bish

Very sad news. I have had some great views through a 20" David Lukehurst scope.  I had never met him but a big loss to the community 

Fantastic.   Always amazes me the detail that can be achieved. 

Just seen it my 5" mak. Really faint. Accidentally nudged the scope and couldn't find it again. Think the sky misted a bit.

Great image. Saw that with a 16" from a dark site. Obviously nothing close to that detail but still good to see.

I'm wondering if my 10" scope will pick it up from badly polluted area (bortle 8). I am going to Cornwall on Monday to a dark area on the west coast. That would be ideal but forecast is rain all week.

Just enough clear patches in the cloud to see it. Used my bins. Should have grabbed my camera too.

Saw it at Kielder star camp over the weekend. Luckily somebody had a 20" dob to look at it with.

25" obsession. I need to ignore that storage and transportation would be a pain.

I can have breaks of 6 months without using the scope. I still read books, watch astro TV programmes etc. I've in very light polluted area and more often than not it's the next star party that gets me draggi g the Scope out again (or a decent comet, well placed planet at opposition etc)

Had a hint of them in m51 with my old 8". Easier in my 10" and getting good in a 12". All from bortle 3. Had a quick glimpse before clouds hit in a 18". Obviously great in that! Not sure how good my eyes are.

16 minutes ago, Franklin said:

We could all take up Meteorology, start observing cloud formations😄.

Martin McKenna on FB got into storm chasing and does both.

It puts me off spending too much on kit. However the practical (observing) part is like a bonus to an interest in astronomy in general. I live in a badly light polluted area so  look forward to star parties (even if I only get a couple of hours of clear skies as I Iike the camping/outdoors). As I don't have a huge amount of kit I will always keep it, even just for the odd look at the moon, planets, odd bright comet  and star parties once or twice a year.  I had always planned to buy the biggest scope I could, but that  has become less and less practical. In a nutshell I'm happy if I only get the scope out once a month, as long as I can make it to the odd star party too 

I must admit 10 years ago I would be out most clear nights until the early hours and get up for work. Now  even if there is a SN or comet I wait until the weekend if it meant having to wait out until the early hours. It is partly  because my wife has a physical job and is often exhausted  and I go to bed the same time so I don't disturb her. The sky here is so light polluted I don't go out that much anyway. At a star party I will stop up all night and nap in the day if it is clear.

Excellent image.

Ni e shot. I just caught it out the bedroom  window as it got dark enough to see the Beehive in bins. 

Fantastic sketch 

5 hours ago, SwiMatt said:

So many more than one would expect! I imagine that those are not regular sightings, right? They will depend on conditions and position in the sky (and with averted vision?)

A nice clear sky and the higher the better.  Some, such as m39 (a fairly bright open cluster) can be seen under poorer conditions than any of the galaxies. M51 and m64  are other galaxy that should be visible but need to be high in a clear moonless sky.  Ideally  a new moon or within first few days of new moon, especially for galaxies. Under good conditions none should need averted vision. Under a really datk sky there is a huge amount to be seen even with a good pair of bins.

A  few that come to mind are m31, m81, m82,  m42, m45, m13, m15, m3, Eskimo nebula, m39, double cluster, m35, 36, 37, 38.  A few clusters in cassiopeia (m103 if I remember correctly).  These are a few off the top of my head that I could see with a 6" newt from a Bortle 7 sky.

Thanks all for your replies, I will check it out on FLO.

Can anybody recommend a good moon atlas (actual book rather than phone app).

Thanks

I took this last year and just came across it. Will have to work out what the craters are (my knowledge of moon features is very limited!)

I used the AAVSO chart last night. M101 not visible at all. The SN looked to be about 11.5. With the moon and my murky sky I could of see down to about 12.5, so if it fades as the moon gets brighter I doubt I will see it again.

39 minutes ago, Stu said:

This one?

Yes that's  the one.

Great images. I was looking around there last night. Tried to take some phone shots but failed miserably! There's a small crater next to Archimedes but it's not labelled on my moon map. At one point the rim shone really brightly surrounded   by black. Looked like an annular eclipse. You can see it on a couple of your pics.

Thanks. I had planned to have a look at the moon tonight so will look out for it.