robneath

]Just got back in from a superb session. Popped my head outside at about midnight and immediately grabbed the bins - the sky was clear and spent 30 mins scanning around. got a bit confused as what I thought was Alderbaran want where it should be then I realised it was Mars! The seeing and transparency was improving all the time so set up the scope and while it was cooling checked what was up and where - lots to choose from. Went back out and just gazed in amazement as I could make at the milky way, well worth waiting for ! Had a peek at Mars, then moved onto the Hyades - very good view . By now Orion had cleared the trees so hunted down M42 - found it alot easier this time and the view in the 20mm Meade 5000 was superb. noticed more detail as well - it was more feathery this time. changed to 9mm - now this was amazing - i managed to resolve the E star in the trapezium. Observed that for a good 20 minutes, then spotted what to me looked like a star surrounded by vague nebulosity above M42 . Scanning up and down spotted another small group - i counted 3 stars - below M42 with faint nebulosity, and below that a small open cluster. Just before packing up had quick look at sirius through the bins - nice flickering effect red , blue and to my eyes green - should be renamed the disco star. So what started off as quick scan with bins turned into a 3 hr session with very satisfying results!! forgot to take the star charts out ,so being checking up and seems I saw NGC 1980, 1977 and 1981 all first obs so I'm well chuffed.

As this was the first clear night i've had decided to practise some star hopping and the Jupiter moon occultation. Aligned and setup about 19:30 UTC left to cool for 1.5 hrs then to business! tried the Jupiter moon occultation - got nice view of jupiter - equtorial bans nice and clear (20mm Meade 5000 + Barlow), but the seeing dint let me see the moon occultation. So onto star hopping - Aldabaran was up so located it, then star hopped to Pleiades using star chart ( upside down - made it alot easier) achieved that - nice view of the Pleiades. Decided to wait for Orion to rise as the transparency was very good and the seeing had improved. So inside to warm up and plan for Orion. Out at about 02:00 UTC - orion up so decided to have a bash at M42 and M43. Found it a bit tricky till I scanned with bins and got my bearings. used the 20mm and eventually found M42 and M43. This was the highlight of the session for me, especially when I put the Barlow in - saw the 4 stars in the Trapezium and just watched the beauty of the nebula for a good 20 mins. All in all an excellent session, learnt alot and know where to look now!

After careful reading of various posts on the forum , decided to upgrade my EPs a tad. Finally settled on a Meade 5000 20mm Plosssl and a TAL x2 Barlow. Reason the 10mm supplied EP was 'dire' so I figured the 20mm + Barlow would give the 10mm without the hasle. Received today thanks to FLO's prompt as ever service!! Looking good for observing early part of the night. See how it goes! Typical cloud cover so no observing.