Battle of Cetus

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Bigzmey United States of America
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Battle of Cetus

#1

Post by Bigzmey »


9/30/22

Location: Anza desert site, Bortle 4.0.
Equipment: Celestron 9.25” Edge HD SCT on SW SkyTee 2 manual AltAz mount.

EPs:
Pentax XW 10mm 70 deg (235x, 1.0mm exit pupil, 0.30 deg TFV).
Pentax XW 14mm 70 deg (168x, 1.4mm exit pupil, 0.42 deg TFV).
Pentax XW 20mm, 70 deg (118x, 2.0mm exit pupil, 0.60 deg TFV).
TV Plossl 32mm, 50 deg (73x, 3.2mm exit pupil, 0.68 deg TFV).

Last Friday the Moon was setting around 22:00. To capitalize on dark time, I have set the camp upon arrival at the Anza site and hit the sack for a couple of hours. When I woke up the Moon was gone, but the sky was grayish and Milky Way was subdued. Not good transparency, then. I aimed the scope at Polaris to align finders and it’s faint secondary was almost lost in the tentacles of the main. Not good seeing either. :lol: What can you do? At least the sky was reasonably dark and no dew.

22:00. Jupiter
First, I wanted to check the biggest in 59 years Jupiter. Yes, it was huge, but too big for its own good. :) Intense glare washed out the colors and fine details. GRS was barely resolved and appeared grayish as two main belts. Io transit was in progress and the sharp dark little disk of Io’s shadow was obvious, but no luck with Io itself. I have tried quite few EPs and the best (or I should say the less poor) view was achieved with XW14 (168x).

Moving to galaxy hunting I looked for the better area of the sky and Aries was in it.

22:30. Aries Galaxies

IC 163 – mag 13.0, size 1.8' x 54", SB 13.3 – barely resolved very faint oval (118x).
IC 189 – mag 13.9, size 42" x 36", SB 12.7 – FAIL.
IC 190 – mag 14.1, size 48" x 30", SB 12.8 – FAIL.

Did not like my odds and decided to try a different area.

Cetus Galaxies

IC 5 – mag 13.8, size 54" x 36", SB 12.9 – extremely faint oval with AV (168x).
IC 18 – mag 14.6, size 1.1' x 36", SB 13.9 – FAIL.
IC 19 – mag 14.1, size 48" x 30", SB 12.8 – FAIL.
IC 20 – mag 13.8, size 36" x 36", SB 12.4 – FAIL.

Looks like it is going to be a long night. :lol:

NGC 875 (aka NGC 867) – mag 12.9, size 1.2' x 1.1', SB 12.9 - very faint oval (118x).
IC 48 (aka IC 1577) – mag 13.1, size 1' x 48", SB 12.6 - very faint AV disk (118x).
IC 93 (aka IC 1671) – mag 13.2, size 1.3' x 36", SB 12.7 - FAIL.
IC 1667 – mag 13.6, size 1' x 54", SB 13.2 - FAIL.
IC 1670A – mag 13.6, size 1.9' x 24", SB 13.0 – FAIL.
IC 1670B – mag 13.6, size 1.4' x 24", SB 12.7 – FAIL.

IC 22 – mag 13.9, size 42" x 18", SB 11.9 – very faint small spec with AV (168x).
IC 80A – mag 14.1, size 30" x 18", SB 11.8 – very faint wide oval with AV (168x).
IC 108 – mag 14.2, size 54" x 12", SB 12.1 – FAIL.
IC 1843 – mag 13.1, size 1.1' x 42", SB 12.6 – very faint disk detected with AV by moving EP (118x, 168x).
NGC 50 – mag 12.3, size 2.4' x 1.8', SB 13.6 - relatively bright elongated disk with brighter core (118x).

NGC 47 (aka NGC 58) – mag 13.1, size 2.3' x 2.1', SB 14.5 – faint disk (118x).
NGC 54 – mag 13.4, size 1.3' x 30", SB 12.7 - extremely faint, elongated oval, detected with AV by moving EP (168x).
NGC 62 – mag 13.2, size 1.1' x 48", SB 12.8 – small faint disk with AV (168x).
NGC 113 – mag 13.1, size 1.4' x 1', SB 13.2 – round disk with stellar core (168x).
NGC 102 – mag 13.5, size 1' x 42", SB 12.9 - extremely faint, elongated oval, detected with AV by moving EP (168x).

NGC 35 – mag 14.1, size 42" x 30", SB 12.7 – FAIL.
NGC 34 (NGC 17) – mag 14.4, size 2.1' x 48", SB 14.7 – small narrow oval with brighter core (168x).
NGC 124 – mag 13.0, size 1.4' x 48", SB 12.9 - small faint narrow oval detected with AV by moving EP (168x).
NGC 114 – mag 13.8, size 48" x 42", SB 12.9, and NGC 118 – mag 13.6, size 42" x 30", SB 12.2 – two small, very faint spots in the same FOV, detected with AV by moving EP (168x).

NGC 120 – mag 13.4, size1.5' x 36", SB 13.0 – small faint edge-on (168x).
NGC 145 – mag 12.7, size 1.8' x 1.5', SB 13.5 – faint round spot with AV (118x).
NGC 178 (aka IC 39) – mag 12.6, size 2.1' x 54", SB 13.0 – small narrow lens with AV (118x).
NGC 179 – mag 13.3, size 54" x 42", SB 12.5 – small faint round spot with AV (118x, 168x).
NGC 187 – mag 13.2, size 1.3' x 30", SB 12.5 – extremely faint spot, detected with AV by moving EP (168x).

01:40. Done! It was the most brutal session I can remember. There were maybe a couple of relatively easy galaxies, but for the most I had to fight hard to resolve anything. Strangely, it was also quite enjoyable and spirit-lifting. Instead of feeling down about each failure, I felt more resolved to get the next one. I better be, because the galaxies are only getting fainter on my list. :lol:
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: Battle of Cetus

#2

Post by John Baars »


Given the less optimal transparency circumstances, you did a good job!
Very nice observations.
Magnitude 14.1 with a 9.25 inch, that's great!
I'll eat my hat if you don't achieve a VROD with it.
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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Re: Battle of Cetus

#3

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Another excellent report there Andrey :clap:

I will also be surprised if your report is not deemed to be VROD-worthy ;) so I think my hats will be safe (yours too John) :lol:
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Re: Battle of Cetus

#4

Post by helicon »


Great report Andrey.

I feel your pain about the skies not being transparent, it can kind of scuttle an evening.

But you persevered and managed many faint galaxies in Cetus, the great sea monster (or whale).

Also as nominated, you are the winner of today's VROD! (Thanks John and Vanessa!)
-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
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Re: Battle of Cetus

#5

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Congratulations Andrey on receiving the TSS VROD award for your effort :smile:
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: Battle of Cetus

#6

Post by John Baars »


Congratulations on the VROD!
It demonstrates that to earn a VROD one does not always need a winning series of observations, or superdark skies. Serious endeavor can be enough.
Well done!
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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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Battle of Cetus

#7

Post by Bigzmey »


Thanks John, Vanessa and Michael for the kind words and the VROD nomination, much appreciated!
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: Battle of Cetus

#8

Post by davesellars »


Bigzmey wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 11:42 pm Instead of feeling down about each failure, I felt more resolved to get the next one. I better be, because the galaxies are only getting fainter on my list.
You're gonna need a bigger scope... ;)

Great report, Andrey! It takes some self-motivation and resolve to get through a heap of failures like that and plough on. Perhaps on a better night's transparency you would have not had so many failures though!

I've had a couple of smaller sessions over the last week (not been overly well for a couple of weeks so taken it easy...) just to view Jupiter and found the same thing with the brightness just washing out the detail with the GRS only being extremely faint.

BTW, congrats on the VROD! :)
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.
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Re: Battle of Cetus

#9

Post by Bigzmey »


davesellars wrote: Thu Oct 06, 2022 7:58 pm
Bigzmey wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 11:42 pm Instead of feeling down about each failure, I felt more resolved to get the next one. I better be, because the galaxies are only getting fainter on my list.
You're gonna need a bigger scope... ;)

Great report, Andrey! It takes some self-motivation and resolve to get through a heap of failures like that and plough on. Perhaps on a better night's transparency you would have not had so many failures though!

I've had a couple of smaller sessions over the last week (not been overly well for a couple of weeks so taken it easy...) just to view Jupiter and found the same thing with the brightness just washing out the detail with the GRS only being extremely faint.

BTW, congrats on the VROD! :)
Thanks Dave! I am always thinking about bigger scope. :D However, in terms of portability 9.25" is the largest I can comfortably take on road trips. I have to pack/unpack my truck twice on every outing, and also carry all stuff by hands in and out of the truck.

My long term plan is to find the way to securely store scope at the site (permanently installed in an observatory ideally, :)). Then I can get a large SCT or DOB. In the mean time I still have a few thousands of targets within the reach of 9.25".
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: Battle of Cetus

#10

Post by terrynak »


Sounds like a successful session Andrey, despite the average/poor transparency in the beginning of the night.

Bigzmey wrote: Thu Oct 06, 2022 8:34 pm Thanks Dave! I am always thinking about bigger scope. :D However, in terms of portability 9.25" is the largest I can comfortably take on road trips. I have to pack/unpack my truck twice on every outing, and also carry all stuff by hands in and out of the truck.

My long term plan is to find the way to securely store scope at the site (permanently installed in an observatory ideally, :)). Then I can get a large SCT or DOB. In the mean time I still have a few thousands of targets within the reach of 9.25".

In my case, a 4.5" F/8 Newt with an EQ2 mount was the largest scope I felt I could comfortably transport to darker sky sites using public transport (buses, trains). I made it my goal to reach 2000 DSOs with scopes of 4.5" aperture or smaller before attempting to use anything larger. By the time I reached that number in 2018, I already had three 6" and two 5" Newts at my disposal. However, there are probably still a few hundred more targets (mainly OCs and asterisms) I could log with my <= 4.5" scopes (of which I have many) away from home.

Hopefully you'll be able to max out your 9.25" before getting anything bigger. Along with using your smaller scopes for objects that could be viewed from home.
Scopes: Reflectors, refractors, and 1 catadioptric. Ranging in aperture from 50mm to 150mm.
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Re: Battle of Cetus

#11

Post by Bigzmey »


terrynak wrote: Fri Oct 07, 2022 6:19 am Hopefully you'll be able to max out your 9.25" before getting anything bigger. Along with using your smaller scopes for objects that could be viewed from home.
That's the plan! It should be good for a few years.
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: Battle of Cetus

#12

Post by kt4hx »


A most excellent report Andrey (no surprise there!), and of course a well deserved VROD. Transparency is certainly key with galaxies, and despite weaker than normal conditions, you still did a fine job of pulling down those distant star islands. I know that your observing skills make up for some of the shortcomings of conditions and that shines through in this effort, so quite well done my friend. :)

I looked through my log as far as your “FAILED” objects and below is what I pulled from my notes for those that I have observed. In this case that is only the two Aries galaxies, as I have not targeted (yet) any of the listed Cetus fails.

The two Aries galaxies were observed on 07 November 2021 during a session I judged the seeing as below average, but transparency was pretty good. Suffice it to say that neither was easy in the 17.5 inch even on a night of fairly good transparency. With more normal transparency, I feel you would be able to get both. I am confident the combination of your experience and younger eyes (than mine) would make a difference.

IC 189 – I did not pick this one up until I was at 283x and only after studying the field for a few minutes. In moments of clarity and steadiness I was picking up an intermittent very small rounded diffuse glow, but it was never held steadily. I will note here that I listed it with a mag of 14.8 and SBr of 13.8, which I obtained from Steve Gottlieb’s notes. While Telescopius agrees with the numbers you posted, I will note that Prof. Courtney Seligman calls it a 14th mag object, though he does not list anything more precise than that. So I tend to see it as likely being dimmer than 13.8, but likely not as dim as 14.8, but certainly dimmer than IC 190. So under poorer transparency, I am not necessarily surprised that you were unable to pin it down with the 9.25” even at Anza.

IC 190 – Within the same FOV as IC 189 and just over 3’ to its east, I did pick this one up using 152x. That said, it was nothing more than a very dim and very small out of round glow. I solidly confirmed it at 199x and though easily seen at 283x it remained pretty weak visually. With this one your stats are very close to what I listed in my notes, so I think again that it’s the transparency thing, plus my aperture bump.
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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Re: Battle of Cetus

#13

Post by Bigzmey »


kt4hx wrote: Sat Oct 08, 2022 7:32 pm A most excellent report Andrey (no surprise there!), and of course a well deserved VROD. Transparency is certainly key with galaxies, and despite weaker than normal conditions, you still did a fine job of pulling down those distant star islands. I know that your observing skills make up for some of the shortcomings of conditions and that shines through in this effort, so quite well done my friend. :)

I looked through my log as far as your “FAILED” objects and below is what I pulled from my notes for those that I have observed. In this case that is only the two Aries galaxies, as I have not targeted (yet) any of the listed Cetus fails.

The two Aries galaxies were observed on 07 November 2021 during a session I judged the seeing as below average, but transparency was pretty good. Suffice it to say that neither was easy in the 17.5 inch even on a night of fairly good transparency. With more normal transparency, I feel you would be able to get both. I am confident the combination of your experience and younger eyes (than mine) would make a difference.

IC 189 – I did not pick this one up until I was at 283x and only after studying the field for a few minutes. In moments of clarity and steadiness I was picking up an intermittent very small rounded diffuse glow, but it was never held steadily. I will note here that I listed it with a mag of 14.8 and SBr of 13.8, which I obtained from Steve Gottlieb’s notes. While Telescopius agrees with the numbers you posted, I will note that Prof. Courtney Seligman calls it a 14th mag object, though he does not list anything more precise than that. So I tend to see it as likely being dimmer than 13.8, but likely not as dim as 14.8, but certainly dimmer than IC 190. So under poorer transparency, I am not necessarily surprised that you were unable to pin it down with the 9.25” even at Anza.

IC 190 – Within the same FOV as IC 189 and just over 3’ to its east, I did pick this one up using 152x. That said, it was nothing more than a very dim and very small out of round glow. I solidly confirmed it at 199x and though easily seen at 283x it remained pretty weak visually. With this one your stats are very close to what I listed in my notes, so I think again that it’s the transparency thing, plus my aperture bump.
Thanks Alan! Your notes are much appreciated. Sounds like both IC 189 and IC 190 are tough targets. I am sure I will encounter more of those in the feature and up for a good challenge (as long as I can log at least some :lol:).
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: Battle of Cetus

#14

Post by kt4hx »


Bigzmey wrote: Sat Oct 08, 2022 9:36 pm

Thanks Alan! Your notes are much appreciated. Sounds like both IC 189 and IC 190 are tough targets. I am sure I will encounter more of those in the feature and up for a good challenge (as long as I can log at least some :lol:).

I have no doubt you will be up to the challenge when conditions are better. I did check the data for IC 189 in the SDSS database and calculated the visual magnitude based on the red and green magnitudes and it did indeed come out to 14.8. So it seems that what I had in my notes was accurate. I knew it was a challenging object, but wasn't sure if it was quite that faint. I did the same with IC 190 and it works out to 14.1. So based on what I experienced, I would have to say those numbers seem pretty accurate.
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: Battle of Cetus

#15

Post by Juno16 »


The title of your post caught my curiosity Bigz!

Sounds indeed like a battle!

You did prevail, but you had to dig deep.
Very nice compilation of targets even in tough conditions. Luckily, this night is definitely not the norm for Anza from reading your past reports.
Very well done for hanging in there and pulling out what you could.
It still amazes me that you can catch sleep when you are in the desert. I have lots of trouble sleeping when I’m imaging in my backyard even with everything automated!
When it looks like I have a good imaging night ahead of me, I’m so pumped up. I can just stare at the pc or ipad inside the house watching images come in, zooming in to check the stars, or just watch the guiding application correcting the mount. Its just cool!

Thanks for the fine report Bigz! Great job at pushing through this one and odds are very good that your next session will be much less of a battle!
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
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Re: Battle of Cetus

#16

Post by Bigzmey »


Juno16 wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 8:43 pm The title of your post caught my curiosity Bigz!

Sounds indeed like a battle!

You did prevail, but you had to dig deep.
Very nice compilation of targets even in tough conditions. Luckily, this night is definitely not the norm for Anza from reading your past reports.
Very well done for hanging in there and pulling out what you could.
It still amazes me that you can catch sleep when you are in the desert. I have lots of trouble sleeping when I’m imaging in my backyard even with everything automated!
When it looks like I have a good imaging night ahead of me, I’m so pumped up. I can just stare at the pc or ipad inside the house watching images come in, zooming in to check the stars, or just watch the guiding application correcting the mount. Its just cool!

Thanks for the fine report Bigz! Great job at pushing through this one and odds are very good that your next session will be much less of a battle!
Thanks Jim! Even on the road to Anza I start to unwind from everyday hustle and bustle. Once I there it is so peaceful and I feel so relaxed that I can go to sleep at any time. However, once I start observing excitement kicks in and I can stay energetic for a few hours. At home it is a different story. I can't fall to sleep at random hours and it is also harder to stay awake when observing.
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: Battle of Cetus

#17

Post by Ylem »


Congratulations on the well deserved VROD!
What an awesome evening!
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


Member; ASTRA-NJ



Orion 80ED
Celestron C5, 6SE, Celestar 8
Vixen Porta Mount ll
Coronado PST
A big box of Plossls
Little box of filters
:D



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Re: Battle of Cetus

#18

Post by Bigzmey »


Ylem wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 10:10 pm Congratulations on the well deserved VROD!
What an awesome evening!
Thanks Jeff!
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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