Upping My Game: The Herschel 400-2 List

[Arctic]

Early last year I finished the original Herschel 400 (H1) List of deep sky objects. I viewed the vast majority of them with my 4-inch refractor--and probably could have seen them ALL with it. I recently started working through the Herschel 400-2 (H2) List, having already viewed a good chunk of the objects over the years, but not following the list.

Anyway, it looks like my 8-inch scope is gonna see a lot more use for this list due to the prevalence of fairly faint galaxies. I can see galaxies down to about 12.5 with the 4-inch, if they have a high surface brightness (and stars past 13.5) under excellent conditions, but the H2 has a lot of objects that are dimmer. The challenge (really, a time-consuming pain-in-the-ass) will be using the 8-inch SCT during the cold winter months. Long cool-down times, stiff focuser, foggy eyepieces, and serious frosting/condensation on the scope when I bring it in from a sub-zero observing session are the challenges.

This got me thinking about efficiency. I think I will search for a yogurt heater on eBay and adapt it for keeping eyepieces warm (but not TOO warm). I will also research some sort of heavy-duty, waterproof bag that I can wrap the scope in before bringing it into the warm house. This should reduce the condensation problem.

Any thoughts?

[Makuser]

Hi Gordon. I didn't get to congratulate you on your Herschel 400 (H1) last May, so i want to convey to you my congratulations now. As far as the Herschel 400 (H2) goes, you have several options. For me, I like taking out my 6" f/5 refractor, but there are times that I wish I had someone to help me take out the 12" Dob when the magnitudes and seeing gets get rough. Next is the weather. We have had 10 of the last 8 days with severe thunderstorms in the central east of Florida, and even Orlando is facing floodwaters. And, now thunderstorms just started again here a half hour ago. Also, you have to calculate the seasons of best observing at your latitude. Thanks for your nice post Gordon, and the very best of wishes on completing your Herschel 400 (H2) soon.

[Gabby76]

Dew heater eyepiece case heaters are available, on really cold nights I wrap my telescope in a sleeping bag before bringing it inside.
It traps the cold air and lets it warm up much slower.

Kendrick Premium Dewheater #2020 15% OFF - Box Heater for eyepiece, accessory boxes. Can be used as chair warmer US $49.98
http://www.kendrickastro.com/dew_premierheaters.html

[Intrepid]

I keep all my astronomy equipment except cameras in an unheated garage attached to my house. I rarely have any of the problems you mention and I have been out as low as -20 C. I do have dew heaters but usually only use one on the OTA (Meade LX90).
Eyepieces I sometimes keep in my pockets. The camera generates it own heat and actually works better when the
temperature is lower.

Best of luck on your H2 List.

Intrepid,

Telescopes/Mounts: Meade LX-90 GPS 203mm, f/10 SCT; Williams Zenithstar II ED 80mm, f/6.8; Celestron Cometron 114mm, f/4.0 Newtonian; Ioptron Cube Pro.
Diagonals: 1.25 & 2.0" Dielectric. Barlows: 1.25 & 2.0" ED. Focal reducer: Antares f/6.3 & Meade F/3.3. Off axis guider: Orion Deluxe. Elec. Focuser: JMI NGF-S
Eps: Meade 4000 set + 25mm, Lanthanum 5.2 & 12.5mm, ES 4.7mm, 6.7mm 82° & 16mm 68Ëš, Antares 9.7 & 25mm W70, Zhumell 2.0" 30mm 68°.
Other: Sony α6000, Nikon 8800; Meade Eq. Wedge, Filters: 80mm Solar, OIII, Hα, HLPR, LRGB & X Polarizing, Kson Wheel; Dew Heaters + 4ch kOaks Controller: Rigel QF.
All above purchased second hand 2012-2019.
Also: Canon SX40IS 35x Optical zoom; Kepcor 7x50 & Celestron 15x70 Binos; Meade 12mm Illum. Astrometric Ep.; Kendricks Dew Shield (SCT); Mallincam μS+50mm f/1.4 lens, BCO 10mm Ep..

[10538]

Congrats on the completion of the H1 list and good luck on the H2's! Gabby's suggestion about Kendrik dew heaters is an excellent one. I have them and they work great! You are right about the difficult galaxies on the H2 list. I got about have way through the H2 and H3 lists and had to take a break for a while. I started viewing some doubles and some planetaries to get my sanity back!