A very plentiful night

Let's see your reports!
Post Reply
User avatar
Shelby United States of America
Moon Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:58 pm
2
Location: Louisiana, United States
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

A very plentiful night

#1

Post by Shelby »


I took advantage of the last moon free night for a while, and it really paid off. I saw lots of of new targets I have never seen before.

I wanted to kick off my night night with something familiar as always, and since the Orion Nebula (M42) will be slipping out of sight pretty soon, I decided that I would choose it. It is always worth looking at over again. The seeing was also great tonight because I was able to use my 10mm eyepiece to zoom in and it did not get blurry.

Since I was in Orion already, I was going to try for the Flame Nebula next, but I did not find it this time, I think it might be too low to see it now. Alnitak was beautiful though.

Next, I wanted to see if the comets were still visible to me. I tried Borrelly first, but i failed to see it even though I found the area. It is just too low down in the sky and too dim to see now for me, I tried C/2019 L3 (Atlas) next, and I did find that one. It was very dim, and since it is also getting lower, I will probably not be able to see it by the next moonless night. At least I got a goodbye glance tonight though.

Since I was in the area anyway, I looked at the Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264) next, i have seen it before, but it is always worth a second look, and it will be leaving the evening sky in the coming months too, so I have to enjoy it while I can. I didn't see any nebula around it, but I wasn't expecting to see it either, I will need filters for that.

I next moved over to NGC 2244. No Rosette Nebula as always, but the cluster was bright and beautiful as always.

Next, I moved to another target worth looking at again, the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer. Easily seen with the naked eye and even more beautiful in the eyepiece, what's not to love about this one. I will always enjoy looking at this one.

Now, time for something new. My next target was M35, a star cluster in Gemini. This was absolutely stunning to look at, it reminded me of the first time I looked at the double cluster with the number of stars it had in it. I am glad I picked this one because it was definitely something to see. A very beautiful sight indeed.

My next new target was the Crab Nebula (M1) in Taurus. It appeared as a fuzzy smudge against the background sky. I took advantage of my great seeing conditions to zoom in on it with the 10mm eyepiece, and that made it more noticeable, but still comet-like in appearance.

My next new target was the Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) in Gemini. This one in the 25mm just appeared as a slightly fuzzy star. It wasn't until I used the 10mm that I could really see that it truly was a nebula as it is a very tiny nebula. It was an interesting sight to see.

Next, I left that section of the sky and moved to Canes Venatici in search of more new targets.

First, I stopped by to see the Cocoon Galaxy (NGC 4490) again, I saw it last time I was out alone, and I wanted to see it again. The smaller companion to it is still not visible, but I think it is a limitation of my scope.

Next, I moved to M94, a galaxy that appears really small, in the 25mm, I could barely tell what it was, but in the 10mm, it was very clear that it was a galaxy. No real structure was visible, but it was easy to see. It was nice to look at.

Next, I decided to take another look at the double star Cor Caroli, since my exceptional seeing allowed me to get a really clear close up view of it. A chance like that doesn't come often for me. It was very clear in the 10mm this time, and really nice to look at again in a clearer view.

Next, I looked at the Sunflower Galaxy (M63). This one was not really that impressive. It was just a smudge against the backdrop, but anything is worth looking at. It was easily found and not hard to see.

Next, I looked at the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and NGC 5195. I was waiting to look at this one the whole night. It was worth the wait. Both it and the companion were easily visible in both eyepieces. But I couldn't really see any structural detail in either one of them. M51 did appear wider than its companion, but no spiral structure was seen. It was still a very interesting target to look at.

Next, I looked for M101 in Ursa Major. Oh boy, this one was hard to find. It took me a lot of looking over the area before I finally found it after looking in the same spot for a while. I would say this was the most difficult target I found tonight. It marks another target that I have seen though.

Next, I looked at the globular cluster M3. This is the first globular I ever looked at. It appeared as just a fuzzy spot in the 25mm, but when I switched to the 10mm, I could start to make out some of the structure in the cluster and could separate some of the stars on the outer parts of it. It was a worthy target for sure.

Next, I moved to NGC 5466, another globular. This one was not not nearly as easy to find, but I did find it. It could not make out any detail as I could just barely see it at all, but I did find it, so I guess that is what really matters.

Next, I moved to M53, another globular. This one was easy to find like M3, but not quite as impressive. I could make out a few details with the 10mm, but not as much as I did on M3. It was still worth looking at for sure though. I would look at it again.

I tried to find the much fainter globular NGC 5053 that was close to M53, but I could not see it. I located the spot, but I saw nothing. However refusing to end my session in failure, I decided to end with Arcturus, the bright and beautiful yellow star in Bootes, which was just rising above my treeline by that time, which was around 11:20 PM. It was a beautiful sight to look at, just like all bright stars are.

That brings an end to my report. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed seeing all of those wonderful sights of the sky tonight. Happy reading.
Last edited by Shelby on Sun Apr 03, 2022 4:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.
My scopes: Sky-Watcher 150p (6") Classic Dobsonian (main scope), iOptron SmartStar N114 with GPS (not really used anymore)

My eyepieces: 25mm Skywatcher Plossl, 10mm Skywatcher Plossl, 25mm unknown brand, 9mm iOptron Kellner.

Filters: AstroZap Baadar Solar Film Filter for my SkyWatcher 6 inch, 6" OD Seymour Solar film filter for the N114

Camera: My smartphone

Comets: 19
User avatar
davesellars
Pluto Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 465
Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 1:02 pm
4
Location: UK
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: A very plentiful night

#2

Post by davesellars »


Great report!!! That's really a good lot of mixed DSOs you bagged and congrats on getting M101 (that's a tough one and very dependant on conditions. :)

Globular clusters need (and will take easily) a reasonable amount of magnification. This is dependant a little on your seeing conditions but also on the transparency of the air. It's always useful to judge both seeing (once your scope has cooled and stabilised) and the transparency - this is easily judged to rough effect by your naked eye limiting magnitude. You will get a good feel from night to night by looking at various constellations which stars have not appeared. This will directly affect your ability to get any detail (or even see) galaxies and nebulae and also affects clusters in how much of the fainter stars within them will be able to be seen. For example, some nights the transparency is so bad here that I can only vaguely make out Ursa Major! The quality of seeing though will not affect in any way your ability to view galaxies and nebulae like M1.

It sounds like your transparency wasn't too bad though if you observed M101!

Every time you go back to these objects you learn a little more. I'm convinced I'll get the Flame nebula properly next time - the conditions here prior to midnight are just not conducive to getting sufficient dark adaption and generally clarity of air is so much better early morning therefore I'm now looking at mid October when I can get in a session around 4am.
SW Flextube 12" Dobsonian.
Starfield ED102 f/7; SW ED80; SW 120ST
EQ5 and AZ4 mounts
Eyepieces: TV Delos 17.3 & 10; Pentax XW 7 & 5; BCO 32,18,10; Fuyiyama Ortho 12.5; Vixen SLV 25.
User avatar
Unitron48 United States of America
Local Group Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 2747
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:48 am
4
Location: Culpeper, VA (USA)
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: A very plentiful night

#3

Post by Unitron48 »


Great session...and enjoyable read! Really shows the capability of a 6 inch Dob!!

Dave
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
User avatar
John Baars Netherlands
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 5
Online
Posts: 2723
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 9:00 am
4
Location: Schiedam, Netherlands
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: A very plentiful night

#4

Post by John Baars »


Great session, thank for sharing your report!
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.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
User avatar
Bigzmey United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 8
Online
Posts: 7548
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 7:55 pm
4
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: A very plentiful night

#5

Post by Bigzmey »


Nice haul of targets Shelby! I appreciate that you always find time for comets.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
User avatar
Shelby United States of America
Moon Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:58 pm
2
Location: Louisiana, United States
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: A very plentiful night

#6

Post by Shelby »


Bigzmey wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 9:46 pm Nice haul of targets Shelby! I appreciate that you always find time for comets.
Comets are always my target if there are any visible. I have a fascination with comets
My scopes: Sky-Watcher 150p (6") Classic Dobsonian (main scope), iOptron SmartStar N114 with GPS (not really used anymore)

My eyepieces: 25mm Skywatcher Plossl, 10mm Skywatcher Plossl, 25mm unknown brand, 9mm iOptron Kellner.

Filters: AstroZap Baadar Solar Film Filter for my SkyWatcher 6 inch, 6" OD Seymour Solar film filter for the N114

Camera: My smartphone

Comets: 19
User avatar
helicon United States of America
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 584
Online
Posts: 12275
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 1:35 pm
4
Location: Washington
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: A very plentiful night

#7

Post by helicon »


Very nice session Shelby and certainly worthy of the TSS Visual Report of the Day award. Congrats!
-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
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
User avatar
Unitron48 United States of America
Local Group Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 2747
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:48 am
4
Location: Culpeper, VA (USA)
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: A very plentiful night

#8

Post by Unitron48 »


Unitron48 wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 10:47 am Great session...and enjoyable read! Really shows the capability of a 6 inch Dob!!

Dave
And congrats on your VROD recognition!

Dave
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
User avatar
Makuser United States of America
In Memory
In Memory
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 6394
Joined: Mon May 06, 2019 12:53 am
4
Location: Rockledge, FL.
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: A very plentiful night

#9

Post by Makuser »


Hi Shelby. A very nice observing report here with the 6" Dob. This is a nice catch of excellet DSO objects and also Comet Atlas. Thanks for your well written and fun read report Shelby and congratulations on receiving the TSS VROD Award.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
User avatar
Frankskywatcher United States of America
Orion Spur Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 938
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2022 8:30 pm
2
Location: Conway South Carolina USA
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: A very plentiful night

#10

Post by Frankskywatcher »


Wow that’s an awesome report !!
I recently found the beehive and it blew me away!
I have to admit I can’t wait to get to the level ( for lack of a better word) you are at in regards to finding your way around.
I have a planisphere but get easily lost,
I “ found” four star clusters last night but don’t ask me which was which because I was clueless but it was awesome none the less !
You did all that with a 6” DO that really impressive thanks again for an awesome report it should be the one for an award, thanks again I enjoyed it !
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

Equipment :
Apertura AD10” Dobsonian

Polaris 4” Dobsonian

7x50 binoculars
User avatar
John Baars Netherlands
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 5
Online
Posts: 2723
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 9:00 am
4
Location: Schiedam, Netherlands
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: A very plentiful night

#11

Post by John Baars »


Congratulations 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.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
User avatar
Greenman Great Britain
Local Group Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 2296
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:39 pm
4
Location: Nether Heyford, UK
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

TSS Photo of the Day

Re: A very plentiful night

#12

Post by Greenman »


Cograts on the VROD, nicely written.
Cheers,

Tony.

Image

Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.

AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.

Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,

Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.

Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.

Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.

Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447

Image
Post Reply

Create an account or sign in to join the discussion

You need to be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute

Register

Sign in

Return to “Astronomy Reports”