Quick Sydneysiders - a clear night - I kid you not

Wavytone · #1 09-02-2010, 09:02 PM

Yup it's clear. First time I can use my scope this year.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #2 10-02-2010, 12:01 AM

Yep - not a bad night out eh?

mental4astro (Alexander) · #3 10-02-2010, 12:37 AM

Blasted low cloud ALWAYS got in the way every time I looked in 'that' direction! It did move on after much cursing that even made the mozzies blush. Glad the kids and missus weren't there to hear.

Good to see the stars though. Mozzies where obviously starving too. After so many days of rain and no victims, they really were out in force.

Screwdriverone (Chris) · #4 10-02-2010, 12:51 AM

Yeah, saw that, looking at Mars now with my 180 degree eyeballs while I am typing this.

Such a hassle to drag everything out on a work night. Plus this humidity is starting to annoy me.

Hope you see lots of good stuff, I am hoping the weather report for Saturday night is wrong and its not going to rain - AGAIN.

Fingers crossed eh?

Cheers

Chris

floyd_2 (Dean) · #5 10-02-2010, 01:25 AM

I just got back in from a nice night under the stars at 1am. At last, I managed to take a decent look through my my 80mm SV Raptor (guidescope)....very very nice. I was actually surprised how good the view was through an 80mm scope.

I took my first guided images tonight as well. Nothing to write home about, but I really wanted to see if I could break the old 30 second barrier that held me back in alt/az mode. With 2 minute exposures I was still getting round stars on NGC1365, and given my alt/az history, this is cause for celebration!

Pity I have to work in about 6 hours or I'd still be out there playing with my new improved setup.

I wonder if we can fluke two nights in a row?

telecasterguru (Frank) · #6 10-02-2010, 06:58 AM

Dean,

Good to see the guiding is coming along.

I also got the dob out for an hour last night. Thanks goodness for the argo navis in finding objects when you have little time.

Did a search for M1 but no luck. It was right behind a tree and street light.

It was great to get out and have a look around though.

Frank

tonybarry (Tony) · #7 10-02-2010, 07:32 AM

I went out at 11pm and saw about 60% clear sky ... but I have work to go to today so I just groaned and went off to bed. Hopefully it will be good weather for a few days. I am looking forward to more of NGC3132.

Regards,
Tony Barry

sasup (Stacey) · #8 10-02-2010, 08:14 AM

Avalon had a clear night but the ocean mist was bad

Manav (Yugant) · #9 10-02-2010, 09:48 AM

Last time I took the setup out my EQ6 and OTA out they both got drenched. Lucky I had a towel handy at the time.

Its so difficult to do the setup on a weekday I think Im with Chris on this one lets just hope it stays clear friday night and BOM is wrong!

lacad01 (Adam) · #10 10-02-2010, 10:42 AM

From late afternoon till sunset the sky was beautiful and clear, I tossed up whether to set up the EQ and maybe take some piggyback shots,,,nah I'll wait, poked my head out the back door at 9PM and lots of scattered cloud, just as well

. Oh well, lets hope the weekend is clear

Wavytone · #11 10-02-2010, 08:16 PM

Well... the weekend will be clouded out. What with chinese new year and valentine's day thrown in, it's probably just as well...

AG Hybrid (Adrian) · #12 10-02-2010, 08:34 PM

Actually saw Saturn for the first time last night. Quite a moving experience seeing it with my own eyes. And yeah I think it was the first clear night in a while.

floyd_2 (Dean) · #13 10-02-2010, 10:17 PM

I had high hopes when I looked outside this afternoon after lunch. Beautiful blue sky as far as I could see. By about 4pm my hopes were dashed. Cloud as far as the eye could see. At least I have some subs of NGC1365 to play with now

What time did you see Saturn, Adrian?

mental4astro (Alexander) · #14 10-02-2010, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

Actually saw Saturn for the first time last night. Quite a moving experience seeing it with my own eyes.

Something you will never forget!

AG Hybrid (Adrian) · #15 10-02-2010, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by floyd_2

I had high hopes when I looked outside this afternoon after lunch. Beautiful blue sky as far as I could see. By about 4pm my hopes were dashed. Cloud as far as the eye could see. At least I have some subs of NGC1365 to play with now

What time did you see Saturn, Adrian?

Must have been around 12 midnight.

I couldnt be bothered setting up my telescope propper. I just opened the back door and pointed it out the back door into the north eastern sky. I did not even wait for it to cool, I just pointed it in the finder and put an eyepiece in .

To my surprise for fleeting moments when the tube currents were in some sort of alignment or something I could see what I think was a bit of band detail on saturn. Might have just been that focus came in better at those moments. I was able to see 1 moon with unadjusted night vision eyes and a second one with averted vision.

But of course I could have gotten a better view if I setup the eqmount tracking and all that.

Gotta say though, tracking at a bit over 200x was pretty annoying. How do guys do it tracking Saturn at over 400x in their dobs I may never figure out. Its become obviously clear to me Ive become tracking spoiled. So it will obviously influence my next telescope choice. Sorry Mr. Dave K, but the obsession dob is on the backburner for now.

Screwdriverone (Chris) · #16 11-02-2010, 09:38 AM

Hi Adrian,

Yeah, dob nudging at 525x is annoying, but you get used to it, especially with a 305mm mirror!

Check out my "manual" SCP tutorial which helps you point the scope and also checks if your altitude scale is correct or not by visually locating the SCP rather than by drift aligning. Once you have it locked down and the scope set up, its VERY easy to then mark the ground for your tripod and then simply plonk the scope down with little or no fine tuning on subsequent outings in the backyard.

The description you gave sounds like tube currents and seeing varying rather than focus, as these cause the image to shift in and out of "focus" to the eye as the planet blobs around for a while, then clears and becomes sharp before returning to jelly a few seconds later.

Just wait for winter and see how good it is in nice cold air. mmmm crispy.

Cheers

Chris

telecasterguru (Frank) · #17 11-02-2010, 10:36 AM

I took the dob out again last night and it was crystal clear at around 9.

Wanted to see if I could find NGC2022 but no luck. Need darker skies.

Frank

pvelez (Pete) · #18 11-02-2010, 12:04 PM

Whats the prospect for Sydney for tonight? I didn't have the stamina for last night (I'm a woose I know).

Pete

floyd_2 (Dean) · #19 11-02-2010, 02:54 PM

It's been looking good for the most part today, but I can see high cloud rolling in once again. Same story as yesterday. Looks like a few people managed to get some viewing in last night which was great. I didn't even bother peeking outside after sundown last night - I didnt' think it would clear.

Adrian,
don't be put off the Obsession - they nudge like a dream if you balance them out just right. I'll help you come and look through yours when you order it

sasup (Stacey) · #20 11-02-2010, 06:12 PM

Can you believe I have not had a good look through my new light bridge since late DEC. I cant believe this weather. Now it looks like the weekend is a wash too. Still there is the astro-photography talk with Dr Malin On monday ,He will talk about “Galileo’s Legacy”. What time__________--------?????
Monday, February 15, in building 22 at the University of Western Sydney, from 7.30pm. See ya ALL there