Astralstroll

Had a great weekend again. Sadly not much observing and ended up with a damaged tent. It was quite breezy though so I'm glad the big tent stood up to the winds. Roll on next year! Dave ?

Hi Tony, Just sent you a PM regarding SWAG 2019. Dave

Hello, Is anybody planning any trips to Blaenavon if the weather ever improves? Seems like an age since I was last up there. Dave

Celestron 20 x 80 bins,a and they are heavy and definitely need a tripod. Thankfully I didn't get the 20x100 pair! Great for a quick look at the sky though.

Have the Friday booked off from work, so it's a late night one for me. Lots of coffee to keep me warm and alert! A very enjoyable few hours in the garden. Managed to catchable glimpse of the following: M11 M14 M26 M29 M39 M40 M52 M91 M99 M100 M103 M109 really need a dark sky and a low horizon to get the remainder of my Messiers. Hartland Point perhaps?.

Mostly revisiting old friends this evening. In no particular order of viewing or preference there were appearances by the following: ISS M13 M92 M51 NGC5195 M101 M63 M64 M81 M82 M88 M94 M97 M98 M99 M100 M102 M106 M108 M3 M5

A bit of a mixed bag tonight. In no particular order the following were enjoyed. ISS twice Several meteors (Lyrids?) PANSTARRS M52 roll on warmer evenings.

I missed an opportunity this evening to go to a new viewing site. That will teach me not to check my mail frequently enough!! As a consolation prize, I decided to have a second look at PANSTARRS, this time from my back garden. It was possible to see it from the bottom of the garden and it was just clearing the side of the neighbours house. As I was going to be observing later, I decided to put the scope at the bottom of the garden for a view of the comet. Curses!! It was too low to see with the dob. A couple of minutes later I had removed the coffee table from the lounge and had raised the dob enough to get a view. The tail was a lot more spectacular in the scope, and at x100 it was a respectable size. Feeling rather chuffed, I had a glass of wine whilst watching the comet a little longer. after the excitement, the scope was relocated to its usual viewing spot and left to cool down. Not the best of nights for viewing, but a few new ticks were obtained. These were: M99 M109 M100 M104 All of these were rather dim and took some tracking down. I had tried to see all four of these on previous occasions without luck. This time, they were seen, but in each case a long view as well as occasional averted vision was needed. Roll on a trip to a darker site. I then spent a bit of time enjoying a few favourites before heading indoors. My remaining Messier objects are going to be tricky from my current location, so an expedition door two will be called for in the hopefully not too distant future.

Tonight started out with a Chinese meal with my girlfriend. Prawn crackers, Mixed hors d'oeuvres ( crispy seaweed, sesame toast, spare ribs, spring rolls and crispy sweet and sour wanton), rice noodles Singapore style and sizzling king prawns in satay sauce with egg fried rice and toffee banana to finish. On the way home, the sky was rather clear, so we decided to have a quick change into warm clothes and sensible shoes. The binoculars and tripod were then grabbed and we headed off to a local high spot with good views of the sky. I managed to find M31 reasonable easily, and then several degrees lower was the comet (aka PANSTARRS C2011/L4). My girlfriend was suitably wowed as it was her first comet. Sadly, she thought the name a little less romantic than some other comets. I don't suppose she will find ISON any better as a romantic name, but it might be two comets in a year to add to the list.

Another short and sweet session this evening. Only a brace of new objects, but I'm getting there slowly. The two objects in question were: M40 M91 fingers crossed for good weather over Easter.

A reasonably brief session this evening. Managed to grab a few new Messiers, namely: M89 M90 M98 short and sweet, but they all count when they get you outside enjoying the heavens.

Another Messier bagging session this evening. The following were viewed and enjoyed with the aid of copious amounts of coffee. M106 M53 M64 M94 M3 M13 M92 M5 M57 M56 M10 M12 Looking forward to enjoying the rest in the not so distant future.

Had no set plan this evening, but the sky was clear, and I had promised my girlfriend a view of Saturn if she could stay up long enough. Needless to say, she had decamped from outside and was fast asleep on the settee when I woke her up for a view of Saturn. Despite still being rather low it looked amazing. Couldn't have wanted a better view!! Fingers crossed for more nights like this one.

An even briefer session this evening with only M48 to show for it. Decided that a good nights sleep was in order as the skies weren't very forthcoming.

Just a brief session this evening. Conditions weren't the best, but still managed to enjoy M89 and M98. I also had a good view of M13 and M92. Rather short and sweet, but every cleanish night counts.

Well, the forecast indicated that the skies would be clear, and they were spot on the money for once. Had the scope outside, collimated and cooling down whilst I sat in the garden enjoying a coffee and watching the clear sky. This was a novelty after a couple of months of very poor skies. Armed with the Messier Marathon field guide and a clear sky, I set about my nights hunt for Messier objects. To begin with, a wander in and around Ursa Major was called for. M106 and M97 were the first of the nights haul of new objects. These were closely followed by M108. Then a quick hop over to Canes Venatici for M63 and M94. Next was a hop to Cancer and M44 and M67. I think M44, the Beehive cluster was the gem of the night. Then it was a return to Ursa Major and M51, followed by M101 at long last. As I was following the Messier marathon list, I had a diversion over to Draco for a look at the alternative M102. With my Nemesis, M101 in the bag, it was off to Coma Berenices and M64, M85, M3 and M53. Then off to Leo for M95, M96, M105, M65 and M66. Then it was off to Virgo, and the motherlode of Messiers! M61, M49, M58, M59, M60, M84, M86, M87 and M88. By this time, it was about 3am and I had begun to feel in need of defrosting. So, I packed up and headed inside with a total of 28 new Messier objects in one evening. And the prospect of completing the remaining Virgo objects as soon as the weather improves. Dave.

A simple solution to a perennial problem! Another mod in the pipeline methinks! Dave.

Hi there. Where did you find the Winter Marathon listing??

I wasnt planning on doing any observing this weekend. The forecast looked a bit on the poor side, and the clouds were present as I headed off to bed. However, the arrival of my neighbour at 4am prompted me to get up and make a coffee. Whilst I was filling the kettle in the darknes, I noticed the sky was totaly clear. Whilst the ketle was boining, I got dressed and relocated the Dob to the back garden. Armed with a coffee I set about aligning the scope to Polaris. The plan was to look for M51 and M101. I tracked down M51 as a ghostly gossamer barely there at all, and no sign of M101. M81 and M82, however, were much more pleasurable. at 50x the can both be viewed at the same time. A real treat indeed. Afterwards, I decidedthat the crescent moon and Venus werent going to be visible with the Dob, so I opted for the 20 x 80 binos. Sat there with a coffee and the binos pointed at the moon was a rather sublime experience. Finally headed back to bed about 6.30. A stolen nights viewing!

Well after the alst of the fireworks had finally fizzed out and the clouds of smoke had dissipated, the night was rather clear and inviting. It had certainly been a while since the scope had been out, so long in fact that the scope had been dismalted and reloacted to its resting place upstairs in the library. Still the beauty of a dob is the speed at which it can be reassembled. About five minutes, then a few minutes to check the collimation. First on the list was M1, closely followed by the trio of M36, M37 and M38. After I couldnt resist a look at M45, aka The Pleiades or Subaru. Now I mknow why the Subarus have stars on their badge!! Afterwards, it was back to M42 with the nebula filter. Not the massive contrast improvement I was expecting, but it was better and very impressive. Then time to check out the trapezium. Very good fun indeed! Lastly, I was serenaded by a very loud owl in the vicinity. Not heard one for some time so it was a very pleasant surprise.

Just a brief viewing opportunity tonight. First on thr list was M15, followed by M34. The treat of the evening, however, was M42. WOW is all I can say. At 50x it was really mpressive. Cant wait to get my mebula filter now. The night, albeit brief, was topped off with the appearance of a very bright meteor. Happy gazing indeed!

Possibly the best night so far with the new scope! Left the scope outside to cool down, and then set to viewing about 11pm. First on the tick list were M81 and M82. These were closely followed by M52. Had a bit of an indulgence, and had a look at M13, quite possibly one of my all time favourites DSO's. After a coffee, moved on to M15 and then M34. It certainly felt like I was on a roll!! Then, I turned my sights (sorry for the cheesy but unintended pun) to M33. Try as I might, I couldnt find it. Tried several times, using star hopping and then my setting circle and inclinometer. No luck. Checked the setting circle and inclinometer on 31, pretty much centre of view at 48x. Had another coffee and tried again. At last!!! M33 was tracked down. Most definitely the faintest Messier to date by a long way! That is definitely one for a dark sky site! Then had a much easier time locating M45!!! Always a delight no matter what the magnification. Then, as I was waiting for Jupiter to get into an acceptable viewing positon, I had another trip to my favourite threesome. M31, M32 and M110. After a long wait and several coffees, and the time ticking on to well past 3am, it was time to check out Jupiter and the Gallilean satellites. I must check out to see if I can see any other of Jupiters moons, as there is definitely a few fainter objects in the vicinity. Counted 5 meteors in the nights viewing as well as numerous satellites. Non astro related sghtings were several bats, or one very acrobatic one as well as next doors very inquisitive and noisy kitten.

Only had a very brief viewing session on account of being in town until gone midnight. The clear skies were an added bonus after the torrential rain that had been around for most of the day.An added bonus was the very clear skies. As I had an early morning the day after, only managed to check out M31, M32 and M110. I never tire of this particular trio. Awesome as always.