My night looking out my windows

[simei-sky]

Wooowww this morning was a good night for me. It was wonderful to experience it. But first lets back track 1 week earlier.

I took some time to identify Andromeda cos I wanted to find M31. I finally found it but I only saw a "o" shape cotton ball, (almost the same as NGC 5139-Centraurus, a "round" cotton ball which I saw earlier in the year). Is that the best I can see from my 5" Orion-MCT, 32mm ep? I was actually hoping to see the other 2 smaller galaxy (M32 & M110) from my kitchen window but could not.....I hope I am not too tall in my ambition :roll: :roll:

Bcak to last night. As usual, I ob from my kitchen window, saw Pleiades and showed it to my wife and she was marvelled by the second hand bino which I got. It was much clearer to see as compared to my old one.

At Auriga, I saw M36 and from there I traced M37 followed by M38. From my bino, I can clearly see M36 but when I tried to see it from my finder scope, it was all blur. Very hard for me and I suspect it is due to my high degree glasses. I can see clearer if move my eyes away from the finder scope... :x :x So I was playing back and forth on these 3 Messiers before packing up for the night.

Lo and behold, when I look out my living room windows(south view), I saw the footing or body of Canis Major I found M41 and M42 (Orion)but could not see it through my scope as it was too high and steep.....back to obbing again!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I look further south and found IC2391(Vela). It was just great to see so many things. So I move around IC2391 and just enjoying myself. However when I was obbing IC2391, I relised that my bino, scope and finder have a different image for me to register. My scope has a mirror image from my bino, my finder has a top/down and bottom/up image from my scope. All along I know there will be some of this things happening, but to have three different images I have to be patience and convert the images correctly in my mind so that I do not get confussed :roll:

While I was looking at IC2391, there came another surprise, I saw something flow directly across IC2391!! I quickly follow it through my 32 ep. I notice it was dim, like a star but not a bird cos it has a constant light.... Must be a sattellite then... It was like I've stuck 4-D to see it just by chance . The brightness is about that of the 2 small stars within the main triangle star formation of IC2391. It was about 3.50am moving towards NNE or NE direction. I managed to trace it for about 7-10sec until my window frame blocked it. It was cool stuff on a good Sat night...

[amin7074]

hi,
agreed Sat night was so clear managed to see M42,M43 and M45 trying hard to get M1 Crab Nebula in Taurus but my eyes could not stay any longer for the night......but really enjoy the clear night sky... . .
Hopefully the sky stay clear for a week or two... :roll:

amin.

[Canopus Lim]

bino, scope and finder have a different image for me to register. My scope has a mirror image from my bino, my finder has a top/down and bottom/up image from my scope. All along I know there will be some of this things happening, but to have three different images I have to be patience and convert the images correctly in my mind so that I do not get confussed :roll:

The bino has correct image. The scope has mirror (left becomes right and right becomes left) image. The finder has inverted (upside down) image. For the finder, it is easier to see because you just need to turn the starchart upside down (or 180 degree rotation CCW or CW). The scope having the mirror image is a problem. However usually the telescope field is small, so using the finder will get the object centred.

From what you said about the finder give a blur image, it is probably not focused. Finders usually have a collar in which you can loosen the front objective lens, this will help focus it. It is not accurate anyway and hence finders are not usually sharp unless there is a precision focuser with it. The focusing distance may not be enough for your eyesight, if you take out your glasses.

Nice to hear you guys enjoying astronomy.

[simei-sky]

"Finders usually have a collar in which you can loosen the front objective lens, this will help focus it."

I tried your suggestion last night and it works great. The only thing is, I will need to tie a string from the front objective lense to the main body so that I do not drop it in the field.

[weixing]

Hi,

I tried your suggestion last night and it works great. The only thing is, I will need to tie a string from the front objective lense to the main body so that I do not drop it in the field.

You mean the finder's objective?? You should be able to tighten the collar again once it reach focus and you don't need to adjust anymore.

Have a nice day.

[Canopus Lim]

I think I was not very clear on my explanation.
Steps:
1. Loosen the finder's objective lens until the image is sharp.
2. Rotate the collar (a ring at the back of the finder's objective lens) until it reaches just behind the objective lens.
3. Rotate the objective lens or collar until both tighten against each other

[simei-sky]

Thanks. I got your first message. My finder scope does not have that collar unit, so I have to just unscrew the objective lens portion and it works great!

Cheers