The Pleiades double challenge
I got in a few hours of? observing before my Losmandy mount gave up the ghost with power failure indication. It truly does not like the cold weather. The battery had been sitting for a few weeks so I figured the battery was a bit low. I run the mount off 18 volts usually. This has happened before. Runs fine for two hours then just quits due to voltage drop.
But anyways I did accomplish what I wanted to do tonight.
Everyone has shown someone the Pleiades but there is more to the story. I looked for hard doubles within the cluster and there are quite a few that are challenging. All look like singles but are not. This is a fun challenge. I used the 5 inch tonight and had to run fairly high power for all but one or two.
Here are the ID numbers:
Otto Struve 64
SAO 76249
SAO 76236
SAO 76126
SAO 76189
Struve? 450A
The G and H components of Alcyone
Oh Jupiter had a very fine transit tonight. As Io transited off the face ahead of it's shadow another moon came around from the back of the planet. At the same time as Io was leaving, Ganymede came from in back of the planet on the opposite limb. Pretty good. Two moons right on the limb of Jupiter and one moon shadow.
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Re: Reminder: YRSP Saturday Night, 4 January
Hey Troy. These clear winter early sunset nights are enticing. I am actually considering getting off my couch and coming up.
On Thursday, January 2, 2025 at 12:17:25 AM EST, Troy Riedel via groups.io <troy.riedel@...> wrote:
The good news: Transparency looks good & Seeing looks decent for wintertime.
The bad news: the Sunset temperature forecast is 30F, the 11PM temperature?forecast is 18F. Brrrr ...
You know the drill ... if you need specific event details, please check-out last week's post re: our back-to-back December-January Saturday Nights. If the weather holds, I'll post an early 'Go' on Saturday. Layer-up folks, I doubt anyone can over-dress based on the forecast.
Cheers, Troy
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That's how it goes it seems. Red spot tonight on Jupiter around 10. I have an AR 152 but have not had much luck getting the power up for planets that require higher power. I do like it for deep sky though.
Usually for solar system stuff and doubles I use my 2004 Stellarvue 102mm LOMO doublet or my ES 127 carbon triplet. Fortunately you can only use so much power on Jupiter anyways so actually my old (1989)? Stellarvue 80/9D achro does a pretty credible job for a quick look. I just ignore the purple. or use a 56A green filter. It has good detail for what was originally intended to be a good beginners scope. It actually is a very good scope by any standards.
I don't expect mars to be like it was a couple of apparitions ago. It was low then but fairly larger in diameter. The best view ever, in a couple of decades worth, was with Kent's Takahashi 6 inch The last go around. We had one exceptional night and his 6 inch is a planet killer (albeit at great cost). Jupiter through that scope has to be seen. It is amazing.
On Thursday, January 2, 2025 at 11:44:47 AM EST, Troy Riedel via groups.io <troy.riedel@...> wrote:
100% agree. I used my 6" ES AR152 refractor instead of the C11. It was indeed "rough" as you said. On nights like this, I get my astro 'fix' from Jupiter b/c no matter how bad the seeing is, it's tough for The 'King Planets' to disappoint.
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100% agree. I used my 6" ES AR152 refractor instead of the C11. It was indeed "rough" as you said. On nights like this, I get my astro 'fix' from Jupiter b/c no matter how bad the seeing is, it's tough for The 'King Planets' to disappoint.
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Not much of one last night. Since Mars is about the same rotation as we are you get the same face for nights in a row.
On Thursday, January 2, 2025 at 11:08:32 AM EST, Ian Stewart <ian@...> wrote:
Thanks Mark - always like to read your observations.
On 1/1/2025 10:38 PM, jimcoble2000 via
groups.io wrote:
Seeing was pretty rough as
expected with a cold front coming in. It was not impossible to
do any work on Mars but only the most rudimentary stuff. In
short, the usual. I toggled between 239x and 197x. Takahashi
TOE 3.3mm and Zeiss ZAO I 4mm respectively. As always, the
polar cap and Mare Boreum were fairly obvious. Mare Boreum is
the thin band of darker albedo surrounding the polar cap.
Being spring, the cap is not particularly large. Seeing
prevented seeing the darker areas at the bottom of the disc
opposite the pole very clearly. It was there but that's all I
could say about it. 30A magenta filter gave the most natural
coloring. I did use an 82A Light blue to see if any clouds
could be seen but none were visible to me. The 82A does light
up the cap though. Syrtis Major has not been on the disc most
of this observing year.
Selecting the right power is
always a bit of a judgment call. At 197 the disc was sharper
but seeing still presented a problem. At 239, seeing wasn't
that much worse and the disc is larger so maybe you can wait
for a moment of clarity. At least you have a larger disc to
work with should the miracle occur. It did not BTW.
Good news this go around:
Mars rides pretty high in the sky so less air to have to go
through.
Bad news this go around: Mars
is not as large as the last two apparitions.
Still fun and cold but
nothing to get up granny about.
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Thanks Mark - always like to read your observations.
On 1/1/2025 10:38 PM, jimcoble2000 via
groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Seeing was pretty rough as
expected with a cold front coming in. It was not impossible to
do any work on Mars but only the most rudimentary stuff. In
short, the usual. I toggled between 239x and 197x. Takahashi
TOE 3.3mm and Zeiss ZAO I 4mm respectively. As always, the
polar cap and Mare Boreum were fairly obvious. Mare Boreum is
the thin band of darker albedo surrounding the polar cap.
Being spring, the cap is not particularly large. Seeing
prevented seeing the darker areas at the bottom of the disc
opposite the pole very clearly. It was there but that's all I
could say about it. 30A magenta filter gave the most natural
coloring. I did use an 82A Light blue to see if any clouds
could be seen but none were visible to me. The 82A does light
up the cap though. Syrtis Major has not been on the disc most
of this observing year.
Selecting the right power is
always a bit of a judgment call. At 197 the disc was sharper
but seeing still presented a problem. At 239, seeing wasn't
that much worse and the disc is larger so maybe you can wait
for a moment of clarity. At least you have a larger disc to
work with should the miracle occur. It did not BTW.
Good news this go around:
Mars rides pretty high in the sky so less air to have to go
through.
Bad news this go around: Mars
is not as large as the last two apparitions.
Still fun and cold but
nothing to get up granny about.
|
Reminder: YRSP Saturday Night, 4 January
The good news: Transparency looks good & Seeing looks decent for wintertime.
The bad news: the Sunset temperature forecast is 30F, the 11PM temperature?forecast is 18F. Brrrr ...
You know the drill ... if you need specific event details, please check-out last week's post re: our back-to-back December-January Saturday Nights. If the weather holds, I'll post an early 'Go' on Saturday. Layer-up folks, I doubt anyone can over-dress based on the forecast.
Cheers, Troy
|
Seeing was pretty rough as expected with a cold front coming in. It was not impossible to do any work on Mars but only the most rudimentary stuff. In short, the usual. I toggled between 239x and 197x. Takahashi TOE 3.3mm and Zeiss ZAO I 4mm respectively. As always, the polar cap and Mare Boreum were fairly obvious. Mare Boreum is the thin band of darker albedo surrounding the polar cap. Being spring, the cap is not particularly large. Seeing prevented seeing the darker areas at the bottom of the disc opposite the pole very clearly. It was there but that's all I could say about it. 30A magenta filter gave the most natural coloring. I did use an 82A Light blue to see if any clouds could be seen but none were visible to me. The 82A does light up the cap though. Syrtis Major has not been on the disc most of this observing year.
Selecting the right power is always a bit of a judgment call. At 197 the disc was sharper but seeing still presented a problem. At 239, seeing wasn't that much worse and the disc is larger so maybe you can wait for a moment of clarity. At least you have a larger disc to work with should the miracle occur. It did not BTW.
Good news this go around: Mars rides pretty high in the sky so less air to have to go through. Bad news this go around: Mars is not as large as the last two apparitions.
Still fun and cold but nothing to get up granny about.
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Re: I just checked heavens above and that bright satellite I mentioned a couple of days ago. It was the solar sail.
Oh yes the brightest thing in the sky when? it does reflect
On Wednesday, January 1, 2025 at 02:46:20 PM EST, Will Kiff <modok4@...> wrote:
I didn¡¯t even know that nasa had a solar sail. I¡¯m out of the loop.?
On Jan 1, 2025, at 1:43?PM, Mark Ost <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:
? Magnitude 1.8
Looked back on the Monday pass schedule and time.
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Re: I just checked heavens above and that bright satellite I mentioned a couple of days ago. It was the solar sail.
I didn¡¯t even know that nasa had a solar sail. I¡¯m out of the loop.?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Jan 1, 2025, at 1:43?PM, Mark Ost <jimcoble2000@...> wrote:
? Magnitude 1.8
Looked back on the Monday pass schedule and time.
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I just checked heavens above and that bright satellite I mentioned a couple of days ago. It was the solar sail.
Magnitude 1.8
Looked back on the Monday pass schedule and time.
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I hope it doesn't bother you because there are loads of them. The picture enclosed is a good example of what can't be seen telescopically.? But I do recall a couple of nights, 3 to 5 years ago, when things were certainly very good. But prior to that for the 20 previous years only fair views. That is the charm of the place. Mars makes you earn every square inch. One life time of observing may be enough. The greats could count seasons on one hand usually with maybe a finger from the other but not much more.
Stand about twenty feet back from the picture, squint a bit and that is a good approximation.
On Wednesday, January 1, 2025 at 09:40:51 AM EST, Jonathan Scheetz <jonathan@...> wrote:
Thanks Mark.? I didn't really expect to see any surface detail in my scope.? When I set these kinds of challenges for myself I really don't expect to see anything.?
But sometimes I do get my hopes up but for some reason failures in astronomy never seem to bother me.
I've probably looked for three times as many galaxies as I've ever seem but sometimes I get to see something I didn't expect.
?
According to SkySafari Olympus Mons was supposed to be about dead center in mars when I was looking for it (see attached photo).? But of course I didn't see anything - and didn't expect to.
?
You comment about a "big disc" got me attention so I went out and found some info on that (see attached) - I didn't realize that mar's diameter changed that much at opposition.
The next "big disc" will be in 2035 and then again in 2050.? ?I'll be pretty old by then but I'll try to make it. :)
?
Based on some of the "comments" in Cloudy Nights I thought some of the folks in our group with big scopes might have been able to see Olympus Mons or the Tharsis Volcano grouping but based on your feedback I know that isn't possible.
?
Thanks for the information.
?
  ? ?
- Jonathan
?
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Thanks Mark.? I didn't really expect to see any surface detail in my scope.? When I set these kinds of challenges for myself I really don't expect to see anything.?
But sometimes I do get my hopes up but for some reason failures in astronomy never seem to bother me.
I've probably looked for three times as many galaxies as I've ever seem but sometimes I get to see something I didn't expect.
?
According to SkySafari Olympus Mons was supposed to be about dead center in mars when I was looking for it (see attached photo).? But of course I didn't see anything - and didn't expect to.
?
You comment about a "big disc" got me attention so I went out and found some info on that (see attached) - I didn't realize that mar's diameter changed that much at opposition.
The next "big disc" will be in 2035 and then again in 2050.? ?I'll be pretty old by then but I'll try to make it. :)
?
Based on some of the "comments" in Cloudy Nights I thought some of the folks in our group with big scopes might have been able to see Olympus Mons or the Tharsis Volcano grouping but based on your feedback I know that isn't possible.
?
Thanks for the information.
?
  ? ?
- Jonathan
?
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No, beyond amateur scopes visually. Olympus Mons has not been on the face recently and you would have to have clouds above it and see the clouds. Clouds are usually seen in light blue filters. All your observing is albedo features. Now on exceptional nights of very steady seeing and a big disc (something we don't have now and won't for a very long time), you may see more detail in the shades but no physical detail, as on the moon, that I have ever seen. It is Mars spring right now so some features are there and some are not.
The classic observers in the nineteenth century were using refractors in the 29 to 40 inch range and even then detail was very ambiguous at best. A few serious claims by very good observers who were quite honest were rumored but are not really accepted now as correct. It took the Martian space probes to start to fill in the blanks from orbit. Up till that time no one knew if there were craters or what? So yes all you see are shades and you have to interpret those shades based on location.
Hellas Basin is a great example. Visually, an oval that is a lighter shade than the area around it but what was it actually? It could easily be mistaken for a pole. Only after NASA was it identified as the largest impact basin in the solar system.
On Tuesday, December 31, 2024 at 04:54:02 PM EST, Jonathan Scheetz <jonathan@...> wrote:
I think I made a mistake reading people's observations of mars on Cloudy Nights.?
?
There were two objects that people reported being able to see visually in 8" to 10" scopes: "Olympus Mons" and the "Tharsis Montes" 3 Volcano Grouping.
Most of the time it seems they were just seeing clouds above those objects.
?
My question for the group:?
Has anyone ever seen any detail on mars visually other than the ice cap and albedo regions.
?
I don't expect I ever will but it would be interesting to know if it was really possible.
?
- Jonathan
?
?
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OK, perhaps this is cheating somewhat (so sue me). ?But I¡¯ve enjoyed Lower¡¯s Nebula twice with the 18-inch Dob using a PVS-14 white phosphor night vison device and a 7nm h-alpha filter atop a 50mm Russel Optics Plossl. It¡¯s quite obvious with this combination: ¡°large, bright, and annular with wispy extensions¡±. Not so very unlike Ian¡¯s photograph. (12/5/2021 and 9/18/2023) ? Ted BBAA southwest ?
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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Kent Blackwell via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2024 2:31 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [BackBayAstro] Lowers Nebula? I've only suspected seeing Lower's Nebula once from Coinjock NC using my 25" Dobsonian: Lower's Nebula - Sh 2-261
(Bright Nebula in Orion)
Observed: Jan 19, 2014, 9:20:00 PM I could barely see some slight brightening as I moved the scope. The OIII filter didn't help.?
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I think I made a mistake reading people's observations of mars on Cloudy Nights.?
?
There were two objects that people reported being able to see visually in 8" to 10" scopes: "Olympus Mons" and the "Tharsis Montes" 3 Volcano Grouping.
Most of the time it seems they were just seeing clouds above those objects.
?
My question for the group:?
Has anyone ever seen any detail on mars visually other than the ice cap and albedo regions.
?
I don't expect I ever will but it would be interesting to know if it was really possible.
?
- Jonathan
?
?
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I've only suspected seeing Lower's Nebula once from Coinjock NC using my 25" Dobsonian:
?
Lower's Nebula - Sh 2-261
(Bright Nebula in Orion)
Observed: Jan 19, 2014, 9:20:00 PM
I could barely see some slight brightening as I moved the scope. The OIII filter didn't help.?
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January BBAA Meeting Location Change
Since TCC is closed for the holidays, our BBAA meeting this Thursday, January 2, 2025 will be held at the Kempsville Recreation Center on Monmouth Drive in Virginia Beach, 7:30 - 9:00 pm.
I don't know if it will be possible to record this meeting or have it on ZOOM, so you may want to plan to be present at the rec center.
George
George Reynolds
"Solar System Ambassador" for South Hampton Roads, Virginia
Back Bay Amateur Astronomers (BBAA)?
?
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On Tuesday, December 31, 2024 at 09:03:17 AM EST, Ian Stewart <ian@...> wrote:
I see a poodle face :-)
On 12/31/2024 8:50 AM, Jonathan Scheetz
wrote:
Great image Ian.? A good Rorschach test - my first impression
after a couple of seconds was a cloud of two big lips swooping
in for kiss.? I guess I'm just a romantic at heart.?
- Jonathan?
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It was a good night last night. Dry and very transparent. Good transit of Europa across Jupiter. Terrible Mars seeing.
Oh and a very interesting observation. Around 8:30 or so a very very bright satellite went by Mars. I have never seen such a bright satellite. It was brighter than Mars (really) and quite gold colored. I assume it was the NASA solar sail. Nothing else would be that bright.
Good image as always Ian. Happy new years.
On Tuesday, December 31, 2024 at 08:37:48 AM EST, Ian Stewart via groups.io <swampcolliecoffee@...> wrote:
Last night was a perfect night for imaging. Cool temps, good transparency and seeing. Here is a few hours on a less well known nebula - Sh2-261 Lowers Nebula. I haven't photographed this in quite a few years.
Cheers
Ian
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Jonathan Scheetz
Ted Forte
Kent Blackwell