pack up and head home I had a great feeling of satisfaction from my night out. It was only a short time but it felt I was observing hours for hours and hours and the amount of objects I was able to get through was rewarding which also gave me the chance to study and reacquaint myself with objects I hadn't seen in a long time. Some of the great views I had gave me that emotional buzz that just makes me want to shout out wow.
Friday 5 March 2010
Powered up.
With the time of month and year moving closer and closer to Messier marathon time excitement builds. My only worry was the chance of my power pack going flat during the marathon so to get rid of that problem I shopped around for another power pack and quickly discovered that Halfords were doing a sale on them. There is a higher model of the current one I have so I reserved that online and picked it up yesterday.
So now my power problems are a thing of the past and all that needs to happen now is good weather and clear skies when we need them. Here's hoping...
Monday 22 February 2010
19th/20th February 2010 - Report
The weather forecast from the day before should a promising evening so I decided to make plans for another observing night up at Bragan. I posted an open invitation of the club message board and got to share my night with two fellow observers.
One of the members arrived there before me, as I was running a little late from cooking dinner and being host to a friend of mine, so before setting up we had a good chat, had a few views in his scope and them got cracking on with setting up my scope.
The night sky was fantastic, with crisp air, which was very cold mind you at -5, the wind was low with only a little breeze but the chill factor was not welcome at all.
I was able to get three hours observing done before the second member arrived and to help him get caught up I took a break from observing and helped set up his Lightbridge. By this stage the other member called it a night and made he way home.
The night provided many stunning sights with a few objects entering my favourite list.
Fog did move in on us around 01:00 so we took an hours break in the seats of a car and too the time to warm ourselves up again. Thanks to the little breeze the fog did blow over and observing did resume but the primary mirror of my scope eventually froze over - I should have put the tube cover back on, lesson learned.
So I packed my stuff away and shared views through the Lightbridge.
By the time I started to share views through the Lightbridge the sky condition were perfect for Galaxy observing so we started by looking at M104, one of my favourite galaxies, and it was looking fantastic with a bright halo around the core and the wide disk running through the centre, details was excellent and averted vision really enhanced it. We then returned to M51 for a second view and the sight was nothing short of stunning. All the spiral arms were easy to see and averted vision showed one of the spiral arms slightly overlapping the bright core of the background galaxy.
M101 was also a fine sight with two spiral arms well seen. I moved back for a second view of the Whale and Hockey stick galaxy pair to see how it was looking again and it was slightly better from my observation earlier in the night - no doubt about it, this is my favourite galaxy pair.
It was just after 05:00 in the morning when we decided to call it quits and head back to my house for a few hours sleep and a hot breakfast but what a fun, memorable and highly rewarding night.
Scoprious was visible from 04:00 with Antereas well above the horizon by the time we left, but not night enough to see M4, and I was able to see three new constellations - Libra, Crater and Hyrda.
We also got a beautiful view of Saturn with the four moons - Rhea, Dione, Tethys and Titan easily seen and it was the first time for me to see anything more than Titan so I was very pleased. Starry Night showed that Enceladous and Mimas were also on view just near the rings but I couldn't notice them at the time. Using higher magnification might of helped but after a great view like that I wasn't bothered.
A brilliant night with so much observed and well worth the effort of baring the cold air. All I can say is that the next night won't be soon enough and roll on spring weather, galaxy hunting looms.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4
Trans = 3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and 10" Orion
Start Time = 20:23
The observations for the night are as follows:
Mars = An average view tonight with a turbulent view but when steady detail was good.
M93 = I had to have another look at this gem. The unusual pattern of the stars really attracts me to this open cluster
M46 = A breathtaking view with a vast sea of stunning stars and the planetary nebula within the cluster stood out brightly with strong structure and shape. A brilliant object, a true joy to see.
M47 = Another great sight. A sparse OC but the stars are bright and with two double stars easily seen really adds to the pleasure of the object and a memorable view too.
M64 = A pleasing view with good detail, a nice airy disk with a bright core and using AV reveals the black mark that give this galaxy its common name.
M53 = A faint globular but under the 8mm Hyperion and AV you could make out individual stars.
Leo Triplet = A wonderful sight. All three galaxies of the group sitting nicely in the FOV in the 2" 20mm. Detail was good with nice dusty disk.
M105 = Not much detail could be seen but another trio of galaxies in the FOV showing up brightly making the view pleasing.
NGC 2374 = Very faint and hard to pick out against an already rich background but because of that the view was still lovely regardless.
M50 = A lovely OC that really does bring home the meaning of the word "open cluster". Very pretty and kind of resembled a birds eye view of looking at a half open rose bud.
NGC 2359 = Nebulosity could be seen but there wasn't enough detail to make out any discernible shape. Still though, my best view of this yet as all previous attempts showed nothing, not even with filters.
M35 = A stunning sight, looking more bright and rich that usual tonight with NGC 2155 easily seen to the edge of the FOV so I slewed the mount to centre on this fainter beauty that was really looking a treat with stars resolving really well.
NGC 2331 = A rather obscure OC with not much to look at but new to me so that is good on its own.
NGC 2392 = A stunning view (which is become a rather common word and occurrence tonight) that is very bright and giving great detail.
NGC 2420 = An OC I have overlooked many times and now that I haven't I feel foolish. Using the 8mm Hyperion reveals a delightful cluster with quite a few stars appearing slightly reddish.
M84 = Not much detail but easy to see and M86, NGC 4388 and NGC 4435 all shared the same FOV, which was very nice.
M51 = Quite nice and looking very bright using the 17mm. Spiral arms were easy to see using AV.
I went back to this later in the night using the Lightbridge and the view was stunning with spiral arms and details really easily seen, resulting in the best view I've had in years.
NGC 4651 & 4656 = My favourite pair of galaxies and I was so looking forward to looking at them again and stunning looking they were. The satellite galaxy of 4651 was easy to see with lovely sharp structure and shape and 4651 was the same. 4656 was equally as lovely with strong shape and different regions of brightness throughout the central area.
At this point thick mist moved in so a break in the warmth of the car was in order. After about an hour it cleared up again but the primary scope of my mirror had frozen over which resulted in my packing my equipment and gear up but I got to share the lightbridge which gave me other stunning views of M104 and others which I have already mentioned.
All in all a really brilliant night and a cracking way to start of a new year of observing with the club. I can't wait for more good nights and hopes that this years weather will be better.
One of the members arrived there before me, as I was running a little late from cooking dinner and being host to a friend of mine, so before setting up we had a good chat, had a few views in his scope and them got cracking on with setting up my scope.
The night sky was fantastic, with crisp air, which was very cold mind you at -5, the wind was low with only a little breeze but the chill factor was not welcome at all.
I was able to get three hours observing done before the second member arrived and to help him get caught up I took a break from observing and helped set up his Lightbridge. By this stage the other member called it a night and made he way home.
The night provided many stunning sights with a few objects entering my favourite list.
Fog did move in on us around 01:00 so we took an hours break in the seats of a car and too the time to warm ourselves up again. Thanks to the little breeze the fog did blow over and observing did resume but the primary mirror of my scope eventually froze over - I should have put the tube cover back on, lesson learned.
So I packed my stuff away and shared views through the Lightbridge.
By the time I started to share views through the Lightbridge the sky condition were perfect for Galaxy observing so we started by looking at M104, one of my favourite galaxies, and it was looking fantastic with a bright halo around the core and the wide disk running through the centre, details was excellent and averted vision really enhanced it. We then returned to M51 for a second view and the sight was nothing short of stunning. All the spiral arms were easy to see and averted vision showed one of the spiral arms slightly overlapping the bright core of the background galaxy.
M101 was also a fine sight with two spiral arms well seen. I moved back for a second view of the Whale and Hockey stick galaxy pair to see how it was looking again and it was slightly better from my observation earlier in the night - no doubt about it, this is my favourite galaxy pair.
It was just after 05:00 in the morning when we decided to call it quits and head back to my house for a few hours sleep and a hot breakfast but what a fun, memorable and highly rewarding night.
Scoprious was visible from 04:00 with Antereas well above the horizon by the time we left, but not night enough to see M4, and I was able to see three new constellations - Libra, Crater and Hyrda.
We also got a beautiful view of Saturn with the four moons - Rhea, Dione, Tethys and Titan easily seen and it was the first time for me to see anything more than Titan so I was very pleased. Starry Night showed that Enceladous and Mimas were also on view just near the rings but I couldn't notice them at the time. Using higher magnification might of helped but after a great view like that I wasn't bothered.
A brilliant night with so much observed and well worth the effort of baring the cold air. All I can say is that the next night won't be soon enough and roll on spring weather, galaxy hunting looms.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4
Trans = 3
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and 10" Orion
Start Time = 20:23
The observations for the night are as follows:
Mars = An average view tonight with a turbulent view but when steady detail was good.
M93 = I had to have another look at this gem. The unusual pattern of the stars really attracts me to this open cluster
M46 = A breathtaking view with a vast sea of stunning stars and the planetary nebula within the cluster stood out brightly with strong structure and shape. A brilliant object, a true joy to see.
M47 = Another great sight. A sparse OC but the stars are bright and with two double stars easily seen really adds to the pleasure of the object and a memorable view too.
M64 = A pleasing view with good detail, a nice airy disk with a bright core and using AV reveals the black mark that give this galaxy its common name.
M53 = A faint globular but under the 8mm Hyperion and AV you could make out individual stars.
Leo Triplet = A wonderful sight. All three galaxies of the group sitting nicely in the FOV in the 2" 20mm. Detail was good with nice dusty disk.
M105 = Not much detail could be seen but another trio of galaxies in the FOV showing up brightly making the view pleasing.
NGC 2374 = Very faint and hard to pick out against an already rich background but because of that the view was still lovely regardless.
M50 = A lovely OC that really does bring home the meaning of the word "open cluster". Very pretty and kind of resembled a birds eye view of looking at a half open rose bud.
NGC 2359 = Nebulosity could be seen but there wasn't enough detail to make out any discernible shape. Still though, my best view of this yet as all previous attempts showed nothing, not even with filters.
M35 = A stunning sight, looking more bright and rich that usual tonight with NGC 2155 easily seen to the edge of the FOV so I slewed the mount to centre on this fainter beauty that was really looking a treat with stars resolving really well.
NGC 2331 = A rather obscure OC with not much to look at but new to me so that is good on its own.
NGC 2392 = A stunning view (which is become a rather common word and occurrence tonight) that is very bright and giving great detail.
NGC 2420 = An OC I have overlooked many times and now that I haven't I feel foolish. Using the 8mm Hyperion reveals a delightful cluster with quite a few stars appearing slightly reddish.
M84 = Not much detail but easy to see and M86, NGC 4388 and NGC 4435 all shared the same FOV, which was very nice.
M51 = Quite nice and looking very bright using the 17mm. Spiral arms were easy to see using AV.
I went back to this later in the night using the Lightbridge and the view was stunning with spiral arms and details really easily seen, resulting in the best view I've had in years.
NGC 4651 & 4656 = My favourite pair of galaxies and I was so looking forward to looking at them again and stunning looking they were. The satellite galaxy of 4651 was easy to see with lovely sharp structure and shape and 4651 was the same. 4656 was equally as lovely with strong shape and different regions of brightness throughout the central area.
At this point thick mist moved in so a break in the warmth of the car was in order. After about an hour it cleared up again but the primary scope of my mirror had frozen over which resulted in my packing my equipment and gear up but I got to share the lightbridge which gave me other stunning views of M104 and others which I have already mentioned.
All in all a really brilliant night and a cracking way to start of a new year of observing with the club. I can't wait for more good nights and hopes that this years weather will be better.
Tuesday 16 February 2010
12th February 2010 - Report
I was full of excitement as I knew the night was going to be crystal clear with very nice conditions and no wind so Bragan was my obvious choice of destination. I also had a phone call from one of my customers, a few nights before, asking about Mars and asking if he could accompany me the next time I was out observing so I brought him along and it was hist first time looking through a telescope, so I was also thrilled at giving someone new the chance to see some of the wonders we all enjoy looking at.
The night didn't disappoint for either of us. It all started off with stunning views of Mars and ended with a fairly okish view of Saturn.
I was freezing cold, at -4, though I was feeling fine because I had all my thermal clothing and all weather boots on but my guest was feeling the bite near the end of our session but he really enjoyed himself. He was thrilled at seeing Mars and it's polar caps showing up nicely in the eye pieced, and seeing Saturn really something he found amazing to see. I was really pleased he enjoyed himself.
Overall it was a brilliant and memorable night with great conditions, it was a real shame that no one from the club could have taken advantage of such a good night at the site.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4
Trans = 3/4
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10"
Start Time = 20:10
The observations for the night are as follows:
Mars = Another excellent view with fine details showing even better with AV. I really do believe Mars to be a brilliant use of the UHC-S filter for planets.
M41 = A lovely large open cluster that fills the FOV of the 20mm 2" EP beautifully. It's been many years since I got to see this and I had forgotten how lovely it is.
M93 = My first time getting to see this very low open cluster and a fine view it is too. Faint but beautifully vast with stars spread out in nice asterism like shapes and some lovely star colours could be picked out too. Certainly and object I hope to get again soon. This was also the first time in my life I was able to clearly see all of Canis Major - no doubt thanks to the really dark skies of Bragan.
M42 = A fine sight with great detail at all magnifications and even better contrast under UHC-S
M1 = A very poor view with little detail and also unusually faint looking. UHC-S couldn't even do anything to help the view.
Aplha And = Stunning.
Eta Cas = Magnificent, the sharpest and best colour contrast I have ever seen from this glorious pair.
M81& M82 = A decent view with good detail to be had in M82.
M51 = An average view tonight, though with AV some spiral structure could be visiable for a few moments. This clearly wasn't a night for galaxies.
Saturn = Considering how low Saturn was in the sky at the time the view wasn't bad at all. Even at 480x the image was surprising steady but details were completely washed out. Reducing power to 150x really improved the view.
Finish Time = 24:51
The night didn't disappoint for either of us. It all started off with stunning views of Mars and ended with a fairly okish view of Saturn.
I was freezing cold, at -4, though I was feeling fine because I had all my thermal clothing and all weather boots on but my guest was feeling the bite near the end of our session but he really enjoyed himself. He was thrilled at seeing Mars and it's polar caps showing up nicely in the eye pieced, and seeing Saturn really something he found amazing to see. I was really pleased he enjoyed himself.
Overall it was a brilliant and memorable night with great conditions, it was a real shame that no one from the club could have taken advantage of such a good night at the site.
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 4
Trans = 3/4
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10"
Start Time = 20:10
The observations for the night are as follows:
Mars = Another excellent view with fine details showing even better with AV. I really do believe Mars to be a brilliant use of the UHC-S filter for planets.
M41 = A lovely large open cluster that fills the FOV of the 20mm 2" EP beautifully. It's been many years since I got to see this and I had forgotten how lovely it is.
M93 = My first time getting to see this very low open cluster and a fine view it is too. Faint but beautifully vast with stars spread out in nice asterism like shapes and some lovely star colours could be picked out too. Certainly and object I hope to get again soon. This was also the first time in my life I was able to clearly see all of Canis Major - no doubt thanks to the really dark skies of Bragan.
M42 = A fine sight with great detail at all magnifications and even better contrast under UHC-S
M1 = A very poor view with little detail and also unusually faint looking. UHC-S couldn't even do anything to help the view.
Aplha And = Stunning.
Eta Cas = Magnificent, the sharpest and best colour contrast I have ever seen from this glorious pair.
M81& M82 = A decent view with good detail to be had in M82.
M51 = An average view tonight, though with AV some spiral structure could be visiable for a few moments. This clearly wasn't a night for galaxies.
Saturn = Considering how low Saturn was in the sky at the time the view wasn't bad at all. Even at 480x the image was surprising steady but details were completely washed out. Reducing power to 150x really improved the view.
Finish Time = 24:51
Thursday 11 February 2010
09th February 2010 - Report
Gosh it's been a long time since I've been out observing. With a combination of terrible cold weather and being busy with work I've missed out on so many observation chances that I feel out of touch but tonight was my first proper night out this year. It was a short night due to feeling tired and a biting cold but what a memorable night it was.
The weather during the day was great. Perfect winter sunshine with stunning blue skies and air so clear that views into the distant horizon were as clear as you can get. Night time condition were just as good with very steady skies and good transparency.
Location = Parents back garden
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10"
Seeing = 4/5
Trans = 3/4
Start Time = 20:03
The observations for the night are as follows:
Mars = The view under the UHC-S filter was nothing short of stunning beyond words. Super detail could be seen with the northern polar cap standing out so brightly and other details of the surface were very sharp. Without a doubt, one of my best views and a thrilling way to start of another year of observing.
M42 = A breath taking view with so much detail to absorb and study. The trapezium was pin sharp amongst the gorgeous velvet and contract rich nebulosity of the nebula's heart. An exceptional view.
M78 = Not my best of view of this reflection nebula but some nebulosity was easily seen around the two stars that appear center of the nebula.
NGC 2194 = A faint but rich open cluster that look very pretty under high power.
NGC 2252 = This open cluster is very unusual in that its shape seems to resemble something organic like a snakes body. The stars are somewhat faint but still a very fun and different object to look at.
M50 = A great open cluster that is large in the eye piece, covering most of the FOV, and with stars of varying magnitude adds to the pleasure of the view.
M35 = Without a doubt, one of the finest and most beautiful open clusters up there. A feast of stars to bathe your eyes in, a view that never tires.
M97 = A very good view with strong nebulosity and the dark hollows were also easily seen with AV.
Finish time = 21:00
The weather during the day was great. Perfect winter sunshine with stunning blue skies and air so clear that views into the distant horizon were as clear as you can get. Night time condition were just as good with very steady skies and good transparency.
Location = Parents back garden
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10"
Seeing = 4/5
Trans = 3/4
Start Time = 20:03
The observations for the night are as follows:
Mars = The view under the UHC-S filter was nothing short of stunning beyond words. Super detail could be seen with the northern polar cap standing out so brightly and other details of the surface were very sharp. Without a doubt, one of my best views and a thrilling way to start of another year of observing.
M42 = A breath taking view with so much detail to absorb and study. The trapezium was pin sharp amongst the gorgeous velvet and contract rich nebulosity of the nebula's heart. An exceptional view.
M78 = Not my best of view of this reflection nebula but some nebulosity was easily seen around the two stars that appear center of the nebula.
NGC 2194 = A faint but rich open cluster that look very pretty under high power.
NGC 2252 = This open cluster is very unusual in that its shape seems to resemble something organic like a snakes body. The stars are somewhat faint but still a very fun and different object to look at.
M50 = A great open cluster that is large in the eye piece, covering most of the FOV, and with stars of varying magnitude adds to the pleasure of the view.
M35 = Without a doubt, one of the finest and most beautiful open clusters up there. A feast of stars to bathe your eyes in, a view that never tires.
M97 = A very good view with strong nebulosity and the dark hollows were also easily seen with AV.
Finish time = 21:00
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