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Posts Made By: Inge Skauvik

June 6, 2007 05:31 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Summer Lament

Posted By Inge Skauvik
You guys at middle latitudes have no reason to complain. At least you have some hours of darkness during the night.

Inge S

July 3, 2007 05:50 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Televue 60

Posted By Inge Skauvik
With all respect - but this is a typical "equipment forum" thread. You will get far more responses there.

Inge S
(Moderator)

August 1, 2007 01:16 PM Forum: Equipment Talk

Rich field scopes - nobody consider Newtonians?

Posted By Inge Skauvik
Putting aside the discussion about telescope design - here's another question.

Can anyone of you report exceptional views with RFT telescopes, particularly of elusive objects like the Pelican nebula, IC1396 or other large and ill-defined targets? Is the lowest power/largest field optimal, or do you find it better to reduce the exit pupil. Of course, I'm interested in knowing which telescope/eyepiece you used, and also some information about the observing site.

Inge S

August 7, 2007 01:28 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Obs of PNG 064.7+05.0 and M 1-92

Posted By Inge Skauvik
John,

Interesting report!
I have tried to spot those tiny nebulae in Cygnus myself, so far without success. Maybe digital aid is necessary to spot them. At least, trying to find them by memorising the sky map is very difficult.

Inge S

September 2, 2007 07:33 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

A whole New Constellation

Posted By Inge Skauvik
I observed Corona Australis from La Palma last spring. From +28 degrees the star pattern of the constellation was quite striking. I also accidentally found the globular, NGC5723. It was a nice bright and well resolved cluster. Located further north it would definitely have been included in Messier's list.

Inge S

September 2, 2007 07:43 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Declination or surface brightness???

Posted By Inge Skauvik
I prefer to observe galaxies while they are at least 20 degrees above the horizon. An absolutely dark sky is a must. Dark adaptation of the eyes is extremely important. There must be no thin cloud layer, no haze and no auroras. The importance of seeing should not be underestimated. Some of my favourite galaxies (M61 and M99) are quite small, and their spiral arms get washed out by poor seeing.

Inge S

September 14, 2007 02:36 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Astro trip to La Palma 2007

Posted By Inge Skauvik
We are having a great time here at the mountain top of La Palma. Incredible views of the galaxies of Sculptor and Fornax. Sky darkness readings of 21.8 and seeing of 0.5". For details, please visit our blog at http://casacolmenero.blogspot.com

Inge S

September 25, 2007 11:32 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

La Palma: observing skills

Posted By Inge Skauvik
Indeed it was a very easy task to guide Dmitri around the skies. I generally find it enjoyable to have somebody to observe together with, but I hardly ever met an enthusiasm for the deep-sky wonders like that of Dmitri.
Showing objects to a person who sees just faint fuzzyballs isn't really fun to have as an observation compation. Dmitri always took time to view the objects and examine them with different magnifications. He also has a good system for recording his observations. Using a small recorder he orally gave his comments during or after observation. Very often I heard descriptions like "ochen' yarkaya, malen'kaya, ochen' dlinnaya". I think I'll adapt this method since it is unneccessary to bring along paper, pencil and a flashlight.

Inge S

September 26, 2007 06:34 PM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

La Palma: observing skills

Posted By Inge Skauvik
One additional comment:
I think that when amateur astronomers meet, we always have something to learn from each other. Yesterday I had a look at Dmitri's observation notes, and I found them most interesting and informative. For my own part I have to admit that I lack some of the dicipline needed to work out notes like that. I have occasionally tried to do it, but after a while I somehow decided not to do so. Reading Dmitri's reports I realise how stupid this actually is. Sometimes I visit some 20 - 50 objects during an observing session, and remembering all details about this is actually hopeless.
I even think that dicipline in making notes enhances the observing skills. Conciousness about the fact that you should give some description of what you see, actually makes you more focused on details. I hope that I'll be able to find a good system for recording my future observations, probably something similar to Dmitri's technique.

Inge S

October 4, 2007 05:49 AM Forum: Deep Sky Observing

Planetary nebulae seen from La Palma

Posted By Inge Skauvik
In addition the planetaries described in the parent post, I should mention NGC6572 in Ophiuchus. This object is located in the northern part of the constellation, and it isn't necessary to travel south to see it well.

With an integrated magnitude of 8.1 NGC6572 is one of the brightest planetaries in the sky. The reason why it is almost never mentioned is that it is so small that it can be confused by a star at low magnification.

I observed this nebula at a time when Dmitri had a nap. At 63x it appeared as a slightly diffuse, extremely green star. I used up to 375x on it, and at all powers it was well defined, nearly round. My personal impression is that this must be the greenest object in the sky for amateur telescopes.

Inge S

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