Astraea Rising (Zoomy Fun)

[Nightspore]

 

It was around 20:40 by the time I had set-up on Tuesday the 9th. This was my first session this April. Which tells you a lot about the weather! It was fairly clear but the jet stream and therefore the overall seeing wasn’t really on my side. Either way, I was out with a scope under some stars, which has to be good, right? The main two decisions were what scope and eyepieces I would deploy. The former was easy; the 72ED Evostar was perfect as it was lightweight and small enough to be practical. It was a nice aperture size with no discernible difference from my 80ED. It also gets more use annually than any of my other scopes. I was slightly tempted by the Titchy Sixty but decided variety was the (scary) spice of life.

 

 

The EP’s were another thing altogether. Ideally I would elect for a nice spread from a 0.5mm exit pupil (140x) to about a 4mm (17.5x). I have about ten thousand eyepieces, and that’s no exaggeration lol. So, I’d whittled it down to: TV 3-6mm Nagler zoom (no-brainer), a 13mm Nagler, a 24mm Panoptic and a 32mm Takahashi Abbe Orthoscopic or 32mm TV Plossl. After a deep Taoist meditation session (actually a Margherita Pizza) I then decided to go with just three eyepieces (and a Barlow) for reasons of simplicity. The Nagler zoom plus a 19mm TV Panoptic and the Takahashi. These are much easier to utilise and use with my disability, although the Tele Vue Barlow wasn’t actually used on the night, I’ve discovered it works very well with the 19mm Panoptic. The 19mm is a pretty lightweight and compact eyepiece. Combined with the TV 2x it displays no astigmatism or vignetting whatsoever. It was like they were made for each other! I also decided to return to the 1.25” EverBrite diagonal after using the 1.25” Baader BBHS prism for a while. The BBHS clicklock can accidentally unthread the Panoptic barrel and does my head in with ‘twist to focus’ zoom eyepieces. So the plain, but well made and designed, TV thumb screw works better for me. I like the petite and compact Tak’ 32mm as it is a bit sui generis. Crystal clear with unrivalled optical acuity and contrast with a distinctly comfortable eye relief and  placement.

 

 

Possibly due to the deep placement of the eye lens within the housing. Altogether; I have a zoom with a range of 70x to 140x, a widefield with around 22x and an orthoscopic giving about 13x with a decent three arc degrees of field (I think). All three eyepieces can be easily carried in bolt cases in my jacket pockets. I like easy.

 

 

The first target was naturally the setting twilight Jupiter. At 13° altitude, or thereabouts, I wasn’t expecting much. I could see Europa and Ganymede close to each other, with Callisto on the opposite side of the planet. Anything higher than around 80-90x though and I lost Jovian surface definition. The TV zoom is great for planetary observing as changing magnification is slightly easier than falling off a log (or tripping over the Vixen tripod legs). M42 was just too much to resist and it beckoned the Nagler zoom. Although low, the nebula was quite beautiful at up to 90x. The Trapezium stars were quite striking up to 140x. Having ‘zoomy’ fun I split  Castor and Algieba, found the Winter Albireo then turned my attention to a low Cassiopeia. Iota Cass was as impressive as usual. The great thing about Cassiopeia being circumpolar is that it’s always visible for me. Eta Cass (Achird) was not that easy to split at first, possibly due to overall seeing. 

 

Eventually it was time for the Takahashi orthoscopic. The Serpent Cluster (Orion’s Belt) was still visible, even as Orion was disappearing. The Tak’ gave a beautifully clear view of the Pleiades and even some of Berenice’s Hair. Berenice is definitely better with a 2” Baader aspheric due to the fact I can see so much more of her barnet. The Baader doesn’t out-contrast the Takahashi however. The view through the orthoscopic was quite exquisite. Finally I split Polaris with the zoom, not so easy at first, but actually dropping the magnification to around 80-90x helped. Not forgetting the Polaris ‘Engagement Ring’ with the Takahashi.

 

 

The Pleiades and the Beehive were both very good with the Panoptic and the ortho’. I pondered on whether I could realistically just use the Panoptic and ditch the Takahashi. Sometimes, with short tube refractors, you do really appreciate a low (anything between 10-15x) magnification though. I could see Virgo or Astraea rising, supposedly the last immortal to abandon the Earth. She spans the 150th-180th degree of the Zodiac. Virgo is also related to Inanna (Venus) and to Demeter, both goddesses of the harvest (I haven’t even got to the Ancient Egyptians yet). So, she gets around. I can just about ‘see’ her now as she follows the lion across the night sky. Sometimes I really can see why our ancestors took solace in the night sky. These colossal yet strangely predictable figures make the universe a friendly familiar place. I wish I could claim the same for those pesky Zeta Reticulans. Luckily (I’m with Fermi on this) I don’t believe in aliens. I had a good two hours and I enjoyed the session. 

 

 

Here comes the rain again …

 

Edited April 10 by Nightspore

[Astronomer, Reinvented]

1 hour ago, Nightspore said:

 

It was around 20:40 by the time I had set-up on Tuesday the 9th. This was my first session this April. Which tells you a lot about the weather! It was fairly clear but the jet stream and therefore the overall seeing wasn’t really on my side. Either way, I was out with a scope under some stars, which has to be good, right? The main two decisions were what scope and eyepieces I would deploy. The former was easy; the 72ED Evostar was perfect as it was lightweight and small enough to be practical. It was a nice aperture size with no discernible difference from my 80ED. It also gets more use annually than any of my other scopes. I was slightly tempted by the Titchy Sixty but decided variety was the (scary) spice of life.

 

 

The EP’s were another thing altogether. Ideally I would elect for a nice spread from a 0.5mm exit pupil (140x) to about a 4mm (17.5x). I have about ten thousand eyepieces, and that’s no exaggeration lol. So, I’d whittled it down to: TV 3-6mm Nagler zoom (no-brainer), a 13mm Nagler, a 24mm Panoptic and a 32mm Takahashi Abbe Orthoscopic or 32mm TV Plossl. After a deep Taoist meditation session (actually a Margherita Pizza) I then decided to go with just three eyepieces (and a Barlow) for reasons of simplicity. The Nagler zoom plus a 19mm TV Panoptic and the Takahashi. These are much easier to utilise and use with my disability, although the Tele Vue Barlow wasn’t actually used on the night, I’ve discovered it works very well with the 19mm Panoptic. The 19mm is a pretty lightweight and compact eyepiece. Combined with the TV 2x it displays no astigmatism or vignetting whatsoever. It was like they were made for each other! I also decided to return to the 1.25” EverBrite diagonal after using the 1.25” Baader BBHS prism for a while. The BBHS clicklock can accidentally unthread the Panoptic barrel and does my head in with ‘twist to focus’ zoom eyepieces. So the plain, but well made and designed, TV thumb screw works better for me. I like the petite and compact Tak’ 32mm as it is a bit sui generis. Crystal clear with unrivalled optical acuity and contrast with a distinctly comfortable eye relief and  placement.

 

 

Possibly due to the deep placement of the eye lens within the housing. Altogether; I have a zoom with a range of 70x to 140x, a widefield with around 22x and an orthoscopic giving about 13x with a decent three arc degrees of field (I think). All three eyepieces can be easily carried in bolt cases in my jacket pockets. I like easy.

 

 

The first target was naturally the setting twilight Jupiter. At 13° altitude, or thereabouts, I wasn’t expecting much. I could see Europa and Ganymede close to each other, with Callisto on the opposite side of the planet. Anything higher than around 80-90x though and I lost Jovian surface definition. The TV zoom is great for planetary observing as changing magnification is slightly easier than falling off a log (or tripping over the Vixen tripod legs). M42 was just too much to resist and it beckoned the Nagler zoom. Although low, the nebula was quite beautiful at up to 90x. The Trapezium stars were quite striking up to 140x. Having ‘zoomy’ fun I split  Castor and Algieba, found the Winter Albireo then turned my attention to a low Cassiopeia. Iota Cass was as impressive as usual. The great thing about Cassiopeia being circumpolar is that it’s always visible for me. Eta Cass (Achird) was not that easy to split at first, possibly due to overall seeing. 

 

Eventually it was time for the Takahashi orthoscopic. The Serpent Cluster (Orion’s Belt) was still visible, even as Orion was disappearing. The Tak’ gave a beautifully clear view of the Pleiades and even some of Berenice’s Hair. Berenice is definitely better with a 2” Baader aspheric due to the fact I can see so much more of her barnet. The Baader doesn’t out-contrast the Takahashi however. The view through the orthoscopic was quite exquisite. Finally I split Polaris with the zoom, not so easy at first, but actually dropping the magnification to around 80-90x helped. Not forgetting the Polaris ‘Engagement Ring’ with the Takahashi.

 

 

The Pleiades and the Beehive were both very good with the Panoptic and the ortho’. I pondered on whether I could realistically just use the Panoptic and ditch the Takahashi. Sometimes, with short tube refractors, you do really appreciate a low (anything between 10-15x) magnification though. I could see Virgo or Astraea rising, supposedly the last immortal to abandon the Earth. She spans the 150th-180th degree of the Zodiac. Virgo is also related to Inanna (Venus) and to Demeter, both goddesses of the harvest (I haven’t even got to the Ancient Egyptians yet). So, she gets around. I can just about ‘see’ her now as she follows the lion across the night sky. Sometimes I really can see why our ancestors took solace in the night sky. These colossal yet strangely predictable figures make the universe a friendly familiar place. I wish I could claim the same for those pesky Zeta Reticulans. Luckily (I’m with Fermi on this) I don’t believe in aliens. I had a good two hours and I enjoyed the session. 

 

 

Here comes the rain again …

 

An interesting session. Unfortunately, as you say, they have been rather rare recently.

[Nightspore]

1 hour ago, Astronomer, Reinvented said:

An interesting session. Unfortunately, as you say, they have been rather rare recently.

 

Thanks. 'Rare' is an understatement. You've got more chance of being abducted by David Icke and the lizard people while playing Space Monopoly with a bunch of cattle mutilating Greys and an anal probe, than having a decent observing session. This time in 2022 I'd already had over 50 sessions, with everything from a 60mm refractor to a 127mm Mak. I've had three this year. 😞

[The Fellas on Google Plus]

Grab those clear nights when you can! Sounds like a nice session. Thanks for the report. I'm in eclipse hangover mode here in the States. It was the second total eclipse in less than 10 years and one city, Carbondale, Illinois fell in the path of totally BOTH TIMES! I didn't feel like being stuck in traffic or at airports so I stayed home and settled for a partial (I saw the total in 2017 anyways). I was sitting atop the Great Temple Mound built by the ancient indigenous moundbuilders over a thousand years ago. It got dim, not dark, and slightly cooler. More subtle than totality but still fun!

[Nightspore]

1 hour ago, The Fellas on Google Plus said:

Grab those clear nights when you can! Sounds like a nice session. Thanks for the report. I'm in eclipse hangover mode here in the States. It was the second total eclipse in less than 10 years and one city, Carbondale, Illinois fell in the path of totally BOTH TIMES! I didn't feel like being stuck in traffic or at airports so I stayed home and settled for a partial (I saw the total in 2017 anyways). I was sitting atop the Great Temple Mound built by the ancient indigenous moundbuilders over a thousand years ago. It got dim, not dark, and slightly cooler. More subtle than totality but still fun!

 

Yeah, I'm going to get all grabby. Rain's back again. I don't know, I was kinda hoping global warming would make things better. I should have known. I think the last eclipse here was 1999. Only partial for where I was though. Does a really greasy breakfast cure eclipse hangovers? lol

 

Still, 1999 could have been worse ...

 

 

[The Fellas on Google Plus]

3 hours ago, Nightspore said:

 

Yeah, I'm going to get all grabby. Rain's back again. I don't know, I was kinda hoping global warming would make things better. I should have known. I think the last eclipse here was 1999. Only partial for where I was though. Does a really greasy breakfast cure eclipse hangovers? lol

 

Still, 1999 could have been worse ...

 

 

I haven't seen this in eons!!!

[Nightspore]

46 minutes ago, The Fellas on Google Plus said:

I haven't seen this in eons!!!

 

Yeah, well, 1999 was a long time ago lol. I think the video shows the season 2 intro. Gerry Anderson had high hopes for the show but Lew Grade considered the first season to be a turkey. Fred Freiberger (producer) was brought in to 'Star Trek' it up a bit with more ray guns and a resident alien (Katherina Schell), who was also a bit hot. It never got a third season. Just as well I suppose, what with all the dodgy science and the flared trousers. I always thought the miniatures, sets/props and general mise en scène were really good for its time. I wonder where they are now? Did they ever make it back to the solar system? Did Tony ever really get serious with Maya? Did they ever have space drag races with the Eagle transporters? Inquiring minds want to know. What would Marine Boy think?

 

 

I've decided I'm just taking the Nagler zoom and the 24mm Panoptic out next 72ED session. That will simplify much. I reckon it's all I'll need. I have even considered a 2" EverBrite but I'm not sure if I can handle it safely with only my left hand. I used to use a 2" diagonal a lot on the 72ED. Even on its first light. The Vixen mount/tripod should handle it. I'll have to see.

 

 

Anyway, if it doesn't stop raining here I'm moving to Funkytown!

 

[+Streetbob]

An entertaining report sounds like you had a good if rare session. Thanks for sharing.

[Nightspore]

13 hours ago, Streetbob said:

An entertaining report sounds like you had a good if rare session. Thanks for sharing.

 

I was tempted early this morning, but the jet stream was 300KPH+ and the seeing was quite bad. Maybe Tuesday?

 

[+Streetbob]

I got out for some sun bothering first thing. It was glorious. Fingers crossed for Tuesday.