scarp15

Yes definitely, do all your research and keep a watch on the classified used sections on AB&S. My first filter was an Orion Ultra Block, which was used on an old C8. After this I eventually bought at retail a Lumicon 2" OIII filter, now considered a traditional classic and the company has I understand, become credible again for some of the highest quality products. Astronomic and Tele Vue line filters ought to be considered to. Realistically time can be measured in years to gain most of everything you feel you would like, the used market helps, combined with some items at or near retail, research is everything. A high quality OIII filter is highly rewarding and will subsequently gain you years of potentially outstanding observing. Then yes as above, a dark sky location is required to visually capitalise on your investments.

Lovely wide field capture, collectively they each resonate clearly Neil and is relatable to observational circumstance. Perhaps next time post on Imaging Wide Field, may pick up more response for developing this further, which based upon this outcome will be interesting.

Yes I agree with that and also as you mentioned to take a succession of three readings and base on the average. Not having a SQM-L device at dark sky locations, to determine an accurate sky brightness assessment, is a disadvantage in my opinion.

Don't worry a good secluded place you will likely have to yourself, somewhere else that might have someone unwelcome turn up, quite possible you might frighten them off, just for being there.

Hi, I approach this region from the southern end, living in Newcastle Upon Tyne. I do not venture as far as the Lammermuir hills, remaining mostly in north Northumberland close to the border, I am also very attuned to Kielder and the skies here. Similar to yourself, approach this from an activity perspective, my primary interests are cycling, hill walking and I have a familiar knowledge for parking areas, pull-in's on quiet back roads. You may well gain a hunch to somewhere visited in the daytime that feels comfortable and welcoming with maybe no problems if you venture there at night. Going independently to dark sky places is an adventure in part for the unknown and for the potential encountering magnificent skies. It can be trial and error yet I would expect that your intended location, the Lammermuir hills will provide some good places and others may be able to offer more specific places. Its an excuse to study OS mapping at any rate. An 8" scope is a great tool to take out to darker skies, it will be easy to manage and will deliver impressive observations that are improbable from light polluted zones. Going to dark sky locations can be an infrequent pursuit yet it can become habitually addictive. One final thought, if the nature reserve parks (with large carparks) are anywhere near urban areas they might be best avoided as anyone else showing up late on is maybe unlikely (but not improbable) to be either an astronomer or photographer.

Another finely executed set of drawings Miguel. Resolving each of the Messiers with your 8" scope will be an absorbing pursuit. There was a member on here a few years ago; Mike73, who posted up sketches of the Messier catalogue. They became a good reference for new members and for seasoned members alike. Your drawings and descriptions would in the same way be equally valid.

Pupil dilation, I do not know, having never measured my exit pupil, to what extent my pupil will become fully dilated when my eye has achieved complete dark adaption at a dark sky location. I do understand that in visual adjustment, as the cones, that are colour sensitive, run out of light, the pupils will become fully dilated and the rods respond taking over more. This winter season, I had the opportunity to employ using a new eyepiece that provided an exit pupil of 7.73mm, with a Paracorr attached to my 14" F4.6 Dob. Selectively there were particular subjects I aimed to apply this to. Highlights included Andromeda, The Pleiades but two subjects in particular, that in the former were greatly enhanced and in the later revealed with certainty than previous attempts and much more extensively. They were The California Nebula and Barnard's Loop. Each required using my traditional 2" Lumicon H-beta filter. The aggressive nature of the filter complementary to the brighter contrast set by the eyepiece. The eyepiece is a 41mm Panoptic, which I took a punt on last year and has now become a go to for both my dobs and refractor. As someone who is not of much understanding regarding the science, some of the in-depth information on this thread has been of interest, yet actually applied 'in the field' at a dark sky location, yields interesting and successful results.

Biggest concern in terms of the natural world for the UK are ticks. The answer is to reintroduce the wolf to cull the very oversized deer populations that are a carrier of ticks. Hill farmers aren't at all keen and successfully led to the blocked reintroduction of Lynx - let alone Wolf into Kielder. Sorry way off topic; dwindling dark sky a good rousing topic.

It makes for a good conversation point even on a sunny May day with increasingly diminishing astronomical dark sky. A good quality H-beta filter is worth while long after the allure of the Horse Head has been realised. The California Nebula is a superb target in the right circumstances and recently I have been able to explore more extensively Barnard's Loop, another tricky subject, just different.

Yes that is a point Steve, Neil whom I mentioned earlier is better located observing from the flat plains beyond Norwich. I tried to have a go for this from a fairly lofty hilltop location, wild camping, but unexpected cloud spoilt that. Barnard's E, west by north west of Gamma Aquilae, as mentioned by Gerry, is more feasible but still can be tricky, requiring very good transparency. Sweeping through the Summer Milky Way field particularly within the Great Rift with binoculars or rich field telescope, would be a soothing introduction to the complexity of dusty dark clouds. Perhaps, so that you can get a good commanding view of the Milky Way, could you grind a little bit further north on the M6 towards The Northern Pennines. Somewhere with a good view of the Summer Milky Way, killed off in most instances with our silly urban lighting, is a truly absorbing sight.

Here is another sketch from Cloudy Nights indicating the notch that is more commonly seen by observers.

Here is a picture as links not responding also a picture, correct orientation for dobsonian location of B33, Mel Bartels.

Another dark nebula you could try and have at a go at Steve is Barnard 86, The Inkspot Nebula, coupled with open cluster NGC 6520 in Sagittarius. Here are a couple of detailed accounts and observers sketches and @Littleguy80 Neil, who has dedicated some observing time to this may chip in. http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/000581.html https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/279188-sketch-ngc-6520-barnard-86-from-the-mercator-observatory-la-palma/

I had read that 24" is possible yet at entry level in aperture terms, dependent on very good transparency. Visually engaging the Horse Head isn't a challenge, its a set of learning principles.

Mine are preoccupied doing a 1000 piece jigsaw and I made tea tonight so they are quite happy for now. Not much more to include based upon the advice already presented. This had been said in other threads, so not entirely my own. M1 in Taurus is a good target to concentrate on before moving onward to the Flame and potentially B33. It will enable you to visually engage with a relatively bright object whilst gaining in dark adaption and responding towards stepping into more faint and diffuse territory. In our traditional photon gathering approach to detect the Horse Head Nebula, it is crucial to learn and memorise the exact location and correct orientation. There are very good online resource references from dedicated observers drawings and using dobsonians to print out, I may include one or two later. Unlike most other dark sky subjects, the Horse Head is considered on the margin of visibility, to encounter it at all requires certainty that you are located corrected and you know what to look for. Assuming all other circumstances are in motion, such as Orion is high in the south etc, averted vision is the key to seeing the nebula 'pop'. Therefore become relaxed in posture, patient and permit your eye to fully engage and relax. When you have seen the Horse Head Nebula, you will know it and you will be able to see it again and again. The larger the aperture the better the chance. Good luck for when the time comes (I don't blame you for planning for later in the year) and I hope that it is nothing like as dramatic as the the first time I encountered it. That is to say I just 'got it', when all of a sudden a car turns up, pulls into my remote small parking area, steps out puts a flash light onto my face. A local curious Police Officer, good banter followed and a sky tour but blimey what a way to kill off your first Horse Head encounter, I had to wait an age before I got another chance.

👍🙂

I like the codes Robert 👍, impressive SQM readings to. My new dark sky location is close to Carter Bar on the Scottish border, a location where there had been past skirmishes / battles between English and Scotch farmers. An area also noted for the lawless Border Reivers. In our time though for encountering Osprey, so 'Dark Sky Osprey' I think.

I have not measured the sky brightness from home. Not something that has ever inspired me to do although my back yard is OK if for observing brighter DSO's. Where I prefer to be, becomes a completely different attitude. My Unihedron Sky Quality Meter -L device, an important tool for informing a frequency of readings, to gauge an average upon different locations based on overall sky conditions. Theses can vary marginally between different trips. Along the Scottish border in North Northumberland, I will take readings of 21.5 during early dark evening periods, but have yet to be able to have clear transparent enough dark skies for later and early morning, when able to take readings potentially attaining 21.6 -21.7 mag. I heed little attention to online sky brightness map references, too generalised and oft overstated.

Very concise sketches, descriptions thanks for posting. Messier 3, I have indulged to on this over two evenings with my 8" dob, along with Messier 53. Quite as I recall it, an actuate interpretation, I used 4,5,6 and 8mm on this subject. Varied between each session 5 and 6mm on session one was preferred 8mm on session two, a touch of averted vision revealed the sparkling density.

Good to hear that the snow is receding Gerry. Just as with Stephan's @Nyctimene session, that humble H130 comes across as a powerful tool under the right circumstances. Nice way to finish, relaxed gazing on the lawn chair.

Perhaps dropping the how and retain the do you do. Second time this week I have a dobsonian out in the yard, yet again there is a thin haze forming, yet again I expect that later on I will be bringing it back indoors. Observing expectations require a multifaceted approach; The spontaneous, preferably with binoculars to seize opportune moments. The planned dark sky trips, where you might get lucky for a time but need to improvise your target list to adapt to conditions. Setting up at home, where by if it doesn't shape up its less of a hassle. Occasionally there may be a special occurrence to become motivated to get up very early, these events can be rewarding. Otherwise if venturing away on a dark sky trip, when the coffee runs out, its time to go home.

Relaxed immersive eye relief transformed and became my personal approach to gradually establishing an eye piece set. This emerged when I purchased a 10mm Delos soon after they came out, my 1.25" 7mm, 9mm, 13mm naglers were sold on. The first good eyepieces I used were TeleVue plossls 11mm and 8mm, the tight eye relief, I could not imagine going back to them now, no matter how good they are (exception is 20mm and 25mm and reasonable ER). DeLite eyepieces would be my choice at a compromised field of view, used frequently in my refractor and potentially with my dobsonians. As with John's post, ultra wide field eyepieces are my preference for the dobs.

They enable me to access places such as in the picture below with the potential for sweeping through Cygnus and the Milky Way. At home they are motivational for a quick scan of open clusters, the moon, asterisms etc, relaxing to use sat on a bench and stabilised with a simple to use monopod. They provide a different perspective on observing, for example the Wild Duck Cluster is great set within a wide expansive chunk of sky. Good eye relief and two eyes becomes immersive as you sweep casually along picking out and identifying various deep sky objects, rhythmically hopping from one to the next, then back again. In between clouds, lunar observing and even planetary / with affiliated moons observing can be satisfying. Astronomy binoculars are simply handy to have around for impromptu or planned times and as Robert has mentioned, should there also be an opportunity for sudden nature watching, you wont miss out. Hope I've sold it to you.

The equipment I have is a 12V 7Ah battery, transformer lead, inverter and charger. This set-up is for my OOUK 14" dob and can be applied to my OOUK 8"dob. But, I seldom if at all use it, instead trying to remember to charge the battery up every month or so. It created too much vibration if left running with my 14" dob. Perhaps as John has indicated, the primary mirror is quite exposed and can cool down quickly. I guess it may also depend on how you intend to use it, such as how immediately and engage in high power observing. Much as to what I observe tends to be at low to medium/high power. If going to higher power, the dob's are usually at optimum in cooling terms by then. Depending on the size of the mirror, it's a useful facility to have, as mentioned perhaps give it ago, some find it purposeful others less so.

Here is my Berlebach Report 372 tripod that was carried onto a dark sky wild camp trip recently. I have the tray for it but was impractical to take on this. I do have a Berlebach shoulder bag for the tripod which is very functional for travel or if carrying some distance.