What's Up? Webcast: June Night Skies (2026)

Added: 2026-06-06

[00:01:11]What's up everyone? Kevin here from Skywatcher. Welcome to another episode of the What's Upcast. Uh we do this every Friday, 10 a.m. Pacific, right here at the Skywatcher USA YouTube channel. We cover everything from what's up in the nighttime sky to equipment to helpful tips and tricks. And of course, at the end of the month, we have a special guest to talk about their specialty in the field of astronomy. Um, it is June 5th, uh, 2026. We're halfway through the year, which is crazy. Um, this episode is live like most of our episodes are. Um, and then they are actually saved on our library. So, once we're all done uh with the episode, you can then go watch any of them uh afterwards on our uh YouTube channel.

[00:01:54]Um, occasionally we do record um episodes and uh that actually brings me to uh next week uh next week we will be out of the office. Uh Jared uh who we've had on um Alex our tech guy and myself are all going to Grand Canyon Star Party. Um I'm heading up on Tuesday and then the other two I believe are coming up a uh a little later in the week. Um, so if you're heading up there, uh, stop by, say hi. Uh, we're not branded up there. Uh, Grand Canyon is an educational star party, open to the public. It's not there to like sell and show off. We'll be bringing some new equipment just cuz we want to use it.

[00:02:37]Um, but if you find us up there, say hi.

[00:02:40]We'll be happy to show you whatever we brought. I don't exactly know what everyone's bringing. Um, but stop by, say hi. We'll have a fleet of all kinds of stuff up there, but um you'll find us. Uh look for the big do on the field.

[00:02:55]Um and yeah, other than that, we'll uh see there. And with that being said, um because Alex is going to be up there with there, there is no tech support um from I believe he said the 11th to the 15th is when he is up there. So, uh, if you are trying to get in touch with us, just leave a message or leave us an email and we'll get back to you as soon as we're all back into the office.

[00:03:18]There's just a couple days where we're going to be out. So, just an announcement. Um, and we'll go from there. What's the question here? I was wondering when the new 16-inch do was releasing. Is it this year? I don't know when we're going to release the new 16.

[00:03:33]Um, apparently there's word out there there's a new 16inch do in the works. I have a test sample here. Haven't even opened it yet. Been too busy testing some other stuff that I can't tell you about yet. Um, but hopefully after Grand Canyon I can dive into that, but I don't know. Um, at this point I'd say early next year maybe, but I don't know. It all depends on how it actually acts. So, um, and for those asking, we'll know.

[00:04:03]We'll tell you more when there is something to tell, but I don't know. Um, so anyway, moving on. Uh, if you like what you see here, please go ahead and subscribe, leave a like on the channel.

[00:04:12]If you have an idea for an episode, you can email us info@ skywatchusa.com and title it what's up if you have an idea for an episode. Um, and yeah, we'll go from there. Uh, if you want to stay uh in tune with what's going on here at Skywatcher, head over to skywatchusa.com. Hit subscribe at save at the top and you join our email list that tells you all about what's going on here at Skywatcher sales and any new product that's coming out and where we're going to be. Um, so head over there, check that out. Um, and you can join that up at any time.

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[00:04:47]There's all kinds of cool swag there.

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[00:05:10]There we go. Our doss are on sale. So, if you're looking for some big aperture stuff, our dosonians are on sale for the month of June. So, you can definitely check that out. Um, always head over to deals. We've got clearance stuff, which is getting kind of thin. Um, and then we've got some used stuff, um, which has been inspected, open box, so you can check some of that stuff out as well.

[00:05:31]So, all right, let's go ahead and jump right into it.

[00:05:35]Uh so of course let's talk about the big bright thing in the sky, the moon. Um so new moon is June 14th. So not this weekend next weekend. Um so if you're heading out for the month of June like many of us are um next weekend is going to be your dark sky um weekend with new moon of course this whole week which is why Grand Canyon Star Party is this week starts tomorrow night officially on the south rim of the Grand Canyon um and goes till next Saturday the 14th. Um so there'll be some moon rising but uh later in the evening but as the week progresses it'll go smaller and smaller.

[00:06:13]So, uh, so no new moon is on June 14th, uh, making your dark sky weekend the 13th and 14th, so next weekend. And then, of course, full moon is June 29th.

[00:06:22]Um, that's going to be the strawberry moon, um, which gets its name from the ripening strawberries uh, this time of year, which is really unfortunate because I tried to grow a strawberry plant and I killed it. So, I'm not great at plants, but I thought I'd give it a go. Um, but yeah, now each full moon does have a name. If you do a lot of outreach, it's a fun fact to actually tell people about what the folklore is, why it's called that. So, that can be a fun little tidbit that you can get. Um, I like to go to Farmers Almanac and tells you all about all the folklore and any other nicknames that there might be, but there's a lot of stuff to explore there and it's kind of a cool thing to promote at an outreach event, especially when the moon is nice and bright. You can tell people about it and the folklore that comes along with it. So, um, yeah, full moon's right around, well, I wouldn't say right around the corner. It's it's coming around, um, later in the month, but we got to get through the nice dark weekend first.

[00:07:20]Pass through this, uh, planets. Um, so, there's some stuff going on as far as planets go. Um, you've probably seen out in the west, you've got Venus and Jupiter, um, over the last few nights have continuously gotten closer and closer and closer together. Um, and actually they're going to keep getting closer. So the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth. The ninth is its closest approach. It's going to look like a little headlight set out there and the constellation of Gemini. So that'll be cool to see. Um, and actually, if we pan through this a little bit more, Mercury is not far from them down here.

[00:07:57]So depending on where you're going to be, if you got a clear view to the west with a good horizon, there's Mercury right there. And then you have Jupiter and Venus together right next to each other um on the 9th. Um of course you don't have to wait till the 9th for Mercury. Um but Mercury is getting a little higher there. But the close approach of the two planets is going to be on uh June 9th. So that'll be kind of a cool thing. They're close enough to where if you had a wide field telescope, you could probably fit them both in the field of view. So kind of a neat little thing to go along with. Um, and then of course as we make it through the month, uh, and June continues to go, Jupiter's going to descend lower and lower, um, into the sky as the moon gets higher and higher. Now, right here, um, let me see.

[00:08:49]Is there a way to I know there's a way to center it, but I never pay attent There we go. Um, the moon is actually going to occult uh Venus right there. Um, on the morning right around lunch, early lunchtime of uh the 17th, at least here in North America. Now, if you want to watch this, uh, I would go use a simulator. This is Stellarium or use Sky Safari, something like that. find your location because the times and how it's being covered will change depending on where you are at. Um here in the Phoenixish area, um you're looking about noon till about I'm sorry about 11 45 till it's about an hour and a half. Um so that'll be kind of cool. Um it is going to be during the day so you can either get aligned uh the night before set up your stuff but that is something that's coming around is the occultation of uh Venus by the moon. Um and that's going to be on June 17th during the day.

[00:10:02]Again, please check your um app or whatever you use like Stellarium to get more details about when and where and how um it's going to look for you. So, because it will be different for each one of us. So, um as far as planets go, there's not a whole lot going on through the main part of the evening um until we get later in the night. Um then we start to see the return. It's in here somewhere. There's Saturn right about there. Really late um in the in the evening. Um actually early early early morning hours. So like 1:00 a.m. 2 am. Uh that's where Saturn's going to be coming back up. Um which is pretty common this time of year lately.

[00:10:50]And then Mars not far behind it at about 3:40 in the morning. Um the nice thing Mars is going to be right next to the Pletes uh right now. Not too far. Um, so we're getting some planets in the morning hours. Um, and obviously Saturn and Mars are going to become more dominant as we move into the fall um time of the year, but we are starting to get it in the morning hours. Um, if you're one of those early morning observers, I'm sure you're already on it uh right now. I haven't seen any pictures of Mars yet. I know people have done it, um, but have not caught any pictures of it yet. I'm a little eager to take a look at it. Um, I like looking at Mars. It's a cool planet.

[00:11:31]Unfortunately, we only get here and there. Um, but yeah, so there you go.

[00:11:35]That's pretty much what's going on for the planets right now is uh Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter all together out there. Uh, best time to observe Venus in my opinion is during the day. Um, Mercury, I was looking at that the other day, and it doesn't take a big telescope to use it. Um, this week I was trying out a Telev 85. Um, and no problem, easy um, to see it. But the trick is finding it. Um, and when the moon's really close to Venus, it's not too terrible. And Venus is naked eye visible if you know exactly where to look. Um, but I like showing people Venus during the day.

[00:12:10]It's just kind of a cool like I didn't know they were out kind of approach.

[00:12:14]But, uh, there you go. So, check that out. But, um, yeah. So, we'll see how uh all that looks uh when we do the Venus occultation on the 17th. So, mark your calendars and check your local listings for time and information. Uh but for planets, that's pretty much it. Uh right now, um we are going to have let me get to a more reasonable hour. There we go.

[00:12:40]Uh we are going to have the moon kind of cruising by the planets here. Where is it? There's one. There's two. Um, you'll have Venus and a really nice crescent moon on the 17th as well. Um, so that'll be kind of a cool thing. Now, Venus right now, I think, is still Yeah, it's still in a gibbus uh phase. So, you're starting to see a phase on it, but it's not the crescent phases that I'm a big fan of personally. But, so that's where we're at. So, but yeah, the ninth is going to be kind of cool. Actually, it's not just going to be the ninth. the it's really going to be what's today? Today's the 5th.

[00:13:21]Starting I would say today moving all the way to probably the 11th or 12th. It's going to be kind of a cool site to see Venus and uh Jupiter together out there um hanging out. So, that'll be uh cool to see. So, definitely keep an eye out for that.

[00:13:38]But, that's pretty much it. What's going on for planets right now?

[00:13:42]Uh the sun um well the sun is incredibly dynamic. Um obviously it changes every day. Um and we are we're no longer in solar maximum. It's not increasing. It's actually starting to come down a little bit, but there's been some big flares lately. Um I think there was a an X-class that went off the other day that they were expecting aurora. I don't know if we actually got any. Um a lot of times where I live, we don't see it, so it's not a huge deal, though I would love to see it. Um, but yeah, so very very dynamic right now still. Um, I like to actually go here. Gong, uh, G O N G H alpha is what I put into Google. Um, here's the link and website up there.

[00:14:26]And, um, I can actually put that in the chat if anybody wants it.

[00:14:32]There we go. Um, this is what I use to see if it's worth dragging out an Halpha telescope. Although lately I've had one set up just because it's been worth it.

[00:14:41]Um, now I will just a reminder, um, please use safe solar filters when observing the sun. Make sure they are safe for you to use. Um, and go out and check it out. Now, when we're talking about hydrogen alpha solar filters like what we're seeing here, you need something like the Helioar uh that we sell or a Day Star Cork or a Lunt or a Coronado or something that is a real dedicated solar filter set. Don't be putting like an imaging filter on there and be like, "It's hydrogen alpha." It's not not the way you need it to be. Um, but that's where you get to see all the dynamic stuff. Now, if you don't have that, a lot of us have white light filters, which is usually the common way to get in observing the sun, and that'll actually show you the sunspots. And there's a nice peppering of them up there, uh, right now. But the most dynamic, um, is the Halpha. Um, and if you're going to be at Grand Canyon, um, and you want to see some of these, uh, solar scopes that we're all bringing, uh, we like to set up right out in front of Yavapai Lodge, uh, is usually where our group is hanging out. Like I said, we'll be up there starting Tuesday afternoon. So, we'll probably be doing solar Wednesday on um and also have Venus out there and whatever else we want to check out. But um that's where we'll be hanging out doing solar primarily. So, we may float around, but usually that's where we like to go. So, but that's pretty much what's going on for the sun right now. Um but yeah, when you're observing the sun, please make sure you're doing it safely with the proper solar filters. Don't hurt your eyes.

[00:16:19]Uh meteor showers. Um not anything major going on for the month of June. They don't normally kick in until July and then the big one of course in August, the Perced meteor shower. Um but yeah, there's nothing going on um at the moment.

[00:16:36]Uh by the way, I know if any of you are new to watching, uh this is our beginning of the month episode where we just go over what's up in the nighttime sky. But feel free to ask any questions that you want about equipment, thoughts, whatever. Um, usually we try to keep comments on topic, but this is a pretty wide openen topic and if you've got anything percolating in there and I can answer it, um, I'm uh, happy to answer any of that. So yeah, uh, definitely uh, check it out, ask any questions and I will answer what I can. Uh, comments.

[00:17:11]Uh, now comments are really dynamic. Um, they're always changing. And right before here, I opened up space weather like I just showed you guys, uh, right here. And this guy apparently got a lot brighter. Um, so, oh, that's the one I forgot. Let me I knew there was a tab.

[00:17:29]Cometchasing.

[00:17:32]I hope if I could type. There we go. com cometchasing.skyhound.com.

[00:17:36]This is my favorite website for comets.

[00:17:39]And um this is going to be really interesting right here. Magnitude 7.

[00:17:45]That means it's almost naked eye from the dark sky sites. Um this one's going to be interesting. However, I don't know where it's at.

[00:17:54]We'll scroll down here.

[00:18:00]Let's see. 22 0 P McNot. Um, do they have a little section for it or is it too early?

[00:18:12]Huh? They don't have a section for it right now. I'll have to go up on the charts and figure out where it's at. Oh, wait. If only we had a device that we could look up all kinds of information on and um figure that out. Let me see if I can find where it's at on Sky Safari really quickly cuz I would like to know where it is to see if it's actually going to be visible um for us here in the northern hemisphere.

[00:18:45]Okay, it's in Pisces.

[00:18:50]Oh, it's right next to Neptune. Um anyway, uh let's see. I can't really show this right now, but yeah, it's it's up uh but it's going to be you're talking about 3 in the morning uh for this thing right now. It sits right in between Neptune and Saturn over the next week. Um, so if you want to take a look at this comet that's apparently had an outburst and gotten a lot way brighter. Um, it's up in the very early pre-dawn skies. So there you go. See if I am eager enough to stay up all night to watch for it. Um, but yeah, so Comet McNot is the one that we're going to want to take a look at. Uh what's cool about Comet Chasing uh on this website is they have a video that they have every month which goes into all the details kind of like what we do here um but specifically for comets. So if you're interested in looking at these things, head over check it out, learn all about it, um and see what's up. Now, right now there's not a lot of other stuff going on. It looks like um McNot is going to be the big one that you're going to want to pay attention to right now. Uh but right now we have the southern hemisphere with pan stars not visible here to the northern hemisphere.

[00:20:10]Um 88p Howell not visible. Northern hemisphere um got this guy right here C 2022 R1 pan stars but it's it's 13th magnitude. So that's like an imaging target or a dark sky telescope target. So, no major comments going on right now except for what we're trying to find out with McNot here. Um, this one's going to be interesting as more information develops. Um, and go from there.

[00:20:45]What's next week's topic? Uh, we're talking about the Evoar EDX uh series next week. That'll be a pre-recorded episode because we'll be gone. So, okay, we are flying through today's topic. You guys are quiet today. where's all the chatty questions and stuff like that. So, um it is Friday and I'm sure many of us have been up for quite a while because it gets bright early nowadays.

[00:21:11]Um okay, so targets for deep sky right now. Uh right now we have M106 and Canisactes 24 million lighty years away.

[00:21:19]This is a fun one. Probably one of my favorite galaxies in the Messier catalog because it's got some really dynamic stuff going on. Um, first off, it's got some really cool structure in there when you're actually doing imaging. And, uh, there is a set of, uh, vertical spiral arms that come out, but they're red. That's because the black hole in the center of the galaxy is whipping up that material. So, if you're shooting this, chuck a hydrogen alpha filter in there and shoot some data on it and zoom in and you'll you'll see these little wisps that come up. It's hard to see them in here. Um, but it's it's pretty cool. And then there's all kinds of other galaxies in the field of view as well. So, check that out and see what we can do um with that. But lots of cool detail in that galaxy. Um, if you're heading out to some dark sky sites, especially if you're imaging, this has got a lot going on in there as well.

[00:22:21]Um, of course, M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. Uh this is a great one to go after in dark sky sites and it's very impressive in larger instruments, you know, 10 inch and bigger. Um the more aperture you throw on it, the more interesting it progressively gets. Um but the uh thing about M51 that drives me nuts along with M27, the dumbbell Nebula, is they're very easy to figure out where in the sky they are. I swear they move because every time I try to point a tail rat or get on target, I can never hit this thing directly. I always have to pan around and find it. Um I know where it's at. It's right there below the big dipper handle. It's easy to be like, "Yeah, right about there."

[00:23:04]But it always takes me forever to find this stupid thing because it's just one of those objects. It's like the dumbbell nebula. I know exactly where it is in the sky, but when I point up there, I'm never like right on it. I have to kind of move around and find it and stuff like that. Um, but the Whirlpool is a very impressive u galaxy to look at. Um, if you're heading to dark skies right now, it's a great position to go after it, both visual and imaging. If you are imaging, see if you can add some H2 uh or hydrogen data to it because you get the H2 regions, these little pink looking like pearl uh pieces in there. Um those are star forming regions in the galaxy and hydrogen alpha data brings that out. So it works quite well. Um and then if you're using the smart eye, here's a um shot that we did last year um with a smart eye. Uh I know the stars look kind of funky. That's cuz the telescope that this was being used on had a major optical problem which has now been fixed. Um now they're nice and pinpoint. But I just wanted to see how well the telescope worked at the time.

[00:24:11]Um but that's all been addressed and now but the detail in there looks it actually looks way better in person.

[00:24:18]This is like a cell phone picture holding it up to the eyepiece of the smart eye. Uh smart eye does so much better in person. And the cell phone pictures it's okay but it's not ideal.

[00:24:29]Let's see. See, there's a question in here somewhere. What's your opinion on the Leica Sarafsi spotting scopes? Have you used them before for terrestrial and astronomical views? I haven't used the their spotting scopes. I've used their binoculars.

[00:24:44]SW Well, S Swarovski. I have Leica. I haven't spent much time on Leas. Uh S Swarovskis are amazing. Like amazing. Um, if I had the Well, if I wanted to spend the money on really high-end binoculars, Sarovskis would be my first choice.

[00:25:03]They're so clean and sharp, and I'm sure their spotting scopes are just as good.

[00:25:10]Um, their new spotting scopes are really kind of cool because they're modular, so you can kind of pick what aperture you want. You can like lock things in. It's really kind of a cool system on how they did it, but man are they expensive. And being mostly astronomical observing, I would rather dump that money on a a telescope than a spotting scope. But Saravsky's optics are unbelievable. Um, I can only imagine what it would be like if they made a telescope. It would probably be frighteningly good. um Leica right up there with them as well. But like I said, I haven't spent as much time on with Leica as I have with S Swarovskis. Uh but both very very high level um optical manufacturers, but I've always been impressed with S Swarovskis.

[00:26:04]Let's see.

[00:26:08]Are attendees required to have visual setups for outreach at the Grand Canyon or is it dedicated astrographs? Okay.

[00:26:15]Um, very good question. So, Grand Canyon is an outreach event. Um, it's you're there uh for the public. You're a volunteer ranger. Um, also, if you haven't registered, they changed the registration um officially this year. It went all digital and registration closed on May 31st. So, if you are not registered, I don't know if they're going to be really letting you set up.

[00:26:44]Um, I know they're over what we've had since any other year. It's going to be really busy this year. So, the format's changing a little bit because the North Rim fire last year took out the North Rim Lodge. So, we're having uh some of the North Rim people come over to the south. Um, but no, Grand Canyon is not just for uh visual, but up until 11 p.m.

[00:27:10]you are there for the public. You are there to share and promote dark skies.

[00:27:14]Whether you do that with imaging or visual is completely up to you, but you're not there for yourself. You are there to share with others. after 11:00.

[00:27:27]Um 11:00 is when the buses stop, the the buses that trust or bus people around the park. Um that's usually the end of it. Um and up from 11 till about midnight. I don't know the official cut off, but right around in there, uh there's like a 45 minute to hourong window where you're allowed to turn on your white lights. um you're allowed to take your truck or whatever you're doing because there are people that just want to do the outreach part and they break down and then they go back to their campsite or their hotel or wherever you're staying. Um and you can break down and have lights on and do whatever you need to do. A lot of us that still want to observe, we just ignore it. We just push through it. Um no big deal. Um after midnight, whatever you want to do, you can stay up all night. No one's going to bother you out there. Um, you might get a little group of public attendees pass through, especially from say like 11 to 1, you get some of the more hardcore groups or groups that just want to see the Milky Way and come out. Um, but yeah, usually after midnight, it's really quiet out there and you really just have like the hardcore observers. So, yes, you can do astrophotography. There is no power on the field, so you need to have your own power. There is power in one little section, but I've never set up in there and I can't really tell you anything about it because I've never set up over there. Um, it's mostly visual observers because it's easier to do outreach with, but astrophotography has become more prevalent um there because of smart scopes and live stacking and all this stuff going on. So, it's becoming more of a mix. It's just if you're bringing a dedicated astrograph, please remember you are there to promote dark skies and to educate and share up until 11:00. So, you need to be friendly to the public and welcoming. If you're not, you're going to have some issues with the rangers.

[00:29:36]Okay. Hopefully that was helpful. Um, all right. So, M51, there's the smart eye. Um, there it is through a U sear. I think that was the 50 um which I don't have anymore. I sold that to a friend of mine who's getting a lot of good use out of it. We went to the S30 Pro um which I'm really looking forward to at doing the Milky Way stuff with that. Um yeah, but um another one that's really cool right now, NGC 4565, the needle galaxy up in Koma Baronis. Uh this thing is huge. Um it's a very impressive galaxy um to see right now. It looks cool in most telescopes. the bigger scopes that have like that resolution and light gathering power. This thing really takes the field up. Um, I like showing this one because it's it's easy to see. It's off the beaten path of the Messier targets. Um, and it's often overlooked uh but uh it's an impressive galaxy and it has a staggering amount of globular clusters inside of it because it's a monster galaxy. Um, this is it in the smart eye.

[00:30:40]Again, I think this is just a cell phone picture um holding up to the scope at the time, but it looks very similar to that in a large uh telescope that's got some good light gathering power. Um so, if you're heading out to a star party this week or new moon next weekend, uh definitely make sure to check this out.

[00:30:59]And it's also in the field of a ton of other galaxies, so be prepared to have little fuzzies all over the place.

[00:31:09]Um, of course you also have M82. Uh, fantastic galaxy. Really easy to see.

[00:31:14]It's a good showing uh galaxy because it's got some detail in there. Um, but it's not dim. It's easy for people to see. So, it's a good outreach target. um if you're looking for that. Uh for imaging, it gets really dynamic as you can see because not only does it have the center section here, but it has this red section which you can't really see visually unless it's an exceedingly large telescope. Um but imaging wise, it's very easy to get it to come out.

[00:31:44]But also adding a little bit of that hydrogen alpha detail will pop that out a lot. It's very helpful if you're using a monochrome camera because you can actually isolate the hydrogen line and go to town on bringing that detail out.

[00:31:59]Um, but there's a lot going on in this galaxy. And of course, if you want two for one, then right next door is M81.

[00:32:06]And a lot of times, unless you're really zoomed in on that galaxy, a lot of times you're going to get both. M81's this really nice spiral galaxy and you can actually see the spiral arms in it with like a 14 inch probably a 12 inch or larger in some dark locations. You can see the spirals um in M81 which is really neat. And then right next door you can see M82. So a lot of times it's a two for one deal. Both about 12 million lighty years away. Um in a dark sky site you can see these in a 50mimeter finder. Um, so even a 3-in telescope from a decently dark location, you'll be able to see both of them together. And obviously, the darker the skies, uh, and the better the conditions are, the more punch your telescope is going to have in comparison to using it in the backyard. Um, imaging wise, there's a lot going on in this field. Um, with M81 and M82, you have a lot of, I call it celestial cirrus. Um, but this integrated flux nebula or IFN as it's known known as all this like grayish fluffiness floating around. Uh, that's integrated flux nebula. Um, I've heard people being able to see the brighter portions of this if you're very very careful. I have never seen it before. Um, maybe I just haven't paid attention, but I've never caught it. Um, but I have seen the two galaxies and they're very easy to see. So, um, these are a good one right now. Really easy to catch and usually you're going to get both in the field of view. So, you know, right on. So, uh, next one, of course, is M57.

[00:33:51]Um, so the Ring Nebula, let's see.

[00:33:58]Sorry about that. Um, we have the Ring Nebula, M57. This is in the constellation of Lra, the heart, about 2500 lighty years away. This is a really nice planetary nebula and there's quite a few of them up this time of year um as the Milky Way starts to rise um mid evening um in a dark location. But because we are getting into the summer months, we're getting a lot of our planetary nebula back. And this is one of the easier ones, but there are hundreds of these little guys all over the place.

[00:34:30]And they're all different, which is really cool. Uh now if you're new to planetary nebula, there are they're basically an emission nebula. They're emitting their own light. And uh if you need some assistance to see it, um other than aperture, I recommend either an oxygen 3 filter, which um emission nebulas like this are very receptive to or an ultra high contrast filter, aka UHC's. Um both of those are really good. Uh 03 is a narrowband filter, so it's very selective of what passes through and what it blocks. Um an 03 filter is going to knock more light out of your view. So the image might be a little bit dimmer, um but it really pops the thing you're looking at because the contrast is very high because it's narrow band. A UHC filter is a broadband filter of those selective of what it's passing, it's allowing a lot more light to come through. So, you're not getting as much contrast, but you're able to see these a little bit better. And it's good to play with them and see the difference between the two. Uh, eventually, if you're doing observing on a serious level, you probably are going to end up owning both. It's good to have both of them in the case, 03 and UHC.

[00:35:47]Um, and then I also recommend HBA filters. Uh, they just give a really unique view on certain objects. Um, not just the horse head. Everyone's like, "It's the horse head filter." It is, but you can use it on a lot of different things. So, the main filters I recommend for nebulas and deep sky observing are 03, UHC, and HBA. Those are the three that I use, but 03 and UHC are going to be your main players uh from visual standpoint. Now, imaging wise, you can do all kinds of stuff um with nebulas.

[00:36:24]uh it still applies that 03 and the narrow band filters are going to give you the contrast which is really great.

[00:36:30]Now you'll see probably in this image that usually the ring nebula we see is like right around here. You don't usually get all this external halo detail. Um so that's something that you want to pay attention to. And that's an outer halo.

[00:36:47]Um and the outer halo there um is going to be primarily visible in hydrogen alpha. So, if you're going to be observing it, uh, or you're going to be imaging it, uh, add some Halpha detail in there and it'll start to pop that halo out. But, um, you're going to have to learn how to process because you're going to have to do deep exposures to get the halo. But, if you deep exposures, you're going to blow out the nebula core itself. So, our friend Ron here, who's a master imager and processor, you can see how well he's processed this image to get all of it.

[00:37:20]So, if you're doing astrophotography and you're going deeper around the Ring Nebula, you're going to have to make sure your skills are pretty up to par to be able to blend the faint details in and adjust the brightness to be able to see make sure that the nebula itself isn't being blown out.

[00:37:36]Now, going back to visual really quickly, um you can see the Ring Nebula.

[00:37:42]larger telescopes are going to be able to show you the central star uh right there, which is kind of a challenge uh to see. Um it's not that hard. It's like 15th magnitude. So, we're talking about the edge of like a 16inch telescope. So, 14 16 is where you can start to get that. Really, it's the scene conditions and high power. So, that's what you're going to want to pay attention to. Now, right next door, you have NGC 1296, which is a spiral galaxy.

[00:38:12]It's really easy in cameras. They pick it up like no one's business very quickly. But um for visual um larger telescopes, you see the little faint S uh right next door to the Ring Nebula if you're looking closely. So try to get them both and see what you can find.

[00:38:31]Um another one is M92. Uh this is an overlooked globular cluster. It's in Hercules, 27,000 lighty years away. You can get it almost any sky. It's very dense in the core. Um, and it doesn't have a lot of that, you know, I don't know how you would say it, you know, dusting as you go out further. Um, it's fairly condensed on this one actually. Um, but M92 gets overshadowed because of its nearest neighbor, M13.

[00:39:02]Um, M13 of course obvious takes the cake. Everyone goes after that one. It's big, it's bright, it's like the second biggest globular in the galaxy. Um and it's usually um with the acceptance of Omega Centauri in the lowest uh southern regions of the continent. Um M13 is going to be the biggest, brightest, easiest globular to see, but not too far in the same constellation as M92. Um with like I said is overshadowed quite a bit. So uh but it's there and if you're heading to dark skies, don't ignore it. It's it's a cool globular cluster, but it's a lot more dense in the core and doesn't have a nice doesn't spread out as wide as, you know, something like M4 or M13 or M3. Um, they kind of have a wider spread as you go away from the core. Um, but a great globular cluster to go after. And if you're imaging, globular clusters are super forgiving. They're great in town imaging targets because they're not really affected by much of anything.

[00:40:06]you're looking at a stellar target. Um, just little points of light and a bunch of them. So, light pollution isn't a big deal. Um, you can you can knock that out with light pollution filters if you wanted to. Um, gradients aren't the end of the world because gradients are basically going to affect the background and any nebulous structures. Globular clusters don't have that. On the regular, they don't. Um, so these are usually really forgiving objects and they're fairly bright, so they're very easy to image because the exposures are going to be very quick in comparison. You don't have to go super deep or even shoot very long to get a nice picture of a globular cluster. And that's pretty much true for all the major globular clusters out there. Um, unless you're going really crazy faint globulars like uh the Palomar clusters um which are a whole challenge um of their own. If you've never heard of the Palomar clusters, go check them out. That's like 15 uber faint globular clusters. Some of them are actually relatively easy and you've probably even stumbled across a couple of them. I think it's like Palomar 8. I think that's the right one. uh sits down in the Milky Way core and it's fairly easy to see in like a 10 inch. Some of the other ones though, I think like Palomar 13, they get ridiculously difficult to see. Even in big telescopes, they're challenging targets to go after. Um but if you are liking globular clusters and you want to go off the beaten path, look up the Palomar clusters. So they're they're neat. But if you don't want to deal with Palomar clusters, M92 super easy to deal with.

[00:41:51]And of course, right next door, we have M13, the Hercules star cluster, which is the biggest, brightest globular in the northern hemisphere. Um, unless you're lucky enough to be far enough south. Um, we get it here in the Phoenix area. We can see Omega Centuri just barely cracking the horizon. Um, Texas Star Party, it's a little bit higher. If you get down to the Hawaiian Islands, um particularly like the Big Island, the further southern islands, um you've got a better chance of catching it. And then so on and so forth. But the best way to see Omega is to go southern hemisphere.

[00:42:29]But for those of us who don't get a chance to get down there very much, M13 is a good second option. Um it's basically straight overhead, especially right about now. Um, and from a dark sky site, you can actually be able to see it naked eye. Um, it's about 22,000 lighty years away, 175,000. Um, wait, I have a whole spiel for this. I should probably start sharpening it up because I'm going to have to use it next week. 22,000 light years away, 175 lighty years in diameter, and about a million to half half a million to a million starsish in there somewhere. Now M13 is visible in almost any sky um and almost any telescope. Even binoculars can catch it.

[00:43:15]So it's a reasonable target to go after.

[00:43:19]And again like we said with M92, it's a globular cluster. It's super forgiving and super easy to work with. Now imaging wise, there's one little detail that doesn't come up too much in an M13 image. I think it's because it gets wiped out, close to getting wiped out um from all the stars in the field, but it's much more prominent visually that I have found. Um and that's this little detail right here. It's called the propeller. Um it's three dark lanes that are just in M13 and it looks like the Mercedes symbol almost. Well, you can see it right here. Um so I'll blink in and out. So, right there, um, if you see it now, it's it's a lot easier to see as I blink back and forth between these two. Um, that's the propeller. The propeller is just an interesting little detail that's in the cluster itself. Um, and it's a fun one to go after. Um, so definitely check that out. Now, there are hundreds of other objects that are actually making their way into the sky right now because June uh 21st is the first day of summer and the Milky Way is still rising. Uh right now, um it's a little early in the month. Right now, usually it starts really digging into it late July or late June is when the Milky Way becomes easier to see right after dusk in the darker locations. Um, but there's a bunch of objects that we all like to get into a little bit later. Um, like the Lagoon Nebula, um, the Triffid Nebula, all that fun stuff, which we'll start to kind of cover more in the July episode.

[00:45:03]June's getting there, but it's getting late into the evening, like 11 to midnight ballpark right now before we start getting into those more famous summertime objects. So, we'll touch on all those in July um at this point. But again, if you're going to be out uh checking out M13, um try to find the uh propeller if you can.

[00:45:28]All right, target of the month. Uh so, last month was NGC 3718. Uh we're going to go ahead and start getting all the patches ready to go uh probably after we get back from Grand Canyon. So, there'll probably be a bit of a delay getting these out um for the May uh patches. So, we'll get everyone taken care of in about a week um at this point. Um but yeah, I'll be curious to see what you guys get and we'll go from there once we've got everyone kind of roped in and raked in together to um see who's getting that and looking forward to seeing your images. But we'll get those patches going. And then for this month, we have a globular NGC 5053.

[00:46:09]Um, now if you're not sure where this guy actually sits, see it's very high right now, straight overhead. So if you're doing it, it's an easy one to get. Um, another overlooked one because it is right directly overhead in Koma Barrenis. Um there's a ton of galaxies in this area. So that's why you probably don't hear about this guy much because the galaxies dominate this region uh between go Koma Baronis Virgo and Leo Canismanes and Ursa Major. All this section right here is packed full of galaxies. So a globular is a nice spin on things. So definitely go ahead and check that out.

[00:47:00]Um, I know people have already sent in images. I've seen a couple of them. So, looking forward to seeing what you guys can get. Nice thing about this is, like I said earlier, globular clusters are fairly forgiving from light polluted skies. So, mess around with it. This one's also not nearly as dense as like a other globular like M92 or M13 and stuff like that. So, uh, yeah, there's that. All right, everyone. Um, I don't see any more questions. And, uh, yeah. So, uh, again, a little bit of a reminder. Um, that's it for this week. By the way, if you like what you see here, please go ahead and subscribe, leave a like on a channel. If you have questions, now is the time to throw them in because we're about done. We're wrapping up a little bit early today. Um, that's not right.

[00:47:48]Um, hold on.

[00:47:53]Next week's episode is not the Grand Canyon Star Party. It is um the Evoar EDX overview episode for our new ED doulets.

[00:48:03]Uh that will go live early Friday morning. Um and then you can just watch it. Um it'll be a pre-recorded episode. It's already done, but that'll be available on the YouTube channel uh early Friday morning. Um you can watch it and it'll be there. Go ahead and check that out. The next live episode after that, we'll be doing a Grand Canyon Star Party wrapup. And again, just a reminder, there's no tech support uh from June 11th to June 15th um as Alex will be out um with us. So, just if you're trying to get a hold of us, just be understanding we're out hanging out, being a part of the hobby, being a part of the community. So, yeah.

[00:48:46]Uh question, off-topic question. For shooting flat frames on F2 telescopes, what would you recommend? So far, I've been getting just straight white screen with the tricks that others have shown.

[00:48:57]Um, I use flat panels uh for when I'm doing flats. Um, and on fast systems, um, sometimes with a flat panel, I have to dim it down or even put like a shirt over it or something to diffuse it even further. Um, but a lot of times like I I use an ASI Air and the ASI Air has the ability to kind of figure out what's the best exposure time. Um, but if it's too bright, you're going to have to figure out a way to dim it. And I don't know if you're just doing sky flats, if you've got a panel, whatever you're doing there, if you can't get it low enough, then you're going to have to diffuse it um at that point. So if it's a small telescope, so you're okay. you're gonna have to diffuse it or dim it. If it's a panel, see if there's a way to dim the panel.

[00:49:54]Um, if there's no way to dim it or you're already dimmed down as much as you can and it's still too much, then you're going to have to use something to diffuse it. So, either a white t-shirt, um, if it's a small enough telescope, I like to use just like printer paper, like a sheet of printer paper, um, over the top of it and then put the panel there and then put it back on. And it just it gives you one layer of diffusing to Yeah. So, um but that's what I would do if the screen is just white. That means you're overexposing at that point. So, um we need to dim it down a little bit. But yeah, shorter and diffuse. That's what you want to do there. So, um yeah. Uh so, good luck with that. Um but yeah, that's pretty much all we've got today, guys. Um, I don't see any more questions. So, uh, other than that, please have a great weekend. Uh, clear skies. Uh, again, next week is a pre-recorded episode for the Evoar EDX overview for the new refractors. Um, and the weekend, uh, the Friday after that, we'll be back live talking about the Grand Canyon and how awesome it was.

[00:51:08]And if you're going to Grand Canyon again, stop by, say hi. It's going to be a little bit of a where's Waldo search because like I said, we're not, you know, branded wearing shirts. We don't have a booth. We're just there like everyone else. Um, but stop by, say hi.

[00:51:21]We'll be around there somewhere. All right, everyone. Thanks again. If you like what you see here, please go ahead and subscribe. Leave a like on the channel. If you want to support the channel more, head over to skywatcher.threadlist.com to pick up some cool swag or you can pick up equipment from skywatchusa.com or your favorite dealer. So, other than that, clear skies. We'll see you guys in two weeks uh back here live. And yeah, if you're going to uh the star party, we'll see you then. So, see you later.

[00:51:48]Take care everyone. Have a good weekend.

[00:51:49]Bye.