Skelligs star party observing report 22/8/14

I just thought I would post a record of what I got up to on Friday night, as recorded in my observing diary. I had decided beforehand that, if the Friday night was clear, I would concentrate on the Messier objects as well as the Helix and NGC253. I had a long list of NGC objects planned for the second night, but unfortunately, it wasn't to be.

Friday 22/8/14, wonderful clear dark skies, Milky Way a fantastic sight, stretching right across the sky from Sagittarius to Perseus.
All viewed with Orion xt10i, except where noted.

M54 - first ever view in a telescope, well seen, but difficult to see detail

M69 and M70 - seen in Jonathan's 8" Meade. Like M54, difficult to discern detail.

M22 - magnificent view, best in 10mm Speers Waler.

M25 - superb in finderscope for widefield view, and in 14mm Meade UWA for cluster itself.

M8 (Lagoon nebula) - best ever view, yet still strangely disappointing. Expected more of this one.

M20 (Triffid) - Almost indescribably brilliant, probably the highlight of the night for me. Nebulosity very clear and well-defined in 14mm Meade + UHC filter. M21 also superb.

M17 (Swan) - Also brilliantly seen, Geraldine loved this one.

M16 - Clearly seen, but could not see Pillars of Creation.

M18 - well seen, unremarkable.

M6 - just caught it, but missed M7

M24 - Jaw-dropping. Easy naked eye object. Scanned with 27mm Televue Panoptic.

Scutum star cloud - also jaw-dropping, and also easy naked eye object. Spent quite some time scanning from M11 down to M26 and back again. Incredible.

M11 - Magnificent in 14mm Meade. Swapped to the Televue Panoptic to observe Barnard 111 and 112.

M2 - Superb in 14mm Meade and 7.2mm Speers Waler. Great detail visible.

M30 - Very nice view of rarely seen object.

Comet Jacques - cracking view, but no tail seen.

It clouded over for a bit at this point, but it passed eventually, although leaving the southern horizon a bit murky. Maybe some sea mist around.

M33 - Great view, spiral arms just visible.

M34 - stunning

M51 - disappointing.

M101 - not bad, but I've seen it better than this.

M27 - excellent in 10mm Speers Waler with UHC

M31 - spiral arms well seen. Moved centre of galaxy out of field of view on both sides to get better view. M32 and M110 easy.

Helix nebula - one clear view lasting around 5 seconds, but cloud kept interfering. Big disappointment of the night.

NGC253 - seen at around 4.00am, a long-held ambition finally achieved. Very nice it was too. Jonathan, Paul and, I think, Roy, also saw it.

Cetus - constellation brilliantly seen in the early morning, first view of the whole thing in several years. Unfortunately, I had put the scope away by this point, so could not look for M77. Top of the target list for next time.

Planetary conjunction - Jupiter, Venus and thin old Moon - Geraldine got back out of bed to see this. Great way to end a memorable night. If only I could learn how to take a decent photograph.

NGC 253 was a magnificent sight, thanks for showing it to me, it's something I've never observed before, I had hoped to see the Helix and was disappointed when I couldn't see it, still, there's always next year.

Paul

Great report Stevie, saw some of these but always blown away by M24. M8 (Lagoon ) can be a bit hit and miss depending on sky conditions telescope and eyepiece but must confess with all camerardarie on the night did'nt honestly pay enough attention to my observing.

stevie wrote: NGC253 - seen at around 4.00am, a long-held ambition finally achieved. Very nice it was too. Jonathan, Paul and, I think, Roy, also saw it.

I seen it too, big surprise how nice it was. Definitely one for the future!

You must have been doing all that while myself, Paul, Roy and Jonathon were doing the 100 hits 80s quiz

So that's what all the noise was.

Sorry I didn't mention you Stephen, as you may have noticed, I was nearly knocked out of my chair in the rush.

Glad you managed to get a look anyway.

What do you mean 'noise'? They were some of the classic songs from the eighties that most of us had forgotten, and when we heard them again we realised why they were forgotten.

Paul