31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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mikemarotta
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31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by mikemarotta »


After an unusually long four months of clouds and rain, the skies have been clearing over the past week. On the 29th, I got my first view of the globular cluster Messier 22. Last night and this morning, I revisited targets that had not been attainable a week ago because of the poor seeing despite nominally “clear” reports from weather websites. I also observed Messier 21, a globular cluster in northwest Sagittarius.

We amateurs speak of our “grab and go” instruments, smaller lightweight, that are easy to set up and transport. After borrowing three catadioptric telescopes weighing up to 65 lbs (30 kg)—and buying one of them—from the local club, portability was a consideration for me for all of my recent purchases. But “grab and go” does not work well for me. I like to do a lot of reading, planning, and arithmetic before I go out. And I prefer to be out for three or four hours, not just one. I got that opportunity. And last night’s work will allow me to plan better for my next viewing.

I started with the intent to find M13 the Hercules Cluster, M51 the Pinwheel Galaxy, and the stunning double Albireo. I obtained only the last. The first two would have been new for me. I have seen Albireo often in the past (though not recently for the time of night, the poor seeing, and my neighbor’s trees). I also revisited other targets. For myself, I find that comforting, like meeting with friends.
31 July 2021.jpeg
At 2145 hours CDT I started by aligning on Mizar-Alcor. I worked out the arithmetic for the field of view (FOV) and drew a sketch. I then went inside for dinner. I realigned when I returned at 2300 and viewed Saturn to compare a 40mm ocular with a 5X focal extender against the simpler 8mm ocular alone. I thought that the 40mm with its wider exit pupil would give a better view than squinting down into the 8mm, but I did not see much difference.

Then I went hunting for Messier 4 near Antares, a target I have been chasing for several nights, and again, recording “no joy.” I gave up at 2332 and turned eastward to Sagittarius, a rich area of the sky. I sought M22, a globular cluster that I recorded earlier, but just gave up for lack of patience with the scanning and panning and turned to “the Steam from the Teapot.” Like many constellations, Sagittarius has other folk identities. Above the “spout” are several Messier objects. At 2353 hours CDT, I found Messier 21, also catalogued as NGC 6531.

I sketched its location and returned to it with different eyepiece arrangements. With the 32mm ocular and 2X Barlow almost all of the neighborhood was in the field of view. I counted about 30 stars, most easily about the same magnitude, but others dimmer that appeared clearer with averted vision. Just after midnight (0005 hrs), I used the 8mm with 2X Barlow to home in on the center of the cluster. Then (0010 hrs) I compounded the 32mm with the 5X focal extender to again count the stars there: about 24 the first time, about 30 the second. Boosting the magnification to 250X with the 13mm and 5X extender I found the focus difficult despite the additional helical threads on the right-angle focal adapter.

I turned to Jupiter (0023) with the same 13mm 5X arrangement. It was big, with subtle brown and gray bands, but grainy with poor resolution. Still, the eye adapts and we see mostly with the brain. Ronald Stoyan “The Visual Astronomer” (not secure https, but here anyway http://visualastronomer.com/) says that no magnification is wasted and that the eye adapts to take advantage of moments of best seeing. Despite that encouragement I think that it is better to perceive details in clearer though smaller presentations.

Taking a break on the chaise longue with a binocular (12x42 Bushnell), Albireo was an easy find as was the “first double” Epsilon Lyrae. Mostly, I just looked up at the sky without the glasses.
31 July 01 Aug 2021.jpeg
At 0059 with a modest 17mm ocular (38.8X) alone and then the 17mm with 2X Barlow, I viewed Albireo down to its “Airy disks” of tightest focus. I noted the yellow and blue members of the visual (not physical) pair.

Epsilon Lyrae is the “double double.” What the naked eye perceives as a single star, is easily a pair with the smallest of instruments. William Herschel is accepted as the first to have recorded the double-double in August 1779 (Burnham, page 1151). It is a favorite with amateur observers. All four stars are accepted as “white” though Burnham credits others with assigning colors “greenish-white and bluish white… red tint… yellow and ruddy.” At the highest power 8mm with 5X (ridiculous 400X), I noted them (larger first) as yellow and blue (northwest) and white and yellow (southeast). Just to note, also: at 253X (13mm with 5X), they filled two-thirds of the field of view though were not much improved. (Going back through my log entries, I recorded the same colors on 20 November 2020.)

That was my night. I can now prepare more accurate templates for recording these same targets again.
---------------------------------------
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by notFritzArgelander »


Well despite some "no joy" any night is a good night. Did you try for both M51 (the Whirlpool) and M101 (the Pinwheel)?
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by John Donne »


Very fine report Michael !
I enjoyed the images of your written notes as well as your thorough delineation in the text.
I have always enjoyed the Summer Sagittarius region. It is a rich field and I have used it often to impress in Summertime outings with family and friends who are viewing for the first time.
Thank you Michael.
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by Bigzmey »


I would consider this session a success. You did catch a new object - M21 and gained experience with EPs, barlows and powers, which you will apply next time. And for the targets you did not get this time, you will catch them later. This is why it is called fishing not catching. Different hobby but true.
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by mikemarotta »


notFritzArgelander wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:37 pm Well despite some "no joy" any night is a good night. Did you try for both M51 (the Whirlpool) and M101 (the Pinwheel)?
No, I did not. I know that they are close to each other. However, I expected that M 51 would be the easier of the two. It is just off Alkaid at the end of the Dipper's handle. I have tried often over the years. One barrier to perception is that I do not know what to expect. I could be passing them up because they look like stars until they are targetted with higher magnification. Also, the 102mm might not gather enough light for me. For example, I know that people report the double-double with 60mm refractors, but I never got it so far with my 70mm. The 102 mm works.

And it is cheating, perhaps, but I used a NASA robotic telescope to capture M51.
Whirlpool Galaxy.png
But I do not expect to see that.
---------------------------------------
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by notFritzArgelander »


mikemarotta wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:19 am
notFritzArgelander wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:37 pm Well despite some "no joy" any night is a good night. Did you try for both M51 (the Whirlpool) and M101 (the Pinwheel)?
No, I did not. I know that they are close to each other. However, I expected that M 51 would be the easier of the two. It is just off Alkaid at the end of the Dipper's handle. I have tried often over the years. One barrier to perception is that I do not know what to expect. I could be passing them up because they look like stars until they are targetted with higher magnification. Also, the 102mm might not gather enough light for me. For example, I know that people report the double-double with 60mm refractors, but I never got it so far with my 70mm. The 102 mm works.

And it is cheating, perhaps, but I used a NASA robotic telescope to capture M51.
Image
But I do not expect to see that.
I got M51 in my TS 100mm ED f11. The arms are discernible but you are looking at low contrast brightening over the background sky. My procedure is to find a faint glow (at 4-5 mm exit pupil) then increase the magnification until the arms pop.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by mikemarotta »


notFritzArgelander wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:45 am I got M51 in my TS 100mm ED f11. The arms are discernible but you are looking at low contrast brightening over the background sky. My procedure is to find a faint glow (at 4-5 mm exit pupil) then increase the magnification until the arms pop.
So, for my 102mm (achromatic) F=660 f/6.47, the recommended eyepieces and magnifications would be:
32 mm => 20.645X => Exit Pupil 4.95
25 mm => 26.4X => Exit Pupil 3.86

Then work up from there. OK. When it stops raining, I'll give it a go.

Thanks!
Mike M.
---------------------------------------
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by mikemarotta »


notFritzArgelander wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:45 am. ... The arms are discernible but you are looking at low contrast brightening over the background sky. My procedure is to ...
It helps to know where to look (ahem). I might not be far enough away from Alkaid. I know my fields of view fairly well. I have numerical charts and I can do the maths pretty much in my head and I use the FOV as a measure. (That is what makes not finding M4 so frustrating.) I do tend to underestimate across the FOV when I have targets in view. A binary that looks to me like one-fourth FOV will turn out to have been much closer when i checked Burnham's, for example. But for just using the diameter as a measuring rod, it usually goes well enough.

Anyway, M51 is 3.5 degrees SW of Alkaid. "Deep in the constellation Canes Venatici, M51 is often found by finding the easternmost star of the Big Dipper, Eta Ursae Majoris, and going 3.5° southwest." -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whirlpool_Galaxy
---------------------------------------
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by helicon »


Nice report Michael and some great mathematical work as well as excellent descriptions of the views through different eyepieces. I'm pretty sure you be able to catch M13 and M51 in the future, but did manage M21 and M22. Congratulations on winning the TSS Visual Report of the Day award for this interesting report.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

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Post by Makuser »


Hi Mike. A very nice report from you. I am glad that you finally got to break that long string of bad skies. It looks as though you had a nice assortment of objects, including Jupiter, several Messier objects, enjoying Albireo and the double double Epsilon Lyrae. Thanks for your well written report Mike, and congratulations on winning the TSS VROD Award today.
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Re: 31 July to 01 August: A good night of viewing

#11

Post by John Baars »


Nice report, enjoyable to see the notes you made in the field.
Congratulation on the VROD!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
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