More insomniac stargazing

With the first clear night in several weeks beckoning, I set
my alarm for 0030 when I went to bed last night. With sunset
being so late at this time of year, this is about the only way
to do any astronomy...

I hauled my grab-and-go C8 out to the back yard and set
up shop. Jupiter was poking through a gap in the trees, with
a nice view of the Galilean satellites, and the Red Spot
starting its way across.

After Jupiter ducked behind a tree I aligned the DSCs (a
lifesaver in the 'burbs!) and wandered around. My first
deep-sky targets were M27 and M57. I always find M27
to be an excellent demonstration of what a nebula filter
can do: without the filter, it's a grey blur from my back
yard. With the filter, it's the familiar apple core. M57
was a perfect smoke ring in space, while M13 and M92
sparkled just past the meridian.

I suspect if I could figure out how to photograph the
three-dimensional quality M13 has in a telescope the
world would be a much better place. :-)

My latitude, plus trees in the south, don't do much
good to the stuff in Sagittarius, but I tried anyway,
finding M8 hiding behind yet another tree. But M11 lived
up to its name, a spray of stars indeed looking like
a flock of wild ducks flying away. I didn't expect to
see much more than a ratty cluster for M16, and I
didn't. M17 was another matter, with a clear view
through the nebula filter.

I ended the night with some of the extremes: M5 in the
west, and then, almost feeling like a traitor to summer,
M2 and M15, both rising in the east. I had a look at the
waning gibbous moon that had cleared the trees by then,
with the terminator in the Sea of Tranquility, and turned
in about 0200.

I'm at work this morning, trying to keep a low profile.
Yawn.

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

Here at 56 north a combination of the wettest June since records began and
the midnight twilight has stopped any gazing.....
Unfortunately its been too cloudy, the last cloudless night was 10weeks ago
until last night and then it was too light to see anything --other than the
pretty noctilucent clouds that is........

--
M
------
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security
will deserve neither and lose both."
[Benjamin Franklin]

"War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it."
[Erasmus]

"A collision at sea can ruin your entire day."
[Thucydides]

"laura halliday" wrote in message
oups.com...
With the first clear night in several weeks beckoning, I set
my alarm for 0030 when I went to bed last night. With sunset
being so late at this time of year, this is about the only way
to do any astronomy...

I hauled my grab-and-go C8 out to the back yard and set
up shop. Jupiter was poking through a gap in the trees, with
a nice view of the Galilean satellites, and the Red Spot
starting its way across.

After Jupiter ducked behind a tree I aligned the DSCs (a
lifesaver in the 'burbs!) and wandered around. My first
deep-sky targets were M27 and M57. I always find M27
to be an excellent demonstration of what a nebula filter
can do: without the filter, it's a grey blur from my back
yard. With the filter, it's the familiar apple core. M57
was a perfect smoke ring in space, while M13 and M92
sparkled just past the meridian.

I suspect if I could figure out how to photograph the
three-dimensional quality M13 has in a telescope the
world would be a much better place. :-)

My latitude, plus trees in the south, don't do much
good to the stuff in Sagittarius, but I tried anyway,
finding M8 hiding behind yet another tree. But M11 lived
up to its name, a spray of stars indeed looking like
a flock of wild ducks flying away. I didn't expect to
see much more than a ratty cluster for M16, and I
didn't. M17 was another matter, with a clear view
through the nebula filter.

I ended the night with some of the extremes: M5 in the
west, and then, almost feeling like a traitor to summer,
M2 and M15, both rising in the east. I had a look at the
waning gibbous moon that had cleared the trees by then,
with the terminator in the Sea of Tranquility, and turned
in about 0200.

I'm at work this morning, trying to keep a low profile.
Yawn.

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

Laura Halliday was saying
With sunset being so late at this time of
year, this is about the only way to do
any astronomy...

I absolutely loathe daylight saving time. Really. A lot.
I'm at work this morning, trying to keep a
low profile. Yawn.

That's how I'm feeling today after my adventure last night with the
Vanguard 1 rocket... *yawn...*
Nice post.
Marty

Laura,
What nebula filter do you use? I'm fixing to post about which one to
use, my skies are I'd say 4.7 mag give or take.
Enjoyed your post-

Regards,
Kerry

On Aug 7, 4:04 pm, ko57 wrote:
Laura,
What nebula filter do you use? I'm fixing to post about which one to
use, my skies are I'd say 4.7 mag give or take.
Enjoyed your post-

Regards,
Kerry

Hi Kerry,

I use a plain old Lumicon broadband filter most of the time.
It's the best bang for the buck.

Sometimes I use a UHC filter.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Non sequitur. Your ACKS are
Grid: CN89mg uncoordinated."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Nomad the Network Engineer

Thanks for the tip, keeping an eye at Astromart...

Regards,
Kerry