Category: Deepsky observing
Monday, June 07, 2010
Observing the Pleiades with binoculars
Last winter I made a detailed sketch of the Pleiades (M45) in Taurus. The sketch was made outdoors using a felt-tip pen and white copy paper. Later this spring I scanned the sketch and processed it using Photoshop. The instrument used during the observation was an 8x42 wide angle binocular, with a field of view of 8.2 degrees, mounted on the SkyWindow mirror mount. For a detailed observing report and further background info, please visit my website dedicated to double stars and open clusters, Starobserver.eu
Click on the image to enlarge
Posted by Math on 06/07 at 11:36 AM |
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Sunday, June 06, 2010
Observing deepsky objects with a binoviewer......
I finally had a chance to test my new binoviewer on some deepsky objects, and I must admit, it did not disappoint me. Of course the binoviewer is not very useful on the larger open clusters or on double stars, but on objects with some kind of "surface" like planetary nebulae and globular clusters, it is definitely an improvement over the view with just a single eye. I had a look at three globulars, M13 and M92 in Hercules and M56 in Lyra. All objects were viewed at a magnification of 217x. M13 was simply stunning, watching it drift across the field like a giant spider with several legs of stars stretching out from the crowded centre, a very large and attractive globular cluster. M92 was a very different story. Compared to M13, M92 is very compact, with not so many outlying stars, but with a very bright core. M56 surprised me. Until now, from my suburban backyard, it looked very dim, a faint smudge of light with little or no detail. But now, even during the period we call the grey nights (it doesn't get really dark), I saw M56 partially resolved in individual stars, thanks to the observation with both eyes.
Below you see a comparison of the three globular clusters from the POSS-1. The National Geographic Society - Palomar Observatory Sky Atlas (POSS-I) was made by the California Institute of Technology with grants from the National Geographic Society. All three images cover an area of 1 degree by 1 degree.
After the globular clusters I had a go at a few planetary nebulae, The Blinking planetary (NGC 6826) and Hidden Treasure 78 (NGC6210). The sight of the blinking planetary amazed me. For the first time ever I saw this small nebula in full color, right at first site. A small blue-green patch of light. During earlier observations of this nebula, I always had trouble to see the color. NGC 6210 in Hercules was jumping at me with a bright blue color. Is it easier to see color with two eyes?
After tonight I definitely know that the binoviewer will be used for observing smaller deepsky objects like globulars, planetary nebulae and galaxies. But I am also very curious what this binoviewer will do on extended nebulae, like M42 or M17.
Posted by Math on 06/06 at 06:21 AM |
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Monday, November 30, 2009
Update on Starobserver.eu
Hi all,I have to apologize that I have not posted a lot in 2009, but due to some personal things, my time was very limited. I did however put a lot of effort in Starobserver.eu, my new website about observing stars and starclusters. Right now I have documented 24 objects which I have observed in the last year, with sketches and very detailed observing reports: 12 open clusters and 12 stellar objects. In the next few months a hope to add a group of asterisms. Very recently I added a "search engine" to Starobserver.eu and an article about my observing reports. Just have a look at my new site. Any tips and/or comments are of course appreciated.
And here's a sketch of M44 that made it into Astronomy Sketch of the Day:
Anyway, I hope to post a little more in my blog again in the next months.
Clear skies to all of you..........
Friday, August 14, 2009
NGC 2420 in Gemini
Hi,
Just a quick update on my new website Starobserver.eu. I added another sketch to the open cluster section. Last winter I observed NGC 2420 in Gemini. This little cluster lies in the neighbourhood of the Eskimo Nebula, For a detailed observing report, some info on the discovery of this cluster, a finder chart and other interesting things on NGC 2420, please follow this link to NGC 2420 on StarObserver.eu
Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
eta Persei
eta Persei is a bright double star, placed within a striking asterism. When I was writing my notes on this double, I found out the collecting the right data on individual stars is sometimes much more complicated than you think. I got some help from an Austrian astro-photograpeher, Peter Wienerroither. His image of eta Persei was a great help identifying all the components of eta Persei. To read the full report, just follow this link to StarObserver.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
NGC 6910 The Rocking Horse Cluster
NGC 6910, a small and compact open cluster in Cygnus. When observing this open cluster you see bright yellow stars, that are in fact B-stars. So they should appear white. What causes the yellowish appearance is explained in this article, where I got some great help from Professor James Kaler, author of some of the best books on stars, and Dr. Franz Gruber, who sent me a few magnificent deepsky images of the Cygnus area to illustrate the high degree of nebulosity in the Cygnus area. To read the full story, and have a look at the wonderful images of Dr. Franz Gruber, follow this link to StarObserver.eu
Image by Dr. Franz Gruber
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Xi Bootes in Little Cygnus
On the evening of May 9th 2008 Leo and I got together to observe a series of double stars in Bootes, inspired by an article in June's Sky and telescope (Binaries in your Bootes). In the period between the beginning of May and the end of July it doesn't get really dark at night, but for observing double stars or asterisms, this proved to be not a problem at all. We started at 23.00 hours local time (UT + 2hrs). In three hours time we observed and sketched about six doubles in Bootes and two asterisms, one in Bootes (Picot 1), the other in Ursa Major (Ferrero 6). The highlight for me that night was Xi Bootes. This colorful double lies about 8 degrees east of Arcturus. The Yellow primary star shines at magnitude 4.8 and it's magnitude 7.6 orange companion lies at a position angle of 315°. The separation is 6.3". Through the 17mm Nagler the double looks fairly close (scale from "Double Stars for small Telescopes" by Sissy Haas). When looking at Xi Bootes through the 17mm Nagler, the double seems to be part of an asterism that looks like the constellation Cygnus, only much smaller. Xi Bootes is placed at the position of Deneb, the tail of the swan. We decided to call the asterism "Little Cygnus". On the sketch below the asterism is oriented West-East. At the tail you find Xi Bootes. Three white stars oriented north-south represent the wings of the little swan. A white star to the east (accompanied by a dimmer companion) is at the position of the head of the swan. The yellow star to the eastern edge of the field of view is just a bright field star. It is no part of the "Little Cygnus" asterism.
The sketch of "Little Cygnus " and Xi Bootes was made using the 300mm f/5.3 Dobson and a 17mm Type4 Nagler. The magnification is 94x and the field of view is 52'. At the telescope I made a sketch on white paper using a HB led-pencil. This sketch was scanned and processed in Photoshop. I colored the double star (and the field star to the east) using the tutorial described on the website of Jeremy Perez ( http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus ). This is the first time I experimented with this technique, and I am very pleased with the result. It produces a realistic image and resembles what you see through the eyepiece. In the future I will try to use this technique for sketching more double and multiple stars.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Observing hidden treasures.........
Last night it was clear between 11 and 1 o clock (local time) and I had a quick look at some deep-sky objects with just to test my new eyepiece, the 21mm Denkmeier. In my dob, the 65-degree eyepiece gives a magnification of 76x and a true field of view of 51'. I pointed the eyepiece at M 27 and although it wasn't really dark (grey nights during the May-July period), it was quite an impressive sight. M 27 is really big, even at low powers, and with the UHC filter the Dumbbell shape is very obvious at first sight. The 21mm Denkmeier seems to be very "transparent", letting through much more light than the 20mm and/or 25mm Vixen Lanthanum. The stars where sharp right to the edges although I think that there is a little pincushion distortion along the edges. What I really love about this eyepiece is the generous 20mm eye-relief. Even with my glasses on, I can take in the whole field of view at once.
this planetary takes high magnifications well, and is at its best 150x or more. 