A fantastic day of sunshine, clear skies and very little wind. I had invited people to Bragan for observing the day before as the forecast looked so promising. It was one of those lucky calls as it turned out to be the best night we've had of the year - so far we hope.
Seeing and transparency were both good, no noticeable wind and next to no dew problem.
At 22:57 we were graced by the most awesome and breath taking fireball I've ever witnessed and has gone down as one of the greatest moment of my life.
There was a lovely group of us out observing, seven in total I believe.
Location = Bragan
Equipment = Skywatcher 14" GOTO
Start Time = 21:43
M11 = Beautifully filling the FOV of the 17mm and looking rich, deep and sharp, even though my scope was still cooling down. A lovely sense of depth with in the cluster.
NGC 6946 = I wasn't expecting much from this but turned out to be a great view. Well seen with spiral arms appearing with AV, along with attractive globular like details around the core. Been a while since I've observed this galaxy so well.
M17 = One of the delight of tonight's observing. Striking nebulosity with varying levels of magnitude through out the swan shaped body. The UHC-S filter enhanced the contrast even further, revealing crisper details.
M16 = Sadly no sign or hints of the nebula but the star cluster itself was beautifully clear and nice to study for a while.
M22 = A badly washed out view but no surprise considering how low to the horizon this was, with that in consideration the view was still good. Structure was strong, stars definable with AV. This globular cluster would be a sight to behold if observed about 10 degrees higher in the sky.
M26 = A long time since I observed this intriguing little open cluster. Seeing the umbrella shaped asterism brought back my memories of this object. An over looked object in my opinion.
NGC 6504 = Nice to see this PN again but not at it's best sadly. The shape was well defined but couldn't make out any detail, that lovely bight star just of the disc of the nebula makes it a unique sight though.
Fireball = 22:58 was the beginning of a lot of excitement. I was studying my star maps to pick out my next object when I heard one of the guys mention the ISS - I knew this couldn't be right as it wasn't about and they were talking about the wrong side of the sky - so I looked up and the hairs of my neck stood on end when I saw this stunning orange ball blazing somewhere around a magnitude of -6 to -7.
It appeared in the east side of the sky, just away from the Pleiades. It appeared to be stationary for a moment but then slowly started to rise upward and get slightly brighter and bigger. Just as it was travelling up past Triangulum it started to break up. At that moment I started to think it was some kind of firework and the pattern looked very much like a Sprite you'd see in images from a lightening storms but this just kept going up and spreading out. By the time it cruised past Andromeda and Perseus the realisation of it being a fireball hit me and I got very excited, probably too excited for some - as I got a little carried away I think.
It had broken up into 15-20 pieces as it went past Cassiopeia and continued its way west, towards Hercules. I think it was about 23:01 when it started to reach the horizon and loose magnitude. About 5 pieces of debris could still be seen and even when below the horizon I could still notice some glow for a few seconds.
About 40 to 70 seconds later several of us, including myself, heard popping noises - a bit like hearing shot gun shots from a long distance away - which I believe was the sonic boom of the debris decelerating through the atmosphere.
I strongly believe this to be some kind of space debris, probably a satellite because the pattern of the debris and that it managed to stay in close formation but mainly because the event lasted for such a long time.
It was a magical and awesome experience to witness such a spectical.
I've seen space debris burn up before and I've seen fireballs but this was the cream of the crop and I can honestly say one of the best moments of my life. My only disappointment is that everyone didn't see this.
Took me a while to get back observing as I was in such a euphoric state and I still find myself laughing from the greatness of the memory.
NGC 6781 = Looking nice and large in a 10mm but sadly not discernible detail.
M71 = A sensational view, a magnificent swath of stars, one not to miss.
M27 = One of my best views in a long time. Structure so strong that the PN actually looked like it was floating in the sky, it really did stand out against the background of space so well. Details weren't the best I've seen but it's full shape was there in full glory. I shared this view with everyone there as it was too good to miss.
NGC 6888 = I've been trying to observe this nebula again for some time with out success but tonight was the night to change that. It was vuagly there unfiltered but it took the UGC-S to pull out the beautiful arching 'C' shaped structure. Some knotted and bumpy details were visible with AV.
Veil Nebula = If the fireball from earlier hadn't stolen the show then this would have been the object of the night. The last time I saw the Veil looking so good must be as far back as 2009. I had to use the UHC-S to pull out the extra details because even though it was delightful unfiltered it was tear jerkingly magnificent when filtered. I shared this view with Stevie and I think we spent a good 15 minutes exploring all of the nebula, starting in the Witches Broom region and going anti-clockwise around it all. Bold filminess like structure was visible in the Witches Broom followed by delicate wisps, curls and knots with in and on the edges of the nebula through out the whole regions.
NGC 7293 = I timed this one perfectly as when I went back to re-observe 5 minutes later it could no longer be seen. What I did see wasn't too bad. It paled in comparison to the view I had last year but the large ring was easily seen in the 17mm and filled the FOV nicely.
Uranus = A momentous and remarkable view. I've only observed Uranus as a green blob but upon Stevie's suggestion I slew the scope to it and I couldn't believe my eyes. There was bold looking greenish planetary disc, well seen but then my jaw flopped open when I noticed two moons!!
With Stevie's 4.7mm Explorer Scientific (an eyepiece I am in love with) Oberon was easily seen, Titania was observable too but needed a lot of AV as it got hidden behind the glare of the planet in the eyepiece. I could be wrong about the actual moons we saw but going by my minds image and magnitude ratings of the moons, those two fit the positions and the magnitude limits of my scope
Neptune = With great success on Urnans I thought we should try our luck on Neptune. This left me feeling numb... All the times I looked and Neptune I've only seen a blue star but there it was, a small bluish disc and then another 'knock your socks off' moment... Triton, sitting there superbly beside the planet. This night was just wow after wow.
NGC 7331 = Not much detail but a lovely large disc to be seen with three other galaxy member noticeable.
Stephens Quintet = It's no secret that this has become my top object to observe. I relish in the chance to get it in the eyepiece so I wasn't going to miss out tonight. Transparency had decreased a little so I knew I wasn't going to be bowled over by the view but I saw and counted five galaxies, very faint with no detail but their cores were peaking though with some ghostly structure sneaking through with AV. Just wonderful to see this again.
M33 = Another one of my personal favorites and this was one of my best observations of it. Great details to take in and the mighty impressive NGC 604 stuck out like a sore thumb, really bight. What really blew me away was two spiral arms being visible, one curling off from a 12 O'Clock position and the other at 6 O'Clock and stopping just off from NGC 604. I never observed this before so I took full advantage of the moment and spent some time with this.
NGC 891 = My last galaxy of the night. It was rather faint, certainly not the best I've seen it but AV revealed good structure, along with a prominent central bulge and the central dust lane was there too.
Jupiter = With it being well up in the sky now I thought it would also be a fitting end to the night - just as well too as my secondary mirror was beginning to dew over. Excellent views of the bands and zones and one of the moons was just kissing the disc of the planet. Not sure which moon but a beautiful sight an a fine way to call it a night.
Finish = 02:47
Sunday 23 September 2012
Friday 13 April 2012
12th April 2012 - Report
I landed at Bragan to a fantastic view. The air was clear, the views were excellent and the wind was almost non existent. I got set up quickly - and didn't forget my finder scope this time - and observed Mars and Saturn while waiting for it to get dark enough.
The quality of the dark sky wasn't as striking as light night but with little wind around I wasn't expecting it to be as dramatic.
Location = Bragan
Equipment = 14" Skywatcher
Start Time = 22:12
Porrima - Gamma Virginis = This pair was beautifully tight. Seeing was a little poor in the southern sky but the 8mm split the double well enough. Both stars appeared to be of similar size and a bright white colour.
17 Virginis - Easily split, with a golden yellow primary and a faint rusty coloured secondary. This was a really enjoyable sight.
Xi Ursa Major - A crisp, clean double that is very tight. The 8mm just about managed to split it and a fine sight it is.
Nu Ursa Major - I never observed this double before and what a stunning sight it is, easily my favourite double of the constellation now. Brilliant golden primary with a striking pin point, diamond white, secondary that is perfectly split in the 8mm. This is a double not to be overlooked.
Palomar 4 - Sue French's new book - "Deep-Sky Wonders" - showed that I was very close to the second most distant globular cluster in our galaxy - the most distant in the northern sky - so how could I go past this...
I was able to find it surprisingly quickly. Appearing brighter than I had expected but nothing more than a blurry smudge at first. Averted vision soon revealed to me the familiar looking structure of a globular and soon after that I could start to pick out some individual stars around the outer edge of the cluster. The core appears rather bright.
It was a thrilling feeling to observe this, especially when knowing that it is over 355,000 light years away.
NGC 3184 - Another one of Sue's suggestions. Quite faint but AV showed a galaxy appearing face on, with two spiral arms. The arms themselves appearing faint and ghostly.
M101 - Another glorious view of this rare treat. Every bit as good as last night. Spiral arms filling the FOV of the 17mm Hyperion.
NGC 2841 - Quite nice, with a large disk and bright core.
NGC 3242 - A fantastic PN and probably 7 years since I last observed it. Appearing very bright and when trying to use AV to see if I could get a hint of the central star this wonderful knotted structure started to form like a ring with in the nebula itself. One of my finest PN observations.
M68 - Considering this cluster was just about 10 degrees above the horizon the view was quite good. Many stars were resolving well. The only let down was the washed out grey looking sky.
NGC 3115 - Large, bright, delicate and lovely. A really bright core with an almost edge on appearance with the disk of the galaxy looking strong. Some small teasing details seemed to appear at times making me want for more.
Mars - Easily the best view I've had all year. No details hidden to the eye. So sharp was the image I could have drawn a map of the surface and would have only for the small fact that I cannot draw...
Finish = 23:42
A thrilling night and so many new objects observed. If I get more nights like this before the season ends then I will have no reason to complain about the weather.
The quality of the dark sky wasn't as striking as light night but with little wind around I wasn't expecting it to be as dramatic.
Location = Bragan
Equipment = 14" Skywatcher
Start Time = 22:12
Porrima - Gamma Virginis = This pair was beautifully tight. Seeing was a little poor in the southern sky but the 8mm split the double well enough. Both stars appeared to be of similar size and a bright white colour.
17 Virginis - Easily split, with a golden yellow primary and a faint rusty coloured secondary. This was a really enjoyable sight.
Xi Ursa Major - A crisp, clean double that is very tight. The 8mm just about managed to split it and a fine sight it is.
Nu Ursa Major - I never observed this double before and what a stunning sight it is, easily my favourite double of the constellation now. Brilliant golden primary with a striking pin point, diamond white, secondary that is perfectly split in the 8mm. This is a double not to be overlooked.
Palomar 4 - Sue French's new book - "Deep-Sky Wonders" - showed that I was very close to the second most distant globular cluster in our galaxy - the most distant in the northern sky - so how could I go past this...
I was able to find it surprisingly quickly. Appearing brighter than I had expected but nothing more than a blurry smudge at first. Averted vision soon revealed to me the familiar looking structure of a globular and soon after that I could start to pick out some individual stars around the outer edge of the cluster. The core appears rather bright.
It was a thrilling feeling to observe this, especially when knowing that it is over 355,000 light years away.
NGC 3184 - Another one of Sue's suggestions. Quite faint but AV showed a galaxy appearing face on, with two spiral arms. The arms themselves appearing faint and ghostly.
M101 - Another glorious view of this rare treat. Every bit as good as last night. Spiral arms filling the FOV of the 17mm Hyperion.
NGC 2841 - Quite nice, with a large disk and bright core.
NGC 3242 - A fantastic PN and probably 7 years since I last observed it. Appearing very bright and when trying to use AV to see if I could get a hint of the central star this wonderful knotted structure started to form like a ring with in the nebula itself. One of my finest PN observations.
M68 - Considering this cluster was just about 10 degrees above the horizon the view was quite good. Many stars were resolving well. The only let down was the washed out grey looking sky.
NGC 3115 - Large, bright, delicate and lovely. A really bright core with an almost edge on appearance with the disk of the galaxy looking strong. Some small teasing details seemed to appear at times making me want for more.
Mars - Easily the best view I've had all year. No details hidden to the eye. So sharp was the image I could have drawn a map of the surface and would have only for the small fact that I cannot draw...
Finish = 23:42
A thrilling night and so many new objects observed. If I get more nights like this before the season ends then I will have no reason to complain about the weather.
11th April 2012 - Report
I was very excited about tonight after looking at the weather data. Crisp clean air from the north, no clouds and humidity levels were below 60%, I could feel the galaxies calling for me.
I suppose I was a little too excited about it because I forgot to pack the finder scope away so that really annoyed me but I didn't let it beat me. I was still able to get a two star alignment done and the GOTO accuracy was good. Annoyingly though, almost all of the objects I had down on my observing list were not on my GOTO database so I changed my observation plans and just went to objects on the GOTO.
The wind was an awful curse, something the weather forecast got wrong. Looking at Zenith caused the least shaking of the scope so I was able to observe galaxies in Ursa Major fairly well.
The night was amazing, the sky so pristine and all the stars shining like diamonds with next to no twinkling. Looking at Mars told me that the seeing was at least a 4 out of 5, transparency was the same, but that darned wind made it impossible for me to use the 8mm so it was 17mm Hyperion the whole session.
Location = Bragan
Equipment = 14" Skywatcher
Start Time = 22:01
M104 - Looking bright, as always, with strong looking features. A good view and a great way to start the evening.
M101 - Sensational!! Almost photographic, from core to the tips of the spiral arms. Very plain to see and not much need for averted vision to see the structure of the superb galaxy.
M108 - Another marvellous view. The details from edge to edge of the disk were excellent, along with delicate clumps of dark and light areas running all along the disk. The central area had a strong appearance of being illuminated from the inside and almost centre of the galaxy was a milky way star in the foreground shining like a diamond. An unforgeable sight and I spent a good bit of time observing this.
M109 - The barred spiral features of this galaxy were plain to see and the spiral arms really stood out well with averted vision. Not too often I get to see this galaxy so well and with barred spirals being my favourite category of galaxy I was more than satisfied with this view.
M51 - A stunning amount of detail. Every feature seen and looked just like some images short exposure CCD images.
NGC 2841 - A large milky disc with a bright core. I couldn't make out any features of detail.
NGC 4656 - Decided to end the night with one of my favourites of the spring sky. Looking really strong but not much details.
Finish = 23:53
It was when observing NGC4656 that noticed my secondary mirror had misted up a bit so I decided to call it a night. Was a rewarding night, despite having to battle the wind.
I suppose I was a little too excited about it because I forgot to pack the finder scope away so that really annoyed me but I didn't let it beat me. I was still able to get a two star alignment done and the GOTO accuracy was good. Annoyingly though, almost all of the objects I had down on my observing list were not on my GOTO database so I changed my observation plans and just went to objects on the GOTO.
The wind was an awful curse, something the weather forecast got wrong. Looking at Zenith caused the least shaking of the scope so I was able to observe galaxies in Ursa Major fairly well.
The night was amazing, the sky so pristine and all the stars shining like diamonds with next to no twinkling. Looking at Mars told me that the seeing was at least a 4 out of 5, transparency was the same, but that darned wind made it impossible for me to use the 8mm so it was 17mm Hyperion the whole session.
Location = Bragan
Equipment = 14" Skywatcher
Start Time = 22:01
M104 - Looking bright, as always, with strong looking features. A good view and a great way to start the evening.
M101 - Sensational!! Almost photographic, from core to the tips of the spiral arms. Very plain to see and not much need for averted vision to see the structure of the superb galaxy.
M108 - Another marvellous view. The details from edge to edge of the disk were excellent, along with delicate clumps of dark and light areas running all along the disk. The central area had a strong appearance of being illuminated from the inside and almost centre of the galaxy was a milky way star in the foreground shining like a diamond. An unforgeable sight and I spent a good bit of time observing this.
M109 - The barred spiral features of this galaxy were plain to see and the spiral arms really stood out well with averted vision. Not too often I get to see this galaxy so well and with barred spirals being my favourite category of galaxy I was more than satisfied with this view.
M51 - A stunning amount of detail. Every feature seen and looked just like some images short exposure CCD images.
NGC 2841 - A large milky disc with a bright core. I couldn't make out any features of detail.
NGC 4656 - Decided to end the night with one of my favourites of the spring sky. Looking really strong but not much details.
Finish = 23:53
It was when observing NGC4656 that noticed my secondary mirror had misted up a bit so I decided to call it a night. Was a rewarding night, despite having to battle the wind.
Wednesday 4 April 2012
3rd April 2012 - Report
An unlikely night for me to go out as the weather turned bitter cold with strong winds and there was even snow and light hailstones earlier in the evening but there were two reasons for me wanting to go out. First was that in the morning I had a eureka moment for a solution to a small issue I've been having with the secondary mirror in my 10" Orion Europa 250. It took me 6 years for this moment to arrive but it was worth the wait. I was able to correct my mirror woes in less than 10 minutes so I was really excited about getting the scope out for a test.
The issue I would have is during the scopes cool down time I would see a lot of ghosting or comet like tails coming out of the side of stars. I put this down to the secondary mirror not being set at the correct angle or position.
The second reason was to observing some double stars of the list I have compiled for my coming talk this May.
I was very well sheltered from the wind, most of the time I was unaware that on the other side of my house there was a strong wind with gale force winds at times.
I was very happy with the results of my fix for my secondary mirror but upon observing Regulus, as my first alignment star, the comet effect was still there but not as prominently. I discovered a short time later that my Crayford focuser was now to blame. I noticed that as the tube changed position the focuser also moves slightly, thus knocking collimation slightly off. I suppose this wouldn't be noticed in most reflectors but having a fast F4.5 scope it is awful unless collimation is perfect.
I may invest in a Moonlight Crayford in the future as I would like this scope to become my primary imaging scope because of the superb quality of the optics.
Location = Home
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion Europa 250
Start Time = 21:47
Algieba - A beautiful golden pair, with the secondary star quite close to the parent and about half the visual size.
6 Leo - Well split in 8mm (175x) with a nice red primary and the secondary a smaller star with a diamond blue appearance.
93 Leo - Easily split with a white/yellow primary and the secondary a small pale star.
24 Com - Nicely split in the 8mm. Crisp red primary with a deep blue secondary, a very nice pair indeed.
35 Com - Somewhat similar to 24 Com but the secondary is much smaller and several magnitudes fainter.
Cor Coroli - Truly a stunning pain and I rarely observe it for reasons that are unknown to me. Both stars a brilliant white with the secondary smaller and several magnitudes fainter.
Izar/Epsilon Bootis - Magnificent! I really love this double and is in my top ten list. The 8mm just managed to split it, revealing a dramatic double indeed. The primary star a stunning golden red and a small marine blue coloured secondary star that hugs tight to Izar. Make sure you observe this if you're in Bootes.
Alkalurops/Mu Bootis - Quite nice, and a triple system. Appearing as a wide double star at first but a close look at the secondary soon shows itself to also have a companion. Not much colour contrast between all three stars.
Kappa Bootis - A lovely small pair. Bright white in colour with the secondary smaller than the parent and quite close too.
Iota Bootis - Similar view to Kappa only not as tight.
Finish = 23:24
Because my view is limited in my back garden and the constellation I wanted to move onto next was Hercules and would have to wait two hours until it was high enough it was time to call it a night. I was pleased with how much I got through, considering I had to wait some time for the scope to cool down.
Hopefully I will be able to get to Bragan with the 14" and get through Virgo, Hercules, Cygnus and a few others.
The issue I would have is during the scopes cool down time I would see a lot of ghosting or comet like tails coming out of the side of stars. I put this down to the secondary mirror not being set at the correct angle or position.
The second reason was to observing some double stars of the list I have compiled for my coming talk this May.
I was very well sheltered from the wind, most of the time I was unaware that on the other side of my house there was a strong wind with gale force winds at times.
I was very happy with the results of my fix for my secondary mirror but upon observing Regulus, as my first alignment star, the comet effect was still there but not as prominently. I discovered a short time later that my Crayford focuser was now to blame. I noticed that as the tube changed position the focuser also moves slightly, thus knocking collimation slightly off. I suppose this wouldn't be noticed in most reflectors but having a fast F4.5 scope it is awful unless collimation is perfect.
I may invest in a Moonlight Crayford in the future as I would like this scope to become my primary imaging scope because of the superb quality of the optics.
Location = Home
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion Europa 250
Start Time = 21:47
Algieba - A beautiful golden pair, with the secondary star quite close to the parent and about half the visual size.
6 Leo - Well split in 8mm (175x) with a nice red primary and the secondary a smaller star with a diamond blue appearance.
93 Leo - Easily split with a white/yellow primary and the secondary a small pale star.
24 Com - Nicely split in the 8mm. Crisp red primary with a deep blue secondary, a very nice pair indeed.
35 Com - Somewhat similar to 24 Com but the secondary is much smaller and several magnitudes fainter.
Cor Coroli - Truly a stunning pain and I rarely observe it for reasons that are unknown to me. Both stars a brilliant white with the secondary smaller and several magnitudes fainter.
Izar/Epsilon Bootis - Magnificent! I really love this double and is in my top ten list. The 8mm just managed to split it, revealing a dramatic double indeed. The primary star a stunning golden red and a small marine blue coloured secondary star that hugs tight to Izar. Make sure you observe this if you're in Bootes.
Alkalurops/Mu Bootis - Quite nice, and a triple system. Appearing as a wide double star at first but a close look at the secondary soon shows itself to also have a companion. Not much colour contrast between all three stars.
Kappa Bootis - A lovely small pair. Bright white in colour with the secondary smaller than the parent and quite close too.
Iota Bootis - Similar view to Kappa only not as tight.
Finish = 23:24
Because my view is limited in my back garden and the constellation I wanted to move onto next was Hercules and would have to wait two hours until it was high enough it was time to call it a night. I was pleased with how much I got through, considering I had to wait some time for the scope to cool down.
Hopefully I will be able to get to Bragan with the 14" and get through Virgo, Hercules, Cygnus and a few others.
Sunday 1 April 2012
31st March 2012 - Report
Another clear night. This has to be some kind of record for our country. Five clear nights in one week, doing well if you get that in five months.
I had to do some late work and when I got home I was feeling to tired to bother going out but after getting a text message from the Chairman about how good the seeing was and the view of Mars I had to get out.
Sadly the good seeing didn't reach its way down to me but I wanted to image the moon again and see if I had learned anything from my mistakes.
Mars was actually terrible for me. I could barely make out any details and the polar cap was not to be seen most of the time.
I only stayed out for just over 90 minutes to image the Moon. Even looking at double stars was awful so I packed up after I got all the AVIs I wanted. I used the EQ6 Pro with the 4" Refractor.
I am pleased with my result this time. Everything looks more consistent and sharp.
I had to do some late work and when I got home I was feeling to tired to bother going out but after getting a text message from the Chairman about how good the seeing was and the view of Mars I had to get out.
Sadly the good seeing didn't reach its way down to me but I wanted to image the moon again and see if I had learned anything from my mistakes.
Mars was actually terrible for me. I could barely make out any details and the polar cap was not to be seen most of the time.
I only stayed out for just over 90 minutes to image the Moon. Even looking at double stars was awful so I packed up after I got all the AVIs I wanted. I used the EQ6 Pro with the 4" Refractor.
I am pleased with my result this time. Everything looks more consistent and sharp.
28th March 2012 - Report
Today was forecast to be the last clear day and night of the week and possibly the weekend, so how could I resist. I didn't want to miss a possible last chance, maybe for some time, and also getting out for a fourth night in a row. Something that's never happened to me before.
The evening started of so lovely. The air was warm, there wasn't a breath of wind, humidity was low and seeing was steady. Transparency was poor but that's to be expected in a high pressure weather system.
The evening was great right up until the moment I stopped imaging. Almost as soon as I had finished cloud moved in from the north and because there was barely a breeze it wasn't going to move any time soon so I decided to call it a night and get to bed early for once this week.
Location = Bragan
Equipment = 14" Skywatcher, laptop, webcams.
Start Time = 20:48
My imaging results were varied, I wasn't completely happy but it's another step in the learning curve.
I was feeling pleased about the capture I had of Venus only to realise that I still had the monochrome cam in from imaging the moon, whoops.
The image of the moon was hit and miss. I made a few silly errors in shutter speeds and camera gain, which resulted in some inconsistent colour tones across some of the image. I also got a bit hungry and decided to have a nibble at a few parts of the moon, I do apologies but could you imagine my disappointment when I discovered that it wasn't Cheshire cheese!
As the clouds were rolling in I did have a view at Mars, a few double stars and M3 but the views weren't anything to write home about so that's all I will say about them.
Finish = 23:20
The evening started of so lovely. The air was warm, there wasn't a breath of wind, humidity was low and seeing was steady. Transparency was poor but that's to be expected in a high pressure weather system.
The evening was great right up until the moment I stopped imaging. Almost as soon as I had finished cloud moved in from the north and because there was barely a breeze it wasn't going to move any time soon so I decided to call it a night and get to bed early for once this week.
Location = Bragan
Equipment = 14" Skywatcher, laptop, webcams.
Start Time = 20:48
My imaging results were varied, I wasn't completely happy but it's another step in the learning curve.
I was feeling pleased about the capture I had of Venus only to realise that I still had the monochrome cam in from imaging the moon, whoops.
The image of the moon was hit and miss. I made a few silly errors in shutter speeds and camera gain, which resulted in some inconsistent colour tones across some of the image. I also got a bit hungry and decided to have a nibble at a few parts of the moon, I do apologies but could you imagine my disappointment when I discovered that it wasn't Cheshire cheese!
As the clouds were rolling in I did have a view at Mars, a few double stars and M3 but the views weren't anything to write home about so that's all I will say about them.
Finish = 23:20
Wednesday 28 March 2012
25th, 26th and 27th March 2012 - Report
After a disappointing weekend of thick cloud it turned into stunning week with no clouds to be seem and summer like temperatures.
I've never been out so many nights in a row in all my astronomical time and I am enjoying every moment of it.
Since it was looking like nothing but sunny days and clear nights from the 25th onwards I thought I'd only observe to a minimum and try to improve my skills at imaging with the webcams.
Sunday night was nothing more than a learning curve, as it turned out. The skies were nice and clear at Bragan but the horizon was choked in a thick curtain of - high pressure caused - mist.
I used the colour SPC900 camera with the 14" Skywatcher and most of the images are too embarrassing for me to share but I learned a few things and with the laptop battery running low I turned to observing. I never made any notes so I cannot rely on my memory as to what I looked at.
Monday night was a much better night with less of the haze, giving more of the nice scenic look that Bragan has. I had the EQ6 and my 4" Refractor out with me this time. I started imaging the moon with my monochrome SPC900 and finally started to get some good results. My attempts at Mars and Venus were both somewhat embarrassing, even though the views at the eyepiece being nice.
Tuesday night I stayed at home and got the 14" Skywatcher set up in the back garden. Most of my time was getting to learn and know the imaging software a bit better and also to practise focusing techniques as I find it very difficult to know when you are getting it just right.
I started off spending time trying to image double stars - with the idea that I could use some of them for my talk in May - but I probably wasted too much time on this as they were all rather poor.
I then gave Mars another try and was able to find good focus using the 3x barlow that I borrowed of the Chairman. I took a lot of captures and I am rather proud at how the final result turned out.
Satisfied with my efforts I was in the mood to get back to observing and there is nothing I like to do more from my back yard than observe double stars so out came the maps and of I went.
Equipment = 25th 14" Skywatcher, Colour SPC900 cam and laptop
26th EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor, Monochrome and Colour SPC900 and laptop
27th 14" Skywatcher, Colour SPC900 cam and laptop
Location = 25th Bragan
26th Bragan
27th Home
Start Time for 27th = 20:23
I begun the evening imaging various stars and ending with Mars and moved onto observing by 22:30
Mars - A decent view. The visual view with the 3x barlow wasn't as good as on the laptop screen through the camera but the north polar cap was plain to see and two large surface features were obvious.
54 Leo - A nice double, with both stars of similar colour and the companion being noticeably smaller.
90 Leo - 54 Leo's miniature twin and looking very pretty.
88 Leo - A beautiful par, with a stunning golden yellow main sequence star and smallish pristine secondary star of a brownish colour. A really pleasing sight.
65 Ursa Major - This appeared uninteresting at first, as two white stars of similar size and we seperated but something caught my eye so I increased the power by changing to the 8mm and then saw a very small white star holding tight to 65. A memorable double for me now.
Finish = 11:17
Below are the best results of my imaging. Not much to show for three nights of trying. I am rather pleased of how Mars came out considering that the seeing conditions were terrible. As in my usual fashion I miss a chunk of the moon but still rather happy with the outcome. I hope you enjoy them too.
I've never been out so many nights in a row in all my astronomical time and I am enjoying every moment of it.
Since it was looking like nothing but sunny days and clear nights from the 25th onwards I thought I'd only observe to a minimum and try to improve my skills at imaging with the webcams.
Sunday night was nothing more than a learning curve, as it turned out. The skies were nice and clear at Bragan but the horizon was choked in a thick curtain of - high pressure caused - mist.
I used the colour SPC900 camera with the 14" Skywatcher and most of the images are too embarrassing for me to share but I learned a few things and with the laptop battery running low I turned to observing. I never made any notes so I cannot rely on my memory as to what I looked at.
Monday night was a much better night with less of the haze, giving more of the nice scenic look that Bragan has. I had the EQ6 and my 4" Refractor out with me this time. I started imaging the moon with my monochrome SPC900 and finally started to get some good results. My attempts at Mars and Venus were both somewhat embarrassing, even though the views at the eyepiece being nice.
Tuesday night I stayed at home and got the 14" Skywatcher set up in the back garden. Most of my time was getting to learn and know the imaging software a bit better and also to practise focusing techniques as I find it very difficult to know when you are getting it just right.
I started off spending time trying to image double stars - with the idea that I could use some of them for my talk in May - but I probably wasted too much time on this as they were all rather poor.
I then gave Mars another try and was able to find good focus using the 3x barlow that I borrowed of the Chairman. I took a lot of captures and I am rather proud at how the final result turned out.
Satisfied with my efforts I was in the mood to get back to observing and there is nothing I like to do more from my back yard than observe double stars so out came the maps and of I went.
Equipment = 25th 14" Skywatcher, Colour SPC900 cam and laptop
26th EQ6 Pro, 4" Refractor, Monochrome and Colour SPC900 and laptop
27th 14" Skywatcher, Colour SPC900 cam and laptop
Location = 25th Bragan
26th Bragan
27th Home
Start Time for 27th = 20:23
I begun the evening imaging various stars and ending with Mars and moved onto observing by 22:30
Mars - A decent view. The visual view with the 3x barlow wasn't as good as on the laptop screen through the camera but the north polar cap was plain to see and two large surface features were obvious.
54 Leo - A nice double, with both stars of similar colour and the companion being noticeably smaller.
90 Leo - 54 Leo's miniature twin and looking very pretty.
88 Leo - A beautiful par, with a stunning golden yellow main sequence star and smallish pristine secondary star of a brownish colour. A really pleasing sight.
65 Ursa Major - This appeared uninteresting at first, as two white stars of similar size and we seperated but something caught my eye so I increased the power by changing to the 8mm and then saw a very small white star holding tight to 65. A memorable double for me now.
Finish = 11:17
Below are the best results of my imaging. Not much to show for three nights of trying. I am rather pleased of how Mars came out considering that the seeing conditions were terrible. As in my usual fashion I miss a chunk of the moon but still rather happy with the outcome. I hope you enjoy them too.
Monday 19 March 2012
18th/19th March 2012 - Report
The skies were beautiful upon arriving at Bragan. Some cloud was visible in the distance but the air was clear. Sadly there was a steady cold breeze which proved difficult to cope with as the night went on.
Some cloud did pass over and gave me a scare when it started to rain lightly but it had stopped before I even got the water proof sheet over the scope.
There were two new faces and five of us in total. It was a pleasure to meet the two new guys and their scopes were lovely setups and gave fine views of all the objects I looked at.
I started to feel a bit under the weather just after starting to observing. My headache was helped by one of the guys giving me a pain killer but stomach issues eventually made it too much to endure and with the the razor sharp chill of the wind all I could think about was being at home, warm and in my bed, so I packed up earlier than I had hoped.
Apart from that the night sky was actually fairly good. It didn't stand up to the brilliance of Friday night but some of my observations were above average.
Equipment = Skywatcher 14"
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 2
Trans = 3
Start Time = 21:27
NGC 188 - I couldn't see this on my star maps for a while so I decided to use my GO TO and glad I did, had I not I probably would never have found it as this has to been the faintest and most widely dispersed open cluster I've observed and as for it being Caldwell 1 it was a disappointing start.
NGC 40 - Much better. Caldwell 2 and some time since I observed this PN. It was looking really nice with great nebulosity and a well seen central star.
NGC 4236 - Appeared to be a faint edge on galaxy in the eyepiece but after looking at images it has a large disk but I was clearly observing the bright core region. I was surprised to find that it was filling almost all of the FOV in the 17mm.
NGC 2403 - Bright in appearance but not much detail, structure was strong giving it a easy to pick out disk shape.
NGC 4800 - Quite small and not much in the way of detail.
M106 - A fine view with NGC 4217 appearing nicely in the FOV.
NGC 4242 - This was a tricky one. Quite faint but appeared to have irregular shape.
NGC 4096 - Quite nice, looked almost edge on.
NGC 4157 - This was really nice. Lovely edge on galaxy with a thin delicate appearance with slight details. One of the better NGC objects I've observed in Ursa Major.
NGC 4088 - Strong structure with a pleasing shape and another galaxy, which wasn't listed on my maps, shared the FOV.
NGC 4026 - A beautiful sight. A really bright core with a pretty looking and well detailed disk.
NGC 3953 - Larger than I remember with a bright core and large disk.
NGC 4102 - Small with only a bright core and small disk.
Finish Time = 00:21
Some cloud did pass over and gave me a scare when it started to rain lightly but it had stopped before I even got the water proof sheet over the scope.
There were two new faces and five of us in total. It was a pleasure to meet the two new guys and their scopes were lovely setups and gave fine views of all the objects I looked at.
I started to feel a bit under the weather just after starting to observing. My headache was helped by one of the guys giving me a pain killer but stomach issues eventually made it too much to endure and with the the razor sharp chill of the wind all I could think about was being at home, warm and in my bed, so I packed up earlier than I had hoped.
Apart from that the night sky was actually fairly good. It didn't stand up to the brilliance of Friday night but some of my observations were above average.
Equipment = Skywatcher 14"
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 2
Trans = 3
Start Time = 21:27
NGC 188 - I couldn't see this on my star maps for a while so I decided to use my GO TO and glad I did, had I not I probably would never have found it as this has to been the faintest and most widely dispersed open cluster I've observed and as for it being Caldwell 1 it was a disappointing start.
NGC 40 - Much better. Caldwell 2 and some time since I observed this PN. It was looking really nice with great nebulosity and a well seen central star.
NGC 4236 - Appeared to be a faint edge on galaxy in the eyepiece but after looking at images it has a large disk but I was clearly observing the bright core region. I was surprised to find that it was filling almost all of the FOV in the 17mm.
NGC 2403 - Bright in appearance but not much detail, structure was strong giving it a easy to pick out disk shape.
NGC 4800 - Quite small and not much in the way of detail.
M106 - A fine view with NGC 4217 appearing nicely in the FOV.
NGC 4242 - This was a tricky one. Quite faint but appeared to have irregular shape.
NGC 4096 - Quite nice, looked almost edge on.
NGC 4157 - This was really nice. Lovely edge on galaxy with a thin delicate appearance with slight details. One of the better NGC objects I've observed in Ursa Major.
NGC 4088 - Strong structure with a pleasing shape and another galaxy, which wasn't listed on my maps, shared the FOV.
NGC 4026 - A beautiful sight. A really bright core with a pretty looking and well detailed disk.
NGC 3953 - Larger than I remember with a bright core and large disk.
NGC 4102 - Small with only a bright core and small disk.
Finish Time = 00:21
Saturday 17 March 2012
16th/17th March 2012 - Report
My first night out of the year and my first proper night out since November last year!! With that passage of time I was amazed that I could remember anything of the night sky.
What a night though... I arrived at Bragan, on my own, to beautiful skies with a light to strong breeze - thankfully that broke and calmed as the night went on.
My brother and a friend of his arrived just as I was getting the scope set up so once I did I gave a little night sky tour with the laser pointer and showed a few jewels of the sky in the scope. Before too long the chairman arrived. After some good conversation and hot drink it wasn't long until we were stuck in and making the most of this rare kind of night. Neither of us really knew how good the night actually was until we started looking at some of the rare or exotic objects, that's when the "WOW's" started to become a regular sound.
We finished the night both very happy and ecstatic to have bagged a few rare treats and to see the astonishing sights we did.
If we get a night like this for Sunday's first Messier Marathon attempt we are all in for another special night.
Equipment = Skywatcher 14"
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3
Trans = 4
Start Time = 21:45
NGC 4565 - A very fine view of - possibly - the most impressive edge on galaxy in the whole northern sky. Really strong structure and great contrast between the dust lanes and galactic bulge. A cracking good start.
NGC 4244 - Really nice. Not as bight as I may have seen it in past observations but still good brightness on this occasion . Details were about average but still a great feeling to see this again.
M104 - One of the few galaxies that makes my heart race with excitement upon knowing that I can observe it again. I remember my best ever view of this at Carren Rock a few years ago through my 10" Orion and how photographic it looked. It didn't live up to that night but it was still really good. I observed it for a good ten minutes, at least, and all those details really came out. The dust lane so obvious and breathtaking in details and the way it contrasted against the delicate hue of the galactic bulge was really a beautiful sight.
NGC 4038/39 - Corvus was so prominent in the south sky, so I stood still to take the whole constellation in and then it dawned on me that I've never spend any time observing anything there so I went to the star maps only to see that it was home to the Antennae galaxies. It didn't take me long to get the scope onto them.
They were very faint at first but averted vision revealed what looked like two fried eggs that had touched when cracked onto a hot pan and merged to be cooked as one big irregular looking one. There was next to no detail but I could pick out some variations of light an dark. Now that I look at some images of them, online, I can tell that I had a very good observation of them indeed, especially when they are so low down in our sky.
There was also another galaxy lurking at the edge of the FOV which I believe to be NGC 4027.
NGC 4261 - Never knew of this PN at all so once I saw it on the map curiosity got the better of me. I was really surprised by how impressive it looked. The nebula itself reminded me of a miniature version of the Rosetta. The central star is so bright with AV. I highly recommend this PN observers.
M68 - An excellent view considering how low down it is. Stars were resolving quite well.
Algorab - A new double to add to my list and quite a nice one. Bight and a large companion, easy to split.
Upsilon Virgo - A really lovely double with a small companion, making for a pleasing contrast of size.
M101 - I wasn't expecting to see what I did when slewing the scope to this joker. Normally I just look at it for a joke to see how disappointing it is but I couldn't believe my eyes for a moment. The detail and brightness was as crisp and sharp as when observing this through the 20" Obsession at the Burren Star Party last September - so I could see the supernova.
I could see three spiral arms very well but the largest of the three stood out the best. There was fantastic detail in and around the core and I could even make out dark dust lanes between and around the bright regions of the spiral arms. Having some of the Milky Way stars appear to shine from with in M101 really added to the delight of it all. I won't forget this one, or make a joke of this galaxy again.
M51 - Sensational!! Not the greatest amount of detail I've seen but the brightness of it and the impressive structure of the core and spiral arms was almost photographic. So good...
NGC 4631 - I was so happy to see this again. One of my favourite galaxies and the shape was really strong, with its satellite galaxy very easily seen.
NGC 4656 - This really impressed. The striking 'J' shape - giving the look of the hockey stick - was so obvious and the detail in the irregular galaxy was really good. I could see the star forming regions as brighter areas and also notice the gaps around the edges.
M64 - Very impressive, probably the best I've ever seen this I dare say. The dark feature in the core was really prominent. I spent some time with this and enjoyed it a lot.
M10 - Fantastic, stunning mass of stars.
M12 - Every bit as good as M10
M14 - Shockingly good view when it's such a low object. Stars resolved so nicely
Delta Serpentis - Another new double star for me and it is very nice indeed.
M5 - One of the true treasures of the night sky. I am still lost for words to try and say how incredible this globular is. Not only is this, with out a doubt, the most stunning, breathtaking, mind blowing globular cluster to look at but easily one my favourites of the entire sky now. The view I was getting, the incredible amount of detail, the fact that I could have counted every single star they were that well resolved. No photographic image of any telescope could come close to the real view at the eye piece. Not only was this the biggest "WOW" object of the night it's one of the best observations in all of my observing life.
NGC 6543 - The best I've ever seen the cats eye. The brightness was dazzling and the strong green colour was wonderful. Spending some time with this and some AV some knotted features were revealed to me as well as some hints to the arcing loops of gas you so famously see in the Hubble images.
M4 - What a way to end a night. I've seen this twice before but nothing more than an undefined smudge. Not this time though. It was really nicely resolved with noticeable differences of star meningitides. Such a memorable cluster and my best view of it yet, and to see it so early in the year too!!
I know I forgot to make not of a few objects, a lot of them double stars and a few other M objects but with so many memorable observations in one night my head is still spinning with all the amazing objects that I allowed to be burned into the retina of my eye, so I have no regrets in missing to write down a few things.
Finish Time = 04:14
What a night though... I arrived at Bragan, on my own, to beautiful skies with a light to strong breeze - thankfully that broke and calmed as the night went on.
My brother and a friend of his arrived just as I was getting the scope set up so once I did I gave a little night sky tour with the laser pointer and showed a few jewels of the sky in the scope. Before too long the chairman arrived. After some good conversation and hot drink it wasn't long until we were stuck in and making the most of this rare kind of night. Neither of us really knew how good the night actually was until we started looking at some of the rare or exotic objects, that's when the "WOW's" started to become a regular sound.
We finished the night both very happy and ecstatic to have bagged a few rare treats and to see the astonishing sights we did.
If we get a night like this for Sunday's first Messier Marathon attempt we are all in for another special night.
Equipment = Skywatcher 14"
Location = Bragan
Seeing = 3
Trans = 4
Start Time = 21:45
NGC 4565 - A very fine view of - possibly - the most impressive edge on galaxy in the whole northern sky. Really strong structure and great contrast between the dust lanes and galactic bulge. A cracking good start.
NGC 4244 - Really nice. Not as bight as I may have seen it in past observations but still good brightness on this occasion . Details were about average but still a great feeling to see this again.
M104 - One of the few galaxies that makes my heart race with excitement upon knowing that I can observe it again. I remember my best ever view of this at Carren Rock a few years ago through my 10" Orion and how photographic it looked. It didn't live up to that night but it was still really good. I observed it for a good ten minutes, at least, and all those details really came out. The dust lane so obvious and breathtaking in details and the way it contrasted against the delicate hue of the galactic bulge was really a beautiful sight.
NGC 4038/39 - Corvus was so prominent in the south sky, so I stood still to take the whole constellation in and then it dawned on me that I've never spend any time observing anything there so I went to the star maps only to see that it was home to the Antennae galaxies. It didn't take me long to get the scope onto them.
They were very faint at first but averted vision revealed what looked like two fried eggs that had touched when cracked onto a hot pan and merged to be cooked as one big irregular looking one. There was next to no detail but I could pick out some variations of light an dark. Now that I look at some images of them, online, I can tell that I had a very good observation of them indeed, especially when they are so low down in our sky.
There was also another galaxy lurking at the edge of the FOV which I believe to be NGC 4027.
NGC 4261 - Never knew of this PN at all so once I saw it on the map curiosity got the better of me. I was really surprised by how impressive it looked. The nebula itself reminded me of a miniature version of the Rosetta. The central star is so bright with AV. I highly recommend this PN observers.
M68 - An excellent view considering how low down it is. Stars were resolving quite well.
Algorab - A new double to add to my list and quite a nice one. Bight and a large companion, easy to split.
Upsilon Virgo - A really lovely double with a small companion, making for a pleasing contrast of size.
M101 - I wasn't expecting to see what I did when slewing the scope to this joker. Normally I just look at it for a joke to see how disappointing it is but I couldn't believe my eyes for a moment. The detail and brightness was as crisp and sharp as when observing this through the 20" Obsession at the Burren Star Party last September - so I could see the supernova.
I could see three spiral arms very well but the largest of the three stood out the best. There was fantastic detail in and around the core and I could even make out dark dust lanes between and around the bright regions of the spiral arms. Having some of the Milky Way stars appear to shine from with in M101 really added to the delight of it all. I won't forget this one, or make a joke of this galaxy again.
M51 - Sensational!! Not the greatest amount of detail I've seen but the brightness of it and the impressive structure of the core and spiral arms was almost photographic. So good...
NGC 4631 - I was so happy to see this again. One of my favourite galaxies and the shape was really strong, with its satellite galaxy very easily seen.
NGC 4656 - This really impressed. The striking 'J' shape - giving the look of the hockey stick - was so obvious and the detail in the irregular galaxy was really good. I could see the star forming regions as brighter areas and also notice the gaps around the edges.
M64 - Very impressive, probably the best I've ever seen this I dare say. The dark feature in the core was really prominent. I spent some time with this and enjoyed it a lot.
M10 - Fantastic, stunning mass of stars.
M12 - Every bit as good as M10
M14 - Shockingly good view when it's such a low object. Stars resolved so nicely
Delta Serpentis - Another new double star for me and it is very nice indeed.
M5 - One of the true treasures of the night sky. I am still lost for words to try and say how incredible this globular is. Not only is this, with out a doubt, the most stunning, breathtaking, mind blowing globular cluster to look at but easily one my favourites of the entire sky now. The view I was getting, the incredible amount of detail, the fact that I could have counted every single star they were that well resolved. No photographic image of any telescope could come close to the real view at the eye piece. Not only was this the biggest "WOW" object of the night it's one of the best observations in all of my observing life.
NGC 6543 - The best I've ever seen the cats eye. The brightness was dazzling and the strong green colour was wonderful. Spending some time with this and some AV some knotted features were revealed to me as well as some hints to the arcing loops of gas you so famously see in the Hubble images.
M4 - What a way to end a night. I've seen this twice before but nothing more than an undefined smudge. Not this time though. It was really nicely resolved with noticeable differences of star meningitides. Such a memorable cluster and my best view of it yet, and to see it so early in the year too!!
I know I forgot to make not of a few objects, a lot of them double stars and a few other M objects but with so many memorable observations in one night my head is still spinning with all the amazing objects that I allowed to be burned into the retina of my eye, so I have no regrets in missing to write down a few things.
Finish Time = 04:14
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