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[-=CROMAN=-]

Couldnt make the lake tonight... but im out in south elgin if anyone around here is interested. be out in front of house until midnight or so. if interested give me a call.

[-=CROMAN=-]

It turned out to be a great night in the driveway. I think I perfected using my pushto degree circle system in conjunction with Stellarium. I found a great many DSO's tonight but am confused as to why I could easily see globs in the 6 - 7 mag range but have a hard time seeing things in the 3-5 mag range? My first thought was to use a narrowband filter but I thought that was only for nebula viewing??

So I leave tonight a bit confused but excited that I am making progress!

[patrickm]

Mostly great news!

Not an expert, but on the glob front...which targets where you shooting for? It is possible that some objects with a large surface brightness are actually tough to see in LP skies because it is spread out over a large area. This is usually applicable to galaxies and nebulae though, not globs... :/

Last night, the difference between M15 (!) and M2 (meh) was enormous, but they barely differ in visual magnitude. Why? I dunno!! But check it out.

What were your successful targets and unsuccessful? Could it have been atmospheric changes?

Hope we can figure it out. This stuff never ceases to amaze and confuse.
p

[-=CROMAN=-]

Patrick.. unfortunately I was not keeping notes like I was supposed to, but the one that really aggravated me was M13. I could not resolve M13 for a million dollars last night. I know for a fact that I had the coordinates almost dead on perfect because I made a point to check other objects in between the hunt for M13. Everything else was almost near the center of my eyepiece.

Interesting for me was the ability to resolve M92 in Hercules without an issue. M92 has a 6.3 mag and M13 has a 5.8. Not much of a difference but it just wasn't working for me. I currently only have 2 eyepieces, 9mm and a 30mm. Both pieces were able to view most objects last night with exception of M13. I'm thinking maybe it has something to do with the eyepieces??

I ordered a knight owl ED 2x barlow and a rini 26mm off of ebay the other day, maybe i'll have better luck using those. I'll hold my breath though. =)

I also stumbled across some globs that I wasn't looking for, had the proverbial horseshoe up my ass last night, but was to tired to figure out their names. A couple were near zenith and were neck breakers but worth it.


Here's a list of my successful targets:

M57

M92

M31

M14

M71

Saturn

Mizar A/B

plus a couple that I stumbled upon out of luck.... I'll figure them out another night.

[patrickm]

M13 is pretty diffuse but really shoulda been there. M92 is more compact, and for me, under city lights seems to pop more. With stuff like that, I know that sometimes less magnification is more in terms of brightness.

M92 is a trip:
25,000 light years away.
"The stars of M 92 are exceptionally poor in iron and other elements heavier than hydrogen. This suggests that M 92 was formed before the gas and dust of our galaxy were enriched with heavy elements, and therefore that M 92 is exceptionally old, even for a globular cluster. M 92 may be a bit younger than M 13, or about 12 billion years old."

Try M13 with binos first, next time? Should be visible!

How was Andromeda for you? That was really faint for me the other night, but I don't know your viewing environment.

M71 was a really tough one for me last time I tried, like I'm not even sure I really saw it tough.

Where's our report from the Indiana overnight crew?!?

[Paulie pchris00]

Hoosier report still forthcoming. Been feeling exhausted ever since I got home Wednesday morning. Ran with too little sleep early in the week and am paying for it now.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

and a rini 26mm off of ebay the other day,

That makes us Rini brothers.

Welcome to the club!

[-=CROMAN=-]

Patrick... M13 officially made my list! Hopefully there will be a clear night sometime this holiday weekend so I can try again. I was hitting Andromeda to early in the evening, about midnight to be precise. It was only around 15 - 16 degrees off horizon and still stuck in that dreaded orange glow. She was pretty smudgy but present.

If I can get some scope time in this weekend Ill wait for her to get to 30-35 degrees... if i can keep my eyes open.

Joe.... What did you think about the Rini? I figured I couldnt go wrong for $25. What I would really like is to get a couple Naglers for half price somewhere so I can still afford to eat!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Rich,

I like the Rini.

The reticle makes focusing very easy and I like to leave it in the 90mm guidescope. Mine needed cleaning, needs a eyecup and the reticle was chipped....but for cheap - I like it.

Not too crazy about the 10mm.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I have made mention of this before....

I think M57 has dimmed.

I recall viewing this object, (my favorite), in the modest 4.5" reflector, and recall it being much brighter and dramatic. But of recent, (the last couple of years), I feel it has dimmed...even in the C11.

I have not read anything about this visual opinion, but I'm going on the record now.

[atomant]

Hi Croman,

M13 is quite big compared to M92.
Are you seeing M13's companion stars?

Once you've located the Hercules 4-star Keystone, aim for the long side facing west.
About 2/3 away from Zeta toward Eta, you should see fuzzy patch of M13 and its two companion stars visible in your 50mm finder scope.

With 30mm low power ep, you should clearly see the cotton ball flanked by two evenly lit stars.
Your 9mm ep will darken the sky and make little stars appear in that cotton ball.

M92, Hercules lonely lil bro glob is much smaller but denser.
Also lot harder to starhop in the emptiness.

Patrick,
Was M2 softer than M15?
M2 should be due to it being further south.

Look for dark south view, don't miss the jewels of milky way...

[patrickm]

Jun 30, 2011 23:27:31 GMT -6 atomant said:

M92, Hercules lonely lil bro glob is much smaller but denser.
Also lot harder to starhop in the emptiness.

It really pops for me. Thanks for pointing it out at Adler!!

Patrick,
Was M2 softer than M15?
M2 should be due to it being further south.

Way!

Look for dark south view, don't miss the jewels of milky way...

I won't miss anything! Loads of time.