#1  
Old 06-09-2007, 08:01 AM
§AB
Its only a column of dust

§AB is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: New Iceland
Posts: 761
Observations September 5 (with sketches)

telescope: 4.5" reflector
seeing: 6/10



started off trying to observe jupiter but I became somewhat paranoid about my collimation and spent half an hour tinkering ith that. That's it, when I graduate from uni and get a job, I'm getting a refractor for planetary viewing!

Well, despite predictions of great seeing by various weather maps, the usual crud persisted. Those maps are dirty old LIES! Seeing was only so-so and thus Jupiter was blurry most of the time. Dissapointed and having seen enough of a fuzzy tennis ball, I decided it was time for some DSO hunting.

Hunted down the M57 ring and was not dissapointed. Despite being only 15º above the horizon, at 121x with a Narrowband Nebula Filter I could clearly make it out as a ring and its northern edge was slightly brighter then its southern edge.

I then looked for the dumbell but with the lack of a proper star chart it took me forever to find it. Then I found it. Using 75x with a narrowband filter I could make out the dumbell shape. It's SW region was noticably brighter than the rest of the cloud.

sketches
http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/1752/stuffwu4.jpg

btw, is there a way of displaying the image on these forums?

Last edited by §AB; 06-09-2007 at 08:17 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 06-09-2007, 08:15 AM
NQLD_Newby's Avatar
NQLD_Newby
Clear Skys and Open Road

NQLD_Newby is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Townsville
Posts: 207
Nice work SAB.

Sounds like you have more experience at it than me, but I'll tell you just in case, whenever i look at Jupiter I always use my moon filter as this cuts the glare down and allows me to see some detail. I have only been able to see anything other than a white disk since i got my 5mm LVW, before that even with the moon filter there was no detail to be had.

M57 is, and has been since I found it the first time, by far my favourite object. On a clear night I can easily make out the ring (without diverted vision), and I don't have any filters, (apart from the moon one previously mentioned). It's much higher in the sky for me, and once again just highlights all the valuable lessons I have learned on this forum regarding, seeing etc etc etc. Can't wait to see it when I finally get a neb filter, (quite a while away as I have a few other things that are higher up on the list).

Once again nice report and thanks for sharing
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 06-09-2007, 09:15 AM
erick's Avatar
erick (Eric)
Starcatcher

erick is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Gerringong
Posts: 8,532
Quote:
Originally Posted by §AB View Post
.....Well, despite predictions of great seeing by various weather maps, the usual crud persisted. Those maps are dirty old LIES! Seeing was only so-so and thus Jupiter was blurry most of the time. Dissapointed and having seen enough of a fuzzy tennis ball, I decided it was time for some DSO hunting.....



btw, is there a way of displaying the image on these forums?

Yes, I agree. Around 8-9pm last night and 5-6am this morning, seeing was pretty poor.

Go down below the message box (and smilies) into "Additional Options" and look for the button "Manage Attachments"

Last edited by erick; 07-09-2007 at 07:14 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 06-09-2007, 07:06 PM
Rob_K
Registered User

Rob_K is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Bright, Vic, Australia
Posts: 2,158
Nice report, and great to see your sketches attached
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 07-09-2007, 08:36 AM
DougAdams
Lord Lissie

DougAdams is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 233
Nice work! You're sketches are great. Lovely detail. I've got to get my scope in the car and somewhere dark!
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 07-09-2007, 08:49 AM
iceman's Avatar
iceman (Mike)
Sir Post a Lot!

iceman is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Gosford, NSW, Australia
Posts: 36,760
Nice report Sab and great sketches. To attach images, scroll down to "Manage Attachments" and browse to the image file on your computer. It has to be under 200k, jpeg is best.

You might also be interested in the IIS Observing Log Template, you can download from here.

I was also interested in this comment:
Quote:
That's it, when I graduate from uni and get a job, I'm getting a refractor for planetary viewing!
Why do you think a refractor would be better for planetary viewing? A refractor just won't give you the magnification and detail you need/want for planetary viewing. It just doesn't have the aperture.

Reflectors give absolutely magnificent views of the planets when:
1) Collimated correctly
2) At ambient temperature
3) In very good seeing.

A large aperture reflector will give brilliant views. You just have to persist.

If collimation is frustrating you, have you considering meeting up with some other amateurs near you to get help with it? It shouldn't need to be a scary or frustrating thing - once you've done it properly once, and know how to do it properly, it should require very little adjustments each time you go out to observe.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 01:02 PM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement