New to the game - Page 3

ShOrEbReAk (Troy) · #41 30-12-2014, 11:59 PM

Hey

My names troy and I am a scope junkie, my last binge was tonight in the backyard hahahahahahahaha

Anyways had a look at the sword part of Orion (handle of saucepan

)

Attached is a sketch looks like preschooler did it,is this M42? The wife kids and I all looked at it with just the 20mm. The 10 mm didn't look so good in my wife and my opinion took away some detail. She swears she seen blues and greens but I just saw a grey swirling around the stars.

Please tell me I saw something or the right object

Troy

ralph1 · #42 31-12-2014, 12:13 AM

Yes Troy, you are certainly in the right region and that sketch looks vaguely like M42 but to my eyes it looks curvier. I have only seen colour in M42 once, in a 16 inch telescope but I see no reason why you wouldn't see colour in a smaller telescope. The arrow you drew on the saucepan points exactly to M42.

ShOrEbReAk (Troy) · #43 31-12-2014, 12:21 AM

Ralph

Cheers mate. Yes the clouds were more crescent shaped than my drawing,sort of an S curve to the top of the stars. Hard to draw in the dark but I am going to need to practice. Wohoo one off the list.

Cheers again for your help

Troy

raymo · #44 31-12-2014, 12:55 AM

Peoples' colour acuity varies considerably. Many people [including me when I was a lot younger] see some green in M42 in quite small scopes.
A few even see a hint of pink. I don't see colour in it with anything smaller than 12" now.
raymo

ralph1 · #45 31-12-2014, 11:40 AM

Troy
What light source do you use to draw? A dim red light is best but if you don't have one try putting brown packing tape over a normal torch - about 25 layers should do it. It should be bright enough to read by at night, but no brighter. Another excellent target for your telescope is the Pleiades. they won't all fit in the FOV of the 20mm but are probably the most obvious deep sky object. To find them find Aldebaran using orions belt[the bottom of the saucepan] and continue moving away from orion. They should look like a small group of 5-9 stars[or more depending on the darkness of the sky]

Raymo
I saw the green as soon as I looked through the scope. Another observer saw red on the outskirts but that was beyond me

ShOrEbReAk (Troy) · #46 31-12-2014, 12:05 PM

Raymo
my wife wears glasses but seen this without her glasses through scope. Eyes must be like people then, all the same but completely different inside.
Haven't seen through anything bigger than I got yet so I'll let you know when I do happen to get a chance.

Ralph
Hey I was using a red light,but it is a poxy one that came with a star kit.
Will look for the Pleiades tonight if I get the chance but with New Year's Eve I don't like my chances. Are they by any chance in a diamond with a tail looking set of stars. Only just see them with my eye. Tiny little group of stars lower to horizon.

Cheers

Troy

ralph1 · #47 31-12-2014, 01:29 PM

Troy
Yes, That's exactly what they are like. The best time to see them at this time of year is between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m, when they will appear towards the north.
They're very bright - the brightest star cluster in the sky and the brightest messier object[Messier objects have M followed by a number. M42 is one, the pleiades is M45]

Allan_L (Allan) · #48 31-12-2014, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShOrEbReAk

Will look for the Pleiades tonight if I get the chance ...

Track along Orion's belt (the base of the saucepan) to the left...
there you will see a V arrangement of stars with a bright Orange star atop one of the limbs (that constellation is Taurus and the star is Aldebaran)...
Continue about the same distance to the left and you will see a roundish smudge of stars in a group about the size of a 10c piece held at arms length ... The Pleiades. (aka the Seven Sisters) A group of (more than 7) stars with inter-twined nebulosity (gas clouds).

Mythology says the Seven sisters were being pursued by Orion and they took refuge on the back of Taurus (The Bull).

ShOrEbReAk (Troy) · #49 31-12-2014, 03:44 PM

Allan and Ralph

I thought they were the seven sisters and you have confirmed this and if time permits tonite I will be looking upwards again hahahahaha.

Troy

Allan_L (Allan) · #50 01-01-2015, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShOrEbReAk

Allan and Ralph

I thought they were the seven sisters and you have confirmed this and if time permits tonite I will be looking upwards again hahahahaha.

Troy

Last night they were almost washed out by the waxing moon.
Tonight, the moon will be even closer to them, and brighter, so they will be very hard to spot.
It will probably be 10 days or so from now that they will start to be a decent target again.

ShOrEbReAk (Troy) · #51 01-01-2015, 08:49 AM

Allan,

you are correct I had a look but couldn't see them, plus some cloud cover didn't help. I will wait for the 10 days and try again. its amazing how bright the moon can be, especially without the filter on, damn near burnt my eyeballs

Troy

ralph1 · #52 01-01-2015, 01:08 PM

To be more precise, 7th January should be the first opportunity to see the Pleiades in a dark sky. There will be a short window of opportunity at 9:15 p.m. between the end of twilight and moonrise.
Try looking at the moon for longer or in the early twilight, it gets dimmer the longer you look. I like to observer the moon using no filter - even when it is full. I prefer to allow my eyes to de-dark adapt instead of adding extra glass which could degrade the image.
In my opinion the planet that benefits most from filter use is Jupiter. If you can get your hands on a blue filter it can enhance the clouds and great red spot.

ShOrEbReAk (Troy) · #53 02-01-2015, 02:15 PM

Ralph

Cheers for the information! I will be watching the weather for the 7th but from the weather we are getting atthe moment 43c I think it should be good viewing.

Is winter as hyped up as they say for viewing?

Cheers

Troy

ShOrEbReAk (Troy) · #54 02-01-2015, 09:51 PM

Well gents

Clear skies tonite,had my rest last night so outside tonite!

Hope any of the Adeladians haven't been hit by the big fire over the hills out north!

Troy

ralph1 · #55 02-01-2015, 09:54 PM

Yes, the nights are long, clear and mosquito free. Also, the centre of the Milky Way with all its eye candy is high up around midnight. Lots of clear nights - 3 consecutive months of no cloud, the planets and moon pass high overhead, in short incredible viewing.

ShOrEbReAk (Troy) · #56 04-01-2015, 07:00 PM

Hey

I think I may have found my answer to getting lost in space a hahahahaha

Attached is a photo of a super cheap auto phone carrier double stick taped to my tube ring. I thought about mounting on the scope but this way phone stays upright no matter when I turn the tube for viewing ease.

I am planning to use this with the SkEye pro and the alignment tool in the software so theoretically I have a push to setup hahahahahaha.

Let you know how it goes but with all the smoke around at the moment I don't think I will be seeing stars for a bit.

Troy

ShOrEbReAk (Troy) · #57 04-01-2015, 10:13 PM

damn

was a bust. need a swivel head on the phone holder! plus the tape didn't work for long hahahahaha. going to fab up a holder using a bolt to screw in once I work out what thread to use! I think its a normal camera attachment size. mmmmmmmm things to think about and try hahahahaha fun fun fun.