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Posts Made By: George Golitzin

January 13, 2011 11:20 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Today's object NGC1514

Posted By George Golitzin
Hi Inge!

Good to hear from you. The forum has been a little quiet in your absence!

I find 1514 not at all obvious in medium aperture--from a very dark site, in a 10-inch f/5.6, it did not declare itself in my 13mm eyepiece. The central star is the middle in a conspicuous row of three mag 9 stars, separated by about 16'. With the UHC filter, the planetary pops into view: a little cloud, oblong, and mottled.

My favorite recently-viewed PN is 1535, in Eridanus. Accepts a lot of power, showing great structure at 300X with an OIII in my 16-inch.


January 28, 2011 01:40 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Object of January 25th: NGC1893/IC410

Posted By George Golitzin
I have not managed to detect this nebula at home, under mag 5 skies. I was trying a few nights ago, but the conditions were really poor. Unfortunately, I've missed several of these winter diffuse nebulae, since they tend to require a trip to a dark site in winter, which even here in California is problematic.

Under what conditions have you observed the nebula, Inge?

-geo.

February 9, 2011 09:22 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Object of February 8th - NGC2174/2175

Posted By George Golitzin
Thanks for your encouragement on this one Inge. I had looked for it earlier this year without luck--having not read up on it as usual, I was trying to find the cluster rather than looking for a nebula, and the cluster just didn't declare itself. I still don't think the cluster stands out particularly well--seems like a thickening of the background population at best--but tonight I thought I detected a definite bright patch versus the background, this in my 10-inch f/5 (f/5.75 with paracorr) and 20 mm T5. So I popped in the OIII and the nebula stood out beautifully. (Mag 5 conditions tonight, seeing soft.) Covered maybe 20 arcminutes (so I guess I wasn't seeing all of it--listed at 40 arcmin), mag 8 or 9 star in the middle, with a lot of mottling.

A nice target for a medium aperture scope with OIII.

February 9, 2011 09:27 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Object of January 31st: NGC2420

Posted By George Golitzin
This is a very pretty cluster, with a strong suggestion of richness in my 10" at 70X. Had a nice look at it tonight, after viewing 2174/75. Resolved 20+ stars at 160X; the nebulous look suggesting richness remained as I took up the power to try to resolve more stars. I have a feeling that would have worked well on this cluster, had the seeing been better.

May 6, 2011 04:48 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

NGC 4449

Posted By George Golitzin
That's one of my favorites; I tend to hit it whenever I'm moseying around Canes Ven. I call it the "train wreck." It's such a mess--very irregular, with many concentrations of brightness. Definitely a must see.


May 6, 2011 04:50 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

NCC4631 and NGC4656

Posted By George Golitzin
One of the very best galaxy pairs in the sky. Ngc 4631 in particular is magnificent, superior to many of the Messier galaxies.

May 7, 2011 02:11 AM Forum: Eyepieces

9mm Baader Vs 9mm Omni

Posted By George Golitzin
Enjoying your reviews Rod...

Those Baader orthos are really good--a great value for the price, and able to compete some of the best. I had a 7mm briefly, for the purpose of comparing to my 7.5mm Tak LE. I thought the two were tied on Saturn in my 8" f/6 and 16" f/5. Both eyepieces excel at finding the small moons of Saturn, and put up razor sharp views of the planet. The Tak has occasional annoying reflections off one's eyeball, but overall is more comfortable than the ortho, and the little extra bit of field makes quite a difference in an undriven scope. Various targets seemed to have just a wee bit more saturation in the Tak, e.g., sunspots in white light viewing, and the ortho seemed to put up a brighter sky background. But it was truly sharp--as much pop as my 8mm TV plossl (which is also up for sale...). If I had a driven scope, I would probably own a set.

-geo


May 31, 2011 07:03 PM Forum: Eyepieces

disclosure ?

Posted By George Golitzin
It depends on how big the thing is--as you say, the seller might just have missed it. Any known flaw should be disclosed. But in any case, the seller should agree to take back the piece, or offer a discount, assuming it was sold at a price typical of an undamaged eyepiece. You should photograph it immediately, so as to communicate clearly the nature of the problem to the seller.

Once in a long while, one takes a loss on these things. I bought a premium eyepiece some time ago (from a respected astromarter with a very long record) that arrived in the dirtiest condition I've ever seen. I was kind of flabbergasted. After carefully cleaning the eye lens, I found a thin, light, but longish scratch in the coating, which would knock at least $50 off the price. But I let it go. It is remotely possible I put it there in the cleaning process--unlikely, but possible, because I'd never cleaned anything that dirty. It did not affect the view, and I was pretty certain I'd be keeping the piece long term.

June 8, 2011 07:09 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

M51 Supernova

Posted By George Golitzin
Thanks again Andreas for your picture--exactly what I needed to make the ID with confidence. Saw the SN in the late twilight before the clouds rolled in, with my 16-inch. Quite easy at 280X.

best,
geo

October 8, 2011 12:40 AM Forum: Equipment Talk

Turn-key observatory - How to advertise it?

Posted By George Golitzin
You may want it to go as a package, but you're probably limiting your market by putting that constraint on your ad. I would list the scope and obs separately with references to the other item in each ad.

Good luck!

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