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nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:13 am
by notFritzArgelander
Long time no report. It’s not a matter of not observing (weather and smoke permitting) but more because I doubt that my routine of simply revisiting old friends is of great interest to readers and it’s not of much interest for me to write up either. ;)

In any case, despite having new kit to test, I’ve been thwarted by the infamous smokescreen. I don’t like testing under conditions that aren’t cloud free, better than average transparency and at least average seeing conditions. For testing out tonight the object of interest is the Altair Astro 1.25” Tri-Band OSC Filter. It’s designed for imaging, and I might get to that use, but for tonight I wanted to see if I could use it on faint fuzzies visually. I’m looking for means of defeating recently installed neighbor floodlights that impinge on my usual setup spot.

At 10pm I found a spot that was partly shaded by a tree, donned my observing vest/cowl and proceeded.

So, the selected kit for the evening consisted of:
• VMC110L with the Orion EZ Finder II red dot finder and the Meade HD60 25mm eyepiece and Antares 0.5x focal reducer in the up port on the flip mirror, the Vixen 1.25” diagonal on the through port
• Orion Star Seeker III Mount
• 24mm Panoptic with the Altair Astro 1.25” Tri-Band OSC Filter
• An assortment of pseudo Masuyama eyepieces, in this case consisting of
o Orion 25mm Ultrascopic
o Meade 12.4 mm Super Plossl
o Orion 10mm Ultrascopic
o Kasai 5mm AstroPlan

With the VMC110L these combinations give:

Meade HD60 25mm with Antares 0.5x focal reducer
M=20, TFOV=2.9 deg, exit pupil = 5.32mm
Panoptic 24mm M=43, TFOV=1.58 deg, exit pupil = 2.55mm
Orion Us 25mm M=41, TFOV=1.26 deg, exit pupil = 2.66mm
Meade SP 12.4mm M=83, TFOV=0.62 deg, exit pupil = 1.32mm
Orion US 10mm M=103, TFOV=0.50 deg, exit pupil = 1.06mm
Kasai AP 5mm M= 207, TFOV=0.25 deg, exit pupil = 0.53mm

I had some difficulty getting set up. My Celestron Li battery apparently was out of juice. However, I had read that a TSS member (I forget who, it was longish ago, but thanks!) had recommended a more compact battery from TalentCell on Amazon. So alignment proceeded after the substitution.

First on the agenda was to check out the views of DSOs using the three 24-25mm eyepieces with the Altair filter dedicated to the Panoptic. M11, M13, and M57 all checked out fine with the background darker with the filter. The M57 view gave a good taste of things to come as the filter, to be expected, really helped it pop against the darker background. I had to play averted vision games in the unfiltered eyepieces.

Then I turned to the region about gamma Cyg (Sadr). This was a sheer delight as, aside from the intrinsic beauty of the region, it affirmed that using the Altair filter for visual observation was an excellent means of defeating the local floodlights. Although indiscernible in the unfiltered eyepieces, IC 1318 popped in the filtered Pan. I was surprised to see the three lobed bright side (facing Sadr) the dark lane away from Sadr and the single bright region just beyond that. In disbelief I swept through the field and verified that the nebulosity moved with Sadr. Success!

So, I checked on my old friend M29, for some reason the “water tank” cluster just tickles me, and on to the Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888. There, a repeat of the joy closer to Sadr was found.

On to Saturn and Jupiter. This involved having to move kit to the unobscured southern sky site on the property. The Panoptic and Altair filter were retired for the night. I didn’t realign just pushed buttons until the red-dot suggested success.

Saturn and Titan were fine but not great. Seeing did not permit resolving the Cassini division, for instance. Nevertheless, the angle between Saturn and the Sun made for the nice illusion of Saturn being a 3-dimensional sphere due to the distribution of brightness over the disk. It looked like the Kasai 5mm AP was too much for conditions.

On to Jupiter. 3 of the Galilean moons were visible, Io close, Ganymede further, and Calisto outermost as I IDed later from a crude sketch. I could make out two equatorial bands. One band seemed interestingly discontinuous. Again, the usability of eyepieces maxed out with the Orion Us 10mm. The Kasai 5mm AP was not going to get any use. Later the discontinuity in the equatorial band was IDed as Europa also. I called it quits about half past midnight.

I have one nice neighbor who since the other neighbor has installed floods offered the use of the back adjacent lot of the house as a set up spot. Very kind.

I’m a believer in “never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity”. I once heard the neighbor with the floodlights discuss with partner about how she didn’t want me in my back yard at night. Partner: “But he’s just using his equipment.” “I don’t care.” Then the floodlights. Tonight, free of the hound of the Baskervilles, nonetheless I overheard:
“Guess who’s back?” and “Is he going to be out there all night?”

Yes, there’s stupidity and malice and there is also malicious stupidity. :lol:

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:31 am
by kt4hx
Nice to see you out observing nFA. Some neighbors are hard to figure. I guess his opinion is that your yard is not yours to use as you wish. Perhaps he is afraid you might witness him burying a body in his backyard! :lol:

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:56 am
by notFritzArgelander
kt4hx wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:31 am Nice to see you out observing nFA. Some neighbors are hard to figure. I guess his opinion is that your yard is not yours to use as you wish. Perhaps he is afraid you might witness him burying a body in his backyard! :lol:
Either that or spectroscopically detect the products of his meth kitchen! :lol:

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 8:04 am
by SkyHiker
Sorry to hear about your neighbor troubles. My neighbors across the street had a flood light in their side yard. I explained to them my astrophotography in the driveway, asked them if they could shield the light and they simply made it light activated so it's on only if they need it, which is rare. So I suggest you visit them in the daytime and explain thyat this is your hobby and what you need (them not to do).

IMHO nobody has the right to throw an excessive amount of photons in your backyard. it's an annoyance just like noise. Especially if the lady does this deliberately to chase you out of your backyard you could call the sheriff or take them to court. it's not uncommon to have the sheriff involved in such neighbor disputes. I did this once for an unrelated matter and it worked. Write down what you heard and when, try to record it if you can. It's horrible but it may pay off.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 8:19 am
by notFritzArgelander
@SkyHiker thanks for your appreciation of the situation and the suggestions. It hadn't occurred to me to record the remarks.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 12:31 pm
by Lady Fraktor
Good that you could get some viewing in and the filter has worked for you.
Unfortunate about the neighbors though.
I usually have the opposite problem, I set up a telescope and the neighbors are lined up to look.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:24 pm
by pakarinen
notFritzArgelander wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:13 am [...] more because I doubt that my routine of simply revisiting old friends is of great interest to readers and it’s not of much interest for me to write up either.
:lol: I'm with you on that - M35, 36, 37, 38, 42, Pleiades, Hyades, Betegeuse, Orion's belt. I've not been inclined to write anything in my log book either.

Bummer about the neighbors. Mine have been ok but since I go out pre-dawn, they're most likely all still asleep and don't know I'm out there.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:41 pm
by helicon
Very nice and thorough report notFritz. Also, your judicious use of filters enabled some great nebular views. Congrats on winning the TSS VROD for the day (10/3/2021)!

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:13 pm
by turboscrew
Congrats on the VROD!
I had to google about IC 1318 and the filter.

That kind of things between neigbours are always bad. There's no winning. You both probably have to continue living next to each other, and the relations won't get warmer. I wonder if that neighbour is a "professional complainer"? They tend to need some control over everything and everyone around. Nasty people.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:29 pm
by Butterfly Maiden
A good report nFA (under the circumstances) and congratulations on receiving the TSS VROD.

Your neighbours don't sound like very nice people, that is such a shame.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:43 pm
by notFritzArgelander
Lady Fraktor wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 12:31 pm Good that you could get some viewing in and the filter has worked for you.
Unfortunate about the neighbors though.
I usually have the opposite problem, I set up a telescope and the neighbors are lined up to look.
Back in VA it was more like your experience, I'd get folks asking to drop by to take a look.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:48 pm
by notFritzArgelander
pakarinen wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:24 pm
notFritzArgelander wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:13 am [...] more because I doubt that my routine of simply revisiting old friends is of great interest to readers and it’s not of much interest for me to write up either.
:lol: I'm with you on that - M35, 36, 37, 38, 42, Pleiades, Hyades, Betegeuse, Orion's belt. I've not been inclined to write anything in my log book either.

Bummer about the neighbors. Mine have been ok but since I go out pre-dawn, they're most likely all still asleep and don't know I'm out there.
I'd try pre dawn except that I have to keep to a sleep hygiene schedule. It's only about a half year more here.... ;)

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:52 pm
by notFritzArgelander
helicon wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 1:41 pm Very nice and thorough report notFritz. Also, your judicious use of filters enabled some great nebular views. Congrats on winning the TSS VROD for the day (10/3/2021)!
Oh, gee, thanks! That's very kind. I've a bit of a backlog of kit testing to work through. There'll be more soon conditions permitting.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 3:01 pm
by notFritzArgelander
turboscrew wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:13 pm Congrats on the VROD!
I had to google about IC 1318 and the filter.
I also have a 2" Altair Astro Quad Band filter to try that I hope will give somewhat brighter nebula images. IC 1318 is a good one.
That kind of things between neigbours are always bad. There's no winning. You both probably have to continue living next to each other, and the relations won't get warmer. I wonder if that neighbour is a "professional complainer"? They tend to need some control over everything and everyone around. Nasty people.
Nasty is fitting. I'm planning on moving in the summer.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 3:04 pm
by notFritzArgelander
Butterfly Maiden wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 2:29 pm A good report nFA (under the circumstances) and congratulations on receiving the TSS VROD.

Your neighbours don't sound like very nice people, that is such a shame.
Thanks, much.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 3:12 pm
by Unitron48
Great report! Glad you were able to get out. Given the frequency of my outreach, I tend to view, and report on, many of the same objects. We tend to share the "best" objects with the first timers!

In your case, given your thorough comparison testing, it's good to view objects familiar to all of us. Keep up the great work!!

And congrats on the VROD!

Dave

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 3:20 pm
by notFritzArgelander
Unitron48 wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 3:12 pm Great report! Glad you were able to get out. Given the frequency of my outreach, I tend to view, and report on, many of the same objects. We tend to share the "best" objects with the first timers!

In your case, given your thorough comparison testing, it's good to view objects familiar to all of us. Keep up the great work!!

And congrats on the VROD!

Dave
Thank you, very much.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 4:40 pm
by John Donne
Well done Fritz!
I enjoyed the read.

Congratulations on VROD.
Peace to you, and more clear skies up your way Sir 😊

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:06 pm
by Bigzmey
Nice session and report nFA! I have checked specs on Altair Astro 1.25” Tri-Band OSC Filter and its spectrum is similar to some of UHC filters like DGM NPB, which also pass H-alpha in addition to H-beta and OIII bands. No wonder it works nicely for visual.

I can sympathize to the neighbor situation. We had a guy downstairs from our condo who would jump out and start cooking hotdogs on barbeque right below our balcony every time I would come out to observe. I heard his partner trying to reason with him for no use.

Re: nFA observing report 27 Sept 2021

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:35 pm
by notFritzArgelander
Bigzmey wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:06 pm Nice session and report nFA! I have checked specs on Altair Astro 1.25” Tri-Band OSC Filter and its spectrum is similar to some of UHC filters like DGM NPB, which also pass H-alpha in addition to H-beta and OIII bands. No wonder it works nicely for visual.

I can sympathize to the neighbor situation. We had a guy downstairs from our condo who would jump out and start cooking hotdogs on barbeque right below our balcony every time I would come out to observe. I heard his partner trying to reason with him for no use.
Yes, it's not surprising that the tri-band works. I hope to try the quad-band soon which should be less aggressive.

Some folks just delight in playing spoiler.....