Observing Report -- M57

Location : Montreal , Canada
Time : 2200 to 0020 Local
Equipment Used : 4.5" Reflector , 8X42 Bino's
Object Sought : M57

Object Found !!!
As I mentioned in an earlier post , I wasn't then able to find M57 . Tonight
I did :-) . Not a very impressive object , not at all like the Orion Nebula
.. Didn't see the hole , just made out a dark smudged circle . Oh well , the
satisfaction was in the finding ,

Also observed :

The Double Double : Could not split the doubles , not even at 150X .

Albireo : Very impressive . First time I've seen such color from stars . I
guess its the contrast that makes it stand out so well .

A good night out under the stars :-)

Craig
Montreal , Canada

Craig B wrote:

The Double Double : Could not split the doubles , not even at 150X .

I've split this at 120x in a 5" cheapo refractor, so your 4.5" Dob
*should* be able to do it. I'd put it down to seeing if I were you.

Jim
--
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"We deal in the moral equivalent of black holes, where the normal
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Didn't see the hole , just made out a dark smudged circle . Oh well , the
satisfaction was in the finding ,

From the greater Phila suburbs you definitly need a filter of some kind,
i.e. deep sky or UHC

"Craig B" wrote in message ...

The Double Double : Could not split the doubles , not even at 150X .

You didn't say what kind of 4.5" reflector you used.
My first "real" telescope was a 4.5" Synta newtonian,
and it strained to split Epsilon Lyrae, at any
magnification.

Last night I was playing with a 4" f/5 rich field scope
(Synta, again), and split Epsilon Lyrae easily at 80x.

M13 was rather tasty too.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 01:06:11 -0400, "Craig B"
wrote:

Location : Montreal , Canada
Time : 2200 to 0020 Local
Equipment Used : 4.5" Reflector , 8X42 Bino's
Object Sought : M57

Object Found !!!
As I mentioned in an earlier post , I wasn't then able to find M57 . Tonight
I did :-) . Not a very impressive object , not at all like the Orion Nebula
. Didn't see the hole , just made out a dark smudged circle . Oh well , the
satisfaction was in the finding ,

Also observed :

The Double Double : Could not split the doubles , not even at 150X .

Albireo : Very impressive . First time I've seen such color from stars . I
guess its the contrast that makes it stand out so well .

A good night out under the stars :-)

Craig
Montreal , Canada


Go to a dark site, the ring appears 10x larger with subtle color than
when viewing nuder say mag 4 skies.

Craig B wrote:
Location : Montreal , Canada
Time : 2200 to 0020 Local
Equipment Used : 4.5" Reflector , 8X42 Bino's
Object Sought : M57

Object Found !!!
As I mentioned in an earlier post , I wasn't then able to find M57 . Tonight
I did :-) . Not a very impressive object , not at all like the Orion Nebula
. Didn't see the hole , just made out a dark smudged circle . Oh well , the
satisfaction was in the finding ,

Hi Craig, you didn't mention what magnification you used. At low powers
it looks like a small smudge. With more power it should look like a
ring. Be sure to use averted vision (look all around the eyepiece but
rarely right at the object) to see it more clearly. Also try watching
it with averted vision for 10 minutes or more while shielding your eyes
from outside light. You will gradually begin to see more as your eyes
adjust.

-tom

If the scope was good, you should have seen the Ring as a real ring although
the center star won't be visible.
Also, the Double Double should have been split to the point where the star
pairs were looking like dumbells at the minimum.
I'd do a star test on the scope or a Ronchi test and see what the results
are.

--
Bob May
Losing weight is easy! If you ever want to lose weight, eat and drink less.
Works every time it is tried!

Craig B wrote:

The Double Double : Could not split the doubles , not even at 150X .

(Jim) wrote in message m...
I've split this at 120x in a 5" cheapo refractor, so your 4.5" Dob
*should* be able to do it. I'd put it down to seeing if I were you.

Or perhaps poor collimation. Did you check the scope's collimation, Craig?


Clear skies!

--
------------------- Richard Callwood III --------------------
~ U.S. Virgin Islands ~ USDA zone 11 ~ 18.3N, 64.9W ~
~ eastern Massachusetts ~ USDA zone 6 (1992-95) ~
--------------- http://cac.uvi.edu/staff/rc3/ ---------------

"Cousin Ricky" wrote in message
om...
Craig B wrote:

The Double Double : Could not split the doubles , not even at 150X .

(Jim) wrote in message
m...
I've split this at 120x in a 5" cheapo refractor, so your 4.5" Dob
*should* be able to do it. I'd put it down to seeing if I were you.

Or perhaps poor collimation. Did you check the scope's collimation,
Craig?

Yes , its collimated . Its a cheap Bushnell BTW . Maybe it was just the
seeing , I'll have to give it another try soon .

Craig

"Bob May" wrote in message
...
If the scope was good, you should have seen the Ring as a real ring
although
the center star won't be visible.
Also, the Double Double should have been split to the point where the star
pairs were looking like dumbells at the minimum.
I'd do a star test on the scope or a Ronchi test and see what the results
are.

--
Bob May

Magnification used was 52X , 72X and 100X . The scope is a Bushnell
reflector , I've tried star testing , but I only seem to end up seeing my
secondary and spider . BTW , I'm _not_ using the EP's that came with the
scope , I have Plossl's and SkyWatcher " UltraWides " ( Orion Expanse )
Averted vision was used , but I can't out of direct light , its just
impossible where I live . I need to get to a darker site .

Thanks for all the tips

Craig