Lads, the weather is looking good, I'm going to send out an observing notice soon on the automated system, if you're not on it and want to be, then let me know.
We'll be at Boher at 8pm, if you have any issues send me a pm or make a post here.
Observing session Friday Sept7th 2007
Moderator: SAC Committee
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Dave Lillis
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Observing session Friday Sept7th 2007
Last edited by Dave Lillis on Sun Sep 16, 2007 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dave L. on facebook, See my images in flickr
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me, but what a way to go.
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me, but what a way to go.
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Dave Lillis
- Posts: 2757
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:02 am
- Location: Limerick city
Message sent, this web texting system is really cool, !
Dave L. on facebook, See my images in flickr
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me, but what a way to go.
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me, but what a way to go.
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Frank Ryan
- Posts: 2980
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:45 am
- Location: Ballycasey, Co. Clare
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John O'Mahony
- Posts: 552
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:36 am
- Location: Limerick, Ireland
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Dave Lillis
- Posts: 2757
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:02 am
- Location: Limerick city
Well lads what a fantastic night, !! 
It was probabily the most transparent night we've ever had up on the hill, the milkyway was was clearly visible from Perseus on the northeastern horizon to Sagittarius in the south, the Cygnus rift was easily visible right down to Ophiuchus.
We set the scopes up at 8.40 and finished up at 5am, although other more wiser people left earlier, the next day I was totally shattered.
By the time I cought Jupiter it was on its way to the western horizon, but banding was still visible all the same.
The views of M13 were just staggering, it was a perfect opportunity to test out the new high power naglers, the 9mm and 7 mm worked very well with M13, the 7mm filled the entire field of view perfectly. You had to pan around the cluster with the 5mm, its size was more then the FOV.
I can distinctly remember what M92 looked like in the 12", it was unrecognisable in the Obsessionator, so many bright stars, its core was tight but easily resolvable.
The ring nebula in Lyra was easily seen, I tried using UHC and O3 filters and there a glimpse for a second of its central star, but I cant be sure.
The nebula itself was excellent and with the O3 filter displayed some texture detail in the outer oval.
The veil nebula (NGC6992) is just amazing with the 03 filter, with the 9mm t6 nagler, you could trace its length over many fields of view, its appearance changed from knotted rope to ribbons with ovals at its eastern side and at many places had spurs like spikes on it, I was amazed at just how much we could see, ngc6960 (western side) next to 52 cygni was easily visible as a ribbon band of light, very distinct.
The UHC filter also worked well on this nebula, but didn't show as much detail as the O3, without the filter, the nebula significantly faded, more like the background significantly brightened so overwhelming the nebula.
For this nebula alone, I'd hang onto the O3 filter.
The Dumbbell was exceptionally bright and didn't need any filter to show detail, I was able to easily count 9 stars in the brighter 2 lobes of the nebula, the 2 fainter lobes were also easily visible. The O3+UHC filters made most of these star disappear but did reveal more detail.
M15 in Pegasus was easily resolvable and appeared quite bright at high powers, a text book photographic appearance.
The Andromeda galaxy was very bright and spanned beyond the FOV of the 20mm eyepiece, we could very clearly see 1 dark dust lane to the lower west of the galaxy, M32 its satellite galaxy was clearly visible, M110 its second sat galaxy appeared like how M31 would appear in a smaller scope in size and brightness, it looked like a near edge on spiral galaxy in its own right. !
M33 in Triangulum was the big surprise of the night for me, I didn't think it would be visible at all, but using the 20mm eyepiece it was easily visible and practically filled the entire FOV, its had a non pinpoint non centred core, the core appeared as big general area with dark areas in it, the arms appeared as a massive oval with hints of detail and I am certain I was able to pick out one H-alpha star forming region very clearly in the outer area of one of the arms, it appeared as a faint fuzzy non point like area. I was able to make out 2 spiral arms, this is one I'll be definitely returning to.
NGC891 is a edge on spiral in Andromeda, it took on a photographic appearance in the scope, although a little fainter. The central halo and edge of arms were clearly visible as was the intersecting dust lane that spans the galaxy.
M76 (the little dumbbell) in Perseus distinctly took on the appearance of a miniature M27, it was brighter then I had imagined it to be.
The double cluster in Perseus looked fab, although the 20mm eyepiece is really too high a power to get both cluster properly in the same field of view, each cluster on its own looked great and showed alot of star colour.
M34 in Perseus showed itself to be a nice bright wide open cluster.
Both the lagoon and trifid nebulae in Sagittarius were quite faint due to their horizon skimming locations in the sky, their stars were quite bright and some dark lanes were visible.
M1 the crab nebula was a very definite outline, it had its "Ireland" outline that you'd see in photographs.
We had a look a Mars as it rose in the early morning, I have never seen its disk look so non circular, it had a very definite big gibbious phase, some dark detail was visible on its surface, but not alot.
I had a look at the orion nebula rising, but by this time the secondary mirror had fogged over so we got a view of it similar to what you get though the 12" scope in brightness, but the central bright nebula section showed alot more mottled detail, the sun was on the way up at this stage as the sky was starting to brighten . I'm looking forward to seeing this object high in a dark sky.
I had planned to get alot more objects in but between going back again and again to M13 and trying to give the other objects a good look, I just ran out of time. The only thing I had to try averted vision on was the central star of M57, everything else was clearly seen.
Many thanks to Frank and Dave who gave me a hand getting the scope in and out of the car. It was clear again on Saturday night, but I was just too exhausted to go out again
It was probabily the most transparent night we've ever had up on the hill, the milkyway was was clearly visible from Perseus on the northeastern horizon to Sagittarius in the south, the Cygnus rift was easily visible right down to Ophiuchus.
We set the scopes up at 8.40 and finished up at 5am, although other more wiser people left earlier, the next day I was totally shattered.
By the time I cought Jupiter it was on its way to the western horizon, but banding was still visible all the same.
The views of M13 were just staggering, it was a perfect opportunity to test out the new high power naglers, the 9mm and 7 mm worked very well with M13, the 7mm filled the entire field of view perfectly. You had to pan around the cluster with the 5mm, its size was more then the FOV.
I can distinctly remember what M92 looked like in the 12", it was unrecognisable in the Obsessionator, so many bright stars, its core was tight but easily resolvable.
The ring nebula in Lyra was easily seen, I tried using UHC and O3 filters and there a glimpse for a second of its central star, but I cant be sure.
The nebula itself was excellent and with the O3 filter displayed some texture detail in the outer oval.
The veil nebula (NGC6992) is just amazing with the 03 filter, with the 9mm t6 nagler, you could trace its length over many fields of view, its appearance changed from knotted rope to ribbons with ovals at its eastern side and at many places had spurs like spikes on it, I was amazed at just how much we could see, ngc6960 (western side) next to 52 cygni was easily visible as a ribbon band of light, very distinct.
The UHC filter also worked well on this nebula, but didn't show as much detail as the O3, without the filter, the nebula significantly faded, more like the background significantly brightened so overwhelming the nebula.
For this nebula alone, I'd hang onto the O3 filter.
The Dumbbell was exceptionally bright and didn't need any filter to show detail, I was able to easily count 9 stars in the brighter 2 lobes of the nebula, the 2 fainter lobes were also easily visible. The O3+UHC filters made most of these star disappear but did reveal more detail.
M15 in Pegasus was easily resolvable and appeared quite bright at high powers, a text book photographic appearance.
The Andromeda galaxy was very bright and spanned beyond the FOV of the 20mm eyepiece, we could very clearly see 1 dark dust lane to the lower west of the galaxy, M32 its satellite galaxy was clearly visible, M110 its second sat galaxy appeared like how M31 would appear in a smaller scope in size and brightness, it looked like a near edge on spiral galaxy in its own right. !
M33 in Triangulum was the big surprise of the night for me, I didn't think it would be visible at all, but using the 20mm eyepiece it was easily visible and practically filled the entire FOV, its had a non pinpoint non centred core, the core appeared as big general area with dark areas in it, the arms appeared as a massive oval with hints of detail and I am certain I was able to pick out one H-alpha star forming region very clearly in the outer area of one of the arms, it appeared as a faint fuzzy non point like area. I was able to make out 2 spiral arms, this is one I'll be definitely returning to.
NGC891 is a edge on spiral in Andromeda, it took on a photographic appearance in the scope, although a little fainter. The central halo and edge of arms were clearly visible as was the intersecting dust lane that spans the galaxy.
M76 (the little dumbbell) in Perseus distinctly took on the appearance of a miniature M27, it was brighter then I had imagined it to be.
The double cluster in Perseus looked fab, although the 20mm eyepiece is really too high a power to get both cluster properly in the same field of view, each cluster on its own looked great and showed alot of star colour.
M34 in Perseus showed itself to be a nice bright wide open cluster.
Both the lagoon and trifid nebulae in Sagittarius were quite faint due to their horizon skimming locations in the sky, their stars were quite bright and some dark lanes were visible.
M1 the crab nebula was a very definite outline, it had its "Ireland" outline that you'd see in photographs.
We had a look a Mars as it rose in the early morning, I have never seen its disk look so non circular, it had a very definite big gibbious phase, some dark detail was visible on its surface, but not alot.
I had a look at the orion nebula rising, but by this time the secondary mirror had fogged over so we got a view of it similar to what you get though the 12" scope in brightness, but the central bright nebula section showed alot more mottled detail, the sun was on the way up at this stage as the sky was starting to brighten . I'm looking forward to seeing this object high in a dark sky.
I had planned to get alot more objects in but between going back again and again to M13 and trying to give the other objects a good look, I just ran out of time. The only thing I had to try averted vision on was the central star of M57, everything else was clearly seen.
Many thanks to Frank and Dave who gave me a hand getting the scope in and out of the car. It was clear again on Saturday night, but I was just too exhausted to go out again
Dave L. on facebook, See my images in flickr
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me, but what a way to go.
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me, but what a way to go.
-
Frank Ryan
- Posts: 2980
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:45 am
- Location: Ballycasey, Co. Clare
What can I say.
Probably the best night ever.
No..
Defiantly.
I nearly fell off the ladder with awe looking at the Veil through the Obsessinator!
It reminded me of the Nexus from Star Trek!
I've never seen the Milky Way as clear from Ireland.
It was horizon to horizon and totally obvious....
In fact... at times while I was observing some object...
thru the corner of my eye I'd see it and think
''oh no...clouds''
Andromeda galaxy was incredulously obvious with the naked eye.
My battery died on my scope but with my binos at hand and a list of
Bino targets as long as my arm to get thru the time just flew.
it was tough to get up at 10 am the following morning
(after getting into be a 5:30!)
Still, it was so worth it.
Probably the best night ever.
No..
Defiantly.
I nearly fell off the ladder with awe looking at the Veil through the Obsessinator!
It reminded me of the Nexus from Star Trek!
I've never seen the Milky Way as clear from Ireland.
It was horizon to horizon and totally obvious....
In fact... at times while I was observing some object...
thru the corner of my eye I'd see it and think
''oh no...clouds''
Andromeda galaxy was incredulously obvious with the naked eye.
My battery died on my scope but with my binos at hand and a list of
Bino targets as long as my arm to get thru the time just flew.
it was tough to get up at 10 am the following morning
(after getting into be a 5:30!)
Still, it was so worth it.
A good night even by the standards of a newbie
I just want to say a collective big thank you to all the guys who came out for Fridays observing session.
It was my first night and I think I was truly lucky in getting some excellent conditions.
I didn't have a scope with me, just some rather dodgy binoculars, but it really didn't make a difference. Everyone was totally helpful and extremely generous with the scope sharing.
The two biggest surprises for me were:
1) How much I could learn in one night
2) How much more there still is to learn.
I came to the evening with a fairly basic understanding of the night sky. I knew a couple of constellations (2 to be precise), I had some understanding of planets vs stars vs galaxies and the scales involved, and I could find the north star.
What I really didn't get about astronomy was what people actually look at. The planets and the moon were obvious even to me, but I had no idea about the existence (or more-so the visibilty) of nebulae and star clusters. These objects are pretty impressive and when you see them through Dave's monster telescope they really are just stunning.
Also the array of equipment present was of great interest. I quickly saw the benefit of tracking scopes and the trade off between size and portability was damn obvious too. But even simple tools, like using lasers to point out stars was a great discovery. It really made discussions about this object or that much easier and to be frank it must have been pretty difficult before the lasers were introduced.
My only fear is that I have effectively been born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Given that my first night had awesome "seeing" (I learned a word
) and I spent most of my time looking through Dave's monster telescope, I think I may just have been spoiled beyond repair
But then again, if thats my worst complaint about the night, then I think I don't have too much to be worried about!!
Hope to be out again soon.
Dave
It was my first night and I think I was truly lucky in getting some excellent conditions.
I didn't have a scope with me, just some rather dodgy binoculars, but it really didn't make a difference. Everyone was totally helpful and extremely generous with the scope sharing.
The two biggest surprises for me were:
1) How much I could learn in one night
2) How much more there still is to learn.
I came to the evening with a fairly basic understanding of the night sky. I knew a couple of constellations (2 to be precise), I had some understanding of planets vs stars vs galaxies and the scales involved, and I could find the north star.
What I really didn't get about astronomy was what people actually look at. The planets and the moon were obvious even to me, but I had no idea about the existence (or more-so the visibilty) of nebulae and star clusters. These objects are pretty impressive and when you see them through Dave's monster telescope they really are just stunning.
Also the array of equipment present was of great interest. I quickly saw the benefit of tracking scopes and the trade off between size and portability was damn obvious too. But even simple tools, like using lasers to point out stars was a great discovery. It really made discussions about this object or that much easier and to be frank it must have been pretty difficult before the lasers were introduced.
My only fear is that I have effectively been born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Given that my first night had awesome "seeing" (I learned a word
) and I spent most of my time looking through Dave's monster telescope, I think I may just have been spoiled beyond repair But then again, if thats my worst complaint about the night, then I think I don't have too much to be worried about!!
Hope to be out again soon.
Dave
-
Dave Lillis
- Posts: 2757
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:02 am
- Location: Limerick city
Its up to you Dave to raise the bar and get a 25" scope, and a trailer + car to bring it around Glad you enjoyed the night.
The one thing you'll find about astronomy is that the more you know about it, the more there is learn, there is no end to it, everything from scope optics and abberations to deepsky/planetary astrophotography to variable star brightness plotting. This variety is great as it keep you interested.
Glad you enjoyed the night.The one thing you'll find about astronomy is that the more you know about it, the more there is learn, there is no end to it, everything from scope optics and abberations to deepsky/planetary astrophotography to variable star brightness plotting. This variety is great as it keep you interested.
Dave L. on facebook, See my images in flickr
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me, but what a way to go.
Carrying around my 20" obsession is going to kill me, but what a way to go.
-
John O'Mahony
- Posts: 552
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:36 am
- Location: Limerick, Ireland