30 April, cold and clear

[expon (Jas)]

Tongiht I saw some amazing stuff as the skies were very clear although bloody cold. I did the usual Orion, Jupiter, Mars a couple things that look cool but I don't know the name however, I was able to find m104. I had been looking for it for weeks and tonight I found it. I live next to Essendon airport so it wasn't super clear but I saw it. I have an argo navis that came with my scope and sure, I could have used it to find m104 weeks ago. Being lazy I thought it would be quicker to canvas the sky slowly looking for it rather than learn how to use the navis. But here I am m104 viewed and a $600 piece of equipment collecting dust whilst I make good time. I'm a real man....


I also saw ngc5139. I had no idea it existed (new and ignorant). I was looking at the southern cross, being from qld I saw it only as a giant tattoo. I was just browsing around slowly, canvassing the sky because I cant use the navis, and through the finder scope I saw a smudge. A smudge can only mean one thing, I'm about to get even colder as I try to figure out what this thing is. I put in the wide field because I figure I'm too slow to use high power straight up and wham! there is it. That's alot of stars. I add power, wow its amazing, more and more power it's still clear, just wow. I started thinking, do they teach this stuff in school? how on earth have I never heard or even seen this thing before? Clear as day and all my life living in the bush up north I hadn't a clue it was sitting there begging to be paid attention too.

Well anyway that was the end of tonight session. 3 hrs well spent as the baby fell asleep early and the skies had cleared on a day off. Now the next question, what size high power EP to get next? Im thinking 10mm but I do most of my observing from my house next to the airport. I am afraid a sub 10mm EP might not be so useful.

Thanks for reading

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by expon

Tongiht I saw some amazing stuff as the skies were very clear although bloody cold. I did the usual Orion, Jupiter, Mars a couple things that look cool but I don't know the name however, I was able to find m104. I had been looking for it for weeks and tonight I found it. I live next to Essendon airport so it wasn't super clear but I saw it. I have an argo navis that came with my scope and sure, I could have used it to find m104 weeks ago. Being lazy I thought it would be quicker to canvas the sky slowly looking for it rather than learn how to use the navis. But here I am m104 viewed and a $600 piece of equipment collecting dust whilst I make good time. I'm a real man....


I also saw ngc5139. I had no idea it existed (new and ignorant). I was looking at the southern cross, being from qld I saw it only as a giant tattoo. I was just browsing around slowly, canvassing the sky because I cant use the navis, and through the finder scope I saw a smudge. A smudge can only mean one thing, I'm about to get even colder as I try to figure out what this thing is. I put in the wide field because I figure I'm too slow to use high power straight up and wham! there is it. That's alot of stars. I add power, wow its amazing, more and more power it's still clear, just wow. I started thinking, do they teach this stuff in school? how on earth have I never heard or even seen this thing before? Clear as day and all my life living in the bush up north I hadn't a clue it was sitting there begging to be paid attention too.

Well anyway that was the end of tonight session. 3 hrs well spent as the baby fell asleep early and the skies had cleared on a day off. Now the next question, what size high power EP to get next? Im thinking 10mm but I do most of my observing from my house next to the airport. I am afraid a sub 10mm EP might not be so useful.

Thanks for reading

Well done especially on getting M104!
What scope and eyepieces are you using? The answer is important if you are considering a higher power eyepiece. I have a 10mm Ethos which I now use regularly in my 20" f5 dob, but when I had a 12" f5 it was only usable occasionally.

I would encourage you to have a go with the Argo Navis. I love using mine and once you have set it up a couple of times it is very easy.

Cheers
Malcolm

[Doogs38 (Alex)]

It's great fun, eh! M104 (Sombrero galaxy) is great to look at, as is Omega Centauri (NGC5139). I look at them almost every time I have my dob out. Now that you know how to find Omega Centauri, Centaurus A is only a very short hop away and is another very interesting galaxy to observe with it's big dark dust lane. Have fun.

[astro744]

What telescope are you using and what eyepieces do you have?

[expon (Jas)]

I have a Meade 12" lightbridge that I picked up through the site thanks to another friendly member. I used a 42mm GSO super view to canvas the area then stepped down to an 18mm es82 then a 15mm GSO super view. It wasn't a sharp image but I could tell what it was. I am not sure if the city light pollution is so much that better EPs would make much of a difference.

Right now I cannot decide whether to go a 14mm and 9mm of higher quality or perhaps go an 11 or 12mm as I have the 15mm GSO. I also have a 6mm TMB that gives good views of the planets but the black skt looks weird through it, almost like a bad resolution video trying to display black.

[astro744]

Next question is how much do you want to spend on eyepieces?

12"/f5 = 304.8mm diameter, 1524mm focal length.

May I suggest a 9mm Type 6 Nagler. This will give you 169x and 1.8mm exit pupil and 0.47 deg true field at 82 deg apparent field. This will be a great eyepiece for planets, globular clusters, planetary nebulae and galaxies.

Have you tried to Barlow the 18mm ES to see what 169x will be like?

To complement the 9mm Nagler may I suggest the 13mm Type 6 Nagler. This will give you 117x and 2.6mm exit pupil and 0.66 deg true field at 82 deg apparent field. 0.66 degrees also allows for a full lunar disk which is nice. Anything under about 0.65 deg and the Moon only just fits in and a little bit of space around it is nicer.

The 9/13 Nagler combination is nice and the Type 6 Naglers are quite compact and wont cause balance issues.

An alternative would be either the 11mm Type 6 Nagler, 10mm Delos or 10mm Ethos but you can buy two Naglers for the cost of one Ethos. Up to you what apparent field you want. Note there may be some nights you want more power than the 13 can give but the 9 is too much in which case the 11mm Type 6 Nagler is handy.

Note if you need long eye relief then go the 10 or 12 Delos or 12mm Type 4 Nagler.

If you use a Paracorr increase magnification by 1.15x and decrease true field and exit pupil by 1.15x.

[expon (Jas)]

Thanks for the follow up. Work has kept me away from the computer the last few days.

I am reluctant to spend so much money on new televue eyepieces. Although they must be worth the money as they never seem to come up for sale second hand.

Would an ES82 8.8mm and ES82 11mm be a good fit? or perhaps a 12mm in that gap? Or would I be better off biting the bullet and getting a 10mm televue as it would be better and capable of doing all the work?

I have not tried the barlow yet, I have a 2x GSO but it's only 1.25" and the 18mm is 2".