Brownie Vest Patches Placement

observing the clouds ...

As you can tell from the title, the release yesterday of the Three Peaks was not lucky. Despite the weather we have been continuously washes and high clouds that moved from north to south Large portions of the sky were alternately usable.
The clouds bring out the light pollution over the plains and the valley de''Adige. When opening a bit 'the SQM began to rise. 21.3 if there was little clear sky, 21.4 if it was more. 21.2 If the South was covered with clouds that reflected the light from the plains ... 100 km away!
Some items, however, have seen better than in Val Visdende (when it was possible to take them through an area of \u200b\u200bsky free enough). NGC6946, for example, you could see better than the week before in Val Visdende, but nothing to do with the view of August. The
Gegenshein we have seen perhaps a bit 'better. The seeing was poor, perhaps as a result of the currents. The temperature was above zero to three (unusual) and there were also several abrupt changes in the night.
Also notable is the view of Via Lattea invernale, per quel lasso di tempo in cui si è potuta vedere pulita.
I poveri malcapitati (io, mars4ever, mirko, radames e andreaf, hanno salvato il salvabile, armeggiando con un totale di 148 cm di apertura: due 40, due 30 e un rifrattorino da 8 cm... senza contare i binocoli).
Abbiamo dormito all'hotel "La Montanina" ad Auronzo. 40 euro per cena, pernottamento e prima colazione.

La mia lista di oggetti:
NGC 7309. Piccola galassia con le spirali invisibili.
NGC 7727. Si vedeva il nucleo e si intuiva l'alone.
M 74. OK, qua ci ho speso più tempo. L'estensione della galassia era visibile, ma difficile vedere le spirali.
NGC 1055. NGC 660. NGC 266.
IC 2003. Piccola planetary Perseus. With pushing the magnification differed from the stars. However, the poor seeing did not allow to have the stars, and then point the effect was somewhat reduced.
IC 348. It seemed almost a halo due to secondary tarnished! Except that there was only around that star.
M76. I wanted to compare the vision with that of August. The outer halo of the nebula was still visible, but much less evident, even at 360X magnification of the pushing. We also compared the Pentax XO 5 mm Pentax XL with the 5 and 5 mm with Burgess. the XO actually showed a bit 'better to limit some starlet. But has the effect of the keyhole and the eye relief does not exist.

Port Royale Multigiocatore

Val Visdende (10/16/2009) Southern


Finally, on Friday, we also explored the Val Visdende (the picture is the starting point in Mestre!). This probably closes the circle of possible sites for observation on the North East as the crow flies is only a few miles from the Piave sources. The Peralba seen eastward E 'at about 1300 meters above sea level, well protected by a ring of mountains is not very high along the northern arc. To the south is a free fork pointing right at azimuth 0 ° and allows you to see objects in meridian up to about 10 degrees above the horizon (up to about -35 ° declination).
The mountains protect it from wind and the temperature is milder. There was a few degrees below zero and the still air does not hurt (at the time the Three Peaks, there would be 12-15 degrees below zero, winds to 22 mph with gusts to 44 mph - according to weather data). The downside is the seeing that in the valley is not good if it is above the ridges surrounding the wind blows. In fact seeing the beginning did not allow to use more than 130x (otherwise not have star point). Over the course of the evening is a bit 'better. Sure, you can have pinpoint stars at 260X in the deep sky images is an advantage, but this only occurs regularly in the Three Peaks. The extraction fan boundary layer nevertheless worked well and there were no signs of the boundary layer to add damage to the image.
The access road is easier and seems to be open all year. So this is a good alternative to winter Casera Razzo. A little 'more distant from the plain, a little' less cold, a bit 'lower (resulting in higher extinction) and the South freer horizon.
There are hotels in Santo Stefano is open all year round. We were at Krissin: € 48 including dinner and breakfast (ask for Lara, there is no problem to return at night). In fact when we arrived at the hotel the sky was overcast, so we take the room without supper. When we arrived in Val
Visdende were no clouds in flashes but then, before midnight (as forecast meteo.it) was open. We placed in the widest part of the valley, just north of the church. Some houses were inhabited, but the lights were all gone, except for a lighthouse at the entrance of the valley (but it was a couple of miles before where we were and thus invisible). I'll have to report it because it violates the regional law against light pollution (plus you do not understand what it is used).
Although it was open, the sky was not perfectly clear, or perhaps it was only 1300 m above the extinction is higher than in 2300. The Milky Way was not opposed to the Tre Cime. The sack of coal of the North was always the blacker the sky, but it stood out in the same way. The SQM showed average values \u200b\u200baround a 21.49 (dopo mezzanotte) fino a circa 21.45 verso le due e mezza di notte. Rispetto al 21.55-21.60 delle Tre Cime, e complice anche la maggiore estinzione, la differenza si vedeva... starei per dire che c'era un "abisso". Anche al telescopio. Ho voluto controllare NGC6946, senza poter usare gli stessi ingrandimenti delle Tre Cime (questa volta circa 170-200x, mentre alle Tre Cime anche 260x). Questa la descrizione del 27 agosto : " Potevo vedere le spirali, e potevo anche intuire diversi nodi di stelle lungo le spirali. Non credo di averla mai vista così bene. Il nucleo era cosa a sé: più luminoso e fine. Infine si poteva percepire l'intero alone debole della galassia ". Questa volta invece dell'alone esterno there was no sign and there were only two good arms. Nodes even the shadow of stars ... Definitely, Maybe if I had a special refractor I would see even better live Three Peaks ... but I was only a Dobsonian 400, with extraction of the boundary layer and optical lambda/8-9 by Zen (interferometric test). Mv
The limit was about 6.5-6.6 (the Three Peaks 6.8-6.9). M33 was visible easily distracted, at times almost in direct and had a clear appearance nebulare.Era but very high in the sky.

Light pollution filters from throughout the South By South West may come from Santo Stefano di Cadore. The clouds above the valley were black, with the exception of those that leaned toward Santo Stefano, illuminate dal basso. In ogni caso, sparite le velature, l'orizzonte Sud non era poi molto più luminoso di quello Nord (ad una osservazione non attenta poteva passare inosservato, non a me e a Mar4ever il namibiano ).
Anche dalla forcella Sud filtrava luce. Eppure a Sud c'è solo il monte Terza Grande, più in là c'è Casera Razzo e poi altre montagne fino alla pianura, fra i 60 e 110 km di distanza. Probabilmente stavamo osservando la luce della pianura, un po' come dalle Tre Cime .
Lungo l'orizzonte Nord c'era un po' di luce, che a giudicare dal colore uscito nelle fotografie (verde) era probabilmente l'airglow.
Marco ha scorto per primo il Gegenshein nei Fish. The high position in the sky and the distance from the Milky Way (this is the best time, as well as when it is in Cancer) has allowed to see him from a sky of 21:45!
When disassembled, the telescope was covered by a thick layer of frost. It 'was then that we realized that the refractor would be even higher really deep sky , except that maybe some jewels are not taken willingly to take the ice.

Some items observed.
NGC 246 in Cetus. A beautiful planetary nebula showing different light and dark some stars in it. I dare not think how it could appear in that 155 mm showing the central of M57.
NGC 210 in Cetus . It was noticeable at the core, the bar and spirals. Picture a little 'affected by light pollution in the South appeared smaller than the picture in the link, but the star was visible on the spiral (also served here might be another refractor, you know ... "is not sensitive to' light pollution ").
NGC 7380 in Cepheus.
NGC 7822 in Cepheus .
NGC 1360, in Furnace . It 's a very large planetary nebula is interesting because, with the OIII filter shows three darker spots inside (a little' as the Owl).

How Do You Make Homemade Cappuccino?

Objects: Jupiter galaxies

Namibia 20/26 April 2009 Part Four

( Episode 1: general description )
( Episode 2: star clusters )
( Episode 3: nebulae )

finally conclude the report of the observations of the southern sky . In this latest installment we talk about galaxies, including of course the legendary Magellanic Clouds.
Obviously not list one by one all the individual galaxies, because they are really a lot, but describe the most important and major groupings or clusters.
Start with the part of the sky to the north of the Milky Way, where lies the constellation Hydra. Finally I was able to see NGC 3109, which I had missed previously because Casera Razzo always fell behind the mountain five minutes before I tried to point it! This is a large elongated irregular galaxy about 17 ', and is the device of our local group. Heading east is the beautiful spiral NGC 3621, consisting of a large nucleus and bright as M81 but more irregular arms and outer glow very weak.
Then there are two beautiful cutting galaxies, NGC 3717 and 3936, the elliptical NGC 3885, 3923, 3904, and finally the queen of this constellation: the Southern Pinwheel, aka M83. It 's very difficult to describe what you see if it is high in the sky, we have admired for good by comparison with both Dobson. As early as 25 cm were very easy and the spirals showing various details, then in 50 ... Always
hydro, there is also a good group led by NGC 5078 but I have not looked on this occasion. Instead I moved briefly to the north to see my best Sombrero (M104) of all time and also the famous Antennae in Corvus (NGC 4038/4039). Of the latter had not seen the very small arms but the nuclei had few details.
brings us to the Antlia, constellation anonymous and difficult to detect, but inside it contains a myriad of untold galaxies! The largest is NGC 2997, a magnificent spiral seen almost face-with arms very bright and has little to envy to the most famous turning of the first. The declination is more or less the same as that for M83, with a little 'hard work, can also be seen from Italy. Then there is a spectacular
storage, slightly lower (-35 °) but still affordable by our south. If I'm not mistaken is the third largest in the sky after Virgo and Fornax, and its main components are NGC 3258/3268/3271/3281 etc.. It is to literally get lost in and I with two feet and a field of 50 'I saw a dozen galaxies at a time, an unforgettable scene!
Then there are other nice little groups like NGC 3095/3100/3108, NGC 3113/3137/3175, NGC 3223/3224, NGC 3347/3354/3358. In all in this constellation I scored as many as 36 galaxies!
And then comes the Centaur. Needless to say, NGC 5128, also known as Centaurus A, was one of the main target of this expedition, as a galaxy is unique and there is not any that even remotely resembles. In other words, completely revolutionizes the concept of "black band"! This feature that bisects the ball of light is already clearly visible at low magnification in 80 mm, and then in the large openings are completely detached from the background and a slight fork in 'Y', with a star just above the point of separation ! It turned out instead
a bit 'disappointing NGC 4945, because despite being a giant slug of 18', is very weak and virtually no details. I expected a great copy of M98, with lots of light and shade, and yet it is little more than a diaphanous spot. You can not say it's ugly, but given the photographs and the excellent observing conditions in which I would find myself, I expected more. Nearby there are also elliptical NGC 4945A and NGC 4976. Stumble
NGC 5102, we might call the "Phantom of centaurs iota" of the proximity to the star in question, making it similar to NGC 404 in Andromeda (and is also the case for elliptical!).
Then I looked some more and in galassietta Cen A and omega center, while I have not had time to look at other in the north-west to the border with the Hydra.
conclude this first part with three spiral galaxies in the Wolf: NGC 5530, IC 5643 and 4402, respectively 3 / 4, to face and cutting.

Now climb over the galactic plane and we move in the constellation Fornax, the fate similar to that of Antlia: asterism as insignificant, but phenomenal in terms of the objects within it. Although in April it saw very low in the early evening, I was able also to give you some quick look before it went down. The ammmasso is located on the border with dell'Eridano mouth, and galaxies are more elliptical NGC 1316 (Fornax A), NGC 1374/1380/1387/1399/1404 and barred spiral NGC 1365.
All I have seen 19, but there are many more because I skipped all those in the northern constellation (from 1097 up to speak) because at that time were not much higher as seen by us, and then try with more time to observe Italy soon. Even in the southern part
dell'Eridano there is something cute, like NGC 1532, but a sort of sombrero with an arm that extends to the outside and the small companion NGC 1531 perpendicular to its core. Perhaps this couple is similar to M51 except that it is seen almost instead of cutting his face. Then there is NGC 1269, a disc galaxy similar to M94, with bright nucleus and then the outer glow is difficult to see due to glare.
go to clock, we find the deformed galaxy NGC 1249, the barred spiral 1433, then 1448 to cut the face of 1493, and the pair 1510/1512. In short there is something for everyone!
in Colombia, not far from the globular cluster NGC 1851, there's quite a trio of galaxies aligned within a degree and a half: NGC 1792/1808/1827.
Then there is the golden fish that, as if not more, than the cloud also contains many fine galaxies more "normal". Moving from north to south are: NGC 1515 with the cutting side of the sixteenth 1515A, NGC 1566, spiral semibarrata, a group of elliptical in its surroundings (NGC 1549/1553/1617), and the two spirals of NGC 1672 and 1703 face. In
Lattice stands the beautiful irregular galaxy NGC 1313, 8 'in size. It 's very bright and full of detail, with well-perceived HII regions. Can be defined as a cloud of Magellan in miniature, and coincidentally is also about half way between them!
from another galaxy NGC 2442 is in spectacular shape voltante Fish. No need to say why, just look at the photos.
For those who still want to try their hand stuck to bright stars in galaxies, in Hull is the Phantom of Miaplacidus, NGC 1822. And, even if on purpose, this is elliptical!
On the main there are three major discrete spirals, NGC 6215/6221/6300, while the nearby Peacock we find one of the largest (20 ') in the southern hemisphere, namely NGC 6744. But the second half proved to be disappointing after the cutoff of the Centaur, because I would have expected a beast as M81 or M101, whereas its spirals are much more fleeting and difficult to discern, even with half a meter. So I found it more like a cross between NGC 6946 and IC342, although the nucleus brighter than these two. Is also an object to look absolutely if you make a shipment over the equator, because there is the interesting detail of the outer arm to the north which crosses the galaxy NGC 6744A with the perspective of magnitude 15, a real challenge!
The Indian medium and small swarms of galaxies, it is pointless to list them all but I must mention the beautiful cut of NGC 7090 long 7 '.
Even in the beautiful constellation of the Crane is to be lost, but given the unfavorable season for your comments, I just look at the most important group, which consists of NGC 7496/7552/7582/7590/7599/7632 In addition to planetary nebula described in the previous episode.
Same goes for the sculptor, that could be seen down just before dawn. The main galaxy (NGC 253) was virtually cut off and I would not view some of the best from Italy, so I focused on other major companion galaxies in its group, located in southern declinations, and then, for Fortunately, more visible in that circumstance.
Large spirals NGC 300 and 7793 are obviously very good but the meanness did not do them full justice, while the 55 was a scream! It 's a huge sigarone 125X half a degree that filled the whole field, with swelling evident irregular on the west, while the two extremities faded and seemed to never end! E ' was undoubtedly the most beautiful of the novel set in Centaurus A. In Phoenix
instead there is virtually nothing, apart from little things reserved for fans of the various small groups as Stephan, Copeland, et cetera. For here we find the quartet of Robert, whose components are of magnitudes from 13.8 to 15.0, and catalog numbers are NGC 87/88/89/92. Even the nearby PGC 1452 is easier than 3 out of 4 members of the group! (But then why was not included in a catalog more "noble" as NGC or IC?).
Tour is almost finished, now come the main dishes ...


Magellanic Clouds

Before the trip I had poked around in a forum di astrofili australiani per leggere i loro commenti sulle due principali galassie satellite della via Lattea, e sono unanimi nel considerarle gli oggetti più spettacolari e ricchi di tutto il cielo, aggiungendo che noi poveracci dell’emisfero nord non abbiamo la minima idea di cosa siano finché non le vediamo! E infatti ho potuto verificare che hanno pienamente ragione. Mi è venuto il dubbio che la mia impressione tendesse a sopravvalutarle un po’ per via dell’ovvio effetto novità, ma sembra che gli australiani non si stanchino mai di vederle sempre, e addirittura c’è chi ha rinunciato alla possibilità di andare a vivere negli USA proprio perché non voleva perdere le sue amichette!
E anche io ormai consider incomplete sky with a low shot galactic core and without the Magellanic Clouds, and I can not think back to all those daily hours spent in perdermici.
Another consideration is that they are good for any aperture and any enlargement, because every circumstance highlights a number of details:-
to the naked eye are perceived main forms: the small is shaped like a pear, with the most "chubby "SW, while the largest is almost round, with the center the great light bar elongated in the direction EW (a bit 'like the capital Greek letter Theta). The Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070), to the east is visible in averted.
Just to give you an idea of dimensioni, per coprire interamente la Grande Nube ci vuole (a braccio teso) un pugno chiuso!
-col binocolo o con un telescopio a bassi ingrandimenti si intuiscono le strutture principali quali i pseudo-bracci, gli oggetti più grandi, le diverse densità stellari, e tutto l’aspetto è brizzolato, cioè si capisce che è un grande insieme di stelle anche se non si risolvono nitidamente.
-coi Dobson si possono approfondire singolarmente tutte le decine di oggetti contenuti, tra nebulose, ammassi aperti e globulari. Essendo galassie giovani e irregolari, sono estremamente ricche di regioni HII, e trovandosi in posizione di faccia (in particolare la grande) non ne è pregiudicata la visione, a differenza della Via Lattea that prevents us from seeing the objects in more than half of its volume because it is cutting.
In these clouds is sufficient to move the event far and wide to see in each field at least one or more objects, and with a decidedly Dobson is an easy and fun. If you want to identify clearly what you see, then you need to get steady work with a map and a detailed object-hopping!
think that in two nights I've been watching the cloud for more than three consecutive hours, I was totally caught as a drug! After a while, 'I began to say: "enough is enough, I have to watch something else," but then continue to go over that immense maze back and forth, and eventually I stopped only when it became too low horizon. Fortunately that should not go in the southern hemisphere in the summer once or else you would risk going there in December to observe only there for a whole night!

The cloud was rising rather less at night, and being smaller is not this speech, and then there's the globular to attract attention!
To understand that I am not exaggerating at all enough to see a detailed map as Google Sky or this beautiful mosaic labels.
And thanks to these pictures do not need to list all individual items, but I just describe the main ones. Most
parte sono catalogati come NGC e IC, anche se ce ne sono alcuni di rilevanti che però sono inseriti solo nei cataloghi specifici per le nubi, come ad esempio il globulare Kron 3, situato prospetticamente vicino a 47 tucanae.
Si nota subito che la Piccola Nube, in proporzione, è più fornita di ammassi globulari, e in assoluto devono essere anche molto grandi vista la distanza. I più grossi sono NGC 330/339/361/416/419. Non illudetevi di risolverli facilmente, sono una sfida ardua esattamente come i globulari del Delfino e della Lince...
Le nebulose maggiori sono NGC 346/371/395, situate nella zona NE. Facili, luminose, contrastate e dettagliate. I filtri UHC od OIII comunque sono sempre utili. A SW invece troviamo NGC 261 e 267, and finally in the SW suburbs, leaving the dense part of the cloud, NGC 456 and stand 602.

Turning to the older sister, the eye automatically falls first on the Tarantula, in one of the most haunting of all the heavens, if not the best. Here, as the Centaur and the hull, we pulled the screaming at first glance be censorship.
We're talking about a cloud of 20-30 'with a surface brightness comparable to that of M42 and a lot of details and dizzying contrasts, and to make matters worse is surrounded by equal volume of various objects, and so if we consider the whole complex to NGC 2084, obtained a field of about 1 ° which is a total uproar! The nebulae that surround the main are NGC 2048/2060/2069/2074/2077/2084, 163/164 Henize, then we have the globular clusters NGC 2100/2108 and NGC 20372042/2044/2050/2055/2081/2093 open. To get an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat you see us just take a picture as the one linked before and put it in black and white! And those clusters of stars that appear blue in the picture, in view of 50 cm with well resolved, thus creating an effect of carpet of stars that are intertwined with the nebulae. In short, there is nothing in the north that might resemble this amazing show!
in that area and also the supernova 1987A exploded, I think I have seen the balance because I had taken note della posizione esatta (si trova presso NGC 2044) e mi sembra di aver notato una stellina leggermente sfocata, ma per essere sicuro che fosse proprio lei dovrò informarmi meglio. In rete non sono riuscito a trovare nulla circa la possibilità o meno di osservare visualmente questo oggetto.
Anche la zona settentrionale della galassia (la porzione staccata dalla barra principale, per intenderci) è altamente spettacolare, perché ci sono grumi e trame di stelle mescolati a chiazze di nebulose sparse. Perciò questa regione che comprende NGC 1934/1948/1955/2014/2027/2030/2032/2095 eccetera, seppur meno concentrata del complesso della Tarantola, ha poco da invidiare e merita anch’essa di essere gustata per bene.
Altri objects and groups of particular interest: NGC 1727 and its surroundings, the globular cluster NGC 1763 and 1783, NGC 1770, the trio NGC 1850/1854/1858, respectively open cluster, globular nebula (find another case where we can see an object type in the same field if you can!), NGC 1876, the nebula in the shape of 'S' NGC 1910 (right to highlight this feature we need a filter, otherwise the stars surpass it), NGC 1918, the group of 1934, that of 1965, and finally the nebula NGC 2018, 2075, 2103 and 2122.


CONCLUSIONS

I hope I have provided a good guide for those who want to try a similar experience. I think that for those who are passionate deep-sky it is not just a whim but a genuine point of arrival to do at all.
All these comments I wrote them after the trip based only on memory, because during the observations by writing only the catalog numbers of objects observed, but no special notes. So do not rule out the possibility that there are errors in evaluating the degree of difficulty of the visions, and it would be interesting to compare these impressions with those of other people ... or with myself when I come back! Because it is obvious that there is a great desire to return, all 5 have just said "goodbye." I'll certainly not next year but We hope for 2011, perhaps in a different season (August or September) so you can see the constellations of the zenith at the galactic south pole that are low in April.