Astro Report June 25th, 2022

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AstroBee United States of America
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Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#1

Post by AstroBee »


We've had a pretty rough spring and now the beginning of summer around here in the desert southwest. As some of you may know, I live in Henderson, NV which is a suburb of Las Vegas. Today we are experiencing a high of only 107° (41.6°c for the rest of the world) and this is a slight break from the last week or so. But the heat hasn't been the real problem. We are used to the heat, living in the desert. The real problem has been the high winds and clouds, something I've never experienced in my 22 years of living here. Of course, we get our fair share of it, but this year seems to be taking it to an extreme.
I have a buddy that just moved here last fall and back in early May, he asked me when the winds would die down. I jokingly told him October but I think I jinxed it for all of us.
This past Saturday we had a rare break in the winds and clouds so I decided to head out to my favorite dark sky spot about 40 miles south of my home. I wasn't completely trusting the weather forecast so I brought my little StellarVue SV70T out in case the winds decided to pick up. The E.S. 152 is like a sail in the slightest breeze so I hoped to counter that issue with the smaller scope.
When I arrived on site the weather appeared to be ideal with only the slightest breeze.
Image
Off to the E-SE you can see some clouds on the horizon. That was the only sign of clouds anywhere in the sky and the breeze was blowing in that direction so I hoped they would clear by nightfall.
My imaging target for this night was the North American and Pelican Nebulae which you can view here: viewtopic.php?t=25527
As the sun went down the breeze died off and the entire evening was dead calm except for about 20 minutes around 1 am when the wind kicked up to around 8-10mph. There were a few gusts that probably reached 15-20mph that destroyed a few exposures but otherwise, the evening was a success.
I usually try to sleep throughout the night while the imaging sequence is running so I can keep my body on schedule for "normal" waking hours. For some reason, I woke up around 2:30 am and looked out of my SUV to see a beautiful lightning show on the horizon. Luckily, by this time I was imaging in Ha and high overhead so it didn't appear to interfere with any of my subs. I only had my cell phone with me but I decided to try can capture a shot of Mother Nature's show and this was the only exposure I managed to grab.
Image
It's not great, but it's the best I could do by resting the phone against my laptop and using the timer to take 10-second exposures.
If I had a DSLR and wide-angle lens the lightning show with the Milky Way rising above it would have made for a spectacular image!
Overall, a very successful night out under the stars and one I hope to repeat many more times in the future.
Greg M.~ "Ad Astra per Aspera"
Scopes: Celestron EdgeHD14", Explore Scientific ED152CF & ED127 APO's, StellarVue SV70T, Classic Orange-Tube C-8, Lunt 80mm Ha double-stack solar scope.
Mounts: Astro-Physics Mach One, iOptron CEM70EC Mount, iOptron ZEQ25 Mount.
Cameras: ZWO ASI2600mm Pro, ZWO 2600MC Pro, ZWO ASI1600mm
Filters: 36mm Chroma LRGB & 3nm Ha, OIII, SII, L-Pro, L-eXtreme
Eyepieces: 27mm TeleVue Panoptic, 4mm TeleVue Radian, Explore Scientific 82° 30mm, 6.7mm , Baader 13mm Hyperion, Explore Scientific 70° 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, Meade 8.8mm UWA
Software: N.I.N.A., SharpCapPro, PixInsight, PhotoShop CC, Phd2, Stellarium
https://www.nevadadesertskies.com
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#2

Post by Bigzmey »


Nice session and report Greg! And beautiful capture of North American and Pelican Nebulae. How often do you go to the desert?
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
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AstroBee United States of America
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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#3

Post by AstroBee »


As often as possible. Pretty much anytime my work schedule, dark skies and decent weather line up.
I have locations I head to south, east and north of Vegas, depending on my target.
Greg M.~ "Ad Astra per Aspera"
Scopes: Celestron EdgeHD14", Explore Scientific ED152CF & ED127 APO's, StellarVue SV70T, Classic Orange-Tube C-8, Lunt 80mm Ha double-stack solar scope.
Mounts: Astro-Physics Mach One, iOptron CEM70EC Mount, iOptron ZEQ25 Mount.
Cameras: ZWO ASI2600mm Pro, ZWO 2600MC Pro, ZWO ASI1600mm
Filters: 36mm Chroma LRGB & 3nm Ha, OIII, SII, L-Pro, L-eXtreme
Eyepieces: 27mm TeleVue Panoptic, 4mm TeleVue Radian, Explore Scientific 82° 30mm, 6.7mm , Baader 13mm Hyperion, Explore Scientific 70° 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, Meade 8.8mm UWA
Software: N.I.N.A., SharpCapPro, PixInsight, PhotoShop CC, Phd2, Stellarium
https://www.nevadadesertskies.com
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Makuser United States of America
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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#4

Post by Makuser »


Hi Greg. A very nice observing report from you. And I really enjoyed the photos of your SV70T telescope with the desert background and also the beautiful light show of the lightning on the horizon. Thanks for your well written and fun read report Greg and I hope that you have many more great opportunities like this again soon.
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.
>)))))*>
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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#5

Post by Bigzmey »


AstroBee wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:15 pm As often as possible. Pretty much anytime my work schedule, dark skies and decent weather line up.
I have locations I head to south, east and north of Vegas, depending on my target.
A man after my heart. :) I also try to get to the desert as often as possible.
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
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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#6

Post by kt4hx »


Very nice indeed Greg. The images of the NA/Pelican complex are beautiful. Glad you had a chance to get away from the supernova of Vegas! :)
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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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#7

Post by John Baars »


Nice report and pictures! Thanks for sharing!
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.
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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#8

Post by jrkirkham »


Thank you for the report and pictures. You remind me of many fun nights spent camping in the deserts of Arizona.
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#9

Post by helicon »


Thanks for the fine report Greg and the info on your observing and imaging conditions vis-a-vis the winds. Also, an excellent nightscape image of the distant thunderstorms. Congrats on winning the VROD for the day, though I suppose the APOD also could be in order.
-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
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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#10

Post by kt4hx »


Congrats on the VROD Greg. Well done.
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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Re: Astro Report June 25th, 2022

#11

Post by Unitron48 »


Great report and images, Greg! Nice setup!! Congrats on the 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
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