Last night, Leo and I observed the Moon, Saturn and a number of deepsky objects. We used an 8-inch Vixen Newtonian (R200SS) and a 10-inch TAL Klevtzov-Cassegrain (both mounted on a Lichtenknecker mount), combined with a Baader wide field bino-viewer. We used different Zeiss eyepieces. For wide-field viewing we also used a Zeiss 85mm Diascope with Zeiss 20-60x zoom eyepiece and two binoculars, a Vixen 15x80 and a TS 20x90. The deepsky objects observed were M 35, M 42, M 43, M 44, NGC 2264, NGC 2392, Alcor and Mizar, Cor Caroli and NGC 2261.
The Moon
We started with the Moon. The view through the TAL 250K and bino-viewer was simply stunning. The first thing that caught our attention was the alpine valley area. The view of the Alps and especially the shadows they casted, were awesome. They looked like a row of teeth on the lunar surface. Then there was in the same field of view the extremely long, triangular shadow of Mons Piton. To the north-northwest of Piton, the tops of Mons Pico and the mountain just to the south where lit by the Sun while the base and Mare floor where still in the shadows. Just right in front of the Alps some of the Mare ridges where visible.
To the south of the Alps, a part of the northeastern part of the Apennines was already visible, and with the bino-viewer it was as if we observed the mountain chain in 3-D. To the south-southeast of the Apennines, on the edge of Mare Vaporum, was a large rectangular area visible. It looked just like a big landslide to us. With the bino-viewer, Rima Hyginus with the crater in the middle, was again a wonderful sight. To the west of Hyginus, part of the Rimae Triesnecker complex was visible.
On the southern hemisphere, the most interesting feature was the group a group of four craters, Ptolemaeus with to its east Albategnius and to its south Alphonsus and Arzachel. On the floor of Alphonsus, a dark patch could be seen on the western rim of the crater floor. This is probably the result of some volcanic outfall.
We observed the Moon for quite some time, and we concluded that with the bino-viewer the views are simply the best. You see much more detail than with one eye, and observing is not tiring at all. You can observe using both eyes for hours on end. What also surprised us was that you could see Rima Hyginus with the 85mm Zeiss Diascope, with the zoom-eyepiece at maximum zoom (60x). The quality of this small birding-scope is very good.
Image shot with the Coolpix 4500, Zeiss Diascope and Zeiss zoom
eyepiece a few hours before the actual observing session
Saturn
We only had a short look at Saturn. The seeing was deteriorating quickly (a lot of moisture in the air), and high magnifications were useless. However, the Cassini division was very clear, and we could also see a dark band across the surface of Saturn. We are still discussing about this dark band, was it the shadow of the rings, or a dark zone in the clouds of Saturn?
Deepsky
We started with M 35 in Gemini. This large open cluster looked best in the 8-inch Vixen, because of the wide field of view (f/4 800mm) that you get with this instrument. From there we went to Orion. M 42 was unbelievable in the bino-viewer. Of course you can only see a small part of this nebula in the TAL 250K, using the bino-viewer, but the views were great, even without the nebula filters. The area around the trapezium is one big complex of nebulosity, which you can observe again and again, and you always will see new details. We did not detect the E or F component of the trapezium group (theta Orionis). With the Zeiss Diascope at 60x, the Orion Nebula looked like a big bird flying through the skies with its wings spread. It was amazing to see how far out both nebulous wings spread out from the centre. Again a very pretty sight. M 43 was also visible in the 85mm refractor, using a little averted vision.
We also looked for the running man (dark area between NGC 1973, 1975 and 1977) but we did not detect any nebulosity in the area. The same goes for the Horsehead nebula (IC434) and M 78. They also stayed invisible, even with the nebula filters we used.
Next on the list was M 44 (Praesepe) in Cancer. This is really a wide open cluster, and it fitted niceley in the 8-inch f/4 Vixen and the 85mm Zeiss. The best view however was with the 15x80 binoculars. Saturn and M 44 nearly fitted into the same field of view! From M 44 we moved to Gemini again. This time for a planetary nebula, the Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392). It was very easy to spot at higher magnification (fuzzy appearence), but at low powers it just looked like a star. With the bino-viewer and the two Zeiss eyepieces, you could see a grayish, equally bright centre and a fuzzy outer ring around it (probably the Eskimo’s fur-lined hood). We did not see “the eskimos eyes” which you see on the many photographs. From there we hopped south into Monoceros to have a look at the “Christmas Tree”, NGC 2264. It didn’t fit into the TAL’s field of view but with the 8-ich Vixen, it looked just fine, a small Christmas tree. We also looked for Hubble’s variable nebula, but it was “invisible”. Hubble’s variable nebula (NGC 2261) is very intriguing object. Sometimes you simply just see it, and sometimes it is completely invisible.
Finally, we observed a few double stars with the Zeiss. Cor Caroli and Alcor/Mizar are still two of my favorites after all these years. The Zeiss shows them really well, esthetically a beautiful sight. Around three o clock we packed up after six hours of observing. After two months of cloudy nights, last night was a real treat!
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Last week I shot my first “live” footage from the Moon using the camcorder and the 85mm Zeiss. The camcorder was connected to a TAL 25mm plossl with a ScopeTronix adaptor. At the moment I am waiting for a new adaptor from Eagle Eye Optics, which will enable me to connect the camcorder, the Nikon Coolpix or any other camera to the Zeiss zoom-eyepiece. This should make life a little easier. I also got a new video-head for my tripod, the Manfrotto 501. This should give me good stability for shooting lunar images with the Zeiss just using the tripod. Anyway, if you’re interested in the first results I got, click on the image below, and the movie (about 3 minutes) will start (9 mb!) Allow a little time for the movie to load.
Last night before everything was shrouded in a very dens fog, I got a chance to shoot an image of the Moon with the Zeiss Diascope 85 (500mm f/5), the 32mm Televue Plossl and the Nikon Coolpix 4500.
Click to enlarge
The image is a stack of 9 original images, 1/125s, f/3.7, iso 100, 2272x1704. The image has been processed slightly using Noiseware Professional (noise reduction and unsharp masking) and histogram adjustment. The image was cropped to 800x600 (approx.)
Tonight I got a chance to test the Zeiss diascope 85 and the Manfrotto tripod astronomically for the first time. The Moon was high in the south, and my first impression was ......wow! Although the seeing was not very good, the Moon was there, crystal clear, in the Zeiss 20-60 eyepiece. What a view. The Alpine Valley was clearly visible at lowest magnification (20x). Beautiful! The contrast between the Mare and highland areas was stunning. My girlfriend also came out to have a look, and her first reaction was: “I never have seen such a clear and sharp image of the Moon through any other instrument we owe”. We also noted another thing with this little instrument. Usually, at first quarter, we see only the half of the Moon that is illuminated. I only have seen earthshine, or any un-illuminated part of the Moon with a crescent Moon or with a lunar eclipse. But with the Zeiss we could see the contours of the whole of the Moon, full circle. This telescope definitely has a lot of contrast. I am very eager to try it on some of my favourite deepsky objects, like the Orion nebula and the Pleiades.
After the first views with the zoom-eyepiece I tried all my other eyepieces. The 25mm TAL plossl, the 32mm Televue plossl and the whole Lanthanum range (25mm-5mm). They all snapped into focus nicely. The 32mm Televue offered even a slightly wider field of view than the 70-degree Zeiss zoom eyepiece at 20x. Next I tried to focus the Zeiss with one of the deepsky filters or the Baader IR/UV cut filter mounted at the base of the eyepiece. With the 32mm Televue Plossl it was no problem.
What I also noticed is that with this Manfrotto tripod and the 45 degree angled telescope it is no problem to observe objects in the zenith, and because of the 45 degree angle, you see everything oriented in the sky as you see it with your naked eyes. I hope to do some serious deepsky observing and shoot some solar and lunar images with the Zeiss in the next few months.
After last night’s severe snowstorms I hoped for “clear skies” this morning. But when I got up, I was in for a little surprise. It was still snowing, and according to the local weather station we will keep this weather for the most of next week: cloudy, sometimes snow, temperatures around zero degrees Celsius and ……… no clear skies!
Anyway, I decided to test our new Zeiss spotting scope on the birds again. I bought the Diascope 85 together with the zoom-eypiece, and yesterday I got two other Zeiss eyepieces from Leo (a fellow observer who lives just down the road) to test them. The quality of these eyepieces is also outstanding, good eye-relief, very clear and transparent; but for now the 20–60x zoom is just OK for me. In the near future I hope to get an adaptor to connect the Nikon Coolpix to the zoom eyepiece. I’m very pleased with the quality of the spotting scope. The images are good, but they can get a lot better when I can shoot the images using the Zeiss eyepieces. The camera will also be modified a little, but more about that later. I will keep you updated!
Today I shot two good images from a Chaffinch using Televue Plossl and the Nikon Coolpix connected to the Zeiss. I also recorded some footage from a Greenfinch with the camcorder connected to the Zeiss with a TAL 25mm Plossl. Click on the images to enlarge them or to start the movie.
Yesterday we got our new birding scope, an 85mm Zeiss Diascope together with a Zeiss zoom eyepiece (20x-60x). The first impression I got when looking through this small instrument can be described in one word: stunning! I never had an instrument with this optical quality. The Zeiss Diascope will not only be used for birding, but also for astronomy. I think it will be very good for observing (and imaging) the Moon but I'm also very curious how it will perform on larger deepsky objects like the Pleiades, the Orion Nebula, M 31 or the Double Cluster in Perseus.
Click to enlarge
Today however, it was completely clouded, so I tried to shoot some images from a few backyard visitors: a Robin and a Collared Dove. I used the Coolpix 4500 and a Televue 32mm plossl connected to the Zeiss Diascope with a special “astro-Adaptor”. Below are the first results (click images to enlarge). All images were only slightly processed (unsharp masking, levels, contrast brightness) and finaly resized from 2272x1704 to 800x600.
Towards the end of the year, Auriga climbs higher and higher in the night sky, and within its borders lie three of my favourite open clusters, M 36, M 37 and M 38. All three open clusters will be included in my Deepsky Top 100, but I will start with M 36, which I observed and sketched this week (8 November 2005).
Le Gentil discovered M 36 in 1749, while he was working as an assistant of Jaques Cassini at the Paris Observatory. Messier observed M 36 on 2 September 1764. It lies in Auriga, near the galactic anticenter, at a distance of 4100 light years. When you look in this direction (Auriga), you look away from the galactic centre, towards the nearest stretch of our galaxy's rim.
Click to enlarge (image from SkyTools 2 by CapellaSoft)
M 36 has a diameter of 12' and a visual brightness of magnitude 6. Its brightest star is a magnitude 8.86 B2 main sequence star. M 36 can be found roughly halfway between M 37 and M 38, about 8 degrees tot the east of Iota Aurigae. When the seeing in my backyard is "moderate" (mag. 4.7 visual) I can see M 36, M 37 and M 38 in my 8x50 finder scope as three faint patches of light.
As it is with many star clusters, most people "see" some kind of pattern in these objects. Some observers report that M 36 looks like a crab, others see a crooked Y, X or a big cross. I want to add one to the list. To me, at first glance, M 36 looks like a butterfly when looking through my 8-inch f/10 Klevtzov using a Televue 32mm plossl (field of view about 48' magnification 62x). Using a 20mm eyepiece, magnification 100x, I counted about 40 stars, ranging from magnitude 8 to 12.5. There are several arcs and small groups (2 or 3) of stars visible. I did not detect any form of nebulosity or background haze from unresolved stars. But when I increased the magnification, more (fainter) stars became visible. The sketch below should give you an idea. Anyway, let me know what you "see" when you go out and observe this beautiful open cluster.
This sketch was made on 8 November 2005, from 22.30 UT till 23.15 UT. The instrument used was the TAL 200K, a Vixen Lanthanum 20mm, magnification 100x and field of view approx. 30'. North is up and west is to the left. « Collapse
Although its another 6 weeks till Christmas, you already can enjoy the view of three celestial Christmas trees around this time of the year: M 39 in Cygnus, M 103 in Cassiopeia and NGC 2264 in Monoceros. However, if you want to observe all three in one night, start early in the evening and stay up until way after midnight.
1. M 39 (NGC 7092)
At the end of October / the beginning of November Cygnus is high in the southwestern sky around 20.00 hours UT. You can find M 39 about 9 degrees to the east-northeast of Deneb, the bright star marking the tail of the Swan. Although M 39 fits in the 48’ field of view of my telescope 8-inch Klevtzov, I find that M 39 is at its best in my 15x80 binoculars (f.o.v. 3.5 degrees). With plenty of space surrounding the cluster, M 39 stands out nicely from the neighboring star fields and its triangular shape makes it look like ......... a Christmas tree. M 39 has a diameter of 31’ and visual magnitude of 4.6. In the 15x80 I see about 20 to 25 stars ranging from magnitude 7 to 10, a very pretty sight.
2. M 103 (NGC 581)
This open cluster in Cassiopeia is often overlooked because of the fact that it is very small and therefore not “spectacular”. M 103 can be located very easy. First find Ruchbah (Delta Cassiopeiae). Go 1 degree to the east-northeast. There you will find M 103. Until now I did not resolve this small open cluster completely with my 15x80 binoculars, but I definitely detected some stars superimposed on a somewhat hazy background of M 103. In the 8-inch Klevztov at 133x Messier 103 is resolved almost completely. M 103 has a diameter of 6’ and a visual magnitude of 7.4. With 25 to 30 stars ranging from magnitude 8 to 12, the triangular shape of M 103 definitely makes it look like another Christmas tree in the night sky. Three of the cluster’s brightest stars mark the tips of the triangle. When I increase the magnification I gradually detect more and more, fainter stars. The star at the "top" of the Christmas tree is yellow white. The star at the southeast apex is bright white. Others report a 9th magnitude red star at the centre of the cluster. Until now I haven’t “seen” it but maybe my telescopes aperture is to small to detect colours of 9th magnitude stars. Anyway, M 103 is a lovely small open cluster, so be sure to visit this celestial Christmas tree with your telescope the next time your in the Cassiopeia area.
M 103 (image from SkyTools2 by CapellaSoft)
3. NGC 2264 (The Christmas Tree Cluster)
The last of the three Christmas trees, NGC 2264, can be found in Monoceros. During this time of the year you have to wait until three o’clock in the morning to see the constellation culminate high in the south. NGC 2264 (nicknamed the Christmas Tree Cluster) is very easy to find. From 31 Xi Geminorum go south-southwest for about 3 degrees where you will find the 5th magnitude 15 Monocerotis, the brightest star of NGC 2264. In my 15x80 binoculars I already see almost all the stars that mark the outline of this heavenly Christmas tree. NGC 2264 is a large, bright open cluster with a diameter of 20’ and a visual magnitude of 3.9. In my 8-inch Klevtzov at 62x I see about 20 to 30 stars. When increasing the magnification I detect more and more fainter stars. By the way, in my Klevtzov-Cassegrain, the Christmas tree stands upside-down.
NGC 2264 (image from SkyTools2 by CapellaSoft)
Well, here ends my journey to the three celestial Christmas trees. I enjoyed it very much and I can only recommend these three open clusters wholeheartedly. Happy “tree” spotting! « Collapse
