Still buzzing from good seeing on Sunday.

[Stonius (Markus)]

I was lucky enough to get out on Monday night and though the forecast was not bad according to meteoblue (down to 1 arcsec) I was treated to the first time I've ever seen pretty much to the resolving limit of my 16".


Man, what a sight! I'm posting here because my darling long-suffering partner glazes over when I jabber on about astronomy and I figure you guys get it.


Anyway, I've been getting back into lunar observing, so once I'd set up I trained the scope on the 6 day old moon and was amazed at the flashes of detail and *texture I could see - there really seemed to be some fine grained texture on those bits that are usually look smooth.


TBH, I've never seen the moon like that. I was picking out features that were only half a kilometer across (ie, Rimae Bürg).

I don't usually do double stars, but I decided to have a look at Sirius to see if I could find Sirius B (the pup). I'd never had any success before so didn't know what to expect, and to my suprise, there it was - quite obvious and well separated from Sirius A. Likewise the other doubles I knew of separated easily - ACrux, Spica, Castor. It's a pity I didn't have the stamina to stick around till Mercury rose because it was perfect planetary conditions.


I've now made a list of 40 or so good 'tester' doubles with separations between 0.2 and 4" for if I'm ever in that situation again.



I guess usually I try to observe the planets from the city due to time constraints, which maybe why I usually have less than amazing seeing - or maybe just I'm starting to really get the hang of this telescope. But yeah, to see your instrument performing at its best is kinda amazing. It's also quite reassuring. When you know you're not seeing as much as you could, it's easy to wonder if the fault lies with the atmosphere or closer to home. Maybe you could have done the collimation a little better to eke out that extra bit of performance? But to see it doing it's thing it's great to know you've nailed it.


Anyway, the point of this post isn't to brag, but simply to say 'Isn't Astronomy amazing when everything goes right?'. You guys understand, I'm sure. It still blows my mind what you can see out there.


Cheers and clear skies everyone!


Markus

[Hemi]

Nice report Markus,

I completely get (understand) the buzz your talking about after a great nights seeing. I wonder if imagers experience the same.

I really enjoy reading observation reports, I wish more were posted.

You’re right about Astronomy being amazing…I’m either addicted or it’s a way of life with or without clear skies, what with observing/EAA, reading this forum and everything else decent on the web, to podcasts every minute in the car or while exercising, thank god I don’t have to post process anything!…my wife and kids are definitely over it! ��

splitting Sirius for the first or any time? that would have been very nice indeed!

[EpickCrom (Joe)]

Originally Posted by Stonius

I was lucky enough to get out on Monday night and though the forecast was not bad according to meteoblue (down to 1 arcsec) I was treated to the first time I've ever seen pretty much to the resolving limit of my 16".


Man, what a sight! I'm posting here because my darling long-suffering partner glazes over when I jabber on about astronomy and I figure you guys get it.


Anyway, I've been getting back into lunar observing, so once I'd set up I trained the scope on the 6 day old moon and was amazed at the flashes of detail and *texture I could see - there really seemed to be some fine grained texture on those bits that are usually look smooth.


TBH, I've never seen the moon like that. I was picking out features that were only half a kilometer across (ie, Rimae Bürg).

I don't usually do double stars, but I decided to have a look at Sirius to see if I could find Sirius B (the pup). I'd never had any success before so didn't know what to expect, and to my suprise, there it was - quite obvious and well separated from Sirius A. Likewise the other doubles I knew of separated easily - ACrux, Spica, Castor. It's a pity I didn't have the stamina to stick around till Mercury rose because it was perfect planetary conditions.


I've now made a list of 40 or so good 'tester' doubles with separations between 0.2 and 4" for if I'm ever in that situation again.



I guess usually I try to observe the planets from the city due to time constraints, which maybe why I usually have less than amazing seeing - or maybe just I'm starting to really get the hang of this telescope. But yeah, to see your instrument performing at its best is kinda amazing. It's also quite reassuring. When you know you're not seeing as much as you could, it's easy to wonder if the fault lies with the atmosphere or closer to home. Maybe you could have done the collimation a little better to eke out that extra bit of performance? But to see it doing it's thing it's great to know you've nailed it.


Anyway, the point of this post isn't to brag, but simply to say 'Isn't Astronomy amazing when everything goes right?'. You guys understand, I'm sure. It still blows my mind what you can see out there.


Cheers and clear skies everyone!


Markus

Hi Markus. I know right?! When everything comes together perfectly Astronomy is mind blowingly awesome! Good to hear you are getting top performance from your scope. More clear skies mate!

Joe

[Startrek (Martin)]

Markus
I can feel the excitement reading your post
Yes when everything goes well it’s extremely satisfying
I remember 2 years ago observing the Homunculus in Carina for the first time with my 12”Goto and 21mm Ethos hand grenade on a beautiful clear new moon stable night It actually freaked me out as I never thought you could see it silhouetted behind Eta Carina.
Thanks for sharing your excitement
Clear Skies
Martin

[Stonius (Markus)]

Martin, I remember seeing the Homunculus for the first time too, up at the LMDSS. Like you I wasn't sure it was possible, yet there it was, like twin bubbles of Hubba-Bubba hovering in the eyepiece. Another time I similarly remember being blown away. I love that target. Thanks for sharing

Markus