OR: TB 10/15/23

[Jonathan Lawton]

After returning home from the Cub Scout campout at Pinnacles, I quickly unpacked the minivan and packed my Chevy Bolt for a solo trip to TB.  I stopped in a town about an hour from my destination to pick up snacks (for me and the car), and arrived at 9PM.  I had hoped to arrive earlier, but more than anything was just happy to be in such a wonderful place.

Conditions were clear, calm, cool (~11C), and dry.  Transparency was off, with the (perhaps somewhat pessimistic) SQM reading around 21.1 all night.  Seeing was decent but certainly not exceptional. Stars at lower altitudes were twinkling vigorously, while those at zenith twinkled significantly less, but still noticeably.  IMO, these conditions were similar to CalStar.

Advice please:

I felt like many of my observations in my 16" more closely matched the 8"/10" descriptions in the NSOG.  The Cocoon Nebula I couldn't see at all.  Several objects felt like there might have been more detail to see that was just beyond my grasp. To be honest, I'm a little discouraged here, because while I understand observing is a skill that requires practice, it's not clear to me how to get better at it, other than to continue to observe and hope that I do.

I'm done with the Messier objects, and am struggling to find a direction for my observing going forward, so I decided to try the Caldwell list as sort of a Messier 2.0, not realizing some of these are Southern hemisphere targets.  I also mixed in some NGC GCs to chip away at the AL GC program.  If anyone has recommendations for observing lists that are either visually appealing or astrophysically interesting, I'm all ears.

I was at the eyepiece until 4AM before cracking open a beer to sit back in my hammock chair and appreciate the night sky naked eye.  Shortly after 6, I poked my head out of the tent to see Orion and Canis Major shining brightly against the morning twilight, which was a really beautiful sight and almost made up for the fact that I was sleeping so poorly.  I gave up on sleep around 7, packed up, and went on a 6 mile out-and-back hike half way up a mountain with fantastic weather.  I *really* wanted to continue to the top but thought better of it.  Stopped in the same town again for lunch, went home, and filed my taxes.  Join me next month?

DobStuff 16" + AstroTech UWA eyepieces

9:53PM

NGC 6229 (261x) - Quite small, does not resolve.  Clearly concentrated toward the center. Concentration class: 4

Attempted to locate Andromeda's Parachute using Huey's finder chart.  I was close, but struggled to identify the field from the paper chart, got frustrated and decided to spend my time going after objects I knew I could find in Sky Safari instead.  Research this more before attempting again.

NGC 6888 / C 27 / "Crescent Nebula" (183x + UHC) - Fairly faint "L" shape.  The portion that is vertical (WSW) in the eyepiece is brightest, the lower portion of the "L" is quite faint.  UHC filter is better than OIII.

NGC 7000 / "North American Nebula" - visited this briefly, quite bright and enormous, but didn't log it because it was too big to fit in the FOV of any eyepiece and sketch.

NGC 7331 / C 30 (183x) - Almost edge-on galaxy.  Fairly bright core transitions to quite large but significantly fainter extents.  At least 3 other much smaller and fainter galaxies in the field.

IC 5146 / C 19 / "Cocoon Nebula" - Confident I had the correct field, but unable to see the target even with UHC or OIII.

NGC 7814 / C 43 (183x) - Featureless cotton ball.  Trying to pull out detail, can't see any.

NGC 7479 / C 44 (183x) - Elongated galaxy, not much detail beyond that.

NGC 246 / C 56 (183x + UHC) - Quite large for a PN.  Feels like there is structure to be seen, but can't pull it out at higher or lower magnifications.

M79 (183x) - Some concentration toward the center. Concentration Class: 6

NGC 1851 / C 73 (183x) - Extremely concentrated and bright toward the center.  Concentration class: 2

NGC 288 (183x) - Extremely diffuse!  No concentration at all, almost like a dim and dense open cluster. Concentration class: 12

NGC 253 / C 65 (114x) - HUGE!  Bright!  How is this not a Messier object?  Perhaps some mottling / dust in the core?  Definitely revisit this object when higher.

NGC 2419 / C 25 ( 261x) - Round, faint, uniform glow.  Doesn't resolve at all.  Concentration class: 11

3:47AM

NGC 2298 (261x) - Small, faint, on the edge of resolving, doesn't seem to have concentration.  Concentration class: 11

Jupiter (457x) - It's Jupiter all right!

Jonathan

[Julien Lecomte]

Hi Jonathan,

You should consider the Astronomical League Herschel 400 as the next stepping stone in your observing journey. It is a rewarding project that will teach you a lot about observing.

This email list is filled with enthusiastic observers, so I’m sure they will chime in to provide you with some advice on how to get better (short of getting eye transplants…)

When I was actively observing (before I switched to the “dark side” of astrophotography), I used to love comparing my notes with Steve Gottlieb’s. Sometimes I would see more, oftentimes I would see less, but it was fun and a great learning experience.

Best of luck!

- Julien

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[Vishal Kasliwal]

Great OR! What a nice read!

My suspicion is transparency. I too have had frustrating nights in the
20" where I've felt that the view wasn't what I was hoping for, but
I've also come back on other nights to a greatly improved view. Must
be the local LP + transparency.

On Thu, Oct 19, 2023 at 4:06 PM Jonathan Lawton <jan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

[Lumpy Darkness]

Nice report.  That you didn't pick up detail in NGC 246 says to me the night was bright and transparency off.

Never heard the term Andromeda's Parachute.

You might play with DeepMap 600.  Here's a take on the Caldwell List:

https://www.raycash.org/lingmoor.htm

Af for hints on improving, I'm watching a program about the human body, it's interesting how it learns simply through repetitive practice.  Keep at it.

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Hey Jonathan. You want opinions, we got 'em.

Scrap the Caldwell list, it has a bunch of problems - https://web.archive.org/web/20170823054526/http://www.raycash.us/deepsky/lingmoor.htm

Do the TAC Eye Candy List, thoroughly vetted for eyepiece quality - https://sites.google.com/view/observers-org/observing-lists/eye-candy-list

One major factor in picking up details is to give each object time. Sit down, breathe and study what's in the eyepiece, like 8 minutes easy. It's taken up to hundreds of millions of years for that light to get to you. A lot of what we do is train our retinas and visual centers to soak up details.

253 is astounding. It sure does have lots of mottling and dust and structure all along its length. Pays off long study.

[Dan Smiley]

Second the recommendation for Orion Deep Map 600 with excellent list curated by our own Steve Gottlieb. This kept me happily busy for several years with my 12". The map/list combo is convenient, although you'll still need an atlas (Sky Safari works). TAC eye candy list is also very good. Andromeda's Parachute a major challenge even in a large scope, might want to circle back to that one.

[Ted Hauter]

Very cool. If we could drive to excellent transparency. Knowing it was there like knowing there are no lights around. Transparency is most important. 

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[Carter Scholz]

Hi Jonathan,

I second the recommendation of DeepMap 600 and the Herschel 400, with the reservation that some of those Herschels are fairly uninspiring, though they do build character.

One list that kept me engaged for a few years is Luginbuhl and Skiff's Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep-Sky Objects, which includes about 2,000 objects. Nominally for 12" scopes, some of the objects are still challenging in a 16". The book might be out of print, but I see used copies on Amazon.

Carter

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

I take Luginbuhl and Skiff with me every night I go out. Very handy for visual comparisons of objects in different apertures. And they have super findercharts for clusters like the Perseus Cluster, and that one in Fornax, and more.

alibris.com has copies of Luginbuhl and Skiff, I'm looking right at 'em. Very cool bookselling outfit; forget Amazon.

And lookit Carter Scholz on the TAC list. You're the only person I know who's done the L&S list.

[Akarsh Simha]

Excellent OR, I loved the words "more than anything was just happy to be in such a wonderful place."

A few of my thoughts here:

1. DDK has appropriately pasted the "Caldwell Rant" of Alister Ling; the Caldwell list includes some extremely faint targets making it a not-so-great list for beginners despite being marketed as such. Also I am thankful that your OR uses real NGC designations alongside the "C" designations.

2. The Cocoon Nebula is a rather challenging target. If this were maybe my 10th or 15th time pulling out a 16" telescope, I would not beat myself for not seeing anything at all. I remember looking at it at GSSP, much darker than TB, and struggling to sketch it. I would keep it for later as you gain more experience.

3. Luginbuhl and Skiff is easily available on abebooks.com, a subsidiary of Amazon that sells used books. I don't own a copy and have not considered buying one, but I know it is a respected reference.

4. Three cheers for the DeepMap Gottlieb 600 list. It is better than the Herschel 400, the Caldwell 109 -- you can expect that coming from someone with 5 decades of observing experience and the only person to have visually seen all the NGC, an experience level which few other list-makers can claim. Plus we are biased by Steve being a fellow TACo.

5. Andromeda's Parachute: Look, I'm afraid of this target. I haven't tried it and I'm afraid to try it. Alvin Huey is an exceptional observer (I'm glad he's back in the hobby!) with decades of experience, the right equipment and technique. What Alvin can see in a 16", the rest of us may need a 20" or a 22" to see. This is partly because of Alvin's experience, but also because Alvin observed from some excellent sites -- Shot Rock Vista (8000ft and rock-solid steady seeing) and the Lassen Bumpass Hell parking lot (8000ft, dark sky + good seeing) and may have given you the best observation of many attempts. I advise you to stay away from such advanced targets until your experience builds up -- but this is a hobby and there are no rules, so if you're of the disposition who keeps trying for hours on end until the skies give you those photons, go for it.

6. Stay away from famous "photographic" nebulae. There is no such thing as a "photographic nebula", but very many nebulae are very easy to photograph and extremely difficult to visually observe. A quick list of examples: Horsehead, Heart and Soul, California, Pleiades Reflection Nebulae, Flying Bat, Elephant Trunk, Barnard's Loop, Lambda Orionis, ... the list goes on. This is part because of the way the eye works as a sensor -- working in the domain of contrast rather than number of photons received -- and partly because the H-alpha emissions of these nebulae are in a red range invisible to scotopic vision. Solid targets for someone who's starting out with a 16" scope would largely be galaxies, clusters and planetary nebulae, although there are several high surface brightness diffuse nebulae (e.g. Orion Nebula, or more obscurely, Iris Nebula) that you can attempt. Again, the Gottlieb DeepMap 600 is a good list here.

Regards

Akarsh