Anza 2021 season opener

[Bigzmey]

4/2/21

Location: Anza desert site, Bortle 3.5
Equipment: Celestron 9.25” Edge HD SCT and Celestron 150ST achro on SW SkyTee 2 manual AltAz mount.

Due to frequent storms and weather unpredictability I typically take a break for the winter from overnight trips to the Anza desert but could not wait to get back. This year dry weather came earlier and last Friday evening I went for the first Anza session of 2021. Either the desert did not get as much rain as before or some other factors in play, but there was no desert bloom this year. Just a few scattered California poppies where there were flower fields last year.

This session was my first experience with binoviewers. I wanted to devote all premium dark time to galaxy hunting, so I played with them during the daylight. Not surprisingly there was not enough inward travel to use them straight in 150ST. I thought 1.9x nosepiece which came with BV would fix that but discovered that now I don’t have enough outward focuser travel. When I was packing for the trip I considered taking focuser extension tubes, but then thought: you will need extra inward, not outward travel.

On 9.25” Edge I also did not manage to get to focus. The day was hazy and distant landmarks were of low contrast. I did a few turns of the focuser dial but only saw hazy white. Then I remembered that the Edge has less focuser travel compared to vanilla SCT. Did not want to mess around more at this point. Will revisit.

While I was playing with binoviewers it is started getting dark. I have packed the binoviewer stuff and deployed the single eye stuff. In a few minutes astronomical darkness arrived. Man, I did miss beautiful dark skies! I had to force myself to look through the scopes, otherwise I would spend whole evening soaking up their majesty with naked eyes. Still a good half of the evening was spent doing that. As a reward I caught ~10 meteors.

Orion
NGC 1670 – gal – FAIL
NGC 1678 – gal – small narrow oval with AV, next to star. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 14mm (168x).
NGC 1682 – gal – extra faint fuzzy star with AV. It had appearance of small PN. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 10mm (235x).
NGC 1684 – gal – faint wide oval, same FOV with NGC 1682. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 14mm (168x) and XW 20mm (118x).
NGC 1713 – gal – FAIL

My progress in Orion was slow and taxing. First, I thought that my galaxy eye dulled after few months of inactivity. That might be as well, but there were other factors in play. Orion, while still relatively high, was setting down to the west – brighter portion of the sky. Some high clouds were hanging near horizon not too far from Orion. I decided to try a different area.

Gemini
NGC 2224 – asterism – two star chains forming anchor shape. 150ST/Pentax XW20 (38x); Edge 9.25”/TV Panoptic 27mm (87x). I liked Edge view better, it has shown more stars in the pattern.

NGC 2234 – asterism – several stars forming chain-link shape; not detached from the field. Edge 9.25”/TV Panoptic 27mm (87x).

NGC 2274 and 2275 – two galaxies in the same FOV. NGC 2274 – round and brighter; NGC 2275 – elongated oval with AV. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 14mm (168x).

NGC 2289 – gal – very faint small oval. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 14mm (168x) and Pentax XF 12mm (196x).
NGC 2290 – gal – very faint spot with AV. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XF 12mm (196x).

I have discovered that Pentax XF EPs work extremely well in the Edge 9.25” outperforming on occasion XWs on planets, Moon and DSOs. I wish Pentax made more focal lengths.

NGC 2291 – gal – FAIL.
NGC 2385 – gal – extremely faint spot with AV, moving EP for detection. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 14mm (168x).
NGC 2333 – gal – faint elongated shape. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 20mm (118x).
NGC 2388 and NGC 2389 – two galaxies in the same FOV – very faint ovals with AV. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 14mm (168x).
NGC 2390 – single or multiple star depending on resource – fuzzy star in the same FOV with NGC 2388 and NGC 2389. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 14mm (168x).

NGC 2435 – gal – This is why I went in galaxy hunting business! Small but sharp edge-on, welcome sight after all barely resolve smudges of this evening. Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 20mm (118x).

NGC 2481 – gal – small lens with brighter core – second highlight of the evening. . Edge 9.25”/Pentax XW 20mm (118x).

[helicon]

A great evening of galaxy gets Bigz. Very impressive. Plus, it sounds like you were pushing your equipment and conditions to the limit, which is always a fun thing to do.

[Bigzmey]

A great evening of galaxy gets Bigz. Very impressive. Plus, it sounds like you were pushing your equipment and conditions to the limit, which is always a fun thing to do.

Thanks Michael! I am working on the Herschel 2,500 list and it certainly pushes the limits of 9.25". Not sure if there is enough aperture to get all, but I will try as many as I can.

[notFritzArgelander]

A good evening out, thanks for the report. I never had trouble on my 9.25 Edge with Baader binoviewers. You got the Orion unit, right?

[Juno16]

What a wonderful report Bigz!

You captured wonderful targets!

What a wonderful experience it must be observing from such a beautiful dark site. I’ve seen the photos that you have posted in the past. What an ideal location!

Glad that you are back out there and enjoying the fine sights both terrestrial and extraterrestrial!
I have gotten out of the car while traveling cross country in Nevada and Arizona and seeing the most beautiful skies. I’m so used to seeing my somewhat garbadish Bortle 7-8 skies in my backyard.

Take care Bigz and thanks again!

[Makuser]

Hello Andrey. Another superb report from you on your start for the new observing season. You really grabbed a nice load of NGC objects. It's too bad about the arid weather there this season, as I enjoy your beautiful Anza desert flower photos almost as much as your astronomy observing reports. Thanks for your latest report Andrey, and the kindest of regards.

[kt4hx]

Well done Andrey and glad to see you are back at Anza pushing the gear deep. Orion is not exactly a haven for bright galaxies anyway and certainly not one most would think of in terms of galaxies. But you are doing a fine job with the 9.25". Keep up the good work, you can certainly make a truly serious dent in the 2,500 with your current scope.

[Bigzmey]

A good evening out, thanks for the report. I never had trouble on my 9.25 Edge with Baader binoviewers. You got the Orion unit, right?

Thanks nFA. Yes, mine BV are Orion, which I believe have longer light path. I will figure it out, eventually.

What a wonderful report Bigz!

You captured wonderful targets!

What a wonderful experience it must be observing from such a beautiful dark site. I’ve seen the photos that you have posted in the past. What an ideal location!

Glad that you are back out there and enjoying the fine sights both terrestrial and extraterrestrial!
I have gotten out of the car while traveling cross country in Nevada and Arizona and seeing the most beautiful skies. I’m so used to seeing my somewhat garbadish Bortle 7-8 skies in my backyard.

Take care Bigz and thanks again!

Thanks Jim! The sky at Anza is not pristine Bortle 1, but it still much better than what I have at home.

Hello Andrey. Another superb report from you on your start for the new observing season. You really grabbed a nice load of NGC objects. It's too bad about the arid weather there this season, as I enjoy your beautiful Anza desert flower photos almost as much as your astronomy observing reports. Thanks for your latest report Andrey, and the kindest of regards.

Thanks Marshall! I was looking forward seeing the desert bloom, it was a let down. There are still a month or two left before the real heat arrives. Maybe nature will catch up.

Well done Andrey and glad to see you are back at Anza pushing the gear deep. Orion is not exactly a haven for bright galaxies anyway and certainly not one most would think of in terms of galaxies. But you are doing a fine job with the 9.25". Keep up the good work, you can certainly make a truly serious dent in the 2,500 with your current scope.

Thanks Alan! This is why I enjoy doing lists like H2,500. It will make you go places and look for stuff you normally would not, like galaxies in Orion.

[prowler75]

Fantastic report Andrey! Good to hear you have kicked of your Anza season. I'd love to have an area like that to observe that was close by.

[Bigzmey]

Fantastic report Andrey! Good to hear you have kicked of your Anza season. I'd love to have an area like that to observe that was close by.

Thanks Craig! It took some research and a few trials to find the location which works for me. I hope you find yours.

[John Baars]

Nice to read about the Anza desert again.
Pity about the absence of a blooming desert this year. (I silently hoped for some pictures of it, when I read the title)
Great observations despite the mono "handicap". Quite curious about the performance of the 150 ST with BV though.
Thanks for you report!

[Bigzmey]

Nice to read about the Anza desert again.
Pity about the absence of a blooming desert this year. (I silently hoped for some pictures of it, when I read the title)
Great observations despite the mono "handicap". Quite curious about the performance of the 150 ST with BV though.
Thanks for you report!

Thanks John! I did snap one pic to show my family the difference from last year. Top is April this year, below is April last year. Same location.

[j.gardavsky]

Hello Andrey,

another great report from Anza!
It must be an incredible observing site, right for your skills.

Thank you so much for sharing,
JG

[MistrBadgr]

Thanks for the report, Andrey!
Glad to hear you had a good sky. Right now, I would just like to have one good enough to find the Leo triplets!

[Bigzmey]

Hello Andrey,

another great report from Anza!
It must be an incredible observing site, right for your skills.

Thank you so much for sharing,
JG

Thanks JG! Anza site offers a lot, and judging from your nebula adventures your sky is not too shabby either.

Thanks for the report, Andrey!
Glad to hear you had a good sky. Right now, I would just like to have one good enough to find the Leo triplets!

Thanks Bill! I am rooting for you.

[helicon]

Congrats Bigzmey on winning the Inaugural TSS Visual Report of the Day Award for 4-11-2021 !

[Bigzmey]

Congrats Bigzmey on winning the Inaugural TSS Visual Report of the Day Award for 4-11-2021 !

Thanks Michael and TSS! This is unexpected but much appreciated.

[Gordon]

Congratulations Andrey on winning our first TSS VROD. And thanks for a great report!

[kt4hx]

Well done and well deserved Andrey.

[Graeme1858]

Thanks for the detailed report.

Congratulations on the first VPOD!

Regards

Graeme