Siriusmeg

Awe, sorry to hear that, they are lovely and very affectionate pets aren't they?

Lyra may not be much help at the scope (far too cold at nights) but she is named after the constellation

Really beautiful images, well done all.

Wow, thanks all, such kind comments! So pleased to have discovered sketching - no way I'd cope with all the tech for imaging

It's been a while since I posted any sketches on here, but quite pleased with these two: first Mare Crisium from Saturday night (30th), then Plato & Alps from 21st June. Really enjoying getting more sketching, clear nights are great

Sketch of the Ptolemaeus region (Ptolemaeus, Albategnius, Alphonsus, Arzachel) done on 22/5/18 from my back garden in Oxfordshire. 10" dob, 12mm EP giving 100x magnification. Pastel/charcoal pencils on black paper.

Just listened to an interview on radio 4 iPM programme, with a teacher from Aleppo who has been making regular reports regarding the conflicts there. This was the most moving and most humane description of the night sky that I have ever heard: to summarise, they played one of his reports from the war zone where he described the lights of the city going out as these locations were targeted for bombing and shooting, until the city was black and the only lights left were the stars. He said "My city used to be beautiful, now it is just the sky that is beautiful. When I cannot sleep through fear of dreams or fear that I might not wake up again, I look at the beauty of the sky." Now he is in a much safer location, and is teaching his baby daughter to speak English: the first words he taught her were 'moon' and 'sky'. My clumsy words don't do justice to the power of this piece of reporting - the programme is still on air but will hopefully be on iPlayer radio afterwards,really worth listening to. I will think of him and his baby daughter the next time I look up at that same night sky.

Hi Chris and welcome from yet another Oxfordshire stargazer

Gassendi this evening - the Moon was glorious until I got the scope out, predictably. So, a bit of a rushed sketch, but good to be out again.

Hmm, trying to write school reports this morning - not going too well with the ESA livestream on the screen too

What a wonderful report - and wonderful trip, it sounds amazing!

That's a beautiful sketch - gorgeous detail of light and shadow.

I use a small red bike light clipped low on my coat, so it lights up the paper well enough, but doesn't affect observing too much

One of my local museums - I always think how lucky we are when we visit Some of Herschel's early telescopes and yes, that Moon map - beautiful and HUGE!

Hi, I use a red bike light clipped low onto my coat - keeps the light out of my face and close to the paper.