Got out the Orion StarBlast 6 (150/750mm Newt) to take another stab at the Veil and Crescent Nebula in Cygnus:
Again, waited until Cygnus was high overhead.
NGC 6992 & 6995 or the Eastern Veil Nebula – could barely detect any nebulosity using 19x with an OIII. But bumping up the magnification to 43x for a close-up view produced visible nebulous wisps in both parts of the Eastern Veil, which required very little averted vision. Very exciting to see.
NGC 6960 or the Western Veil Nebula – at 43x with the OIII, the nebulosity was harder to detect compared to the Eastern Veil. Quite different from the previous session with the smaller 5”.
NGC 6888 or Crescent Nebula – using 43x with OIII, the nebulosity was slightly more pronounced compared through the smaller scopes (4.5” and 5”). Finally able to confirm sighting.
Jupiter was now visible on the southwestern horizon, so got out my Orion ST80-A:
The tiny 8x21 finderscope came from the Celestron C90Mak; I swapped it with the 8x40 finderscope that originally came with this ST80-A.
Following Olen’s (Pakarinen) example, wanted to see how Jupiter would look using medium and high magnification through this fast achromat. The planet was very crisp at 63-66x using a 6.3mm Plossl and a 6mm Expanse, despite the purplish haze. Although obviously a softer view, with a 2x Barlow (127 - 133x) still able to see the belts and zones, the high
A very satisfying session.