mark81

Welcome to SGL, it's a great time of the year to begin. Dark nights on their way

Wow that's what I call a session. An amazing selection of objects there and some nice detail. I was going to have a go at NGC7000 but nothing but cloud here. keep the reports coming

I often look at this imaging section and am often tempted to comment but feel a little like an intruder as I have no imaging experience or any equipment to try it. This image is spectacular and felt I had to say so.

Wow, even though a new scope for me is years in the future, this just went top of the list!

Hi, I can only comment on the Olympus 10x50's which I really love - not sure how they compare to the Opitcron but from what I hear you cant get much more for your money if you chose the Olympus. Really nice crisp clean views and a great size for daytime use too. I do have a dark site here so I really do get the most out of them and I feel they are good enough for those quick short sessions when you don't want to use a scope. Star clusters can be seen - not in any detail - but faint smudges can be fun. Andromeda also. I also use them a lot for hunting objects down as I only have a red dot finder on my st80. You wont be disappointed with these.

That NGC book sounds like something I would get if I had a big enough scope, but with an ST80, I have to be more than realistic. I use Stargazing and Skywatching by Collins, the Philips sky atlas - which is more for small scopes and of course Turn Left at Orion. I have printed off some o the challenges from the Astroleague, mainly the binocular ones for the ST80.

I was 16 years old and the one moment that really stands out for me is the POLICE being called as me and a couple of friends were in the street taking a look at the comet through some binoculars and a nice neighbour had phoned the police worried that we were looking into peoples bedrooms - which we weren't - but which gave us a good idea

Here's my first and only scope the wonderful ST80, got it in Jan, can't wait for the Autumn skies..

Fantastic report. It's great to see such a variation in reports as it makes you realise that there is so many avenues to look down. The first set of notes look wonderful without even reading them ! Interesting stuff..

Nice update on this dob. I have looked at it a number of times since you got it and really will be tempted when the time comes..

It's always interesting to see the different types of reports here and I enjoy them all, but one with planets, binaries and sketches? Great stuff, thanks

After you last post I thought you might need to raise that a little more. Looks good too. And some nice dark nights on their way....slowly. I look forward to more reports..

That's a nice bunch of doubles there with good descriptions. Reading about these type of observing sessions really make me want to get the scope out and start veiwing - but I'm having to wait for the darker skies to return.. Keep them coming

Great subtle detail on the first sketch - really brings it to life.

It's good to hear more about this dob and how your getting on with it - I'm sure that when your over a certain height, a stool is a must for most dobs and then a ladder for anything really big...