step7

Hope the clouds clear for you!

Check it out in binoculars! That 'sauce pan' becomes a jewel box.

Jupiter showing itself through my front window teased me outside. I thought I could see the Seven Sisters too from my sitting room (low lights on) and once outside confirmed it was - 1st time this year. Caught a couple of 'shooting stars' - wonder if they where Perseids? Clearest night I've seen this Summer, I'm sure their will be a few out having a good one this morning. Will pop back out for another 1/2 hour if the clouds haven't moved in.

I'm using (mounted) 20x80 binoculars with local street lighting polluting my sky (background glow not too bad though), so not sure how achievable m92 is? Double cluster was a real highlight, but glad to catch M13. Working my way through the easier objects though as we seem to be getting some nice nights at last - hoping to catch some of the Perseids for the 1st time too - despite the moon!

Congrats - I'm sure Andromeda will remain one of your favourites.

Took in M101 too, M27 still eluding me despite a decent night once the clouds cleared around midnight - (need to come up with a star hop for it.

yeah killer app for a freebie

Some nice pics Ray, thanks for sharing them - wow you've got some darks skies. Really like that view of Jupiter and moons! Is there a focus problem on this pic as everything looks a little fuzzy? Or is that just a typical view through your sort of scope at high power?

Hi Andy, You would probably be better off asking that question in the forum - the blogs don't seem to attract much attention. Are you lucky enough to have to dark skies where you live? Light pollution may well limit what you can observe. Jupiter will be rising in the east tonight after midnight and is worth looking at after 2am if you are a real night owl - be sure to look out for Jupiter's moons! Good luck and keep blogging to let us know how you are getting on. PS: Check this recent post out: http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/150048-suggest-object-tonight.html#post1894252

Got to test home-made finder tube at around 415am this morning when a couple of holes appeared in the clouds to reveal Capella and Jupiter. Ideal test subjects :) Tube works a treat. Using one eyed view, making sure the tube walls formed a concentric circle around the 'objective' end of the tube with Jupiter in the centre of the view - switch to look through binoculars and Jupiter perfectly centred (in right eye view at least - convinced there's a major collimation issue with my bins :( ). Jupiter's moons looked a little weird as there was a definite 'crank' in their alignment with the solar plane. Never noticed this sort of thing before as I've always been struck by how well aligned they've been - this is what made them stand out as moons first time I ever saw them. Checked out on Stellarium and that shows the effect too. Tried using my newly fixed and modified 'Red Light' Mini Maglite to illuminate the tube walls toward the objective end of the finder. Ths worked really well too! The LED I've installed in the Maglite way too bright for this purpose really. Will do for now though and will give me chance to experiment a little more but looks like attaching an LED to the outside of the tube would be definitely worth while. Cracking waning Moon around dawn as I retired to bed, couldn't resist a qucik peek through the finder then the bins. Why am I up so fresh at 715am after only 2 hours sleep??

Made a simple sighting tube for my 20x80 binoculars today. Used a soluble vitamin tube, 2 spring clips and a small bracing bracket which all sit nicely on top my basic binocular mount. Guessing the view angle is about 5 degrees. 'Discovered' the FOV on my binoculars is 3.5deg not 2.5!! Adjusted optics settings on Starmap Pro. Important stuff for developing my star hops. Still convinced I was looking at 81uma the other night not 83uma (which could have crept into the FOV at 3.5degrees). This may just be wishful thinking as 83 is a mag lower than 81 at mag5.6. Set up Stellarium on PC - cool piece of software. Managed to add ocular to simulate my bins after a bit of messing around.

Made a simple L mount for my 20x80 binoculars. Must have had them 20 years and never realised there was a mounting bush in the hinge - just shows what a bit of reading up can reveal! Gave them a quick test outside on what was not the clearest of nights. Decided to check out Mizar/Alcor pairing. Forgot how tricky it can be trying to find objects unprepared through a 2.5deg FOV. Found Mizar/Alcor and a third star at around 11o'clock in the FOV. Turned out to be 81Uma when I went back in to confirm what I'd been looking at on Starmap Pro (iPhone). Getting more and more into Starmap Pro. Not as pretty as some of the other iPhone planetariums but really practical. Like the eyepiece views I can set up: Set up one for my binoculars - love it now I've found the view will invert/mirror when the screen is swiped up/down left/right.