Up a Volcano

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Just spent about 2 hours on top of Mt Roskill, a small (extinct) volcanic cone about 3 km from home looking for M31. It should have been visible but @ 11.44 degrees off the northern horizon it was like sifting through soup in the LP and fine haze. Very difficult to locate any pointer stars or recognise patterns. few drifting clouds didn't help much either.

So in the end I pointed the scope at the Skytower, about 12 km away. I could see them in the restaurant eating. But I didn't see any stars.

I think I'm going to have to go north to a darker site to find M31.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

That's dedication for you.
Good luck on your next quest for this beautiful galaxy.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

It proved one thing for me though. The scope knocks down, travels well, and can be up and running inside 10 minutes. Enough tolerance in the components and enough rigidity to maintain collimation. Neoprene mirror cell mounts don't move like springs, no sag or shift.
I've also added a simple inclinometer to the UTA right by the focusser, a pendulum and arc. No need to level the scope now if I'm in a hurry or the site precludes it.
I checked sky a bit later at home and even at zenith transparency was very poor, legacy of a 25 degree blue sky day I guess.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

a small (extinct) volcanic cone

Scardy cat! Not brave enough to handle the Real McKoy, heh!

Should have read:

"a LARGE & ACTIVE volcano, and did it in my birthday suit..." That'll bring the Maori out in ya.

Hey, Zero, next time you're with your scope, track down the Fornax Cluster of galaxies. I pinned it this last Saturday night with my 10" DIY dobbie. Guaranteed you won't know where to concentrate the scope on first!! Using a 15mm EP (84X) and a short sweep, I counted 14 galaxies. There would probably be more with a little more care in looking. Choice!!

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

So in the end I pointed the scope at the Skytower, about 12 km away. I could see them in the restaurant eating. But I didn't see any stars.

nice! ANy lookers in the bunch?

[ZeroID (Brent)]

I wasn't going to mention the 'birthday suit' but now you bring it up ......

Lookers ..? I only used the 20mm wideview, I'll chuck the 12mm in next time and get a better. With a 6mm I should be able to read the menu.

Fornax ? the name is known but Stellarium doesn't give any specific group. Looks like high eastern sky about 9:00 pm onwards for me. I'll do some more research. Looks promising being up towards the zenith and out of the funk. We've had blanket light cloud last two nights.

[Liz]

Viewing in an extinct volcano sounds cool, pity on the views.
As Mental says, the Fornax group are good, as are the Grus group.
I was in central Victoria a few days ago, and was surprised that I could see the great square of Pegasus so well, with Andromeda, so keep looking!!

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Originally Posted by Liz

Viewing in an extinct volcano sounds cool, pity on the views.
As Mental says, the Fornax group are good, as are the Grus group.
I was in central Victoria a few days ago, and was surprised that I could see the great square of Pegasus so well, with Andromeda, so keep looking!!

You were in Central Victoria a few days ago and you could see the sky!? I am amazed. We've had wall to wall clouds around Newstead. And floods. Half your luck Liz.

Brent, you will love the Fornax cluster. Then main challenge will be finding the constellation first. There isn't much of it. If you can find Eridanus which starts from Achernar, the bright star near the smc, and winds it's way across the sky to Rigel in Orion you're off to a good start. Fornax sits in the east pointing V formed by eridanus. There is a triangle of stars in the southern limb of the v. the western side of the triangle points to 1365 GX in Eridanus which is a great GX to observe and a good starting point for a sea of galaxies beyond your wildest dreams. Andromeda comes a long way second to this bit of sky IMO.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Ok, so the clouds cleared a bit last night after a southerly change. Southerlies are cold air for us and it stripped away a lot of the turbulence. The seeing wasn't bad, reasonably stable but transparency was poor, I could not see 47 Tuc with the naked eye as I usually can.

Managed to find one tiny galaxy in the Fornax region eventually ( #2 for me !) but don't ask me which one. It is high in my eastern sky and LP from the CBD is not good. But at least I found one !! Fornax is not easy for sure, very little for a newbie to navigate by so I'll need to spend some time up there to search my way in. I spotted the 'trail' from Achernar on Stellarium and was tryiing to use it and a triangulation from Canopus.

Just about to pack up and roll the scope back into the garage and noticed Orion at about 40 degrees, just clearing the trees in the east. Lots of LP, low down but hey, take a look anyway.
Pointed the scope at the 'sword', the Great Neb region and HOLY COWABUNGA !!! A stunning view even through the LP. Gas and dust and bright groups of stars, almost 3D for one eye. Outstanding !

I sat on the concrete of the driveway ( told you it was low ) for about half an hour just exploring around Orion and the belt. Should have done a sketch but it was just magic viewing time. Can't wait till it gets a bit higher in the sky and clears more of the LP earlier and I will do some sketches.

Dust Clouds were a pale blue tinge although I think I saw a hint of pink. Possibly caused by refractive atmosphere, possibly not. I'll be back, it's still burnt into my retina.

I'm starting to think seriously about astrophotography. Comparing with reports from others Auckland skies are reasonably low in LP and I'm logging clear nights in a diary to see what utilisation factor I could expect. I have a huge thick concrete slab stuck to solid lava flow and a suitable pier that could be grouted down and filled with concrete and never move. I might build a solid equatorial drive system and try wide field with my DSLR first. It has long exposure capabilty and I have lenses from 28 mm to 300 mm to play with. I can easily run 240vac from the house about 10 meters away for drives. ( I'm talking myself into it aren't I ? )

[acropolite (Phil)]

You would be better looking for M31 with 7x50 binoculars, it's huge.

From memory you won't get the whole field in with your dob, even with a low power EP. I'm just over 41degrees S and I've never been able to spot it from this latitude, although I have heard that some have spotted it from a coastal location nearby.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hi Phil, I would have been just happy to find it but t'was not to be. I had the binocs and hunted round with them as well but the clouds and low angle all construed to prevent it happening. One day, one day ...