horsehead seen last night...Sedili ob report

[rlow]

ooooh...the horsehead is a grand prize in our skies!

Yes grand prize indeed!

It may probably be next to impossible to glimpse the Horsehead in our light-polluted skies with any available scope unless there is a major electrical blackout simultaneously in Singapore and JB...or every individual and company in S'pore & JB participates in Earth Hour on 31 Mar 2012... AND at the same time we have clear skies and excellent transparency....

Better to try catch this prized trophy in darker skies like Sedili, where it is possible if the transparency is good....

[cataclysm]

Nice reports! One killer optics you got there Richard!!

[rlow]

Thanks Kevin!

Yes premium optics makes the difference. This Zambuto mirror has proven its worth many times over the last few months. Under good seeing condition, we got to observe low contrast planetary details on Jupiter and Saturn at 563X.

[Canopus Lim]

Hi Richard,

If I don't stay in the resort is it ok? Will there be an 'entrance fee' to do the observing? Will you guys be staying overnight?

Also, my car can put in 2 people if I am bringing my 12.5" dob or 3 people if I am bringing my small grab and go refractor.

[rlow]

Yang Beng,

It is all up to you. We are planning to stay overnight, and i will book a room. Do bring your Obby if you can, if there is space for everyone. Otherwise i am still fine if everyone shares my dob anyway

[shirox]

Hi Richard,

So envy your 15" Zam Dob. lol
Sat can't join in the fun liao as my group might be setting off too late cos some of them working the next day. including myself lol
Will join you one of these days at sedili.

Cheers

[rlow]

aiyoh...no need to envy lah...you can always buy a BIGGER one...hehehe!

I make it a point to have my 15" dob always available for everyone
so that all have an opportunity to observe and experience a big dob

you can ride to sedili the following weekend... (deep sky programme)
...or you can drop by science centre on friday... (planetary/lunar programme)

[rlow]

Last Saturday 18 Feb 2012 we went again to the same place for another fun time with my 15" f/4.5 dob.

Finally we saw Bernard's Loop in Orion, or at least the topmost portion of it, with our naked eyes! The H-Beta filter made this possible.

We also got a glimpse of the Pup (Sirius B) at 563x. Its was just a tiny dot seen just outside the primary glare at the 7 o'clock position from the primary star.

The Ghost of Jupiter (NGC 3242) was bluish and full of details...the mottled oval annulus, central star and outer halo was observed at 563x using the Pentax XW 3.5mm while hand-tracking. It looked similar to the photograph seen in Sue French's book "Celestial Sampler" pg 72.

Mars was splendid too! Rising at about 60 degrees, Mars was already sharp and steady at 563x. Mare Tyrrhenum was at the meridien, and Syrtis Major was just visible from the following side. The North Polar Cap and Utopia region were some of the prominent features seen.

We are going again for another overnight trip to the Tanjung Sutera Resort in Sedili Besar this Sat. 25 Feb 2012. Join us there!

Guess who is this...?

[rlow]

[jiahao1986]