kerrylewis

Whatever the present, the best gift is the time to observe without concern about getting up to go to work.

Hello John. Still clear here and got the nova - confirmed by Shane's superb sketch - thanks Shane. Saturn was not bad either despite its ridiculous elevation. Time for a few more targets

Beautifully clear here at present - hoping for a go at the nova

Well done John. Saw this line up this morning with an even more slender moon. See my report under Planetary

First clear morning since my last look so I gave the planet show another go. Venus as bright as ever. It is now closer to Regulus. It's amazing to think that light reflecting of a body so far away could be so bright. With more of my extreme stepladder astronomy with the Canon binoculars I eventually found Mercury and then Mars. These are much further apart now with Mars above Mercury as the inner planet drops back towards the sun. Sky Safari showed the moon as further down still so I decided to give that a go too. After much shifting around of my wobbly perch there it was! Almost impossibly slender and dodging through the trees. I can't remember the last time I saw such a thin moon. After checking I found that it was exactly 24 hours from new. Another lovely dawn morning chasing planets as the stars faded

It's strange but many people (me included) seem to have problems with the eastern horizon. Got up this morning but the promised clear hours didn't materialise. Yes Piero, Venus is the easiest planet to see in daylight although I confess I always use goto to locate it. Depending on it's position in relation to earth you can easily see the phase but not much else. In some ways it's easier in daylight because it is otherwise so bright against a dark sky. Mercury and Jupiter can also be seen quite easily. The other planets are less bright but viable under the right conditions. A neodymium filter helps sometimes I find.

As a postscript, I left the scope set up so I've just caught the disc of Venus and the tiny phased disc of Mercury against a clear blue sky now that they are a little higher!

Beautiful line up of planets in the dawn sky this morning. Venus like a beacon and Mercury below and further east (with Regulus half way between) and then below Mercury, Mars just edging into view. I don't have a clear eastern horizon from the garden so seeing this line up entailed some extreme astronomy - i.e. me balanced on a step ladder with my binoculars. If you have a better view it's worth getting up for - Mars and Mercury will be at their closest on Sunday morning (Sept 17th) in the UK. I had been up since 3.00 with Tak with some lovely sights but the dawn topped it. As I reluctantly went back to bed, I stood for a moment and arranged across the deep blue sky were Orion striding westward with Sirius just peeking above the garden fence and to the east the moon bright (but almost outshone by Venus!) at the head of the planetary chain. Gorgeous

Mark I have a spare one. Happy to post it to you if you PM me your address Cheers Kerry

Desperately seeking Florence After four evenings of frustration and failure (I won't bore you with the details) I finally found her! Clear Outside promised about two hours of clear skies so set up the scope under grey clouds more in hope than expectation. But CO was spot on and trusting that Sky Safari now had the right location I slewed to the spot. After I while I suspected that the spot to the left of that triangle of stars was moving. After a while I was sure and I was mesmerised as I watched it form straight lines and then triangles with other stars. A bit fainter than I was expecting but I suspect it had faded a bit since I first started searching - but wonderful. My first NEA . Chuffed to bits doesn't even begin to describe my feelings. Daft hobby - how could you explain to someone that you have spent five evenings looking for a faint slowly moving dot and then the emotions when you finally find it? Thank you Florence - you can now go on your way.

You are quire right - now corrected Thanks Kerry

crossword.pdf As a bit of fun I have devised this Astro Crossword. I had to fit the grid so please make allowances. Clues in the pdf and hopefully you can print the grid You can Google - I did! No spoilers please. If you get stuck you can PM me. I will publish the answer in a couple of weeks Kerry

A very interesting read Paul. Your experience almost exactly mirrors mine. My eyes are not perfect either- short sighted and different astigmatism in each- but I don't wear glasses at the eyepiece. I too did not get the immersive experience that I expected. To me there seemed to be halo around each FoV which gave a sort of tunnel vision experience. Like you, I put it down to the fact that the binoculars did not suit me because there were so many positive reviews around. On the other hand it is clear that there is a minority that do not get on with them. I was prepared to keep trying and I took them with me on a trip to the US - and, ironically, I lost them ( I think I left them in the hire car.) I claimed for them on my insurance so it was as if I had sold them, which I would have done anyway. As I said in another thread, I think anyone thinking of getting some should try them first particularly if they have any eyesight problems.

We have them in our garden - we have actually seen two together. Love to see them scurrying around especially if I'm out astronomising. However, they have steadfastly refused to occupy the special box that we put out to provide winter accommodation. They must already have a cosy spot somewhere

No chance here. Thin cloud so could barely make out the moon. Shame because it was beautifully clear earlier and you could see the moon creeping towards Aldebaran. Maybe next time - these occultations have been reasonably frequent lately.