Late summer galaxy night

[Bigzmey]

8/26/2022

Location: Anza desert site, Bortle 3.0.
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, 2.0 mm exit pupil, 0.6 deg TFV)

For the last seven years I have been observing from the Anza dark site which belongs to the Orange County Astronomers club. This is a large plot of land in high desert, and on a typical night I hardly ever run into other observers, unless I specifically look for them. This time I was passing by a gentleman setting up for AP. I have noticed how nicely underloaded was his EQ6 mount carrying 6” SCT and stopped to comment on that. Turns out he has just acquired EQ6 and my compliment was much welcomed.

He was surprised that I am doing strictly visual (vast majority in the club do AP only) and tried to convert me telling how automated and easy both data collection and image processing have become. In turn, I explained that I am on the opposite side of the spectrum and prefer doing everything manually. Spending many hours with computers and electronics at work I like to unwind in my pastime. I also mentioned that with my robust manual rig I am on my first target within five minutes and hardly ever have to think about operating my setup, which leaves most time to relax and enjoy observing and stargazing. On the other hand, sounds travels far in the desert and even if I don't see AP guys, quite often I hear them cursing for hours and calling for help from their AP friends on phone or in person while troubleshooting yet another issue. We had a laugh about that, and I have proceeded to my spot to setup the scopes.

Fast forward, few hours later when I was about to wrap up the session, the guy stopped by to check out my setup. He has admitted that he run into some odd issue right from the beginning and spent these hours troubleshooting. That was quite ironic considering our earlier discussion. He thought it has to do with scope collimation. For visual SCT collimation is fast and easy, but since I have no clue how different that for AP, I decided not to rub it in. This was the first collimation related AP issue I heard of. Most often AP guys complain about guiding (or lack of it), followed by connection issues, focusing, darks, flats... You lost me there. One guy was shooting all night, just to discover that he left the telescope cap on. True story, I swear. Anyway, I hope the dude has sorted out his collimation issue. Did not have a chance to talk to him in the morning.

The observing portion of the evening went drama-free. The transparency could have been better but was still good enough to pick galaxy after galaxy in a smooth manner. I have started with Delphinus since it was at the right height in the darker eastern portion of the sky. From it I moved down to Equuleus and then Pegasus as constellations climbed with sky rotation. Also saw a couple of bright meteors, one during the twilight.

Delphinus galaxies

NGC 6917 – faint narrow oval (118x).
IC 1320 – very faint oval with AV (168x).
IC 1359 - very faint oval with AV (118x).
NGC 6928 – relatively large and bright oval disk with round core (168x).
NGC 6930 – small faint spot in the same FOV with NGC 6928 (168x).

NGC 6954 – small narrow oval with brighter central area (168x).
NGC 6969 – narrow lens (118x).
NGC 6972 – faint lens (118x).
NGC 7003 – faint small oval (118x).
NGC 7025 – faint glow around stellar core next to bright star (118x, 168x).

Equuleus galaxies

IC 1364 – faint small oval (118x).
IC 1365 – extremely faint glow in the same FOV with IC 1364 (168x).
IC 1368 – FAIL.
IC 1370 – FAIL.
IC 1367 – extremely faint small spot detected with AV by moving EP (235x).
IC 5083 – faint small oval with AV (118x).

Pegasus galaxies

NGC 7194 – small faint round spot (118x).
NGC 7206 – faint round disk with AV (168x).
NGC 7224 – faint wide oval with AV (118x).
NGC 7236 and NGC 7237 – two brighter round cores in the same faint envelope (118x, 168x).
NGC 7241 – relatively large narrow glow bridging two stars, right side brighter with glow decreasing to the left side (118x).

NGC 7244 – extremely faint small spot detected with AV by shaking EP (168x).
NGC 7272 - extremely faint round spot detected with AV by moving EP (168x).
NGC 7286 – faint narrow AV oval (168x).
NGC 7290 – small faint narrow oval with AV (168x).
NGC 7292 – faint wide oval with brighter central area (118x).
NGC 7305 – very faint tiny spec with AV (168x).

[kt4hx]

Very nice galaxy session Andrey, and I really enjoyed the front story about your AP neighbor in the field. I know you and I share a very common interest in the simplicity of visual and manual observing. It does not surprise me about the person who left their cap on for the whole imaging session. I've heard of that before honestly. If you don't look through the scope, you'd never know for sure. I admire those that take up that avocation, and excel at it, but its simply not what I want out of my hobby. I've done it this way for decades, and admittedly I may well be a dinosaur. But I am happy with that. I don't mind being old fashioned, as it suits me just fine.

Well done on the galaxies in Delphinus and Equuleus. Neither constellation is a common one for most folks. I did take a look at your two "FAIL" galaxies. I've observed one of those. This is what I noted about IC 1365 about three years ago:

IC 1365 (Equuleus, elliptical galaxy, mag=13.7, size=1.1’x0.7’, SBr=13.1):
About 14.5’ southeast of the previous object I locked down on this elliptical at 110x. It resolved as a very small and dim oval. Homogeneous in appearance, it really didn’t benefit from increasing magnification, remaining weak and diffuse in nature up to 297x.


That of course is with the 17.5 inch. I have not targeted IC 1368 as of yet. Well done, and certainly a lock for a VROD my friend.

[notFritzArgelander]

Nice session. The only difference in collimation for AP and visual could be if there is some sag in the imaging train, I think. When you add weight things can go bendy. The easy fix is to do the collimation exercise with the imaging train in place. But that is more overhead time.

[Bigzmey]

Very nice galaxy session Andrey, and I really enjoyed the front story about your AP neighbor in the field. I know you and I share a very common interest in the simplicity of visual and manual observing. It does not surprise me about the person who left their cap on for the whole imaging session. I've heard of that before honestly. If you don't look through the scope, you'd never know for sure. I admire those that take up that avocation, and excel at it, but its simply not what I want out of my hobby. I've done it this way for decades, and admittedly I may well be a dinosaur. But I am happy with that. I don't mind being old fashioned, as it suits me just fine.

Well done on the galaxies in Delphinus and Equuleus. Neither constellation is a common one for most folks. I did take a look at your two "FAIL" galaxies. I've observed one of those. This is what I noted about IC 1365 about three years ago:

IC 1365 (Equuleus, elliptical galaxy, mag=13.7, size=1.1’x0.7’, SBr=13.1):
About 14.5’ southeast of the previous object I locked down on this elliptical at 110x. It resolved as a very small and dim oval. Homogeneous in appearance, it really didn’t benefit from increasing magnification, remaining weak and diffuse in nature up to 297x.


That of course is with the 17.5 inch. I have not targeted IC 1368 as of yet. Well done, and certainly a lock for a VROD my friend.

Thanks Alan! We might be dinosaurs, but we are happy dinosaurs.

[Bigzmey]

Nice session. The only difference in collimation for AP and visual could be if there is some sag in the imaging train, I think. When you add weight things can go bendy. The easy fix is to do the collimation exercise with the imaging train in place. But that is more overhead time.

Thanks nFA! I suspected that there might be more to it. I was also surprised that he intended to shoot Pleiades with SCT, but hey whatever floats your boat!

[kt4hx]

Very nice galaxy session Andrey, and I really enjoyed the front story about your AP neighbor in the field. I know you and I share a very common interest in the simplicity of visual and manual observing. It does not surprise me about the person who left their cap on for the whole imaging session. I've heard of that before honestly. If you don't look through the scope, you'd never know for sure. I admire those that take up that avocation, and excel at it, but its simply not what I want out of my hobby. I've done it this way for decades, and admittedly I may well be a dinosaur. But I am happy with that. I don't mind being old fashioned, as it suits me just fine.

Well done on the galaxies in Delphinus and Equuleus. Neither constellation is a common one for most folks. I did take a look at your two "FAIL" galaxies. I've observed one of those. This is what I noted about IC 1365 about three years ago:

IC 1365 (Equuleus, elliptical galaxy, mag=13.7, size=1.1’x0.7’, SBr=13.1):
About 14.5’ southeast of the previous object I locked down on this elliptical at 110x. It resolved as a very small and dim oval. Homogeneous in appearance, it really didn’t benefit from increasing magnification, remaining weak and diffuse in nature up to 297x.


That of course is with the 17.5 inch. I have not targeted IC 1368 as of yet. Well done, and certainly a lock for a VROD my friend.

Thanks Alan! We might be dinosaurs, but we are happy dinosaurs.

I'm gonna be real happy shortly. At the dark site and I just finished putting my gear out and will be heading outside around 2045 hours to get settled in and wait for astro darkness. I'll see ya later!

[notFritzArgelander]

Nice session. The only difference in collimation for AP and visual could be if there is some sag in the imaging train, I think. When you add weight things can go bendy. The easy fix is to do the collimation exercise with the imaging train in place. But that is more overhead time.

Thanks nFA! I suspected that there might be more to it. I was also surprised that he intended to shoot Pleiades with SCT, but hey whatever floats your boat!

What? The WHOLE Pleiades? Must have a grand focal reducer. Now if only the Merope nebula or some such, then I understand.

[Bigzmey]

Very nice galaxy session Andrey, and I really enjoyed the front story about your AP neighbor in the field. I know you and I share a very common interest in the simplicity of visual and manual observing. It does not surprise me about the person who left their cap on for the whole imaging session. I've heard of that before honestly. If you don't look through the scope, you'd never know for sure. I admire those that take up that avocation, and excel at it, but its simply not what I want out of my hobby. I've done it this way for decades, and admittedly I may well be a dinosaur. But I am happy with that. I don't mind being old fashioned, as it suits me just fine.

Well done on the galaxies in Delphinus and Equuleus. Neither constellation is a common one for most folks. I did take a look at your two "FAIL" galaxies. I've observed one of those. This is what I noted about IC 1365 about three years ago:

IC 1365 (Equuleus, elliptical galaxy, mag=13.7, size=1.1’x0.7’, SBr=13.1):
About 14.5’ southeast of the previous object I locked down on this elliptical at 110x. It resolved as a very small and dim oval. Homogeneous in appearance, it really didn’t benefit from increasing magnification, remaining weak and diffuse in nature up to 297x.


That of course is with the 17.5 inch. I have not targeted IC 1368 as of yet. Well done, and certainly a lock for a VROD my friend.

Thanks Alan! We might be dinosaurs, but we are happy dinosaurs.

I'm gonna be real happy shortly. At the dark site and I just finished putting my gear out and will be heading outside around 2045 hours to get settled in and wait for astro darkness. I'll see ya later!

Clear Skies!

[helicon]

Nice report Andrey. And to be fair 80 percent of our club members are AP only. My ZWO cam has been used a few times, with middlin results. I probably also will remain a visual observer.

[davesellars]

Cracking session, Andrey! A really good collection of faint targets - so very productive!

Having previously done the AP side for a year or so with a semi-permanent setup (I did enjoy it at the time due to the technical and post processing requirement called to my nerd tendencies...), However, there's no way I'd venture into doing it out in a remote location... far top faff to setup (imho)! Besides, I gave it up because I got bored eventually and like you I'm working all day on computers. Visual and manual mounts only is where it's at (impossible to get wrong). Only electronics I employ is the occasional dew heater.

[Makuser]

Hi Andrey. A really enjoyable observing report from the Anza desert site. And you really grabbed some nice galaxies in Delphinus, Equuleus, and Pegasus. I have done lunar and planetary imaging in the past, but the move to DSO imaging calls for a more expensive camera, more filters, more cables, and lots of clear sky time to collect the data. So include me as a visual observer. While I really enjoy the DSO images on here and can appreciate the expertise and time to produce these, here is a cartoon that illustrates your point about easy visual observing.

Thanks for your great report Andrey and keep them coming.

[Bigzmey]

Thanks Michael, Dave and Marshall! I should add that I have outmost respect for AP folks and have many friends among them. They put in a lot of effort and dedication and turn out stunning images. Just not my cap of tea.

[Bigzmey]

Cracking session, Andrey! A really good collection of faint targets - so very productive!

Having previously done the AP side for a year or so with a semi-permanent setup (I did enjoy it at the time due to the technical and post processing requirement called to my nerd tendencies...), However, there's no way I'd venture into doing it out in a remote location... far top faff to setup (imho)! Besides, I gave it up because I got bored eventually and like you I'm working all day on computers. Visual and manual mounts only is where it's at (impossible to get wrong). Only electronics I employ is the occasional dew heater.

Thanks again Dave! I do own a coupe of GoTo mounts. I use them from my home location only, and only on bright Moon nights when there are almost no visible stars to navigate manually. I use them, but it feels like cheating.

[helicon]

Congrats Andrey on winning the VROD for the day for your awesome report (9-2-2022). Also, keep up the nominations folks!

[John Baars]

Congratulations on the VROD!
Nice story about the AP-guy. I stopped with AP as soon as I realised that I didn't enjoy the beauty of the universe any more and was kept occupied with all kind of technical problems. That was in the analog- days. What a relief when I found myself observing and enjoying instead of annoying and negative-praying.

[Bigzmey]

Congrats Andrey on winning the VROD for the day for your awesome report (9-2-2022). Also, keep up the nominations folks!

Thanks Michael, much apreciated!

Congratulations on the VROD!
Nice story about the AP-guy. I stopped with AP as soon as I realised that I didn't enjoy the beauty of the universe any more and was kept occupied with all kind of technical problems. That was in the analog- days. What a relief when I found myself observing and enjoying instead of annoying and negative-praying.

Thanks John! Even if I had some thoughts about AP, seeing what it takes made those thoughts disappear really fast. So they are right about joining a club and looking at stuff in person.

[kt4hx]

Congratulations on the VROD!
Nice story about the AP-guy. I stopped with AP as soon as I realised that I didn't enjoy the beauty of the universe any more and was kept occupied with all kind of technical problems. That was in the analog- days. What a relief when I found myself observing and enjoying instead of annoying and negative-praying.

Not a knock on those folks that do AP exclusively, but I do have to wonder sometimes if people don't get so wrapped up in the setup, capturing and processing so much that they lose a sense of a connection to the universe that visual brings. Yeah, the product can be beautiful and inspiring, but I just wonder sometimes if all the time and headaches involved are ultimately worth it. That would be up to the individual of course. But I have never had a desire to abandon visual observing. It simply is my first hand connection to the visible universe. But again, I am sure they see things differently, and in a manner that I am unfamiliar with since I've never tried it. Ultimately to each their own.


Thanks John! Even if I had some thoughts about AP, seeing what it takes made those thoughts disappear really fast. So they are right about joining a club and looking at stuff in person.
[/quote]


Ditto Andrey, and congrats on the VROD.

[scribbly]

Yes, if I go to a remote site with a view to doing AP, I always go prepared to do visual, as that is what I mostly end up doing because something does not work on the night.

What is more usual is to plan to do visual with my main scope first, and then perhaps set up for a wide field image on the star adventurer using a DSLR; it just "clicks away" and every now and then, you change the battery. I often observe with friends who do the same, and we can share one mount for cameras and another for observing. Even then 50%+ of the time it would be more usual just to visually observe, comparing views in different scopes.

Thanks for the report on the galaxies, and congrats on the VROD. Cheers, Phil

[Unitron48]

Another great session, Andrey! Congrats on your VROD recognition.

Would be interesting to know what percentage of amateurs do only visual. Lots of folks advertise their AP work, but I sense that us "visual guys" are a silent majority.

Dave

[Bigzmey]

Yes, if I go to a remote site with a view to doing AP, I always go prepared to do visual, as that is what I mostly end up doing because something does not work on the night.

What is more usual is to plan to do visual with my main scope first, and then perhaps set up for a wide field image on the star adventurer using a DSLR; it just "clicks away" and every now and then, you change the battery. I often observe with friends who do the same, and we can share one mount for cameras and another for observing. Even then 50%+ of the time it would be more usual just to visually observe, comparing views in different scopes.

Thanks for the report on the galaxies, and congrats on the VROD. Cheers, Phil

Thanks Phil! Sounds like a good way to combine AP and visual.

Another great session, Andrey! Congrats on your VROD recognition.

Would be interesting to know what percentage of amateurs do only visual. Lots of folks advertise their AP work, but I sense that us "visual guys" are a silent majority.

Dave

Thanks Dave! I agree, AP is shared hobby by default, even afocal phone shots get shared on social media, so most AP folks are accounted for (so to speak). Vast majority of visual observers are casual and most don't keep log of what they see, not even mentioning posting reports. One of my friends is fairly advanced visual only observer, but he does nor belong to any clubs, even online forums.