#1  
Old 14-09-2014, 01:11 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Tonight my primary target is ...

Neptune is just past opposition, so is moving at is its quickist from night to night- so if I am not sure which one it is, I will check again tomorrow to see if it moves (probably will look again anyway).

My secondary target in the same region will be the Helix Nebula. (RA is much the same so I may be able to lock one axis on the EQ and just move 11 degrees across!).
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 16-09-2014, 07:17 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Tonight my targets were multiple double stars: Elipson Equuleus and Beta Equuelus.

Using a Vixen 115mm, Elipson was easlily split with a 24mm EP. An enequal but interesting pair. The brigter star is apparently binary, but there was no hint of this with an 11mm EP, and my understanding is that it is of very small seperation atm.

Beta Equuelus was really of no appeal, being a bright star with a few faint, wide field stars that may have been once loged to check for possilble binary motion.

I also checked out Zeta Aquarius and found to my delight that again, if on locking the RA axis on an EQ mount, I could drift accross to te Helix Nebula. This is a large, faint nebula that shows best at low power: I could see it with EPs of 3 & 4mm exit pupils.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 17-09-2014, 08:31 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Tonight I examined the 2 bright Planetary Nebulaes in Cygnus. With the 115mm Vixen, I easliy found NGC 6826 with a 25mmm EP in the same field as the double star 16 Cygnus (which is like a paler, wider version of the much more famous double, 61 Cygnus.)

NGC 7027 was a little more tricky and I swaped to a 24mm Panoptic to detect it more easily. With a 11mm Nagler, this planetary showed a much deeper blue colour, and also was littler brighter than NGC 6826.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 18-09-2014, 04:58 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
With predictions of light fog this morning, I thought this I may be blessed with a steady atmosphere, so I would try to see Sirius B.

The stars at 5am did seem to twinkle less, so I set up Vixen, but alas, almost immediatly a light wind seem to stir.

A quick look though the EP confirmed that the atmosphere was not especially steady, and even though I still tried, I am yet to see Sirius B.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 18-09-2014, 05:18 AM
omegacrux's Avatar
omegacrux (David)
Registered User

omegacrux is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Ulverstone Tas
Posts: 733
I haven't seen Sirius B yet myself
Or Neptune
Keep trying I am

David
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 18-09-2014, 12:43 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Comet C2013 A1 (Siding springs) tonight is predicted to be Mag9.6 at 18h29m, -58.06 degress (near some good brighter stars in Pavo, to help the star hop). The comet reached max of Mag9.4 earlier this month.

I will also check out the conjuction between Mars and Delta Scorpio. After all, it is not that often that any planet appears in the same telescopic field as a bright star.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 18-09-2014, 08:22 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
The comet proved to be faint and elusive. Furthermore, my coordinates were slighty wrong. I did find a great website which I recomend. It can be used to find the comets current position according to hour. http://theskylive.com/planetarium?ob...9-18&h=10&m=13

I used my 102mm Vixen to find the Comet and it appeared only as a very faint patch. I then used my 8inch Celestron to confirm the sighting. Even in the Celestron, the Comet only appeared a faint smuge.

Mars & Delta Scorpio were close, and the colour contrast between the blue white star and the Red Planet was quite striking.

Mercury is closing on Spica and will be closest on Saturday night. Its remarable to have 2 events like this so close together.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 20-09-2014, 06:39 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Comet C2012 Panstars will be the target tomorrow morning. I had the briefest look this morning and confirmed that the Moon was awkwardly placed near the Comet. However, at 4am tomorrow, the Moon will not have risen and the Comet will be high enough to find. Comet Panstars is predicted to be Mag 6; I guess I am about to find out for myself how correct that is. Lol.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 21-09-2014, 08:27 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Clouds this morning, so I will try again tomorrow to see Comet C2012 Panstars, which I have now been lead to believe is at Mag 8.3.

I looked at the conjection between Spica & Mercury last night. To the eye, they both looked white. However through the 102mm refractor, there was a very attractive colour contrast between the blue-white Spica and the yellow-orange Mercury. I have never thought of Mercury of having any colour when observing it, but the colour was quite obvious when alongside Spica.

Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 22-09-2014, 07:03 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Cloudy again, however, the weather looks better for tonight so I will try again tomorrow.

Tonight, I am aiming for the Saturn Nebula and the nearyby Gloublar M72.
I will probably also check out the easy, M2 and may get into the spirit of the moment and look at M30.

I am planning to use a larger scope, the Meade ED 127mm, which is relatively new to my collection.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 27-09-2014, 08:50 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
I found Comet C2012 Panstars this morning by virtue of a little star hopping. M48 was a good reference point from where to start. In the Vixen 115mm, the Comet showed a bit of size with a condensed nucleus. I saw no evidence of a tail. It actually looked a little like some globular clusters. I estimated that the Comet was about Mag 8, or perhaps very slightly brighter. I used a 24mm Panoptic EP (37x) to find the Comet (which was pleasantly easy to find), but found the better view was with my 14mm Radian (63x). On using a 11mm Nagler (81x), I felt that I was in the realm of empty magnification.

I also found it with the 10x50 binoculars, but that was much more difficult and I knew exactly where to look because I had found it in the telescope first. Suffice to say, people will be able to find the Comet with a casual scan of the binoculars.

This is a much brighter Comet than Comet Siding Springs in the evening.

I have been up at the right time each morning for the last week, but now the clouds have finally parted, I am looking forward to a better night’s sleep!
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 27-09-2014, 08:53 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Sorry, I am having an editing problem with my previous post. I wanted to say, that people will not be able to find the Comet with a casual scan through binoculars.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 09-10-2014, 08:00 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Tonight’s target with be Comet C/2013 V5 (Oukaimeden), which is very roughly located 10 degrees south of Saturn. I was able to see it last night with the 102mm Vixen, but it was low and Moon was still not fully eclipsed. It was not that difficult to see, but saw no tail, just a fuzzy head. I will try again tonight and hope to have a small window of opportunity to see it higher in the sky, with a larger telescope (8inch) before the rising Moon.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 19-12-2014, 10:10 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
I saw Comet Lovejoy last night and its the brightest Comet that I have seen this year. It was visible with 8x30 binoculars.

Located approximately 1/3 of the distance between Canopus and Sirius and brightning, this may be one to encourage the general public to try and find.

I will be writing to my local paper tomorrow to encourage people to try and find this 'Christmas Comet'.

Last edited by Tropo-Bob; 19-12-2014 at 11:56 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 26-04-2015, 02:14 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Tonight, I will be checking the reappearance of Callisto at 19.51 EST. I have only viewed this once previously. The problem is that it is not be eclipsed by Jupiter on each orbit, as are the inner Moons. If I miss tonight, it happens again on July 2nd at 19.54. After that, my understanding is that this is not visible to us again for several years.
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 26-04-2015, 07:48 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
The main thing that struck me while watching Callistro reappear was just how long it took to recover full brightness. Compared to Europa & Io, it seemed to take ages. ( I will try timing it next time).


Thinking about it, Callistro is a larger Moon, and being further out, it moves more slowly out of Jupiter's shadow than the inner Moons. (As per Kepler's Laws of Motion).
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 12-05-2015, 06:27 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Europa falls into Io's shadow again tonight a very convenient time from 8.29 to 8.34. Europa brightness is expected to dim by 0.9 mag.

I will then stick around for another 20 minutes to see Calisto disappear behind Jupiter.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 13-05-2015, 04:44 AM
skysurfer's Avatar
skysurfer
Dark sky rules !

skysurfer is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: 52N 6E (EU)
Posts: 1,152
Did somebody see Mercury ?
I saw it today well before sunset (Sun alt. 13º) with my ED 110mm as a nice bright crescent.
Mostly the planet is better visible in broad daylight as it is higher in the sky ans there is less turbulence.
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 15-05-2015, 10:10 AM
goober's Avatar
goober (Doug)
No obs, raising Harrison

goober is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 795
I saw Mercury walking to work before 7am on March 19th. I couldn't work out what the bright object was S of the moon, just before sunrise. It looked out of place.

Some 30 minutes of walking, and deductive reasoning led me to think it must have been Mercury.
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 08-08-2015, 04:16 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
Registered User

Tropo-Bob is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Cairns
Posts: 1,584
Tonight's target is Venus. The thin crescent is dropping like a stone at the moment, as it heads towards inferior conjunction.
My planned observation is something akin to a primitive 'Stonehenge' look at when and where the planet sets. Last night, it set at 6.31pm behind a prominent tree on a nearby mountain. I wish to see how much earlier it sets tonight and if it sets behind the same tree!
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 07:31 PM.

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