First Time This Year At My Darksite

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Refractordude
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First Time This Year At My Darksite

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Post by Refractordude »

Do to weather and work this was the first time at my dark site this year. I set my 150mm f8 refractor up first and discovered that it's tripod was broken. Could not repair it at the time. I brought my 16x80 ED and 7x50 binoculars both on parallelogram mounts with me. So still had a great two hour stargazing session. Sombrero galaxy was my only planned target. No problem observing M104 with my 16x80 ED binoculars. However, do to low magnification I could not detect the the dust lane of my favorite galaxy. Also observed M51, M101, M81, and M82. M51 and M101 were enjoyable ghost. The duo M81 and M82 had some brightness, and as always great observations. Spotted a very wide globular cluster, and meditated on it for a little while. Enjoyed many star formations in 3D.

This stargazing session really proved that sky darkness will always trump telescope aperture. Left click the image.
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: First Time This Year At My Darksite

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Post by Bigzmey »

Nice session RD! I would take binos at the dark site over telescope at home any time. :)

You could complete whole Messier list from a dark location with 16x80.
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.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2437, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 257
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notFritzArgelander
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Re: First Time This Year At My Darksite

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Post by notFritzArgelander »

Good job! BTW you avatar looks familiar but I can't put a name to the face? Who is it?
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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Juno16 United States of America
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Re: First Time This Year At My Darksite

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Post by Juno16 »

Sorry about your tripod, but glad that you brought the binos!

I have never been to a dark(er) site and I would love to see (literally) what the sky looked like. Nice report RD!
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), ZWO OAG, 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, ASI 220mm mini , IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
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My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
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kt4hx United States of America
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Re: First Time This Year At My Darksite

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Post by kt4hx »

Nicely done RD. Agree wholeheartedly that darker skies are the great equalizer. My 10 or 12 inch dobs used at our Bortle 3 dark site keeps pace with the 17.5 inch used at our Bortle 6 home. That is precisely why I keep the big one at the dark site in order to get the best of both worlds - dark skies and aperture. Binoculars really come into their own from darker locations and can be surprisingly effective on dimmer objects when mounted under such conditions.
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)
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Refractordude
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Re: First Time This Year At My Darksite

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Post by Refractordude »

notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 10:13 pm Good job! BTW you avatar looks familiar but I can't put a name to the face? Who is it?
Peggy Lipton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Lipton
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notFritzArgelander
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Re: First Time This Year At My Darksite

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Post by notFritzArgelander »

Refractordude wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 2:09 am
notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 10:13 pm Good job! BTW you avatar looks familiar but I can't put a name to the face? Who is it?
Peggy Lipton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Lipton
Of course…. Thanks. The photo looks like from her Mod Squad days.
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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