domstar

Great report. I love the lagoon and it's always a privilege to see the Veil.

@KingNothing13 Whoops sorry. I meant @Stu1smartcookie. He wrote very enthusiastically about wide field observing and it, well, enthused me. You commented on his piece, which is how I made the mistake. Looking forward to your reports .

Inspired by the reports from @Littleguy80 and @KingNothing13 I drove to a nearby farm with a spring in my step (so to speak). This time I'd done some research and had some new targets to find. As I sniffed the air I noticed in the failing light a huge pile of what I can only describe as organic fertilizer not far from my position. Undeterred, I set up and looked at passable views of Saturn and Jupiter until it was dark enough for another detailed look at Sagittarius. There's such a small window of opportunity for this constellation that I always target it when I can. My main target, however, was Cassiopeia. It's been rather neglected by me probably because it's always there and also because there's so much going on, my goal-orientated brain can't handle it. Wide field was my weapon of choice and Caroline's Rose was my main target. I've missed it before and I nearly missed it again but when I found it- what a beauty. I lingered on it for a while and then hunted some of the other open clusters. I found some beauties between Segin and Ruchba but I wish I could be sure which one was which. That's the problem with Cassiopeia. My other new targets were the Blue Snowball, the Caldwell galaxies just above the Andromeda Galaxy and a return to the Little Hourglass. As I looked through the finder I was surprised to make out only a few of the brightest stars until it dawned on me that the finder was all dewed up. My anti-dew precautions (toilet paper tube) had slipped. Still, something for next time. I found a spectacular Andromeda Galaxy stretching out further than my eyepiece could show, and a beautiful Double Cluster without a finder and I went home feeling great. When I got up this morning I pulled the first corn cob from the patch. Two great things in less than twelve hours and I've been in a good mood all day. Thanks for reading. Dominic

Thanks. I've got an unscrewable Barlow but all that fiddling. I tend to keep the same eyepiece and only change with reluctance let alone use a Barlow. Mucky fingers are another of my problems. Last night it was Ritz crackers. So I'll just add manual dexterity to the long list of your admirable traits.

Great to read. Enthusiasm is infectious. I'm a big fan of low power too.

Great report. Just checking out Cassiopeia in case the clouds clear and you've given me some good ideas too. You've also got me singing 'You and me belong....'

Wow that didn't look great on the phone but at that size it'a an abomination. The lack of detail is striking. Still strangely proud of it , though.

@Littleguy80 Thanks very much- that means a lot. As for the picture (just for you). I cropped it and changed the colour.

Back in the groove after months of listlessness. When galaxy hunting in Virgo failed to give me peace the whole stargazing business took a back seat. Now that my frame of mind is better in all areas, I was raring to give it another chance. So there I was, with no research, no targets and just my memory to guide me. Jupiter and Saturn were fuzzy and quickly discarded. M13 and M11 made me relax and then it was on to Sagittarius. Firstly it was the two biggest Globs and then up through the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud to the Swan and the Eagle. Very nice and the UHC didn't improve things greatly. I moved on to the Triffid and Lagoon. The Lagoon was the sight of the night with the UHC. My problem was that I just steamrollered through Sagittarius and missed a lot of the lesser sights due to a lack of research and tenacity, but not bad for a reintroduction. About that time the glow on the horizon from the moon was replaced by direct light (sort of) as it cleared the hills. What a change. The sky suddenly became pale and my silhouette was drawn clearly on the ground from shadows. I snapped the rising moon with my first ever smartphone shot. I've had the adapter for months, unused. The results were good enough for my non-stargazing wife to want to put on her facebook page. Just a quick double cluster and then home to bed and a wonderful deep sleep. Through all the bad few months, I've been reading this site although I didn't post. It has been good for me to read everyone's posts and to keep my stargazing identity alive despite not actually practicing the hobby. Thanks for that, and thanks for reading. Dominic

I especially like the second one. Awe-inspiring.

Great post. Reports like this really help us all by giving us the motivation and enthusiasm to get out there when we could be in bed. Thanks.

I always enjoy your reports. Unfortunately mine have dried up as has the stargazing. I think SGL is great for keeping me in touch with the hobby during these meager times and the observing reports are the most important part of that.

Good answer. I had a theory that people with those fracs didn't mind the false colour very much but if you owned a newt first then the CA would be bothersome. Just a guess but I'll be following with interest.

You should be your own expert here. Do you want better colour correction or more light grasp. I'd be really interested to know what you think.

That's brilliant. You nailed it observing-wise and writing-wise. You articulate exactly what I like about stargazing and, after a very lean few months, I really needed that reminder. Thanks very much.

Algieba- my first ever double. As I increased magnification I didn't believe it was a double until.....Wow. Great memories. I didn't know about the other two stars in the field, though.

Very nice to read. I'm thinking of starting the summer recess soon. It's good to know there are still possibilities.

@AdeKing Not at all. It seems like I didn't express myself well. I wanted to say that its lack of use (by me) points to its lack of usefulness but on the other hand I didn't want to advise too strongly against it as I've only used it a couple of times. I don't like fiddling around with eyepieces so I thought it would be up my street but I didn't like fiddling around with the turret either. I did consider mentioning the clicks. They worked OK for me but didn't give me a lot of confidence that it wouldn't give future alignment problems.

I bought it with the BCOs. It doesn't focus on my scope with my 2 inch diagonal. With a 1.25 inch diagonal it was fine especially with the small eyepieces. The long 32mm poked my in the face so I just used it with the other 3. I only used it a couple of times. The plastic is solid. Maybe I'll give it another try but at the time I felt I didn't want to use it.

OK. Try some doubles. They stand up to light pollution and if the conditions are OK you'll know if you're pointing accurately. Polaris, Mizar, Izar, Algeiba and Porrima. All are bright, some are tight. Find them as a single star in your eyepiece with the biggest number, then increase the magnification until you manage to split them (let's hope the sky transparency plays ball) Good luck and keep going. Imagine you are a night fisherman. You might only get an occasional bite but the peace you get from being outside at night can be a wonderful thing.

The pinwheel is really difficult the first time. It's quite large so the given magnitude is spread over the whole area. In my scope under good skies it looks like an area that's not quite as dark as the rest of the sky. As mentioned above, light pollution can render it invisible. Open clusters are a good place to start. Because of the clouds, I'm starting to forget what's around in the sky at the moment.

I've spent a good few times giving up after not being able to find M3 and M81. I'm better now (usually) but they are not easy star hops. I recommend trying something nearer a bright star and also something not up right near the zenith. My finder is backwards and upside down and it took me a lot of practice to improve and I still double check what the telescope tube is doing to make sure. The Great Cluster in Hercules might be good to practice on (although it's beaten me a few times). Experience will tell you how bright a bright star will look in your finder. Sometimes I mistake a dimmer star for the one I want. Good luck.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I agree with Turn Left at Orion. It's really helpful. I had a 70mm scope with similar eyepieces. I had a massive improvement when I bought a cheap 25mm plossl. A lot of people try and sell their skywatcher plossls that come with their upgraded scopes. You can pick them up on ebay usually for under 10 pounds. It showed me more sky and gave better views. The scope is still limited but, in my case, this simple cheap upgrade opened up possibilities and ultimately led me to knowing that I was in the hobby for sure and wanted to upgrade. Have fun with your new scope.

That was my first scope. I don't think it's worth attaching a camera to it but maybe a smartphone could get something out of the moon.