scarp15

A quite gusty night at a dark sky location and my 8" f6 dob, the OOUK version, quite light and on a tall narrow base, set up on a rubber mat on level ground. A gust caught it suddenly and over it toppled as I was having a coffee, hearing it before seeing it. Fortunately it landed partially onto grass and no noticeable damage, dobs are tough. This very nearly happened to my 14" OOUK dob a few years back, set up on a mat upon gravel, a rain shower swept in so I put the cover on, which subsequently then acted as wind sail, that definitely had been a heart stopping moment, when stood a slight distance away to watch it rock from side to side but mercifully not topple.

I mentioned earlier regarding the virtues for owning a 12" Skywatcher Flextube. I sold mine for this, 14" OOUK dob, debatable if the most usable, but certainly the most anticipated.

Personally I would suggest for yourself a Skywatcher Flextube 10" or 12" dob (the manual version). This type of telescope will give you enough light grasp to enjoy experiencing deep sky objects and will perform very well on lunar and planetary subjects. It could / will be an all-rounder. Include a light shroud and there are several good optional upgrades, modifications DIY projects that you could consider to undertake over time if you felt it necessary. I had a Skywatcher 12" Flextube, the manual version and it was excellent in design, mirror quality and functionality, looked good to. There are quite a few current users on here that may chip in with their own reasoning for suggesting this scope.

Fine set, range of eyepieces for your 8" F6 dob. The Globular's are coming, your mid-power from 14mm, 12mm to higher power 6.5mm perhaps 5mm, will be superb. the 17mm will act as a finder. What to look forward to M3 located in Canes Venatici M5 located in Serpens M13 and M92 located in Hercules M53 located in Coma Berenices Abound within those constellations there are also a number of NGC cat globular's, such as NGC 6229 in Hercules. Perhaps there ought be a SGL announcement: "The Globular's are coming soon; to a back garden near you" I think I am starting to become a little lock down crazy.

Yes, for example DPD request that a shipment be placed as close as possible to the front door of a pick up address. The courier will stand a distance away whilst this is being done and then you are required to step back for the courier to collect. The courier will also do the signature on your behalf. Quite recently I sold a large family tent, the buyer arranged collection, parcelled as two lots and this was the procedure. As far as I know this is still the procedure as it is referred to on their website. An alternative is to drop off at one of their pick up points if this is possible. There is no reason not to continue with the classified. As someone mentioned there are some who may need to sell items deemed as assets due to financial circumstances and life goes on, just applying new procedures and a common sense approach - such as obviously no travel by car. During this lock down period, you never know there might even be some clear skies and people will be eager to get outside if they can and where possible purchase one or two items to enhance that.

Yep, its the University of Life on here.

Good session and a nice way for sharing with members of your household. This isolation period could well become a long haul, beyond three weeks, the globs are on their way, weather permitting opportunities for some garden action. The prolonged household isolation, this might be a great way to involve my daughter in some stargazing; she did when younger like to look at colourful doubles. So long that is that she does not expect me to partake in Zumba in return.

Interesting observation description Gerry of that Galaxy between those two dobs. This would certainly whet my appetite, if it were possible, now that we are back to a dark sky period. Encountering wolfs in your environment will be familiar of course, would be a special experience, having encountering a pack of wolves over a two, three day period in Norway. Just as Robert has said, there are campaigns to reintroduce them to Northern Britain, it is necessary as the deer populations are out of control with no natural predator. A hot topic as said and hill farmers; just as with the objections to the reintroduction of Lynx, consensus will for now at least favour the opinions of the farmers unfortunately. Some uncertainty with the weather, but there is certainty also as Robert has said, the UK is entering into a lockdown period, as the following two weeks will become very critical for the health service and their workers. The backyard will be a respite but local light pollution restrict what is possible. I do as you refer to look forward to M3 though. Meantime Gerry, please keep the reports coming.

Thanks Magnus, the incentive for astronomy was the motivation for getting out there, the spiritual connection, being still, aware of the wildlife and breathing in the pure air makes it whole. The reserve, Whitelee Moor is noted for Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Hen harrier.

Thanks Neil and yes back to reality with a thud, it will be certainly something to cherish. Cheers definitely, concerning the severe implications in the news, could be into autumn before this combination is realised once more.

Cheers, Yes Henry Shires; Tarptent, ordered direct from the company in the states a good few years ago. I have used many single hoop tent designs, this is my favourite, it had replaced a Hilleberg Akto. Its a Scarp 1 (no relation), I have a Scarp 2 version so far unused and is palatial internally, meant as a replacement to a very old Bob Saunders Spacepacker Plus also a two person tent. Innovative designs in silnylon and condensation is effectively managed, venting is excellent, I had no inner condensation issues this morning despite a hard frost and ice forming everywhere else. The prices are reasonable despite the UK import duty, communication with enquiry's, questions and advice with Henry is excellent. Yep car battery would require a pack mule.

The tripod is a Berlebach Report 327 model, it is one of the lighter versions and very suited at damping vibration for the smaller refractor. I have a Berlebach shoulder, carry bag which was just fine along with my rucksack. Basically using what I have, at one time I would carry the refractor equipment to an allotment space to observe, a short walk from home, this was quite a bit more of a commitment certainly. After exploring the area last summer, I knew where I was going to camp and where to access water, so it was just a case of pacing the distance with a fairly heavy pack load. Sleeping bags, crikey, I was trying to tally up the other day how many are still in the house. My daughter had taken two with her when she started Uni to use at her pad and leave elsewhere, two or three had been sold, I think there are still about eight or nine. Rab and PHD are my favourite sleeping bag makers. I still have good condition down bags with polycotton inners, that were used decades ago in the Alps. Yes goose down constitute the most used ones, I have a core of three; summer weight, two plus season and three plus season, then there are a plethora of liners to bolster the temp rating further. The bag I took on this trip is a Rab 600, combined with a liner, It did OK as the temp dropped away sharply during the night with ice formed on the tent in the morning and a frozen water bottle to contend with. Barnard's Loop, you will get it Robert with that equipment you mention and your observing conditions, its a difficult subject, but like many of these things gets to be easier with practice and familiarity.

Lying close to the Scottish border, there is an upland nature reserve of blanket bog and heather heaths. Noted for its wildlife, it is remote and void of people, walking underfoot can be rough going. A perfect place for an adventure stargazing trip. Establishing camp amongst a grouping of glacial boulders, a Merlin hovered overhead. Eagerly awaiting the sky to darken, I aligned the finder with Venus. The effort required to haul my refractor to this remote spot was looking like it might be worth it and the evening commenced with a look at the Pleiades, Double Cluster, Stock 2, before aligning onto M37. A little west is the dark nebula Barnard34, barely discernible, it is small in scale and is more a thin veil, not quite blotting out background stars that other typical dark nebulae characteristically imply. Not much to look at but framed at low power in the field of view with M37 is interesting. I was concerned that the prevailing wind that was blowing from the east seemed to be bringing with it some mist. therefore aligned in the south and south west, attaching a H-beta filter and 41mm Panoptic, I was able with certainty to follow the curvature of Barnard's Loop as far as Alnitak. Afterwards looking at the California Nebula, by comparison appeared quite bright and fulsome. Following on from this and with no filter and a 21 Ethos, I skimmed through a number of open clusters in Perseus such as NGC 1528. Attaching an OIII filter focused on M42 and then went in search for the Fossil Footprint Nebula NGC 1491 and this is when everything started to go wrong. I had seen this object before, but not in my refractor, however I could see no trace of it. Nor could I find M97 the Owl Nebula or M1 the Crab Nebula. Whilst the core stars were bright (based on my dark sky location) a mist had spread across and a quick glance at the Beehive cluster confirmed this. I retired to the tent for a hot chocolate and after which it looked like conditions had improved. The truth is transparency conditions remained variable and finally a thin film of ice had started to form on my refractor and misting the lens. With no heater facility, at 10.30pm - that was it. However when circumstances were good, I took some SQM-L readings averaging at 21.53. Had I been able to continue with the session later and had transparency conditions stabilised it would not surprise to perhaps gain to 21.7mag. It was quite a trip, not sure that I would take a refractor again, binoculars are much easier. Here are some pictures of my story. Take care everyone. Home for the night

Very good haul, a proper tour indeed.

You will know when you have seen it as it will appear as a round hazy glow or patch, not so much a dim star.

Good report, keep trying for M97 it will 'pop out' with your Astronomics OIII filter, any thin cloud and /or light pollution will render it null and void. Of course cloud rolling in is frustrating but good outcome with the clusters.

As you say John, "it was nice to just get some views of the starry sky though", you can take that. We're quite a resilient lot really.

The 41mm Panoptic has become a quite transformative eyepiece since I took a punt on one through ebay last year. Barnard's Loop, a decisive observation, the California Nebula, revealing in totality and surface texture. Average sky condition is SQM(L) 21.3, a step up to 21.5 - 21.6 mag would be highly engaging. The most remarkable aspect is the exit pupil, 7.73mm in the 14" dob (equipped with a paracorr), within the right circumstances unlocking new doors, to new possibilities. Looking forward to later in the year working through Cygnus. The only downside has been the so far poor season for opportunities to observe in particularly good transparency. This eyepiece with my TV-85 equates as 14.6x, 5.8mm exit pupil, 4.4 degree TFOV.

That's it, when conditions are suitable, taking a frequency of readings is a good reference and indicator, particularly at varying stages of the night time period and comparing between different locations. Due to light pollution reflected off cloud and the nature of objects I was observing last night I didn't consider using mine at all. Those you took are exceptionally good readings though. It looks promising here tonight but I think I am at work tomorrow, though as with many things presently there is a degree of uncertainty. last night was OK, earlier I had a hastily arranged dentist appointment, some needed treatment, brought forward as they might have to close except for emergencies. My mouth still a bit seized up from injections, roaming around focused on looking at open clusters in the fresh air was therefore great. In terms of charts, I do not have this atlas; the Uranometria 2000.0 Deep Sky Northern Hemisphere; is this the version you use? More expensive compared to the All Sky version, with further extensive content gained in magnitude?

Lovely, I was in there to last night, always engaging roaming through the Auriga clusters. They provide a time line, from when I first started out with a copy of Turn Left at Orion in my backyard and an old C8, to now mostly at dark(er) sites, still get the same rush of excitement.

Really good investment in a Unihedron SQM-L Robert. Those are reassuringly V good readings. That is a canny bit of improvised DIY and in the dark. A substantial session exploring a wealth of deep sky subject. It is easy to become immersed and get lost in those galaxy groups. As you mention, Markarian's Chain provides definition and a profile to relate to those others, but yep your scope and sky condition, going deeper, yes a more specialised chart may be required. Strange times indeed, at least for now this pursuit complies fully with the current social distancing measures.

Thwarted by cloud at my dark sky spot in Northumberland, to make the most of the clear spells rather than the promise of clear skies, plans to explore through Hydra to reacquaint with the planetary 'The Ghost of Jupiter' and' The Spindle Galaxy' in Sextans were abandoned. Instead, parts of Orion, Auriga and Gemini were looking good. Further west Venus and the Pleiades made a good start and finder alignment to the evening. Coupled near to M38 in Auriga is NGC 1907, a compact small dense haze, omitted by Messier, but quite easy to regard in fairly small aperture. The complementary nature of the dazzling M38 and its small hazy companion is very pleasing to the eye. A classic companion open cluster is NGC 2158 associated near to M35 in Gemini. The subtlety of this small faint open cluster near to the quite flamboyant M35 is captivating in contrast. NGC 2158 is nearly five times further in distance than its companion, almost 16,000 light years and it is nearly ten times older. Another encounter, this time a more lonesome open cluster in Orion is NGC 2194, subtle, small and hazy. Prevailing cloud, cold (and falling asleep for a time in the car) I settled for a dazzling view of the Beehive cluster before deciding to quit. Faint open clusters and companion clusters, they are so bountiful, please share your own favourites and encounters. It was good to be - back out

Open cluster session in Northumberland.

Yes keep them coming Gerry, inspiring reports equals stability. I confess I have lost sight of astronomy presently, the reports will reengage my interest.

What a sight mesmerising, TV85 10mm Delos through to 4mm DeLite, Aristarchus Plateau appears to be lit up, thanks for the heads up, the sinuous rille sharply defined.