LDN1235 - Dark Shark Nebula
Trip in September to Mid-Wales Bortle class 3
11th September 2022 Evidently far more integration time is needed the the meagre 2h48m I managed to salvage from the trip. Still, this makes a reasonable start and allows some improved framing choices to be made for the next attempt on this target. I also think that the stars would benefit from the use of the Astronomik L3 filter to reduce star bloat.
9th September 2022 Dogged by the stormy, cloudy weather the observation plan proved to be wildly optimistic! Now the work starts to see if anything can be extracted from the few subs gathered on LDN1235.
7th September 2022 A similar night to the 5th though slightly clearer. I’m working on faith that the few subs I am gathering will add up to something. Tonight the moon made an appearance at 89% low on the opposite hoizon to Cepheus. Unfortunately it was making all the high, wispy cloud very obvious and this will surely have consequences for the usability of the data gathered. Gave up at 1am when the cloud rolled in and the power to the mount died causing tracking to go haywire once restored.
Moonlit clouds
5th September 2022 Snatched some data in a clear/cloudy four-hour session. I think I’ll be lucky to get an hour of usable frames.
1st September 2022 There was enough clarity in the sky for me to uncever the Askar rig and hopefully continue with the Dark Shark project. Unfortunately after 20 minutes the sky clouded over completely. This might be the last opportunity on this trip as the forecast is rather poor.
31st August 2022 On a dark sky trip to Bortle Class 3 skies in Wales. Tonight was partially (frustratingly, intermittently) clear. Gathered a couple of hours’ data on the Dark Shark nebula but many of the frames will be discarded once examined because of cloud interference.
Visually, Jupiter and Saturn were fine sights in the CC although still low at 11pm meant that the seeing was really wobbly. The view and its clarity improved between midnight and 1am when the planets were several degrees higher. At 1am the cloud ended observations. The early part of the session was shared with my hosts Rob and Pippa. Also seen was M13 which was sharp but faint and really at the limit of the F12 scope.
With the naked eye, M31 and the Perseus double cluster were easily visible and very beautiful to observe without any form of visual aid. In binoculars they were superb, as was Brocchi’s Cluster.
Wales campsite - telescopes
Wales campsite - temporarily clear skies
Rigs
Rig 1
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- M2
Rig 2
- LDN 1235 (Shark Nebula)
- Polaris region
- Brocchi’s Cluster
November 2022 Plan
- IC443 - Jellyfish Nebula (ED80)
- M33 - Triangulum Galaxy (ED80)
- M31 - Andromeda Galaxy (FMA180)
- Mars (Stellalyra CC)
- Flaming Star/Spider/Fly Nebulae (FMA180)
- Horsehead/Flame/Caspar Nebulae (FMA180)
- Horsehead/Flame/Orion Nebulae (FMA180)
- Witch Head Nebula (FMA180)
- M45 Widefield (FMA180)
