domstar

I already know it by heart. I love it.

Great post. It's nice to be reminded. Friends might not care (mine used to listen politely) and that's why this forum is so good. This is where we share experiences. When you say you looked at Uranus, we all know that feeling of awe, peace and excitement of looking at a tiny featureless dot.

Very nice. I spend more time looking at rilles than craters. I especially like it if it's a challenge. It seems I would have enjoyed your session very much.

Ordered @wookie1965 's socks. Can't wait for Christmas. Warm feet must be worth a couple of inches of aperture or at least an extra half an hour of observing time.

Hmm. This is getting embarrassing. I seem to be inadvertently following you. I didn't go for Uranus but had a later session last night looking at Vesta and Cetus A- my first non Andromeda galaxy. I was made up the first time I saw it- a real challenge in a 70mm. I always have good memories of it and it seems to me that it's close to giving up some detail but not quite.

In between looking at the moon I tried this. Fantastic. Nice wide double and an easy hop to Neptune, which I haven't seen for maybe two years. Had a great long look. It's so clear tonight even my 6mm looks good and at 150x clearly not a star. Thanks for the continued inspiration.

Ha. Snap. Think I caught Rimae Sulpicius Gallus too. Maybe just a glimpse. The air is so clear here tonight. The moon is spectacular.

A joy to read and the perfect balance for me of things I have and haven't seen. Half memory-jogging and half inspiring. Can't wait to get out again.

Sorry to jump in on this thread but what about keeping the mirror clean? I'm concerned I would kick up dust with my feet while observing. Do the truss owners here just plonk it on the ground or place it on a large sheet of plastic?

Hi and welcome to the forum. My advice would be have fun and enjoy your kit. I started with a 70mm refractor and had a great time. I also enjoyed getting new cheap eyepieces and swapping them around frequently. I think you made a good choice choosing a scope that is ready to go quickly and especially an AZ mount. Quick set up time is sometimes underrated. Especially at the beginning and even now, a few years later, 30 minutes observing is often enough. If, after a few sessions, you find you'd like to see a bit more sky to help you with star-hopping, then get a cheap 32mm. Also, as already mentioned, the book Turn Left at Orion is great, as are the free programs Stellarium and Virtual Moon Atlas. Good luck and have fun.

I have the same problem with @. I get the symbol up and then start typing and it doesn't highlight. But if I type a letter after @ and then delete it and type again a list of members comes up and I can highlight it. I don't understand why. So just put @ up then type a letter then delete it and start typing again and Bob's your uncle.

Wow. What an image. Congratulations.

The clouds eased for literally 10 seconds. I'm glad I saw it but disappointed it was so brief.

I can do it in one - supportive.

Great. That's dedication for you. It's hard to beat the wonder of a galaxy.

That's great. I was set on getting one myself until a second hand Lunt wedge came up here. I'm happy with the Lunt but wondered if I was missing out not having the extra filter. I tend to view at 50x magnification but not recently because of clouds and lack of sunspots. Fingers crossed for Monday.

@cloudsweeper Thanks very much. Yes, I was missing something. I can now cross reference with stellarium.

I don't seem to have SAO numbers mostly sigma and then a number or sometimes beta and then a number. I'm confused and maybe I'm missing something.

That's great. I love the way it's set with a large background. It really makes the picture. Hats off.

He certainly is, Stu. I'm amazed I got within 2 of his observation count. As for Haas, Is it true that there's no map just coordinates? That's way out of my league at the moment. It's difficult enough with a map, especially as the stars have different names in the CDSA to stellarium. It was my first go at star-hopping from a paper map (Orion doubles are usually easy to find) and I found it challenging but I got a real kick out of it. I felt like a beginner again hoovering up new objects.

Nine sessions in October. It's the month with probably the best balance of dark evenings verses comfortable temperature. I was able to drive somewhere darker, survive the cold and be tucked up in bed at a reasonable hour. The highlights were some wonderful views of the Andromeda Galaxy in widefield and the Veil. Half my sessions were from my balcony looking at double stars. After initially being put off by the amount of work needed to use the Cambridge Double Star Atlas, I've finally come to love it. I've been particularly inspired by Doug @cloudsweeper 's small reports on double stars and have had a wonderful time researching them, finding them and trying to split them. Al Salib in Delphinus has long been a favourite but I'd never noticed the other double in the field. They were especially beautiful at 50x as was alpha Hercules. However, most of the doubles I observed were in the higher part of Aquarius and Aquila. Matched, unmatched, bright, dim, tight, wide. Σ 2936 (HIP 112153) in Aquarius was particularly satisfying- 7 and 9.6 magnitude with a 4.2'' separation. I could just split it at 100x but the secondary was too dim at 150x. I managed it on Wednesday but not on Thursday - a small obscure star and despite it being recorded in an atlas, it felt like I was the only person on Earth looking at it. There are many facets to stargazing and my month of doubles tested my research, star-hopping and observation skills and gave my sessions focus and the satisfaction of finding new objects. Thanks for reading. Dominic

Great report. That's the area that I've been looking at recently. It's good to read about other people doing similar things (albeit with extra sketches). I really like the sketches- I really should have a go. It would make me slow down at the eyepiece.

@jetstream I use my 32mm plossl with a UHC. I have an Aero 30mm which shows a larger field but is 2 inch so I can't use my filter. It actually showed up non filtered on Thursday, which surprised me. I wish my Baader plossl had a bigger FOV. The sky is Bortle 4 - east is good for nothing but the Milky Way is clear. The Veil gives me a real thrill and is the dso I linger longest on. Maybe not the first thing I'd show a passing stranger, though, especially because it involves fiddling with a filter. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Very true. Had a great night on Thursday looking at the Veil. Amazing but not a great object for a quick look with unadapted eyes.

If there are no takers on this one I'll have a go. If the focal length of the Newt is longer than the tube then it's a Bird Jones. There is a built in Barlow. This is just what I've learnt from the forum-no direct experience.