The transition back to visual. It has happened. Saratoga Gap 1st October 2016

Blast from the past post. Had this sitting in my draft tray. Finally finished it off. Here it is.

It had to happen sooner or later. I have always been a visual observer at heart and sometimes when life throws curveballs at you and you don't have to time to plan or think, one of the best remedies for stress is to just get out there and drink in the views of the night sky. No lists to tackle, no laptops and wires to deal with, just a clear night sky, a simple unguided scope, preferably alt az, a pair of wide field binoculars and a lounge chair. Seeing how I have been travelling so much for my new job as a field application scientist, I have not had much time, or energy left for dark sky observing (or imaging). I have been doing bits of observing here and there from my backyard (thank god for my amazing red zone yard!) with my alt az mounted C8, which is a blessing for the worn out astronomer since it is so easy to transport to my yard in one trip (my plans for that 16" truss has been put on hold for now since I barely have time to observe). Those jaunts are nice, but lately I have been having the itch to do some semi dark sky observing again, at least before the summer milky way disappears for another year. My weapon of choice was my super light weight and super easy to setup Orion Star Seeker II 130mm f/5 on the Vixen Porta Alt Az mount. This has since superceeded my Celestron C6 (6" f/5 ST newt) as my quick grab and go scope as the OTA is both shorter and lighter, plus it does not give up much in the way of light grasp (i.e not as built as the C6 soo tube is heaps lighter). Life has gotten easier with the purchase of a new Meade scope bag that holds both OTA and mount (or so they claim for their ST130 Bird Jones scope. For a fraction of the price Orion sells their scope totes for (Orion's are now a ridiculous $70+++, while the Meade was going for more than half off $30). The bag, while okay, was just passable to carry my ST Sky Seeker OTA and Vixen porta Mount. The bag would not zip up for starters. Also the bag was not as heavily padded like the Orion one. Still it made carrying the OTA and mount easier as I could sling the whole thing over my shoulders. Plus, the bad had velcro straps to secure the mount, as well as a small bag to hold the counterweights (it was designed to hold a Powerseeker 130EG after all.

So yes the trip was an easy no frills one. Threw my bag with scope and mount into the booth, a haversack that usually holds my laptop and imaging gear (this time it held my dark cloak, my Orion eyepiece bum-pack, my Orion 8x40's, and my printed star maps), and my trusty campign chair and I was off. Since the trip up to Saratoga Gap only takes 30 minutes, I was there and observing in under 40 minutes. No fussing with alignments or wires. All I had to do unfold my camping chair and mount, pop the OTA on the mount and away I went. Since it was to be a no frills trip, I started the night by just scanning the summer milky way. Sagittarius and Scorpius were already down low so I spent some time just crusing with my 8x40's. Saw a few shooting stars while at it too, soemthing that gets overlooked when you are intently looking at a brightened screen while doing exposure ;P It was a nice change of pace for sure.

Th summer milky way if just so full of treasures. Where to begin. I guess I have always been a sucker for planetary nebulae so that was my first port of call. M57 has to be my favourite planetary. For the longest time I have sought it out. I remember my first views of this in my small CO40. This scope just did not have the light gathering power to resolve it into anything other than an out of focus star. Still I was trilled to even see it. My first real view of this wonder came in 2001 when I revisited it in a 76mm long focal length newtonian reflector. The celestial doughnut finally revealed itself in all its glory. I still marvel at this celestial wonder every chance I get. The smoky ring visage is plain to see even from light polluted skies, but it is seen best at powers of 100x or more from darker skies.

From a rather smallish planetary, we now move to its neighbour, M27, the Dumbbell Planetary. This one is a great one, be it from dark skies or light polluted skies (with a UHC type filter of course). The apple core shape is the staple here, but with the help of a narrowband filer, or darker skies, the nebula resembles a rugby ball. Just for kicks, I observed this with my 8x40's binoculars. At that magnification, the Dumbbell looked like M57 without the central darkening at higher powers through the Star Seeker.

I flitted around the summer constellations a little and had a great view of the Veil Nebula through my 13T6 Nagler, which is a great eyepeiece for use with the short focal length Star Seeker OTA. With the UHC in place, I could make out some intricate detail in both the eastern and western veil. I could even make ou pickerings triangle, the  middle bit of the supernova remnant that is not observed as much as the eastern and western bits.

So overall I had a great relaxing session devoid of the stresses of sketching or imaging. Such sessions can rejuvenate the observers soul and reminds us of why we started observing in the first place. Till next time.