As Jeanette has already mentioned in another thread - we got together over the weekend for some observing. Here is my report on Saturday night, which I am sure she will add the things I forgot.
First of all I would like to thank Jeanette for inviting me up, and for the lovely chicken curry dinner. I arrived up there at 5pm and after introductions I set up my 12.5” dob and 4" refractor. Jeanette already had her gear setup and we chatted about astronomical things as we waited for it to get dark. After dinner we headed back down to the observing site.
We started off looking at the bigger ticket items (Orion, Saturn, 47Tuc, Tarantula) and it was apparent that the equipment and seeing were still getting over what was a fairly hot day. This was evident by the hard work required to tease out the E and F components of the trap (which are normally readily visible in the dob), and the washed out view of Saturn. This would be the case until about 10pm when the mirror started to catch up to the ambient. Unfortunately we were also subjected to some occasional patches of light cloud that saw us switching from one compass direction to the next to find the clear skies, but overall the weather was pretty kind and the skies were certainly worth the hour and half drive out of Brisbane’s glow (not forgetting the nice company!).
M104 came in for some attention from both the 12.5” and Jeanette’s 60mm refractor. The comparison showed the advantage of aperture, where the galaxy went from a faint fuzzy in the refractor to an image approaching photographs with a core, prominent dark lane with wisps of light below the dark lane giving the galaxy a 3-d appearance in the dob. This was the first time I had looked through a 60mm refractor and to be quite honest I was surprised by the view. We later split the closer components of A-crux with the 60mm, and while the effort might have been greater to do it with the smaller scope and (more importantly) mount, the rewards are certainly there. We also checked out the 4 components of the trap with the 60mm refractor.
Summary of the viewing highlights (mostly through the 12.5” dob) are:
N1365 – extended arm structure easy in the dob
Iridium flare - near the zenith and much brighter than Sirius
Eta Carina Nebula and surrounding open clusters (4” ST refractor framed the nebula nicely and with the UHC it was awesome)
Homonculus Nebula – easily seen the lobes coming off the star eta carina
M65 and 66 in the same field showing varied structure between the two.
M83 – located in binoculars and confirmed in the dob – structure visible in the dob
Jewel Box – seen in all scopes and interesting the different views in different scopes at different mags.
Jupiter and red spot.
M46 and planetary – brought out more with the UHC
Hubbles variable nebula (accidentally stumbled accross while scanning the area)
Tau Canis Major and associated open cluster (N2362)
Saw many other things., though our observing was a little ad hoc, and no doubt next time we will do some prep (obslists) and have some definite targets to hunt down. I also spent some time surfing around the Virgo cluster area seeing galaxy after galaxy each time I nudged the scope to the next field of view.
Later in the evening I turned the dob back on Orion and we could see a nice “ruddy pink” (as Jeanette described it) colour in the inner nebula. The Trap was also more readily resolved into the 6 main components as well. This is testament to the improved conditions as the night progressed.
Moon came up after 1pm and we watched it rise above the nearby mountain range. Jeanette took some pics of this but I am not sure whether they worked out or not. Soon after this I decided to pack up and head back to Brisbane – finally climbing into bed at 3:40am.
Jeanette probably has heaps more to add…….
Attached is another image of us as the light was quickly fading.
Great stuff Andrew......you going out to Leyburn this weekend.....I am......if the weather is good.....I'm following David (westsky) out on Friday arvo....staying just friday night though.
Wasn't going to. Have you got room in your ute for a 12.5" truss dob? I could show you the way then and you wouldn't have to struggle to keep up with Dave!!
Might be able to convince the boss if it is only Friday night - will get back to you.
Nice review Andrew. I can't wait to have a look through your dob. Congradulation jjjnettie for having buying such a lovely dark site within a couple of hours of Bris Vagus. Glad you guys had such a great time.
Advise for all having a night together star gazing, have a designated log person. I was enjoying the night so much that I don't remember half that we saw, just went with the flow.
One constellation to the next.
Nebulas were one thing I particularly loved viewing through Andrews Dob, they are so 3 dimensional, showing real dust clouds. And as Andrew said, a ruddy pink was definately seen within Orions.
Will post more later, big storm over head.
I could show you the way then and you wouldn't have to struggle to keep up with Dave!!![[1ponders]'s Avatar](../vbiis/customavatars/avatar45_9.gif){kind=avatar}
