So we had a night of unusually good seeing and transparency and the 16 inch was set up. For the first time ever i was able to throw 250x at both M81 and M82. Talk about a oh wow moment. For grins i checked out the Catseye and The Ring Nebula at 250x…two more Oh wow moments. M13 is amazing at 200x and even better at 250x. On a whim i dropped a 4.5mm in the focuser for 400x. While not perfect focus it was 90 to 95 percent and it is like being parked at the very edge of the cluster. I will be trying that again. To end the night i went after something that is, well was on the bucket list. With my tablet in hand and the go to system tracking the coordinates of a fairly empty place in Virgo. I found the 4 faint stars that makes a box that is tipped at an angle. I let my eye drift off the top left hand star to a fairly faint fuzzy spot. That hazy little spot is quasar 3c 273, 2 billion light years away. Talk about a moment.
i’m jealous, did you take and pics?
@beagle1 while i can get images of the moon and sun with the cellphone, getting stuff in the deep sky is kinda tough. I find myself wishing i had bought the Astro Tech 4.8/110 degree eyepiece. I know i would have used it last night
ah thought you might have had a cam on that BAZZZZOOOOOKKKKAA
@beagle1 nope, no camera. I am strictly a visual kinda guy. I am sitting here watching the clouds break up and now accuweather is saying it is going to be a clear night. I may be setting up again tonight.
Just out of curiosity, do you see any colours when viewing ? Cuz I’ve never seen any colour and I really don’t know if it should be possible
@PVarshini there are times when i see some color. It is mostly shades of a color. A bit of blue a bit of green. I have had people say they see purple. Usually the color is just one way or the other off of grey. Last night I looked at the Ring Nebula. It was its normal ghostly grey, but I have seen it when it was VERY blue.