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[quote author=bernie engels link=topic=233.msg5399#msg5399 date=1362922359]
Thanks for the input. Yes, a little table would make things easier. You said you don't use a headlamp. What is your light source for your charts?
[/quote]I use a Rigel Starlite Mini. And yes, it does have a few teeth marks on it from times I've needed two hands…
I don't use a headlamp. I keep my charts on a small folding table.
I use a 9×50 RACI finder in combination with a Rigel unit finder, and find the pair to be absolutely perfect for starhopping.
It is time to buy? A friend of mine is walking away from the hobby (I tried to talk him out of it, believe me) and is looking to sell a good condition Orion XT8 Dobsonian with a R&P focuser installed, and a single-speed Orion Crayford focuser that could be attached if the opening for the focuser was expanded about 1/4". Comes with a finder and a couple of eyepieces, but nothing special there. He wants what he put into it a couple years ago… $190. If you're interested or know of someone who is, let me know.
I'd ask your questions on the Binocular forum over at cloudy nights.com…. Those guys know a ton, and some of them have owned upwards of 20 pairs.
Everything I have read says the Canon IS line is the absolute best for astronomers, with the steady image having the same effect as adding 20mm to the aperture…
After two months of not going outside with my scope for a variety of reasons, I made no excuses this morning and dragged myself out to observe, starting at 4:30AM.
I started with Saturn, which was still fairly low in the SE. It refused to accept magnification, blurring constantly, and could barely make out the rings against the planet at 100X. Cassini's Division remained invisible. 3 moons, though.
Glanced up in the sky, and here come the mottled clouds, just 10 minutes into observing! I debated packing it in, but then I thought, maybe they'll leave as quick as they came. Do something easy to pass the time. So over to Alcor/Mizar in Ursa Major. Very pretty, nice split at 40X. Wait… is that the back edge of the cloud mass in the west? It was!
So… it's Spring in Winter, with Leo's tail due south. From memory, I zipped over to M65/66. Both were bright in the eyepiece, and… No, it can't be! NGC 3628 was visible with averted vision. Understand that I have looked at the "triplet" many times over the years, and I have never spotted so much as a hint of 3628 from my deck. Simply too faint. But there it was. Jumped up to 100X, and it took direct vision, but barely. Back at 40X, it was unmistakably a galaxy. Ah. Either this is that rare "perfect" night or my freshly coated mirror is gathering more photons, or both.
I pulled out my Hershel 400 list and flipped to the Leo section and starting picking off galaxies. An hour later, I'd nabbed 8 new ones, quite a night for me. I've gotten more, but only at Flatin Farm or the like. Not from here. Not from the middle of Rochester.
I had to pack up so I could help with waking kids, but it was an amazing night. Keep looking up!
Early morning observing has some real benefits. Light pollution is typically less because businesses are closed and house lights are off. You also can observe those cold winter constellations in fall comfort. However, dew and fog are at their worst, so be prepared to get a little wet!
I agree, Dean, this weather has been very kind to us of late. I don't know whether it is just a renewed spark in astronomy for me or what, but I have more scope time since August 25th as I had the whole first 8.66 months of the year. I've captured 7 Herschel 400 objects in the 5 nights I've been out, including two this morning: NGC1502 and 1501 in the Camel… Binoculars saved my morning because I was on the wrong string of stars that I thought were Kemble's Cascade. Once I got on the right path, these two objects were easy to find.
For anyone willing to move and wants a roll-off roof observatory, Duane Deal is selling his old house, complete with an elevated observatory.
Hello Astronomy Fans!
Hopefully more than Jeff, Luka and myself made it outside on Saturday night. It was truly one for the ages! Although I didn't travel and stayed in my backyard, it was obvious that transparency and seeing were both at the top of the scale. I set aside my usual observing goals for a "mini-Messier Marathon." Mini because I knew I wouldn't be out very long (100 minutes, as it turned out), my western skies below 45 degrees are completely blocked, and because I was under city glow which I suspected would keep some of the dimmer targets from being seen.
I logged, in order, M42, 43, 45, 77, 1, 36, 38, 37, 34, 103, 41, 35, 44, 67, 50, 47, 46, 48, 81, 82, 97, 108, 109, and 65.
Most were easy to spot. M97 was invisible even at 200X, until I used my Ultrablock filter, where it became easy to spot even at 40X. M108 and 109 required averted vision to spot. I could not tease out 66, as Leo was not yet very high when I packed in. Oddly, I had my best view of 65 – the dark lane was easy to spot. I was not terribly organized, so I probably missed some easy or obvious ones. Still, that is 24 Messiers in 100 minutes, all found via starhopping.
John, I've just ordered SkyShed plans for my own observatory. Are you sure a slab is the best choice of foundation? That floor will transmit a lot of cold into your feet in winter. I've read that a deck with a center hole for the pier can be more comfortable.
103P Harley is now visible with my 10×50 binoculars from within the Rochester skyglow. I would not describe its appearance as obvious, nor horribly bright. I looked up the position in Starry Night Pro, hunted, thought I found it, and then verified it by noting landmarks and going back to the software. It is a faint, diffuse glow.
[quote author=johnattewell link=topic=233.msg3832#msg3832 date=1271426356]
Watch out M67; I?m going to get you.[/quote]M67 is a pretty tough one for me in Rochester. I've seen it in my 4.5" on nights of good-to-excellent transparency, but it was only when I upgraded to a 10" that I was able to see it clearly and consistently. Don't forget to check out some of the beautiful double stars in Cancer while you're in the area…
Well folks, I woke up without an alarm at 12:30 and after a futile wait to try to get back to sleep, I was set up out on the deck by 1:15am. Transparency was, at best, average. Seeing was a 7/10. Not being much of a marathoner, I did a few things. I first hunted N Hydrae, one of two doubles left on my list. However, skyglow south of Spica eliminated most everything, even with 11×56 binoculars. Corvus did make an appearance, but nothing below it. So scratch that (and M83.) At 1:31, I checked on M51/NGC5195 to verify my editor's note in the latest newsletter. Both cores were easily visible at 40X, but even at 100X there was just no detail to be seen. I hopped down to M104, which was very sharp and bright, but I could not see the fabled dark lane. From there, I jumped to Leo and found M65/66 easily. How could these have ever seemed difficult to me? Both were very obvious, and the pair just fit in the FOV of my 12mm Orthoscopic. No hint of the third galaxy in the trio, though, which I have never spotted from my house.
At that point, I decided I couldn't very well do deep sky observing all night and neglect my ALPO training, so I observed Saturn. Rings are very thin right now, about 3 degrees. Seeing was fantastic, about a 7/10. I bumped magnification up to 266X and it was mostly steady. The SEB was thin, and the NEB just a hint darker but much thicker. I thought I could maybe tease out a bit of detail on the SEB, but not sure enough that my imagination wasn't involved. A yellow #12 filter did not improve things much. 4 moons were easily visible.
Back to Virgo… I found NGC 4762/4754, which made a striking pair of galaxies at 100X. Stumbled on M60 and M59 – both were visible in my finder. Too bad I already finished the Binocular Messier list or I could have logged them. Moved on to NGC4660. Then, it was time to fail. Neither NGC 4689 nor 4654 would show up, in spite of detailed maps and careful hunting. To get a quick success hit, I jumped to M3, which is my personal favorite. Then I logged NGC 5557 and 5676, both of which were quite easy at the zenith. About this time (3:55) I noticed that transparency was not as good as it had been. Still, I managed to find NGC5689 as a nice patch of cotton. In spite of being in the right place, I couldn't see M101. Hit M13 at 4:27, but the core would not resolve at 200X, showing that transparency was really declining. I could just split Epsilon Lyrae at 200X, so seeing was going downhill, too. I found M57 and it was obviously a smoke ring at 40X. M4 just barely showed up in the eyepiece, nearly washed out in the skyglow. I finished up at 4:52 with M80, which was much easier to find than M4 and really punched through the glow well, but wouldn't resolve at 200X.
Chilled, I came inside to run the results…
11 Messiers, and 6 new Herschel 400s. A glorious morning for astronomy!
Honestly, the CSC looks better for Rochester than the Bluff and even that doesn't look that great for the first couple of hours of the night. I plan to sleep early and set the alarm to get up early (like 1AM) and try to finish off the Double Star and nab a few of the Messiers I need (specifically 100 and 83) before working on Herschel 400s from the back deck. Who knows? If conditions are poor, I may just see how many I can get in the second half of the night, with a rather obstructed eastern and southeastern view…
