Alright, this is for sharing of your observation experience. Or, if you are arranging gatherings, star-gazing expeditions or just want some company to go observing together, you can shout it out here.
Last night sky was clear from 8:30pm - 11:45pm and then 3:00 am - 6:15 am in rural northern Johor.
Sorry for the image noise. Shot with a compact camera, ISO 800, 15 secs exposure, single shot, basic photoshop.
The refractor finally got a proper first light its optics deserved. Pin-point stars, snap to focus. The trapezium stars at M42 never looked so sharp at such a low magnification, or any magnification for that matter. Turning the 10:1 focuser slowly and seeing the image getting sharper and sharper when you thought it could no longer be is such a thrill. Observing Sirius, the CA is barely noticeable, let alone other star clusters. Splitting colorful doubles is such a joy. After seeing the whole dagger of Orion with it, I think I can finally "retire" the 80f5. Tremendous value-for-money achro refractor.
Even the cheapo decade-old carrefour 8x42 bino brought heart-stopping views when sweeping the sky. Someone please come join me and bring along your IS bino.
The C8 got lots of star time too, especially on the Oh-My-God (oh-me-ga) Centauri! The nebulosity in M42 is magnificent too, even slightly better than last november session.
Felt so good to re-visit my celestial friends I missed so much, e.g. 6231, M6, M7, M22, beehive cluster, jewel box, M13, M35, ... etc.
It is always a great feeling to have the first night to be clear. More so on a new moon day. Last night's clear sky already makes this trip worth it, no matter how the next few turns out to be.
Wishing you guys clear skies too and have fun observing.
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
I bet last night (Thurs) was even better than Wed night, as it was very clear in Sg last night. Leo was bright high overhead around midnight last night.
If you will be staying there till Sunday morning, the IS bino can make a visit there by train on Sat Please inform its owner!
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
Clifford60 wrote:Gary, next time you balik kampung by car, remember to collect the chairs to bring it there.
Thanks! I found a nearby carpenter shop there which sells lazy back chairs. Perhaps get them to custom make an observing chair too. So inspired to get one for next trip thanks to the poisoning of a image-stablising bino.
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
The IS bino (15x50) finally made its maiden trip to Bekok, arriving on the 13:45 from Woodlands.
The skies were mostly clear at nightfall on Sat night, and for the majority of the night.
We had an excellent dinner at a local Chinese coffeeshop, including a dish of super-fresh cereal prawns, proving once again that by far the best cooking skills are to be found north of the Causeway.
We commenced observations at 8.30pm. The scopes used were Gary's Burgess 120mm f/8 achromat and his C8, both mounted at different times on a Porta mount. Eyepieces used included a Meade 24mm SWA and a 14mm XL which I brought along. The views through the 120mm were excellent, with stars sprinkling sharply against a velvet background; I was convinced once and for all that a good achromat can be a very worthwhile instrument, and it reminded us why refractors are so highly prized.
Gary had placed several black trashbags along the perimeter fences at the front porch, and these were quite effective in keeping out the surrounding sources of light from neighbouring houses and the street lamps. Looking up, I saw a vast array of stars splashed across the sky, with the dimmer stars easily seen; however I could not much make out the Milky Way for most of the night.
I observed from 8.30pm to 12.30am, then took a nap, and resumed at 3.30am and continued to 6.00am. I think Gary soldiered on throughout the night.
One highlight was Comet C/2009 P1 Garrard, which we spotted low in the northern sky in Draco near eta-Draconis at around 5.15am. It was easily seen in the 15x50 bino once we found eta-Draconis, even though the comet was at that time rated at mag 7.1. We also observed it with the C8. It appeared to be somewhat like a globular cluster and no tail was visible. Chalk up one more comet for the record!
Comet aside, we located many DSOs by memory as well as with the benefit of 3 atlases: a Bright Star Atlas 2000 for the big picture (an atlas which I finally bought on-line after being lectured on its virtues by Elton Mr. 18” Dob nearly 2 years ago), a heavily used S&T Pocket Sky Atlas for close details, and Eric Karkoschka’s Observer’s Sky Atlas (which I thought I lost around 5 years back but found it a week ago hidden between the paddings of a large camera bag). Those 3 made a very good combination.
We also swept the sky with the instruments, and when we chanced upon something interesting, we zoomed in on it with higher power and obtained its identity with the atlases. One such object was NGC 2477 near zeta-Puppis, which is one of the two bright stars between the False Cross and Canis Major, something like the southern counterpart to Castor and Pollux. The object looked suspiciously fudgy in the 15x50, and it was only with the 14mm in the refractor that its description in the books as an open cluster was borne out, but even then it seemed more like a globular. That is certainly now one of my favourite DSOs.
Sweeping the sky in the Orion, Puppis and Auriga regions with the binos, I was once again awed by the sheer number of stars in our galaxy. The field of view was like one continuous open cluster. I wondered whether each one of those millions of stars had its own planetary system, its own dome of comets and belt of asteroids, etc. And just imagine if those planets were all as different from each other as Mars is from Saturn in our own solar system; who knows what those planets are like? Yet each star was just one indistinguishable pin-prick amongst millions.
Other DSOs viewed were the superb M46/M47 open cluster pairing in Puppis, the M1 supernova remnant, and the open clusters M35, M36, M37, M38. Also, the Eta Carina nebula and the open clusters ngc3532 and ngc3293 floated like gems in the bino. Omega Centauri was as usual a wonder of an object, esp with the benefit of the extra aperture that the C8 afforded. And M42 was beautiful in all 3 optical instruments: its nebulosity contrasted sharply against the blackness which surrounded some nearby stars in the same field of view.
Some galaxies viewed were the usual suspects in Leo, M51, Centaurus A, as well as the brighter ones in the Virgo cluster between Denebola and Vindemiatrix.
I must thank Gary for hosting me there, and also for the impromptu class in star-hopping to locate M1 and M35, both of which I don’t think I had learnt before how to find manually, or did but forgot. It was very rewarding to be able to find these objects the good old fashioned way, and I realized once again that each time I use my Autostar I would be depriving myself of that skill. Now I wish this point would be impressed upon on budding astronomers, and once again I ask school clubs to refrain from buying too many Goto scopes but spend more time teaching members star-hopping skills and using atlases. That way one would learn more, and more importantly, appreciate more, of our wonderful night sky.
starfinder wrote:The IS bino (15x50) finally made its maiden trip to Bekok, arriving on the 13:45 from Woodlands.
The skies were mostly clear at nightfall on Sat night, and for the majority of the night.
We had an excellent dinner at a local Chinese coffeeshop, including a dish of super-fresh cereal prawns, proving once again that by far the best cooking skills are to be found north of the Causeway.
We commenced observations at 8.30pm. The scopes used were Gary's Burgess 120mm f/8 achromat and his C8, both mounted at different times on a Porta mount. Eyepieces used included a Meade 24mm SWA and a 14mm XL which I brought along. The views through the 120mm were excellent, with stars sprinkling sharply against a velvet background; I was convinced once and for all that a good achromat can be a very worthwhile instrument, and it reminded us why refractors are so highly prized.
Gary had placed several black trashbags along the perimeter fences at the front porch, and these were quite effective in keeping out the surrounding sources of light from neighbouring houses and the street lamps. Looking up, I saw a vast array of stars splashed across the sky, with the dimmer stars easily seen; however I could not much make out the Milky Way for most of the night.
I observed from 8.30pm to 12.30am, then took a nap, and resumed at 3.30am and continued to 6.00am. I think Gary soldiered on throughout the night.
One highlight was Comet C/2009 P1 Garrard, which we spotted low in the northern sky in Draco near eta-Draconis at around 5.15am. It was easily seen in the 15x50 bino once we found eta-Draconis, even though the comet was at that time rated at mag 7.1. We also observed it with the C8. It appeared to be somewhat like a globular cluster and no tail was visible. Chalk up one more comet for the record!
Comet aside, we located many DSOs by memory as well as with the benefit of 3 atlases: a Bright Star Atlas 2000 for the big picture (an atlas which I finally bought on-line after being lectured on its virtues by Elton Mr. 18” Dob nearly 2 years ago), a heavily used S&T Pocket Sky Atlas for close details, and Eric Karkoschka’s Observer’s Sky Atlas (which I thought I lost around 5 years back but found it a week ago hidden between the paddings of a large camera bag). Those 3 made a very good combination.
We also swept the sky with the instruments, and when we chanced upon something interesting, we zoomed in on it with higher power and obtained its identity with the atlases. One such object was NGC 2477 near zeta-Puppis, which is one of the two bright stars between the False Cross and Canis Major, something like the southern counterpart to Castor and Pollux. The object looked suspiciously fudgy in the 15x50, and it was only with the 14mm in the refractor that its description in the books as an open cluster was borne out, but even then it seemed more like a globular. That is certainly now one of my favourite DSOs.
Sweeping the sky in the Orion, Puppis and Auriga regions with the binos, I was once again awed by the sheer number of stars in our galaxy. The field of view was like one continuous open cluster. I wondered whether each one of those millions of stars had its own planetary system, its own dome of comets and belt of asteroids, etc. And just imagine if those planets were all as different from each other as Mars is from Saturn in our own solar system; who knows what those planets are like? Yet each star was just one indistinguishable pin-prick amongst millions.
Other DSOs viewed were the superb M46/M47 open cluster pairing in Puppis, the M1 supernova remnant, and the open clusters M35, M36, M37, M38. Also, the Eta Carina nebula and the open clusters ngc3532 and ngc3293 floated like gems in the bino. Omega Centauri was as usual a wonder of an object, esp with the benefit of the extra aperture that the C8 afforded. And M42 was beautiful in all 3 optical instruments: its nebulosity contrasted sharply against the blackness which surrounded some nearby stars in the same field of view.
Some galaxies viewed were the usual suspects in Leo, M51, Centaurus A, as well as the brighter ones in the Virgo cluster between Denebola and Vindemiatrix.
I must thank Gary for hosting me there, and also for the impromptu class in star-hopping to locate M1 and M35, both of which I don’t think I had learnt before how to find manually, or did but forgot. It was very rewarding to be able to find these objects the good old fashioned way, and I realized once again that each time I use my Autostar I would be depriving myself of that skill. Now I wish this point would be impressed upon on budding astronomers, and once again I ask school clubs to refrain from buying too many Goto scopes but spend more time teaching members star-hopping skills and using atlases. That way one would learn more, and more importantly, appreciate more, of our wonderful night sky.
Thanks Gavin for the detailed report! Suddenly all the hardcore visual obbers are back to work, hahaha.
Totally agree with you that star-hopping is the best way to learn the sky, and somemore it helps you retaining the passion! A mag.8 atlas, and a simple grab-n-go scope is probably enough to keep one happy for years under dark skies.
@Starfinder - Bro, big thanks for coming and the writing the report! Truly an eye-opening experience to use your bino and DIY light shroud. Should have switch off your phone alarm and let you sleep till sunrise so I can spend more time with your bino. LOL.
Thanks for showing me M46, M47, NGC5128 (hamburger galaxy ) and the stuff at Puppis and how to find them. Using your Mercedes method to find the Virgo galaxies is fun and brilliant. And spotting comet Garradd of course! The whole experience felt a bit like a sniper team on a mission. One spotter lasing and bino-ing the target, the sniper "shooting" the sky target through the scope.
@Alfred - Big thanks for dropping by on Friday night. That was THE clearest night of all 4! Fun to play with your widefield eyepieces, very stable non-IS bino and finally getting an objective sky meter reading of how dark the sky is. Your GPS following skill is excellent to say the least.
Just a small pity both you cant come on the same night. But no worries, its only February!
"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
