DeepskyWim

After our stay in the Pyrénées, we also went for a week to Simiane-la-Rotonde, in de Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France.  The skies were also very dark there (SQM 21.6) and there were less mountains to interfere with the observations of comet Neowise (C/2020 F3).  On July 18, 2020, Neowise was still very bright, easy to spot with the naked eye and very nice on the pictures I took.  Comet Neowise (C/2020 F3) with Canon EOS R, 60mm F/2, 4 sec, ISO 6400. A timelapse of comet Neowise on July 18, 2020. On the last evening of our holidays, July 24, 2020, we could observe comet Neowise again.  It was already a bit more difficult, but still easy to spot the comet with the naked eye.   Comet Neowise (C/2020 F3) with Canon EOS R, 70mm F/2, 6 sec, ISO 3200. A timelapse of comet Neowise on July 24, 2020. DeepskyLog observations:  https://www.deepskylog.be/index.php?indexAction=comets_detail_observation&observation=2567 https://www.deepskylog.be/index.php?indexAction=comets_detail_observation&am

On July 19, I did some observing with the 18'' Obsession.  It was to enjoy a very dark night again (SQM 21.6)! I started with observations of comet Neowise (C/2020 F3) and M 13.  Neowise was a real show in the eyepiece of the telescope.  I could enjoy a lot of nebula and detail.  After some fainter globular clusters in Ophiuchus, I enjoyed the splendid view of the Veil Nebula and the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888).  The crescent was very easy to see with a lot of details.  In the 13mm Nagler, the whole field of view was full of nebula.  I ended the observing night with a view of Jupiter and Saturn.  Table with my eyepieces, waiting for the night. I made a timelapse movie of the observing night, using my Canon 80D and a 10mm F/2.8 Sigma lens. All observations can be found in DeepskyLog .

During our holidays in the Pyrénées, we visited the Tourmalet, a mythical col know from the Tour de France.  When we arrived, the weather was still nice.  So we could enjoy a nice view of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, with the observatory.  It was already quite late when we arrived at the Tourmalet, so we didn't have the time to visit the observatory. Pic du Midi de Bigorre as seen from the Tourmalet.

During our holidays in France, we really looked forward to see comet Neowise.  Mails from our friends in Belgium made clear that the comet was a naked eye object.  We hoped to see the comet when we were in the Pyrénées.  By then, the comet was also visible in the evening.   There were a few problems however: The weather in the Pyrénées is very variable.  In ten minutes, the weather could change from sunny to totally overcast.  Most of the evenings, there were so many clouds that we could not look for the comet at all. The little house we were staying is was located at a very nice location, close to the Cirque de Troumouse.  This meant that we were really in the mountains, and that we could only observe close to the horizon in a very small part of the sky.  Luckily, this was the northern part of the sky, exactly were the comet should be visible.  To be really sure that we could see the comet, we had to wait for a clear night. The evening of July 15, it was finally clear.  Before it was