Observing Report for 06 March 2021 – to the right of the big tree at the southern end of the property

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kt4hx United States of America
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Re: Observing Report for 06 March 2021 – to the right of the big tree at the southern end of the property

#21

Post by kt4hx »


OzEclipse wrote: Sat Mar 27, 2021 11:21 pm
Alan,
This comment in your report struck me. From my latitude, the Andromeda galaxy transits at 12 -14 degrees depending whether you are north or south of Canberra. South of Canberra, you have to look through the Canberra lightdome unless you are far south. With my 18 inch "8.5 foot" telescope, it is a very comfortable view both feet firmly planted on the ground, even sitting sometimes. Certainly more comfortable than the nosebleed inducing altitudes I have to ascend to, to look at Eta Carina, Omega Centauri, or the Magellanic Clouds at transit. In fact I usually wait until they get a bit lower. It's a bit precarious standing so high up a ladder. I found a drawing of Herschel's 20 foot scope.

Image

All I can say is that we've come a long way in telescope design and compactness.

This is a photo of my 8 foot scope. The ladder is 1.8m / 6ft
Image

The back yard has a slope. The scope is located on a small bare patch that is moderately level but the ground immediately behind the scope rises. The ground in front of the scope is relatively flat. I have used that slope to advantage to reduce the amount of ladder time required on observing nights.

Thanks as alway for your report Alan. Always interesting reading and worth keeping - I save some of your and Andrey's observing reports and extract interesting/challenging targets from them.

Joe
Thank you for your kind comments Joe. I was happy to see you bring up the point I was trying to convey vis-a-vis the difficulties that William Herschel faced during his own work toward the horizon with such a massive scope. Indeed we are fortunate to have both better optics and exponentially less massive structures.

Your own experiences with M31 at such a low elevation is a curious thing to me, just as I am sure mine with NGC 2997 is for you. I don't envy you having to climb a ladder above certain elevations. My focal length is about 6.5 ft and I am 6 ft tall. So I utilize a stable two step stool when I am working up higher and typically only need the bottom step once in a while. I frequently choose my target constellations based on what I can observe with both feet on the ground, observing at a comfortable angle. In the case of Pyxis and Antlia, I was mostly sitting as having to bend over too much bothers my back. Thanks again my friend, and I enjoyed the image of Herschel's workhorse scope and seeing what you are using down there. :)
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
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"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
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prowler75
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Re: Observing Report for 06 March 2021 – to the right of the big tree at the southern end of the property

#22

Post by prowler75 »


Wow! Very sorry to hear about your COVID experience. Glad to hear everyone is on the mend.

Fantastic report! I’ve been anxiously awaiting another one of your reports and this one didn’t disappoint. Things have been busy on my side, but I have found myself right back into the hobby and craving some telescope time. Hoping to get out next weekend and at least look at something other than the moon. :lol:

Thanks for sharing!
Craig
Telescopes: Zhumell Z12, Orion XT8, Explore Scientific FL-AR127/1200, Celestron Omni XLT AZ 102, Tasco 8v
Eyepieces: GSO 30mm, Explore Scientific 70° 25mm, 82° 18mm, 11mm, 8.8mm, 6.5mm. KK Orthos 12mm and 9mm
Binoculars: Oberwerk 15x70
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kt4hx United States of America
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Re: Observing Report for 06 March 2021 – to the right of the big tree at the southern end of the property

#23

Post by kt4hx »


prowler75 wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 11:55 pm Wow! Very sorry to hear about your COVID experience. Glad to hear everyone is on the mend.

Fantastic report! I’ve been anxiously awaiting another one of your reports and this one didn’t disappoint. Things have been busy on my side, but I have found myself right back into the hobby and craving some telescope time. Hoping to get out next weekend and at least look at something other than the moon. :lol:

Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Craig, glad you enjoyed the report.

Indeed we are healing well. Still tired and can't do as much at a time as we could before, but we are slowly getting there.

I hope you get some time to do some observing during the upcoming cycle. Glad to see your desire to observe is on the uptick and that you are back on here my friend. :)
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
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