It became unexpectedly clear. BBC were forecasting cloud and the Met office images from a few hours earlier in the day didn't show anything promising but looking out after 20:30 hours should excellent looking skies and with my head buzzing with wonder over what this mysterious object was near M33 I had to fight my fatigue and force myself out to get a second look at this object.
The classic astronomers jinx predictably happened too. I got setup and ready to observe, slewed to Jupiter and to M15 to observe, while I waited for the Triangulum to rise a bit higher over the roof of my parents house, and just as I did it clouded over.
I waited it out and was rewarded with very clear skies afterwards.
I went straight for M33 and could barely see it due to poor transparency and a rather bright moon. So I got my UHC-S filter into action and the view improved quite a bit. I could see bright blobs through out the center of the galaxy but I started to slew the scope to the direction of where I saw the object from the previous night. Using a lot of AV I could manage to see it, the poor transparency and moon were making it more difficult to see and as I was fighting fatuige so staying out until the moon passed below the horizon was not an option for me.
I really spent a good bit of time looking at this object, something close to 15 minutes of constant staring and breathing in and out deeply to get plenty of oxygen to my brain and eyes to try and give me that extra bit of better vision.
After that I wrote down the RA and DEC and called it a night.
I started up Starry Night this morning and went to the coordinates I wrote down and to my shock I have been observing NGC 604! I thought I had observed this from my night out on the 21st but obviously not.
I never in my life thought I would ever see another nebula, or another object for that matter, in another galaxy through armature equipment.
The UHC-S filter is starting to become an invaluable accessory to me.
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Saturday, 29 August 2009
28/29 August 2009 - Report
It was a day of mixed weather, heavy showers of rain and spells of stunning along with strong gusty winds but as the day progressed the weather improved with skies clearing as the night drew nearer.
I got invited up to observe with some of the members at the Killylane site. I've been looking forward to getting back to observing at the site as the last night I was there wasn't a good night to get a proper feel of the place.
I left early to meet up with Stevie and get a bite to eat so I was fueled up for the night ahead.
There was quite a little party of members observing, seven in total, giving the night an atmosphere of fun.
It took me a while to setup, mostly because I just took my time, but I did have some problems at the start. The EQ6 kept refusing to do a 3 star alignment, failing every time. Eventually I got it sorted out but after trying to slew to Jupiter the mount refused to slew anywhere else after settling on Jupiter so I had to turn all of and reset the "Parke Mode" data and do everything from scratch. It took a while but it paid of and everything was working well again.
There was a lot of objects observed from everyone there and I had some great views through Neil's Mak Newt and Stevie's 12" Light Bridge. I was also captivated and really enjoying the gorgeous wide field views through Jonathan's 100mm Binoculars, a really fantastic instrument.
Towards the end of the night a fantastic fireball was seen by myself and Mark. It's brightness grew wonderfully and then broke up, leaving a smouldering smoke trail behind it.
Location = Killylane
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newt
Seeing = 4
Trans = 2
Start Time = 22:04
My observations for the night are as follows:
Albireo = After the nonsense my mount gave me I thought something nice, simple and beautiful to look at was a fine way to make sure that tracking and slewing was working fine. As always, looking lovely with rich colours.
M13 = A great view at 155x and thanks to the good seeing stars were resolving very nicely indeed.
M57 = A great view with nice detail and the UHC-S really made the nebula look brighter but no sign of the centeral star tonight.
M51 = Very poor, barely visible even when filtered only the necleus could be seen. Not a night for galaxies due to the poor transparency no doubt.
M27 = Very bright with UHC-S filter but little detail showing through. Fine structer though.
Jupiter = Good view with great cloud detail showing and the positions of the moons was quite beautiful. I also reobserved later in the night to take a look at the GRS
M97 = Not much to see here, even when filtered it is an undiscernable blur with no signs or hints of the gaps that make the eyes.
NGC 6826 = A lovely view with a very bright image filtered or unfiltered. Displaying a large airy disk and the centeral star showing well.
M15 - A stunning view. This richness of this globular is striking at anytime but, again, the seeing was allowing so many stars to resolve. This was a view to capture the imagination and get lost in daydreams. One of my best views on this globular cluster and the night in a whole was excellent for globular observing.
M76 = A decent view. Pleasing structure and even better under UHC-S.
Epsilon Lyra = A fair view and splitting well at 155x, proving that the seeing was better than usual.
M74 = Faint but lovely to see for the fist time, it's a Messier object that I've over looked but thanks to Stevie for challenging me to observe it I can now mark it off the list. The nucleus was clear with AV.
NGC 404 = Very obvious and detail was fairly good. It's been a year or so since I observed this again it's thanks to Stevie for bringing it up. A fine sight to observe.
M33 = Surprisingly good views considering it was a poor night for galaxies all round. Observing with UHC-S really changed the view to something great but what struck me the most was a faint fussy object about half a degree from the galaxy in the 3 O'Clock position on the eye piece. I let Stevie take a look but do not know what it is.
I have taken a look through my star maps, starry night and widefield images searches on google and can find nothing that fitted.
Looking a Starry Night shows that it could have been NGC 614 I was seeing but the distances look too far apart to fit in the FOV of view at 155x.
I will most certainly be taking another look on the next clear night and write down the RA and DEC of this object.
Finish Time = 02:53
I got invited up to observe with some of the members at the Killylane site. I've been looking forward to getting back to observing at the site as the last night I was there wasn't a good night to get a proper feel of the place.
I left early to meet up with Stevie and get a bite to eat so I was fueled up for the night ahead.
There was quite a little party of members observing, seven in total, giving the night an atmosphere of fun.
It took me a while to setup, mostly because I just took my time, but I did have some problems at the start. The EQ6 kept refusing to do a 3 star alignment, failing every time. Eventually I got it sorted out but after trying to slew to Jupiter the mount refused to slew anywhere else after settling on Jupiter so I had to turn all of and reset the "Parke Mode" data and do everything from scratch. It took a while but it paid of and everything was working well again.
There was a lot of objects observed from everyone there and I had some great views through Neil's Mak Newt and Stevie's 12" Light Bridge. I was also captivated and really enjoying the gorgeous wide field views through Jonathan's 100mm Binoculars, a really fantastic instrument.
Towards the end of the night a fantastic fireball was seen by myself and Mark. It's brightness grew wonderfully and then broke up, leaving a smouldering smoke trail behind it.
Location = Killylane
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newt
Seeing = 4
Trans = 2
Start Time = 22:04
My observations for the night are as follows:
Albireo = After the nonsense my mount gave me I thought something nice, simple and beautiful to look at was a fine way to make sure that tracking and slewing was working fine. As always, looking lovely with rich colours.
M13 = A great view at 155x and thanks to the good seeing stars were resolving very nicely indeed.
M57 = A great view with nice detail and the UHC-S really made the nebula look brighter but no sign of the centeral star tonight.
M51 = Very poor, barely visible even when filtered only the necleus could be seen. Not a night for galaxies due to the poor transparency no doubt.
M27 = Very bright with UHC-S filter but little detail showing through. Fine structer though.
Jupiter = Good view with great cloud detail showing and the positions of the moons was quite beautiful. I also reobserved later in the night to take a look at the GRS
M97 = Not much to see here, even when filtered it is an undiscernable blur with no signs or hints of the gaps that make the eyes.
NGC 6826 = A lovely view with a very bright image filtered or unfiltered. Displaying a large airy disk and the centeral star showing well.
M15 - A stunning view. This richness of this globular is striking at anytime but, again, the seeing was allowing so many stars to resolve. This was a view to capture the imagination and get lost in daydreams. One of my best views on this globular cluster and the night in a whole was excellent for globular observing.
M76 = A decent view. Pleasing structure and even better under UHC-S.
Epsilon Lyra = A fair view and splitting well at 155x, proving that the seeing was better than usual.
M74 = Faint but lovely to see for the fist time, it's a Messier object that I've over looked but thanks to Stevie for challenging me to observe it I can now mark it off the list. The nucleus was clear with AV.
NGC 404 = Very obvious and detail was fairly good. It's been a year or so since I observed this again it's thanks to Stevie for bringing it up. A fine sight to observe.
M33 = Surprisingly good views considering it was a poor night for galaxies all round. Observing with UHC-S really changed the view to something great but what struck me the most was a faint fussy object about half a degree from the galaxy in the 3 O'Clock position on the eye piece. I let Stevie take a look but do not know what it is.
I have taken a look through my star maps, starry night and widefield images searches on google and can find nothing that fitted.
Looking a Starry Night shows that it could have been NGC 614 I was seeing but the distances look too far apart to fit in the FOV of view at 155x.
I will most certainly be taking another look on the next clear night and write down the RA and DEC of this object.
Finish Time = 02:53
Monday, 24 August 2009
23/24 August 2009 - Report
It was a terrible day with prolonged heavy rain and wind which caused quite a bit of flooding around low land. The met office showed good looking clear sky to move in for about 21:00 and to last the whole night.
By about 19:30 the sky started to break and as the minutes went by things began to look more promising.
By the time I got to the site, which was about 21:50, it was reasonably clear but after setting up all my gear cloud moved in, with it's usual style, and didn't blow over until after an hour of waiting.
Once the cloud did clear things looked fine. The milky way was looking great and NGC 7000 was naked eye again but no sooner did I start a yucky haze came in a lurked around with braked in between but it killed transparency quite a bit so I didn't get to see an awful lot as my nights planner was full of emission and reflection nebula to stress test my UHC-S and the OIII filter.
I had a terrible scare half way through my observing. Dew was rather bad, leaving the OTA soaking wet, and I had not fully tightened the tube rings after balancing my scope - I just forgot from being scundered about the haze - and while observing NGC 6888 the OTA fell to the ground! My heart was in my mouth and nerves making me shake but luckily the rings were tight enough to stop it at the focus mount, so I turned the power off to the mount and got the OTA back on securely and resumed my observations.
In the end I gave into frustrations and the weather and packed up just after 01:00
Anyway, the night was as follows:
Observing Site = Carrin Rock
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newt
Seeing = 3
Trans = 2/3
Start Time = 23:54
NGC 9481 = A first time observation for me on this object. It was faint but apparent with AV, showing a lovely thin ring. The UHC-S did bring out more detail but also reduced brightness, thus making it hard to see.
NGC 6888 = Appearing nicely at low power with OIII. The crescent Sharpe arching nicely around the near by stars in the center of the FOV. Not my best observation but still a thrill to see this object visually.
IC 1318 = Not much to see - probably due the bad transparency of due to the haze - at any magnification or any filter. Just a bright circular shaped haze could be seen around the brightest star in the FOV
Finish Time = 01:07
By about 19:30 the sky started to break and as the minutes went by things began to look more promising.
By the time I got to the site, which was about 21:50, it was reasonably clear but after setting up all my gear cloud moved in, with it's usual style, and didn't blow over until after an hour of waiting.
Once the cloud did clear things looked fine. The milky way was looking great and NGC 7000 was naked eye again but no sooner did I start a yucky haze came in a lurked around with braked in between but it killed transparency quite a bit so I didn't get to see an awful lot as my nights planner was full of emission and reflection nebula to stress test my UHC-S and the OIII filter.
I had a terrible scare half way through my observing. Dew was rather bad, leaving the OTA soaking wet, and I had not fully tightened the tube rings after balancing my scope - I just forgot from being scundered about the haze - and while observing NGC 6888 the OTA fell to the ground! My heart was in my mouth and nerves making me shake but luckily the rings were tight enough to stop it at the focus mount, so I turned the power off to the mount and got the OTA back on securely and resumed my observations.
In the end I gave into frustrations and the weather and packed up just after 01:00
Anyway, the night was as follows:
Observing Site = Carrin Rock
Equipment = EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newt
Seeing = 3
Trans = 2/3
Start Time = 23:54
NGC 9481 = A first time observation for me on this object. It was faint but apparent with AV, showing a lovely thin ring. The UHC-S did bring out more detail but also reduced brightness, thus making it hard to see.
NGC 6888 = Appearing nicely at low power with OIII. The crescent Sharpe arching nicely around the near by stars in the center of the FOV. Not my best observation but still a thrill to see this object visually.
IC 1318 = Not much to see - probably due the bad transparency of due to the haze - at any magnification or any filter. Just a bright circular shaped haze could be seen around the brightest star in the FOV
Finish Time = 01:07
Saturday, 22 August 2009
21/22 August 2009 - Report
The day as a whole was very mixed with sun, rain, wind and even lightning but as the evening drew closer the breaks in the clouds became more consistent so a nights observing was afoot.
I had the pleasure and great company of two members from the club to join me, Stevie and Mark, so Carrin Rock was the observing site for the night.
The night didn't start off looking good with wall to wall cloud and showers of rain to be seen all over the country but a slow walk up to the viewing point, with a full panoramic view of the country to be seen - from the Mournes to the Wicklow Mountains in Dublin - and after spending a few minutes up there breaks in the clouds could be seen forming and headed our way.
Upon coming back to the site it started to rain lightly so it was into the cars for shelter and warmth but not very long after it stopped and begun to, slowly, clear up.
I took my time setting, paying extra attention to my polar alignment, which I am glad to say paid of with great results of excellent tracking through the whole night.
After setting up it clouded over again but 10 minutes or so later the sky exploded with clarity along with a wonderfully vibrant and stunning milky way, running from horizon to horizon.
So, the night, for me, went as follows:
Equipment - EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newt
Seeing - 4
Trans - 3
Start time - 22:58
Jupiter - WOW! That really is the word to use here. Such a crisp and highly detailed image with so much detail to be seen in the bands and zones in the atmosphere. I missed the transit of Io and Europa but it was a beautiful site to see them appearing so close to each other.
M17 - A remarkable view with superb detail, while using the UHC-S filter. The wonderful swan like shape easily seen along with excellent contrast showing depth and texture to the nebula's look.
M27 - Very nice view with decent detail while using the filter. It was equally as good with out the filter.
NGC 7000 - Not my best view but the Mexican region of the NAN was easily seen with some pleasant detail to take in.
NGC 6960 - Absolutely stunning. Beautiful intricate web/filament like detail running all throughout the nebula. This is definitely a great nebula for an OIII filter.
M33 - Using the UHC-S reveals the H-II nebulous regions within the galaxy which were a sheer delight to see and never thought I could. With out the filter the galaxy was barely visible.
NGC 40 - Using the filter showed a nice bright central region with good out lying nebulosity. Not my best view of this object though.
Jupiter - I had to have another look now that the GRS was in view and I also decided to keep in the UHC-S filter for the fun of it and the results were shockingly good. The contrast boost was amazing, allowing me to see details of the atmosphere I never saw before and the GRS stood out like a sore thumb. The filter also did a fantastic job on the moons, giving them unique hues of colour and making them pin point sharp. The king was certainly showing of tonight.
NGC 7009 - A nice view and a long time since I observed this PN and strangely it was best viewed unfiltered. Very bright with a darkish central area.
During the whole session there was regular passing of cloud but we did get an awesome window that lasted about an hour, however we did get an overcast spell of equal length later on, but between the gaps and cursing at the sky some great observing was done and great fun all around.
A night to remember for me and I hope the next clear night won't be so far away.
Finish time - 03:26
I had the pleasure and great company of two members from the club to join me, Stevie and Mark, so Carrin Rock was the observing site for the night.
The night didn't start off looking good with wall to wall cloud and showers of rain to be seen all over the country but a slow walk up to the viewing point, with a full panoramic view of the country to be seen - from the Mournes to the Wicklow Mountains in Dublin - and after spending a few minutes up there breaks in the clouds could be seen forming and headed our way.
Upon coming back to the site it started to rain lightly so it was into the cars for shelter and warmth but not very long after it stopped and begun to, slowly, clear up.
I took my time setting, paying extra attention to my polar alignment, which I am glad to say paid of with great results of excellent tracking through the whole night.
After setting up it clouded over again but 10 minutes or so later the sky exploded with clarity along with a wonderfully vibrant and stunning milky way, running from horizon to horizon.
So, the night, for me, went as follows:
Equipment - EQ6 Pro and Orion 10" Newt
Seeing - 4
Trans - 3
Start time - 22:58
Jupiter - WOW! That really is the word to use here. Such a crisp and highly detailed image with so much detail to be seen in the bands and zones in the atmosphere. I missed the transit of Io and Europa but it was a beautiful site to see them appearing so close to each other.
M17 - A remarkable view with superb detail, while using the UHC-S filter. The wonderful swan like shape easily seen along with excellent contrast showing depth and texture to the nebula's look.
M27 - Very nice view with decent detail while using the filter. It was equally as good with out the filter.
NGC 7000 - Not my best view but the Mexican region of the NAN was easily seen with some pleasant detail to take in.
NGC 6960 - Absolutely stunning. Beautiful intricate web/filament like detail running all throughout the nebula. This is definitely a great nebula for an OIII filter.
M33 - Using the UHC-S reveals the H-II nebulous regions within the galaxy which were a sheer delight to see and never thought I could. With out the filter the galaxy was barely visible.
NGC 40 - Using the filter showed a nice bright central region with good out lying nebulosity. Not my best view of this object though.
Jupiter - I had to have another look now that the GRS was in view and I also decided to keep in the UHC-S filter for the fun of it and the results were shockingly good. The contrast boost was amazing, allowing me to see details of the atmosphere I never saw before and the GRS stood out like a sore thumb. The filter also did a fantastic job on the moons, giving them unique hues of colour and making them pin point sharp. The king was certainly showing of tonight.
NGC 7009 - A nice view and a long time since I observed this PN and strangely it was best viewed unfiltered. Very bright with a darkish central area.
During the whole session there was regular passing of cloud but we did get an awesome window that lasted about an hour, however we did get an overcast spell of equal length later on, but between the gaps and cursing at the sky some great observing was done and great fun all around.
A night to remember for me and I hope the next clear night won't be so far away.
Finish time - 03:26
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
New Equipment
I decided to get ready for the dark skies again by ordering a few pieces of new equipment from FLO.
I decided to upgrade my refractors diagonal to a WO Carbon Fiber 1.25" Dielectric.
Also to enhance my view of emission nebula and planetary nebula I ordered a Baadar UHC-S 1.25" Filter.
I was shocked to see them delivered to me today considering I ordered them late yesterday afternoon so top marks to FLO.
It is all about waiting for the weather to clear up, which will probably be a week or more looking at the forecasts, sigh...
I decided to upgrade my refractors diagonal to a WO Carbon Fiber 1.25" Dielectric.
Also to enhance my view of emission nebula and planetary nebula I ordered a Baadar UHC-S 1.25" Filter.
I was shocked to see them delivered to me today considering I ordered them late yesterday afternoon so top marks to FLO.
It is all about waiting for the weather to clear up, which will probably be a week or more looking at the forecasts, sigh...
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
One blink and it's over.
It cleared up fairly nicely last night with very good seeing so I set up my gear for some quick imagine and then some observing.
Jupiter was looking very nice with good detail and the GRS also visible.
No sooner has I started though it night was turning. I more or less just looked down to my eyepiece box, looked back up and cloud covered almost everything.
Oh well, very short but at least I got lovely views of the planet king.
Jupiter was looking very nice with good detail and the GRS also visible.
No sooner has I started though it night was turning. I more or less just looked down to my eyepiece box, looked back up and cloud covered almost everything.
Oh well, very short but at least I got lovely views of the planet king.
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