Bogmonster

Not quite last night but my last observing session was Friday. I had a very clear night and no clouds or moon. According to the Good To Stargaze app it was Bortle 2.3 Friday. It was the first time in a long time that I couldn't find the Big Dipper for a few minutes as the sky was pretty packed. Had a similar night last night but didn't make it out. I'm still figuring out my scope but I did see Venus before it disappeared behind the trees. It's a bit underwhelming but still very cool to see. Looked like a white shiny disk but kind of slightly dark on 1 side like an almost full moon. It's usually the first star up every night now so it's easy to find. It's extremely bright through the scope too. I think there might have been some atmospheric disturbance as it seemed like it was behind steam or something. A bit wobbly maybe? Not sure if this is normal. My scope was outside for over an hour before I went out so it should've been cooled down. Everything else I saw was pretty solid. Also saw Mars but it's still too far away to really see too much detail. I was very taken by a few double clusters (I need to check my notebook to see which ones they were). It's pretty strange to point at a dark piece of sky with no visible stars and then see 2 big clusters of stars. Very cool! Also got the Whirlpool Galaxy, Crab Nebula and Dumbell Nebula (I think). I'm still getting used to seeing them since they're just gray smudges but it's extremely impressive to actually see them and look at a diagram and it's exactly the same without the colour. I pretty much go through "Tonights Best" in the Celestron app and I always see something cool and visit a few things multiple times just to see if I notice more. Bonus was when I saw 2 shooting stars pass through my field of view in the scope and one shooting star when I was just looking up 😁

Thank you! I'm still figuring it all out. Am I correct in saying that Mars is in opposition every 2 years?

Ireland here and I'm in the same boat. I've had my scope about 6 weeks I think and I've gotten out 3 times. It's frustrating! Even last night I got just over an hour and the clouds came in. I was observing and the clouds would obstruct it so I would wait and try again. Pretty much happened the whole time until they just covered everything and I called it a night and went in. When I bought my scope I was told "the bigger the scope you buy or the more expensive the piece of gear you get, the longer the clouds hang around". I think it's true as I've had a string of very dark and clear nights up until I got the scope 😫

Just want to chip in here and add to what has been said. I'm also a complete newbie and have only had 3 chances to get out and observe. It's been really cloudy here and last night I got a bit in before the clouds rolled back in on me. I've seen Mars twice and it's definitely a little underwhelming. I don't think it's the right time of the year as it's pretty far away right now (correct me if I'm wrong here). First time it was just a white disc and almost looked like a phase of the moon. Maybe a little orange after staring at it a while. Last night it looked more orange. I got it in focus pretty good and I tried to make out some detail but nothing really stuck out at me. I don't think conditions were perfect but I definitely was happy with what I saw. And even though it was just an orange disc, I still found myself staring at it for about 15 or more minutes. I'm hoping next time I get out I'll see a bit more detail there. Any tips or tricks on getting the best views? Or what time of the year is best? Cheers!

I've only seen screenshots of Stellarium but it looks pretty much identical to the Celestron Syyportal app. If that's the case then I find it very useful. I have that synced up with my scope and it's so easy to use. I have one of those smartphone adapters and my main bit of advice is to fit it to your phone and line it up with the eyepiece before you go out in the dark. It can be a real pain to set up in the dark. It's pretty cool for getting a few shots to show to your family or buddies. I also wouldn't go too mad on eyepieces yet. The ones you have will probably be fine and get you up and running and you can decide later on down the line if you need more. That being said, I was recommended another eyepiece (I think an 8 mm?) with my scope and I've gotten a lot of use out of it too. The one thing I did get was a moon filter which I find very useful. I'm very new to this so even though I could be outside for ages looking at stuff and trying to find stuff, I always go back to the moon. I've never seen it through a telescope before I got mine and every time I look at it I'm just blown away. It's definitely a hobby of patience and the more you do it, the more you notice. My first view of Andromeda was incredible even though it just looked like a white smudge. I saw the Pleiades for the first time last night and it was crazy as I pointed at a dark section of sky and had a view of a bunch of stars (a meteor also passed through as I was looking). I still find it crazy that I could have only seen maybe 4 or 5 targets in one night (I have yet to see Jupiter and Saturn) and I have been outside for over an hour. As a newbie myself, I think just learn your scope and the sky before upgrading anything. Hope that was some help!

Thank you! I may be back to you on that. I'll be starting out with the moon and planets before I get into the DSO stuff. Just figuring my way around right now and getting used to my scope. The only pictures I have right now are from my phone using one of them adapters.

@wesdon1 I still haven't gone down the rabbit hole of photography yet but I certainly would like to. If I could get photos like that I would be very happy. They look great to me! And I love the work the gang here have done on the images too. Great stuff!

I feel your pain on the weather. I'm in Ireland and I've had my scope over a month now and I've only had the chance to get out twice!! It's either been raining or cloudy. It's annoying as I'm not in a built up area so when I get clear skies, it's spectacular even without a scope. I'm always looking out the door before my daughter goes to bed and checking for stars. I've tried the apps and websites for conditions but found them a bit hit and miss. I just look outside and when I see something I put the scope out and then get my stuff together while it's getting used to outside. I'm hoping as it comes into the summer that I'll get some clear nights again. And it won't be so cold out 🥶

Thanks. But that didn't work either. There's a million options but nothing for unverified apps. The only option for unverified apps needs the app already installed and I don't get the option from the play store to install it.

@SuburbanMakthanks for the tips! I'll check those out. Im fortunate to be living out in the country with no neighbours and little to no light pollution. On a dark night you can barely see the house from 20 feet away and even without a scope the stars are unreal. I'm like you, haven't regretted getting out yet. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been on my side.

One Plus 8 Pro. I've tried everything but I don't even get the option to download it. And I can't allow unverified apps without a download option. It's weird.

I tried getting it from the website and on the play store and I don't have the option. Also running Android 13. Don't know why that is.

@bosun21 how did you download it? I don't have the option to download it. It just shows the icon and says it's not available for my device.

Thanks @PeterC65 I'll check those out too. The Clear Outside app is in the Play store but won't work on my phone as it was made for an older version of Android apparently 🤔

@Ratlet I'll check those out. I'm hoping my next session will be a bit better. I have some time off work over the next few days too so I'll probably stay out later if I get out. @bosun21 I had no idea there was such a thing as astro gloves. Where did you buy them?