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Window astronomy for the lazy.

Skybred March 28, 2026 11:09 PM – 12:10 AM Published Mar 29, 2026 English English
Quick session from the Hamburg office window on a cold, humid night, using a C5 on an old Vixen alt-az mounted on the sill — constrained view but workable after the room cooled down. Highlights were M13 and M92 in Hercules, a handful of doubles including Nu Dra and Rho Her, and a satisfying split of the Double Double in Lyra after a fresh collimation that made the effort worthwhile. Seeing started badly but finished strong, which salvaged what started as a lazy, low-commitment night.
Bortle 4, ~54°N Mostly clear, 2°C, Humidity 96%, Wind 5 km/h, Seeing: Terrible, Transp: Below avg

Session Notes

Too lazy to got out. And to late. And the clouds will come. So I set my "window rig" on the sill of my eastern office window. Window rig is a used old C5 on an ancient Vixen alt/az. Nice Pan24 but then a 10mm Radian also bought used. The main problem is the constraint view. The seeing today is acceptable after some cool down time (for the room):

Observaciones (8)

M57

PlanetaryNebula Lyra

Celestron C5, TeleVue Panoptic 24mm, Vixen Old AltAz, Sky-Watcher 9x50 Right-Angle Finder

Seeing: II · Transparency: 3/5

Just a little mini cloud in the Pan 24, doesnt matter, we dont want to observe it tonight, just an entry exercise.
M57 (Ring Nebula)

Nu Dra

DoubleStar Draco

Celestron C5, TeleVue Panoptic 24mm, Tele Vue Nagler T6 7mm, Vixen Old AltAz, Tele Vue Radian 10.0mm, Sky-Watcher 9x50 Right-Angle Finder

Seeing: II · Transparency: 2/5

Hop from Etamin via Rastaban. Double star striking in the 9x50 finder. NA time machine tells me that the photons I see left the star in 1933.

M13

GlobularCluster Hercules

Celestron C5, TeleVue Panoptic 24mm, Vixen Old AltAz, Sky-Watcher 9x50 Right-Angle Finder

Seeing: III · Transparency: 2/5

Belatedly do I realize that Hercules is east of Lyra. Not quite familiar with spring sky yet. The key stone is difficult to see naked eye because the transparency is degrading. But starting from Zeta Her I quickly stumble into M13, the usual process. The room is getting rather cold and the window seeing improves. It looks nice, but tonight I have no patience for it being to curious what else I can find with some hopping in the 9x50

M92

GlobularCluster Hercules

Celestron C5, TeleVue Panoptic 24mm, Tele Vue Nagler T6 7mm, Vixen Old AltAz, Tele Vue Radian 10.0mm, Sky-Watcher 9x50 Right-Angle Finder

Seeing: II · Transparency: 2/5

Starting at pi Her i hop north, slightly random, but M92 is soon there. Now it is time to stay a while on the object. I spend some time identifying faint neighbour stars, but they are difficult to seen on Nightbase in red mode. Still I think that I have seen two mag elevens in the field of the 10mm Radian. Bad transparency tonight. The highest magnification at the office window is an ancient Nagler T2 7mm. The C5 needs some balancing (heavy but useful finder) and the light Nagler is helpful. Averted I can resolve some stars and I am getting into a good mood.

HD 156873

Star Her

Celestron C5, Tele Vue Nagler T6 7mm, Vixen Old AltAz, Sky-Watcher 9x50 Right-Angle Finder

Seeing: II · Transparency: 2/5

Just "Beifang" of M92 in the Nagler field. I think I can also see a mag 11 star.

Rho Her

DoubleStar Hercules

Celestron C5, Tele Vue Nagler T6 7mm, Vixen Old AltAz, Sky-Watcher 9x50 Right-Angle Finder

Seeing: II · Transparency: 2/5

It takes a time to resolve, but the window seeing is much better now, so I sure to have split a couple of times though not easy. I compare with eye piece view in NB and it seems right.

Rasalgethi

DoubleStar Hercules

Celestron C5, Tele Vue Nagler T6 7mm, Vixen Old AltAz, Sky-Watcher 9x50 Right-Angle Finder

Seeing: II · Transparency: 2/5

I have some problems splitting him. Sitting low over the tree line in the east, but nevertheless. I am not happy with the collimation, this seems a culprit. So we turn on Vega, find the collimation screw driver in the drawer of my office desk and get it done. Need to tighten the lower screw and to losen the upper right. Satisfying to see the mirror shadow nicely centered. Rasalgethi can not be seen naked eye, so I try a different adventure....

Epsilon Lyr

DoubleStar Lyra

Celestron C5, Tele Vue Nagler T6 7mm, Vixen Old AltAz, Sky-Watcher 9x50 Right-Angle Finder

Seeing: V · Transparency: 2/5

Freshly collimated I am surprised and happily amazed to split Eps Lyr with the old 7mm Nagler. Thats about 100x with the reducer but we are sitting indoors at a window. Albeit a very cold window, I am wearing my winter coat. But there is no doubt, the lower component is horizontal, the upper vertical. A satisfying finish and all i all useful help from nightbase though I am not happy yet with the night mode.
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