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Hello from Devon

DevonSkies

By DevonSkies
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DevonSkies

DevonSkies

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Hi,

New member here in East Devon. I haven't done any astronomy since I was a teenager, but am getting into it again now after moving to a nice rural location with quite dark skies. I'm also hoping it will be a wonderful pastime to share with my young daughter.

I will soon be the proud owner of a new Skywatcher 250PX Dobsonian. Hoping for some clear skies next week!

I'm sure I'll be visiting this forum regularly for tips and advice.

Best wishes to you all!

Ed

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

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pipnina

pipnina

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The middle of dartmoor is nice and dark (well, as dark as it gets if it's what's close to you), exmoor park is darker (official dark sky status there).

Observing from home is convenient, but you'll find it's worth driving to dark(er) skies if possible. My naked eye limiting stellar magnitude from home (in the best part of the sky- south) is 4.0/4.2 but from only a few miles away at wembury beach it goes up to 5.2+!

The only thing stopping me from going to dartmoor or exmoor it the long travel time... over an hour to get there and an hour back. Might not even be vastly better skies for all I know.

I would recommend using stellarium to help plan sessions and discover new objects, it's free and runs on just about any computer (there's a paid mobile version as well, which I hear is better)

Good luck, i'd try some easy targets first (M31 & company, M42, M81/82, M33, M45- The Pleiades. The double cluster is nice, too.) (Just in case: M = Messier)

If you manage all of those easilly, try for the flame nebula, or even have a try at IC-434 (although that one is difficult!) Try to get a glance at the ring nebula, the veil nebula, the north american nebula before the sun catches up to them.

    ~pip

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DevonSkies

DevonSkies

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The middle of dartmoor is nice and dark (well, as dark as it gets if it's what's close to you), exmoor park is darker (official dark sky status there).

Observing from home is convenient, but you'll find it's worth driving to dark(er) skies if possible. My naked eye limiting stellar magnitude from home (in the best part of the sky- south) is 4.0/4.2 but from only a few miles away at wembury beach it goes up to 5.2+!

The only thing stopping me from going to dartmoor or exmoor it the long travel time... over an hour to get there and an hour back. Might not even be vastly better skies for all I know.

I would recommend using stellarium to help plan sessions and discover new objects, it's free and runs on just about any computer (there's a paid mobile version as well, which I hear is better)

Good luck, i'd try some easy targets first (M31 & company, M42, M81/82, M33, M45- The Pleiades. The double cluster is nice, too.) (Just in case: M = Messier)

If you manage all of those easilly, try for the flame nebula, or even have a try at IC-434 (although that one is difficult!) Try to get a glance at the ring nebula, the veil nebula, the north american nebula before the sun catches up to them.

    ~pip

Thanks for the tips. I've downloaded Stellarium onto my Mac and my tablet, and I'll keep a note of the objects you suggest. I can't wait to get started now!

As for Dartmoor/Exmoor, perhaps I'll make an excursion sometime once I've got used to my new kit.

Ed

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pipnina

pipnina

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Thanks for the tips. I've downloaded Stellarium onto my Mac and my tablet, and I'll keep a note of the objects you suggest. I can't wait to get started now!

As for Dartmoor/Exmoor, perhaps I'll make an excursion sometime once I've got used to my new kit.

Ed

Yes, getting used to your kit first may be a good idea. haha.

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