5th December (2)

[Daz Type-R]

Here is my attempt at my first log - please be gentle.

Temperature showed -3, clear skies with slight haziness in the south due to the lights from Nottingham. Seeing seemed good, only noticed a slightly bad affect when using highish magnification.

I was out from 19:45 until 23:30 when I decided to pack in due to being up early the next day.

Equipment : Sky Watcher 200P on a dob mount with all the bells and whistles mentioned in my signature.

First off I decided to fit my adjustable feet to my dob base, they have been sat around the garage for a few weeks, fitting was easy as I used the same screws and screw holes that the original feet used - simples.

Next I set all my equipment up and turned on the dew heater, noticed one of the lights was blinking oddly so I thought great, this is a bad start, also no heat was being transferred to 2 out of 5 of my heater strips, anyways, after 30 minutes of plugging, unplugging to try and see where the error was, it all seemed to work again, so probably just a loose connection somewhere.

First off was Jupiter, I all ways like a look at Jupiter, also use it to make sure my Tel-rad, finder scope and OTA are all aligned correctly. Nice colors on show tonight with 3 moons visible, the banding looked good as well, not 100% certain but I though I could make some barges out (is that the correct terminology) on the northern band, tried using my Hyperion zoom at 8mm but I found 10-12mm best.

Next up to M45, I really need a wide field ep for this, as my Hyperion at 24mm is still not enough, using averted vision I thought I may of caught sight of some nebulosity but not 100% sure.

Next was M42, all ways manage to see some structure to the nebulosity in Orion and tonight was no different, only managed to resolve the trapezium to 4 stars in my Hyperion zoom at 8mm, still a lovely sight though.

Next on my list were some Messier objects that I have not seen before, there were nicely placed in my area of the sky, not to high to make viewing difficult but high enough to be out of the haze and light pollution.

I had seen M37 before but decided to start there as my stepping stone to M36 + M38 (which I have not seen before), all 3 of the clusters looked good even down to 8-10mm, averted vision helped me with pulling out a few more stars but looking directly gave pleasing views of these clusters.

I did have a try for M35 while I was there, I could not find it but not too worried, I have seen it before. I also had a go for M1 but that was not visible (or I was looking in the wrong place).

Just before packing up I thought I would have a quick go at splitting Castor, a double star, managed that easily but I feel that is one of the easier doubles to split.

All in all a good productive night, bagged 2 new Messier objects which is all ways a bonus and due to the temperature gave my dew system another good outing, not one bit of dew in sight!

[philjay]

It was a nice night last night Daz good report, its alwyas nice to bag a few new objects each session. Casstor is an easy one and is a nice sight particularly the colour. Once you have found M35 usually its easy to get it again, give it another go then try and see if you can get the fainter cluster right next to it thats always a good test of seeing conditions.

[Guest Eddy]

Nice report Daz, enjoyed reading it on my lunch break.

[Doc]

I really enjoyed reading your report Darren.

When you find M38 next time have a look just to the right and you will see a little cluster Ngc1907, a hidden gem and one to tick of your list.

[catman161]

Great lunch time read. Sounds like a nice session. Thanks Daz

[BAZ]

A good night there Darren, and a great report.

Iam pleased the dew heaters work, it's great not having to worry about it, isn't it.

[+RonC]

Good report Darren, I can never read my 'scribble' afterwards!!

[Sheila]

Nicely done job there Daz Enjoyed reading it

Sheila

[Tweedledee]

A really interesting report Daz.

[andyboy1970]

Nice write up.

M1 is difficult at the best of times.