Urban DSO evening.

[John Baars]

"City! Oh well, I don't even look anymore", I sometimes hear people say. That is a shame, because there is still a lot to see. Also with moderate openings.
Last night it was nice and transparent after three-quarters of a day of rain and the seeïng was certainly not bad either.


Put my 120mm telescope in the garden early and set to work with the double stars Epsilon Bootis, Delta Cygni and Rasalgethi. They are a bit like each other. They all require a fairly high magnification to show their beauty. And all have a smaller one with a differently colored companion. Later Albireo was added, which does not require high magnification. I will stay on such a beautiful couple for 10 minutes or more, pure enjoyment.


It is also nice to be at the globular clusters. M92 has a nice clear core, you can take it easy with your magnification and then the core dissolves into individual foreground stars. M13 spreads its light over a somewhat larger area and, although the total magnitude is larger than that of M92, it appears at first sight to be more moderate in a 120 mm telescope. But if you dive well under your observation hood (= necessity in the city!), it will become increasingly impressive. NGC6229 in Hercules initially seems a vague spot. But on closer inspection, five or six unloading stars can still be observed. The conjunction in an almost equilateral triangle with two bright foreground stars is very cute. This triangle with 10X50 binoculars can already be seen at a dark location. For the city observer, Ophiuchus contains at least M10 and M12, they resemble somewhat looser globulars, whereby I observed more stars in M10 than in the neighboring sister. Another awkward fellow is M71 in Sagitta, where I observed a dozen loose stars in a sugar-glitter glow. The proximity of three fairly bright stars in a row gives a breathtaking beauty at low magnification. M56 in Lyra closed the line for the time being, quite large, therefore weak and only a few loose stars. At a dark location I noticed that there are more loose stars than I would expect.

The planetary nebulae are particularly tasty as an intermediate dish. M57 in Lyra is the first to jump forward of course. The "accompanying" star of magnitude 13 was clearly visible. I can already see that with this transparency with a 10 cm refractor. The city observer will also notice that the area in the ring of M57 is considerably lighter than outside. The Turtle NGC6210 in Hercules does not show much more than a somewhat irregular rectangular shape. High magnification necessity. Nice double stars nearby are STF 2087, with 5.2 arc seconds separation, and an even closer STF2094 with 1.2 "separation. The latter is a direct challenge for a 10 cm! A lower magnification is needed for M27, the Dumbbell nebula in Vulpecula. This is a must for people who have a CLS or UHC filter at their disposal: at low magnification, it "pops" out of the eyepiece, unexpectedly clear, and a clear old-fashioned dumbbell.I also went to NGC6888 to visit the Crescent in Cygnus for a while through a UHC filter, as I expected, it was not like on pictures, but some mistiness was certain to see, and the same was true for NGC6995, part of the Veil.

Galaxies are a bit trickier here in the city, but certainly not all are impossible. I put M104, the Sombrero in the field of vision, and it was still visible. NGC6207 in addition to M13 gave more problems with magn.11.3, but eventually emerged. The Needle NGC4565 was "good" to see. I had been there so many times lately that I could dream about the position and rotation relative to neighboring stars. A exit pupil of 1.2 mm did the best job. No matter how vague it may be, I still think it's a magnificent sight. Want to go up? Yes, M51 was almost right above my head. Nice, go for it right away. Clearly two cores, with the brightest a halo and some lighter patches. Rarely seen in that way, I hold the zenith position and transparency responsible.

And all the while, Jupiter had appeared on the horizon above the treetops. To my great pleasure, a moon transition from Ganymedes was just coming to an end and Io was about to start. The shadow of Io was already visible on the sphere. A beautiful sight. The otherwise white equatorial zone was considerably darker than normal and I saw two festoons running. The equatorial belts were clearly more frayed than I am used to. When I decided to clean up , another planet poked through the treetops in the distance; Saturn. Well, you won't let that go of course! Cassini separation, an equatorial band and Titan were present. Magnificent!

Satisfied I cleaned up. Hmm, Urban night ... not at all wrong ...

[helicon]

Great session John. There are many objects that punch through the light pollution. NGC 4565 actually shows pretty well. Globs also will be much easier than galaxies for the most part.

[Bikerdib]

Congrats on getting out for a fine night.

[Lowjiber]

Excellent account of your Urban Astronomer evening, John. Living inside a light dome is still fun when time doesn't allow for travel to a dark site. You provided "proof" that it still can be rewarding.

Clear, Dark Skies

[quincy]

For those who say they don't look anymore, that's too bad. There's so many opportunities to observe no matter how bad the LP is.
My goodness, I've observed at a hotel parking lot in a big city. I've observed outside a grocery store. And I've had a ball!
I'll never listen to naysayers.
Glad you had a great night, John.

[Kanadalainen]

Hi John,

Thanks for your list, and so now I will use it as my immediate guide for urban stargazing.

[MistrBadgr]

Thanks, John! I really enjoyed your report and I think you are spot on about urban viewing.

Your 1.2mm pupil size under light polluted conditions matches up with what I am trying to do with my 60mm f/8 refractor. A 10mm eyepiece gets a pupil size of 1.25mm and still has around a 1 deg true field of view for going after fuzzy objects.

[Lady Fraktor]

A great report John, urban astronomy may be a challenge at times but should not be a deterrent.

[John Baars]

Thanks to all for your kind words.

Warmly recommended for observation in the city: the (large) observation hood.
Pull it over your head and it saves you as much as 1.0 magnitude. Stay under it for five minutes and your eye will have the opportunity to adjust even better to the dark of the eyepiece. That is your second win. Together it makes a huge difference. The hood is also a lot easier than that big black towel.

On the sky side you can often do little more on site than avoiding direct light. On the side of your own eye you can improve a lot with the observation hood!

[Don Quixote]

Thank you John for this wonderful report from the "city" !
Bravo !

[Bigzmey]

Great evening John! One can definitely find plenty of targets even with a small refractor.

Congrats on catching the moon transit on Jupiter! My planetary season this year is to a slow start, both Jupiter and Saturn been boiling like crazy.

[Ozypic]

What a great report, very inspiring indeed. I have to admit the conditions in my backyard and the cold and clouds...even a single cloud can all add up to a NO... Im feeling guilty now . Thanks for the report. Phill

[10538]

Thanks John for the excellent report. You certainly bagged some great targets! I’m lucky that I live in a very small farming community with only one flashing caution light which allows for some really enjoyable viewing of DSOs but that wasn’t always the case! Thanks for sharing your well written and interesting session with us John!

[bladekeeper]

Wonderful report, John!

I very much enjoy your writing style, always a pleasure to read. This one is no exception. Wonderful views of excellent targets from the city.

[John Baars]

The dessert.
A sketched impression of the shadow transit of Io and Ganymede leaving the sphere.

[Bigzmey]

Nice sketch John!

[Shabadoo]

Am taking your report outside with me tonight.

[Shabadoo]

1 June.
Thank you John. My telescope worked flawlessly. My eyes, on the other hand, just "didn't see it" all. I managed to bag half the list, and of course Jupiter. Saturn was rising, but would be hours before clearing the tall timbers. Later this Summer would be easier for S.
Jeff