Littleguy80

It's been a fab week. Starting on Sunday, I've been out every night except Tuesday. It's allowed me to really get my finding process down using the S&T pocket sky atlas and Telrad. M13 at high mag, comet Johnson and a lucky pass of the ISS right through the eyepiece have been the highlights but that takes nothing away from all the other amazing things I've seen!

Now you know why my handle is littleguy

One of the most frequently recommended items on SGL... Clear skies, m'hearties!

Nice report I got a Telrad this month, also related to getting a year older, and it's been a really big help. I bought a copy of the S&T Pocket Sky Atlas which includes a scale for the Telrad circles. I copied these onto a clear piece of plastic which I can then move about the Atlas to figure out what I should see in the Telrad. All tips I got off other members on here

Went back tonight and finally found M44. Looked lovely in the ES68 24mm. Didn't detect any difference in the colour of the stars. Perhaps that comes with a larger aperture scope.

I got my first look at the Veil with the same eyepiece/filter combination that you used. LP is moderate from my garden and I also struggled to pick out details. I'm going to have to find some dark skies for a proper look at it!

Very well done, that's an impressive achievement! I've had one go at manually tracking it but it was pretty hopeless.

Exactly that. I've only used the two filters together a couple of times. One on it's own has normally been about right

I love the ISS. I've been going out to watch it pass over for years now, long before I ever got a telescope. When it passed over on Christmas eve a couple of years ago, we took the kids outside to watch. We told them it was Father Christmas on his way to France. My eldest son, who was about 6 at the time, smiled and then a look of panic came over his face. He ran inside saying "I need to go to bed!!!". Last night I was on a mission to see Comet Johnson. I started by splitting the double star, Izar. A real test of my scope. Then using Izar as my starting point I started arcing up looking for the comet. After a little while of searching, I stopped and looked up at the sky to get my bearings. As I was looking up, I noticed the ISS starting it's pass. This was just after midnight. As I was watching it's rapid progression across the sky, it dawned on me that it was on track to come across the region of sky where I had the scope pointed. I didn't touch the scope, I just kept watching. As it approached the area where the scope was currently focused I looked through the eyepiece. Nothing and then a glow as the ISS approached. Just as I was thinking that it was going to pass just outside the field of view, it came through the centre of my eyepiece. It was there for the briefest of moments but the bright glow of the two solar arrays was unmistakable. It was incredible luck. Never in a million years of trying could I have got the positioning any better. I stood there with a grin like a Cheshire cat, as I watched the ISS disappear. I've always been amazed at how often I see satellites or space junk pass through as I'm looking through the eyepiece. I never thought I'd have the luck to see the ISS pass through though. I went on to find Comet Johnson with @John and @andrew63 helping me to confirm the sighting whilst I still had it in the eyepiece. Another great night

I've read a couple of posts where people have said that Jupiter is best seen in twilight. I did have really good views of Jupiter last night around 10 pm when the sky was still fairly bright. GRS was looking good. The seeing was better than earlier in the week, I could definitely pick up more detail. I was using a Neodymium filter to help with the brightness. Exit pupil is not something I've ever thought about before. My setup last night would have given an exit pupil of 0.87mm... I think. 130mm aperture / 150x magnification = 0.87, when rounded up. I also have a variable polariser so I'll give that a go when Venus is next up. Thanks for all the tips

Thanks Piero. Really interesting info. Venus was the first planet I looked at through my scope. I was just impressed that I could make out it the crescent shape of it. Looking forward to seeing it again and trying to pick out some detail. Will be a challenge from the sounds of it!

Just split Izar for the first time with my 5" newt tonight. Could make out the gap but at the very limit of my scope so not a clear image. I'm super impressed that you managed it with such a smaller aperture!

Thank you, Andrew! The sketch confirms it! Very happy

Thanks John! I'm arcing up from Izar. Have come to it multiple times now. I can detect some increased brightness with averted vision. Very exciting to chalk up my first comet! Will be fun to see how it develops over the next month