big moon = low DSOs :(

ving (David) · #1 18-03-2006, 10:57 AM

Date: 17.3.06
Time: 9:30 - 11:00
Seeing: 4-5/10
Transparency: 7/10 between clouds
Scope: 200mm f/6 eq newt

The moon was very bright and taught me a lesson or 2 in DSO hunting. Cloudless at first the night was but about 30 mins into my session they rolled in from the north east patchy at first then thickening till there were no gaps by 11pm when I packed it in.

My first target was to be a DSO. I was going to hit m104 but alas it was hidden behind the roof of my house

so instead m68 was the go. Star hopping from Beta Corvus then south to a double star called B 230 (I didn’t know at the time that it was a double so I’ll go back to it on a new moon as star B is mag 11.3) then down to m68, a globular in hydra. It's a fair size one (9.8'x 9.8') but dim at mag 8.2. Due to mass moonage close by the glob was barely visible but I spent a fair amount of time on it eventually managing to resolve a few stars in my 15mmSV.

Having decided that dim DSOs were out of the question I went for something bright... Saturn

. Saturn was residing just above the roof of my house. Titan 3-4 other moons were clearly visible. The Cassini division however was not evident all the time (most but not all. Because the planet was so close to the roof of the house, hot air rising from the roof was playing havoc with seeing (I’d say reducing it to 1-2 sometimes) but I stuck at it and occasionally I got clearish views with a lovely yellowish globe and light brown banding. Saturn is always worth a visit, I just wish it was higher

M42, the great Orion nebula. 6 stars stared out at me in the trapezium. I am finding that I get all 6 all the time now which is great

. M43 was an averted imagination object almost, but I have to admit that due to using an eq mount the EP was in a most uncomfortable position having to lean over the top of the telescope to see anything

Last port of call was the moon which had just risen above the house.... I don’t know what I was looking at but it was sharp and bright and cratery

oh and very mountainy

...

Just a note on my observing position. There is only one flat level part of my yard and it restricts my views a lot:

NW to N to SE nothing below 32 degrees
SW nothing below 30 degrees
S a tree blocks 20 degrees and below

Hope you enjoy reading this report

asimov (John) · #2 18-03-2006, 11:24 AM

Yep, enjoyed reading it Ving. Thanks for posting, sounds like it was fun despite the conditions. Well done

ving (David) · #3 18-03-2006, 01:07 PM

I always have fun, despite what mother nature throws at me

beren · #4 18-03-2006, 06:09 PM

Nice report Ving , I got out myself last night as well . Nothing really structured or planned just happy to get out finally with the scope .This was enhanced by the balmy conditions which called for for a few bottles of ale {it was St Patties day

} and the wearing of boardies.Spent most of the time with my 20x80 binoculars and using the handy Cambridge star atlas .I enjoy this time of the year with the hunter descending into the west, the southern cross and the carina area getting higher and scorpius rising in the east later in the evening. Sweeping the Carina area through binos or the scopes with low power is always a treat even with the moon gradually lighting the evening as it gained height .One highlight using the binoculars was the central and tail region of Scorpuis with NGC6242/ngc6231

.

astroron (Ron) · #5 19-03-2006, 12:54 AM

Had the 16" out for the first time in about three weeks tonight, Saturn was brilliant and sharp Cassinni division easley seen,Enke division glimpsed under very high power, 4 moons and lots of detail on the surface, the shadow on the rings was very crisp, one of the best views of Saturn for a long while
I continued what I call my pretty picture tour, 47 Tuc, Tarantular Neb,Orion Neb and surrounding area, even Mars got a quick look but was not very exciting, then over to the homonculus and the Eta Carina Neb and some of the open clusters in the area.
The only galaxy I managed to get a look at was Ngc 2903, by this time I was realy enjoying myself when the clouds started rolling in and the moon started to brighten the sky and the scope for some strange reason had gone out of collimation, so I closed up shop and went and sat on the verandah with a stubbie and a pair of bino's and watched the moon and Jupiter rise, and some small bright meteors shooting across the moonlit sky.
Quite a pleasent night to start the rundown to New Moon and hopefully lots of observing.

ving (David) · #6 20-03-2006, 09:43 AM

yup, sometimes its good just to get out hey

vespine · #7 20-03-2006, 12:45 PM

I got out last night for the 1st time with my new 8x56 Tasco nockies and have to say was pretty impressed. I'm starting to get the hang of a few of the constellations apart from crux and Orion (which I've known for a long time). Having a star chart AND a planisphere helps.

Along with the binocs I have a 60mm crapomatic refractor which is quite terrible but (arguably) better then nothing

So I still can't quite get my head around finding the DSOs, I'm sure I have seen a couple around carina but I'm not quite at the stage where I'm trying to work out which one and what it's called and stuff.
After a while I decided to look around a little more past the big bright clump in the top of the sky and started examining my star chart for something else to find and saw what looked like a big cluster of galaxies near the head of Leo. I tried scanning with the binocs and the scope but by that stage the moon started getting higher in the sky and everything started dewing up a little so I didn't manage to find anything there.
Are galaxies generally very hard to find? What should I be looking for? Do you generally just see a smudge or can you make out a "border" to some? Do I have ANY hope in a 60mm crapo-fractor? I AM getting quite good at spotting and tracking on the wobblemount

Do you have to have great seeing conditions or can you see "brighter" galaxies on nights like last night? On my chart (the one in astronomy 2006) there are heaps and you can't tell the magnitude, (I don't think) does someone have a list of the "brighter galaxies" that are easiest/er to find in the sky at this time of year?
Also what magnification would people start with trying to find galaxies? I think I was mostly using 56x.

ving (David) · #8 20-03-2006, 01:24 PM

there is a list somewhere of the 100 brightest galaxies but i dont know where it is, its been mentioned on this forum tho so a search might bring it up...

as for if you will see any... i dont know. but with very dark skies and no moon who knows

i saw centaurus A in my 60mm once

astroron (Ron) · #9 20-03-2006, 05:04 PM

A 60 mm refractor is a lttle on the small size fo looking at most galaxies, as the galaxies subtend a few arcsecond to arcminutes of the sky and are quite faint for most scopes below 100mm, there are a few bright galaxies that can be seen ,such as the LMC,SMC Ngc 253 M31 Ngc 3128(Cent A)
ect.but they will quite faint, all he above can also be seen in your bino's but again quite faint.
I would sugest that you may concentrate on some of the brighter DSO's that are coming up in the Milky Way centre in the next few months to give you a better understanding of locating, size, and magnitude of these object and then if you get a bigger scope you will know what to look for and have a bit more knowledge to persue your hobbie.
In the meantime get a good Planesphere and some star charts, or a computer program and you will be off and running.astroron