Great Viewing Session for IceInSpacers

[Rodstar]

Somersby Session Successful

Anthony (Frogtwat), Trufflehunter (Wayne) and I had a great viewing session last night (2/4/05) at Somersby on Reservoir Road (Central Coast NSW). Sorry you couldn't make it Iceman - hope your family is feeling better soon!

It was great to compare eyepieces on an 8" SCT, a 10"SCT and a 12" Dob. We also had some fun comparing favourites in the sky. Mine for the night was the Tarantula nebula, which looked better than I have ever seen it before.

One of the frustrations of the night was the drift of clouds that came and went. Fortunately there was only 30 minutes where no meaningful viewing could be done. Otherwise, there was pretty much always something to look at, even though seeing varied greatly from clear to dreadful!

It is amazing to observe how far reaching the "light tentacles" of Sydney reach. From some 50 km away, the Sydney lights managed to catch the clouds at just the right (actually wrong) height, creating a luminosity in the night sky which worked against really good dark adaption or clear deep sky viewing. Having said that, the clear patches of the sky still displayed some real gems to reward persistence.

Because of the shifting clouds I was unable to follow my planned night's viewing, which was to explore the Constellation of Canis Major, followed by a survey of some of the galaxies in the Centaurus/ Crux area.

Instead, I viewed the following, as best I can recall without notes, along with the usual suspects (M42, Jupiter and Saturn):

Omega Centaurus - beautifully resolved in all three scopes. The 10' and 12" views were a little brighter, but the 8" had a softer texture that made a nice change

Centaurus A - dust lane cutting across central light ball very clear

Sombrero Galaxy - central area distinct, trail only evident with averted vision

Tarantula Nebula - looked like a squashed spider, simply awesome. The OIII made it look 3D, darker in between the tendrils

M65 and M66 - fitted nicely in the one field of view, distinct side on galactic shapes evident. Wow factor in this one.

Some of the galaxies in the Coma Berenecies / Virgo area of the sky (eg M91, M61), smudges, averted vision needed

M48, open cluster on boundary of Hydra / Monoceros

M50, small open cluster in southern Monoceros, near boundary with Canis Major

M46 - lovely open cluster with NGC 2438 to bottom left. OIII Filter really brings out the ghostly beauty of this gem of a planetary nebula. This has become a real favourite of mine.

Jewelbox - good seeing of this, nice contrasting orange / blue/ white colours

M6 and M7 - open clusters in Scorpius

We also spent some time trying to split a double in Scorpius. The conditions made it impossible to resolve the stars clearly - too much of a "fiery" view. I discovered in reading today that a moon filter can actually be used to cut down on the flare of the stars in such conditions, helping to resolve the stars within....one to try next time.

Wayne drew on his years of experience to introduce Anthony and I to some new treats in the sky. He also helped Anthony collimate his scope, which was of benefit to all of us!

I have to thank Wayne and Anthony for their company. Good one guys. Looking forward to next Saturday!

Rodstar


:cheers:

[astro_south]

Nice review Rodstar.

I must agree with you about the planetary in M46. Since getting my 12.5" dob it too has been a favourite of mine. I use a UHC which the nebula seems to respond to nicely. It really has a nice annulous structure to it which is noticable at higher powers.

[frogman]

Well done dude.... cant think of anything at all to add to that!

Oh yes i can Thank you Truffle Hunter for your expertise know how and eyepieces :) I deleted the other post thanking you both.

And Truff. I will definately have that EP when your ready to sell it !!!!

[Rodstar]

Frogtwat, you may have to bid for the EP!! Actually, don't worry about it mate, I'll save my pennies for a Nagler....

Rodstar

[iceman]

Great report guys, wish I could've been there. Unfortunately the kids have been sick and sleep has been minimal (about 3-4 hours each night). They're on the mend now finally and I got some better sleep last night.

Excellent observing report too, sounds like some nice views.

What was the observing field itself like? Is it better than backyard? Views of all the horizons? Anthony, how does it compare to kulnura? Rod, how does it compare to mangrove mountain soccer fields?

You must take a camera next time!

[trufflehunter]

Just need to throw in my 2 cents worth! Huge thanks to Rod and Anthony for their company. I had a great night. The place couldn't be called a 'great' site, but it's certainly a 'good' one, which I think would be much improved under a completely cloudless sky. As Rod said, the clouds went crazy reflecting the lights from Sydney:mad2: .

It's an excellent open area that's nice and flat with good, relatively unobstructed views of the horizon. It could easily accommodate quite a few people (what's the collective noun for a bunch of mad amateur astronomers? a cluster? a galaxy?) Very sandy, so if you have a dob you'd need to bring along a tarp or something to put over the ground (won't you Anthony?:whistle:). It's easy to get to and doesn't require a packed lunch! (just a six-pack)

Finally got to start putting the Meade QX 26mm and 20mm thru their paces. So far I'm very pleased with their performance on an SCT. Unfortunately I don't think we had the chance to try them out on Anthony's faster dob... something else on the 'next time' list.

It was interesting comparing the three scopes. Aperture certainly 'rules' when it comes to really faint objects, like Cent. A. And the detail through Rod's 10" with the OIII on Eta Car was brilliant! I was also impressed with the views of Jupiter thru Anthony's 12.5" dob.

The double Rod referred to was Antares. A bugger of a thing to resolve at the best of times, but a real buzz when you do.

I had to use my LX90 the 'old fashioned' way 'coz I couldn't get portable power organised in time! That's since been remedied and looking forward to the next time!

Mike, sorry you couldn't make it, but glad to hear the kids are on the mend.

...and finally... Anthony, the eyepiece is yours whenever you're ready.:)

[ving]

i think i've found my next project :)
antares!

good report guys! :)

[RAJAH235]

It splits very easily Ving, not like Sirius. Try your off axis aperture stop.
:D L.

[ausastronomer]

I don't know that it splits quite as easily as what Rajah is trying to convince Ving of (no Ving you won't part it in the 60mm Wobblatronic :) but you should in the 8" under good conditions)

I have spent a fair bit of time on Antares over the last few years and can offer the following tips on splitting it.

1) Good seeing
2) Good seeing
3) Good seeing
4) Wait till it gets fairly high in the sky near the zenith
5) Good quality Optics will always do it easier than fair optics.
6) Plenty of horsepower (magnification) (often over 250X)

The problem with splitting it is similar to splitting Sirius and the Pup (which I have never done BTW), its not the angular separation (currently about 2.6", I think) thats the issue it is the brightness of the primary which overpowers the secondary.

If your seeing is excellent it is splittable in smaller scopes fairly consistently at high magnification. I have split it in a 4" Takahashi FS102.

In my own 10"/F5 dob I have occasionally split it at medium power (120x to 150x when conditions are perfect) but more often than not have to go over 200X to get the secondary far enough out from the primary to see it.

When you split it, you are rewarded with one of the prettiest doubles in the sky. In the 10" scope the primary appears as gold/orange and the secondary as a deep blue. In smaller scopes the secondary appears emerald green.

A couple of other tricks that often work. For those with GPS scopes and GOTO, try splitting it in daylight. For those without GOTO try splitting it at twilight or dawn. Try the off-axis aperture mask as Rajah has suggested which reduces the brightness of the primary. Use an occulting bar. Take the image out of the FOV and let it drift back in, this sometimes will allow you to glimpse the secondary. Try an OIII filter or UHC filter to darken the primary, but then you dont get to see the pretty colours :sad: .

FWIW that 12" dob of Anthony's should split it on its ear in good conditions if the scope is collimated and cooled and Antares is well placed. Obviously the more aperture you have at your disposal and the better the quality of the optics, the less critical are the prevailing conditions and the elevation of the target. With marginal aperture favourable conditions help a lot.

CS-John Bambury

[trufflehunter]

My experience exactly, John. I used to split it fairly regularly with my 8" Newt. I never managed it in my 6" refractor. That surprised me, I thought the refractor would split it for breakfast! It'll be a good test for the LX90 when it gets higher up and I've got the scope properly collimated.
Excellent seeing, decent aperture TOGETHER WITH excellent optics are what you need.

[frogman]

Cool I've asked it in the other post but do you (truff) or anyone coming on saturday have a colminating device that you/they can bring with them.

Im looking at purchasing one of these in a while (month or two)
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=106&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=6&iSubCat=30&iProductID=106

but that might just be a little later for the night

Ummm Truff. WOO HOO my first 2" ! Can you PM me with how much you wanted for it ???

AHHHHHHH so thats what the fan is for !!!

[ausastronomer]

Anthony,

I have a couple of collimating devices that I will bring with me on Saturday, including a combination cheshire/sight tube and an ez-collimator (fancy laser). More important than the mechanical devices, I will show you how to collimate the scope without tools if I get there before dark. The tools save time and make life easy but they are not essential.

CS-John B

[frogman]

SWEEEEET Tah John

[ausastronomer]

Anthony,

No problems. Wait till you see how my EZ-collimator works before you buy a laser collimator, because its way better than the standard laser type collimator you were looking at and only about $20 extra.

CS-John B