June 2016 Observation Log

AEAJR (Ed) · #1 03-06-2016, 08:05 AM

I have decided to start a running log for June 2016. Feel free to comment. Or, if you like, add you observation reports to mine and we can compare notes.

Just for fun!

AEAJR (Ed) · #2 03-06-2016, 08:06 AM

June 1, 2016 Started around 10:30 pm and finished around 11:45 pm. Transparency 3/5, Seeing 4/5. Light breeze, about 75% humidity.
Orion XT8i used manually. 38 & 25 mm 2" 70 AFOV, 9.7 mm Plossl, 6.7 mm 82 degree and 4.5 mm 60 degree. GSO 2" 2X barlow. No filters used.

It has been about a year since I came back to astronomy after a 45 year gap. Note that I am in NY so you southern astronomers will likely see different things in your sky.

Tonight was about going back to where I started a year ago when I was using my first binoculars and that was centered around Vega.

I surveyed the sky to find Vega, Deneb and Altair, the summer triangle. Then identified the Northern cross, extending to Albireo. Then, using my 10X50s I found the Coat Hanger.

This was my start-up routine for months when I first started.

Inserted the 38 mm then I lined up on Albireo in the 9X50 RACI finder. At 31X this double star was split into beautiful yellow and blue stars. The first time I accomplished this was using my ETX 80 with the 9.7 mm/41X eyepiece. I was so excited. I think I have split this double 100 times. And it is one of my favorites for introducing people to the wonders of astronomy.

I then used binoculars and then the finder to Locate the coat hanger. This is a cluster of 10 stars, about 7 degrees from Albireo angled slightly toward Altair. I took some time to sketch it. While I could see it clearly in the 2.2 degree FOV of the 38 mm eyepiece it just barely fit in the field of view. It looks much better in the 10X50s or 15X70 binoculars. If you have not seen it I highly recommend it. Another great one to show newbies.
http://earthsky.org/favorite-star-pa...-hop-adventure

I then went over to Epsilon Lyrae, the double double. This is the pair that helps me confirm I am looking at Vega in my binoculars. I see Vega and then see Epsilon Lyra and I know I have my correct star.
http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/...le-double-star

Using a series of eyepieces I split both the double stars into two beads each. At 180X I could see the beads but they were not separated. At 266 they were separated but the high humidity in the air caused them to be a bit fuzzy so I did not have the crisp split pair that I usually get. But it was fun doing the split again. The 9.7 and 4.5 mm eyepieces I used were not in my kit the last time I did this.

I had used SkEye, a free app available for android phones, to confirm Albireo. While doing that it showed that M57 was also near the constellation of Lyra where Vega resides. Cool, let's go looking for that.

I keep a link on my phone that points to a resource that has the Messier objects grouped by constellation. I highly recommend you make it an icon on your phone along with your other astronomy apps.

Messier Objects by constellation
http://messier.seds.org/CONindex2.html

It contains links to information about each Messier object. Well, I did not recall what M57 was so I looked it up. Oh, the ring Nebula. Cool. Let's go looking for that.

This took a while. In my light polluted sky M57 is just a faint white puff. It is barely visible with the 38 mm and even the 25 mm showed no ring, just a puff. I tried my 9.7, 6.7 and 4.5. But the best view was with my 2" 25 mm 70 degree in a 2" 2X barlow. The puff was there but faint. With averted vision I could see the ring nature. Got it!

That was it for the evening. I packed it up and was in by midnight so I could write this report before going to bed.

It was nice to go back to where I started a year ago when all I had was binoculars and a planisphere and the wonder of a child. Then I added the ETX 80 and later the XT8i. I am still a child, looking up in wonder.

Clear skies to you all.

Bombardon (Eugene) · #3 08-06-2016, 05:37 PM

A great report, Ed. You have selected some fine objects to kick off your rebirthing annual circuit of the sky. Our weather down under has been mixed and marvelous in the past week with 350mm falling on my back yard observing site. However, I do manage to take a well anchored pair of 25X100 out to view the huge pool of globulars east of Sagittarius when the wind drops. Brocchi's Cluster is a northern sky favorite here too and Albireo while low is also a great crowd pleaser.
I look forward to your annual tour of the sky and you enthusiastic reports.
Thank you for sharing, Eugene

AEAJR (Ed) · #4 09-06-2016, 06:15 AM

6-7-16

Meade ETX 80 in manual mode. 25 and 9.7 mm plossl, 6.7 mm ES 82 degree. Datyson 3X barlow.

Seeing about 4/5 Transparency 3/5 About 67 degrees F and 65% humidity.

Quickie report. 9:30 to 10:30 pm Sky didn't feel fully dark at 9:30 but it was fairly clear so I set up the ETX 80. Humidity was high but was not expecting a problem with dew.

No preparation, just went out and set-up.

Using the XT8i I found the ring nubula in Lyra the other night. Wanted to see if I could find it with the ETX 80. There is no finder on the ETX 80 so I use a 25/26 mm eyepiece as a 16X finder. 3.2 degrees.

No success but I had not double checked location so I was scanning an area rather than hopping to a specific site. I know it is between Sulafat and Sheliak in Lyra. I also tried the scan with a 9.7 mm plossl (41X) with no success. May have been in the wrong area or maybe just could not see it with the 80 mm in my light polluted skies under these less than ideal conditions. I will go after it another night with the GoTo feature and see if I have more success.

Swung over to Saturn and walked my way up the mag. At 40X I could see the rings. At 60X, 120X and 180X they were progressively better. No detail on the planet but Saturn is always a joy to see

Mars was an orange/yellow fuzz ball at all magnifications. Need better transparency.

Swung to Jupiter O . : .

All the moons were to one side. I could see a couple of cloud bands at 60X and more clearly at 120X Higher than that and it was fuzzed out by the moisture/pollution in the atmosphere.

10:30 I was back in the house. Just a quick fix.

AEAJR (Ed) · #5 09-06-2016, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bombardon

A great report, Ed. You have selected some fine objects to kick off your rebirthing annual circuit of the sky. Our weather down under has been mixed and marvelous in the past week with 350mm falling on my back yard observing site. However, I do manage to take a well anchored pair of 25X100 out to view the huge pool of globulars east of Sagittarius when the wind drops. Brocchi's Cluster is a northern sky favorite here too and Albireo while low is also a great crowd pleaser.
I look forward to your annual tour of the sky and you enthusiastic reports.
Thank you for sharing, Eugene

Nice use of binoculars. 15X70s are my largest but they are on a tripod an even then I can't steady them enough. Need to come up with a better mount.

Glad you chose to join the June Observation Log.

AEAJR (Ed) · #6 11-06-2016, 03:04 PM

June 10 report:

As noted in my June 7 report I have been conducting a little experiment using my two scopes.

My 8”/203 mm reflector scope gathers about 6 times as much light as my 80 mm refractor. Let’s see what that means to me in my sky.

In my June 1 report, using my XT8i, I found M57, the Ring Nebula in Lyra, by star hopping and hunting. It was faint but I found it, definitely. I wondered if I could find it with the ETX 80, now that I knew about where to look.

=================================== ========
June 7 – ETX 80 – looking for the Ring Nebulae in the constellation Lyre about half way between Sheliak and Sulafat. These two stars are about 2 degrees apart. My 25 mm Plossl gives me 15X and 3.4 degree so I can see them both in that eyepiece. No sign of the ring nebulae.

Went to a 9.7 mm Plossl eyepiece which gives me about 41X or about 1.2 degrees. So I can have either of the guide stars in the FOV and the ring nebulae should be near the other side of the FOV. No joy.

Moved to my ES 82 6.7 mm – this gives me about 60X and about 1.3 degrees FOV so I could use the same approach at the 9.7 mm. No joy.

=================================== =============
6/9, try it again. Perhaps a little better conditions. I set up the ETX 80 behind some bushes to block more of the house and street lights so my eyes could better dark adapt Since I was focused on one spot the lack of view in other directions did not matter.

Following the same procedures as on June 7.

No luck with the 25 mm. BUT, when using the 9.7 mm I spotted a faint white fuzz ball, a smudge that was right where the ring nebulae should be. Going to the 6.7 mm I again could see it but it was a faint fuzz ball though I could detect, with averted vision, a donut kind of shape though I could not make out the hole.

Going to the 4.5, mm, 89X, only degraded the image

OK, success, I found it. Not much to look at but I found it.

=================================== ====================
6/10, Orion XT8i 10:35 pm My usual spot on the sidewalk.
About 60 degrees with no wind. 65% humidity
Orion XT8i used manually. 38, 25, 8-24 zoom, 6.7 and 4.5 mm. GSO 2” 2X barlow -

Using the 2” 70 degree 38 mm I found the ring nebulae immediately. The greater aperture of the XT8i clearly made a big difference.
Went to the 25 mm – getting better.
Added 2X barlow – faint but you can see the donut shape with averted vision

With the 6.7 mm, 180X, it was very faint and fuzzy but I could see the donut shape.
4.5 mm/266X image was too degraded.

So, that 6X light gathering advantage really made a difference on this task.
-------
Turned my attention to The Northern Cross - Deneb is the top of the cross and Sadr is the center of the cross beam.
About 1/2 a degree from Sadr is M29, a somewhat unremarkable open cluster. I found it.

Found a few other interesting groups of stars that probably don’t have names but I liked them. Drew one which was kinda like a soup ladel looking thing. Using Stellarium I located it. Star HIP 97307 was in the middle of it.

Saturn – quick drive by on Staurn. Could see the rings at 31X. Looked good at 180X could see some cloud bands and about 5 moons I think.
Mars – At about 96X it looked pretty good and I could see some surface color variation. took it up to about 266 but it looked best between 90 and 130X.
11:45 and I started to pack up.

Overall a very satisfying evening. I would have stayed out later but I wanted to get this report written and I have an RC glider flying contest in the morning so I can’t sleep too late.

Clear Skies to everyone.

Tinderboxsky (Steve) · #7 11-06-2016, 03:22 PM

Excellent report and outcome Ed. Whilst not seeing any detail with your small refractor there is certainly something very satisfying about finding targets right at the limits of resolution for a particular scope no matter what its size. Well done.

Cheers
Steve.

AEAJR (Ed) · #8 13-06-2016, 07:55 AM

Today - A study in contrast.

More and more I become aware of the impact of contrast of the sky with the object being observed. Today, I was out in the yard trimming and planting. I looked up and there was the moon. Humm, maybe I can get in some daytime viewing.

Finished with the yard. Around 5 pm I pulled out the Mead ETX 80 for a little daytime viewing of the moon. I have done this before but as I gain experience I notice new things.

The moon is normally so bright that I like to use a moon filter. Today it must have been as bright as usual but the sky was so bright, being daytime, that there was no need for a filter. And I noted that the normally sharp features of the moon were somewhat washed out.

The moon was the same and so was the scope. But the sky was different and the contrast between the moon and the sky was very low so the moon's features were soft and washed out.

Let's just call today's observation "a study in contrast" or lack thereof.

Clear skies to you all.

AEAJR (Ed) · #9 18-06-2016, 02:59 PM

June 17, 2016 Long Island, NY, USA

10 pm I looked out the door and I had about 40% cloud cover. Well, that means about 60% open sky. That is enough to take a chance on setting-up.

Started with my 10X50s to scan the planets and the sky in general. I had no list, no real plan so I was looking around for inspiration. And the fluffy white clouds just kept floating through. Sometimes large areas were covered and sometimes it was at least 60% clear.

Decided to go after Saturn and Mars.

Seeing was not too bad. Mars was showing some dark and light variation on the surface. Used the Celestron 8-24 zoom, mostly in the 100X range. Later tried the 6.7 mm/180X. Not too bad at his level. Added the "crystal view moon filter) No real info on it but it seems to be a neutral density filter with about 40% transmission. Cut down the glare on Mars and let me see a bit more detail. Tried the 4.5 mm/266X. And that was not bad, if I was patient and let it drift in an out with the turbulent air.

Now over to Saturn. Back to the zoom. Here I was playing with clouds. I would be looking at Saturn and then it was gone. Clouds rolling through. But the vew with the zoom was not bad. Then did the 6.7 and the 4.5 bump with pretty good results. Again used the Crystal view moon filter. Also tried my Orion Jupiter filter (80A?) but went back to the Crystal view or nothing at all.

Managed to sketch the position of 5 mons, some banding on the planet and the Cassini divide in the rings.

Swung over to Lyra to chased down the Ring Nebula with the Zoom. Got it quickly. View was no better than previous attempts. Also used the 6.7 mm.

After that I decided to go wandering about with the 2" 25 mm ES 70 degree eyepiece. Swung over to Deneb, the along the Northern Cross to Albireo. Then over to the coathanger.

Clouds kept rolling through most of the evening. But around 11:30 the sky pretty much went clear. Continued my random wandering till about Midnight when I called it an evening.

Not well organized but it is always good to get under the sky with an eyepiece in my eye.

AEAJR (Ed) · #10 20-06-2016, 01:59 PM

In the USA today was Father's Day.

Happy Farther's Day to all the Dad's.

Moon was bright and sky was not too bad so I decided to focus my attention on the Moon. I realized that this is our closest celestial neighbor, one where I can see great detail and I have not really studied it at all. Oh, I take a look now and then but I don't really look.

About 65 degrees F, 85% humidity and a light breeze. There were some clouds in the sky but nothing obstructing the moon. There was the usual glow around the moon but that is pretty much all the time.

Around 10:15 pm I pulled out my Orion Moon Map, my Meade ETX 80, observing chair, bucket of accessories and a table. I set up the scope low by shortening the legs. I put the moon map on the table and put on my 2 stalk clip on red light, attaching that to a clip board.

Put in the Celestron 8-24 zoom with my Orion 25% transmission moon filter. Not a lot of contrast as it was a full moon. So, what would be interesting to do?

Decided to find the location of each of the Apollo manned missions that landed on the moon. A11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17.

Working with the Moon chart, the zoom and a 2X barlow, I identified where each of the missions landed. Then I pulled out my 10X50 binoculars and identified, again, where each landed. Interesting. Too bad we can't see what they left behind.

Clear skies to you all.

Tinderboxsky (Steve) · #11 20-06-2016, 03:16 PM

Yes, the Moon has a lot to offer and explore with the view and perspectives ever changing. Your idea of exploring the landing sights is a good one that I will try.

Cheers
Steve

AEAJR (Ed) · #12 30-06-2016, 10:54 PM

Last night I saw that the sky was clear so I stepped outside for a little while. I knew I had to work the next day so I knew it would be short.

Around 10:10 pm I pulled out the Orion XT8i to be used manually. 25 mm ES 2" 70 degree, Celestron 8-24 zoom, ES 6.7mm 82 degree, Meade 4.5 mm 60 degree, 2x Datyson barlow.

Took a look at Mars in its red/orange glory. Saw some hints of darker patches and maybe a lighter colored polar area. But not a lot more than that. I think my sky glow combined with stuff in the air inhibits me from getting more detail than that.

Over to Saturn. Can you ever get tired of Saturn? Saw the rings and some evidence of cloud bands. Cranked it up to 530X with the 4.5 mm and the 2X barlow. Detail degraded but a nice big image in the HD-60 eyepiece.

Over to the Ring Nebula. Yep, it is still there. Found it with the 25 mm. Looked best in the 6.7 at 180X

Split Albireo with the 25mm then just cruised that area of the sky. Some interesting star groups. I find that I enjoy cruising with no plan, seeing what is there. Sometimes I do this with a 38 mm 70 degree and sometimes with this 25 mm, 48X 70 degree. Who knows what messier objects I may be seeing. It is just like going out for a drive to look at houses and trees and interesting things.

Sometimes I stop and just admire the patterns and the colors of the stars. It is amazing that they are so far away and I can see them.

Finally over to Deneb, then hop to Sadr. Lots of interesting star patterns around Sadr and along the path to Albiero, including the cooling tower/M29 near 40 Cyg. Again, just cruising with the 25 mm. (48X and 1.45 degrees FOV)

After that I was starting to fall asleep at the eyepiece so I packed it up and was back inside by 11pm.

Just enough to put stars and planets in my dreams.

Clear Skies!