Karen Bexley

13 minutes ago, Neil H said:

Hi get stellarium plus its worth the £7.50 you can also use this to move your goto telescope to your target it will tell you what star is what when you point your phone at it 

Thanks Neil H.

I'll have a closer look at the free version first to see how I get on with it.

13 minutes ago, ngwillym said:

HI again Karen,

I live just outside Marchwood.

And the apps are good but a while ago I put together a little presentation to help beginners navigate their way around the night sky - I've attached it here - it may be of some use.

Now all we need are some clear skies.

Regards

Neil

NightSkyBeginners.pdf 2.04 MB · 0 downloads

Hi Neil,

I'm more southwest of you and south of Lyndhurst.  I never say exactly where I live on Forums or Social Media, because you never really know who is reading your posts.  It's just a security issue for me.

Anyway, thanks for posting that link for navigating the night sky 👍

7 minutes ago, merlin100 said:

My two girls have their own Facebook page. 😉

https://www.facebook.com/TillyMistyPage/

A lovely page your two girls have there Merlin 🥰

There are quite a few Shetland ponies allowed to roam freely around the Forest, they are so adorable.

1 hour ago, Archaeoastronomer said:

You never know Karen, you might include the stars with writing fiction,  it has happened, LOL

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Sirius_Black

If that ever happens, at least you could say you knew me before I became famous 🤭

3 hours ago, merlin100 said:

What gets to me is the amount of equine loss of life in the New Forest and other places, due to people driving too fast and recklessly!😠

Very sad indeed 😢

Welcome to the Forum Archaeoastronomer.

I have found the members to be very helpful and friendly, and I'm sure you'll find that also.

I like that link about the New Forest Ponies.  I just wish that visitors coming here would read something like that.  A lot of them think it is a petting zoo and will stop to give them food and pet them.  Although owned by Commoners, they are still wild ponies and can be unpredictable.  Plus, overfeeding, especially the wrong kinds of food, can give them serious health issues.  It gets me so mad when I see this 😠

As for writing fiction...🤔  The Forest inspires many things in me, but I don't think a best-seller is one of them 🤭

Mill Hill looks like an idyllic setting.

Enjoy the forum.

They're adorable Merlin 😍

I don't own any ponies, although I would love to one day, so I get my pleasure from photographing them as much as I can, and going to my local stables for hacks into the Forest (at least I did until the lockdown came into effect).

It's a much cheaper way of doing it, and I can still fulfil my passion for riding.

Just now, merlin100 said:

Belated welcome from SW Scotland. I used to work and live briefly in New Milton 30 years ago.  The New Forest was/is beautiful.

Thank you Merlin.

I feel very lucky to be able to live in the New Forest.  I can fulfil my passion for walking, photography, communing with the ponies (and, of course, astronomy) 😃

Thanks Merlin 🙂

Thank you Nigella.

Thank you dweller.  Good advice.

43 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

Patience Karen, you'll get there and be blown away by the views with that shiny new scope 🙂

The weather is probably the most frustrating part of this hobby, we've all been there. Nice new toy and flat white skies for days, or kicking yourself for deciding not to enjoy the clear night one day and the next several are all occluded. The moon did look good last night though in breaks of the cloud and even cleared up a bit much later, but I didn't get the scope out just took a couple snaps with the camera which came out ok.

I know it is going to be frustrating at times, but I'm prepared for that.

It was quite cloudy here last night.  I could see a couple of stars with the naked eye late evening but not an awful lot.

Thank you for the welcome Roger.

I haven't considered joining a local Astronomy Society, preferring to do it on my own for now.

It may be something I'll think about in the future, I don't know yet 🤔

9 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

yep, that new girl ordered some optics, bound to happen...  

Cleared up a bit here tho, was just out shooting the moon but tis pretty cold

I'm trying my best Dave, but those weather Gods and Goddesses just keep ignoring my pleas for clear skies 😇  I'll try harder next time 🤭

9 hours ago, ngwillym said:

Thunder & lightning here in my bit of the New Forest

Hello fellow Forester.  I don't know which part of the Forest you are in but I didn't get any thunder and lightning,  just heavy rain.

13 hours ago, Kev M said:

Get prepared for the clouds to roll in....lol

 

They're here already Kev, and have been for the past three nights 🙁

Well, acting on adviceI about a suitable telescope to start off with which I received on the Forum, I convinced myself to buy one 🤗.

I went through "First Light Optics" and purchased a new Sky-Watcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian telescope and a Telrad Finder.

The Telrad arrived yesterday but the telescope will take about 3 weeks.

Gives me extra time to get my stargazing plans organised 😃

Hi Jon, thank you for the welcome.

I couldn't agree more about the friendly and knowledgeable members on this Forum.

Good luck with your new set-up when it arrives.  You'll have to tell us how you get on with it.

Thanks Rob.

Thanks Carole.

I know exactly what you mean.  A few weeks ago I took a photo of the Moon on auto and it was blurry and washed out.  I then tried a couple of different manual settings, which were slightly better but I didn't get much detail.  To be honest I gave up after that, but I'm more determined now to try harder and experiment with a few more camera settings.  I've never tried the stacking technique, so that's uncharted territory for me

If I eventually get some shots I'm fairly happy with I'll post them on here (but don't hold your breath, I've got a long way to go yet.)

9 hours ago, Vixen4eva said:

Its nice to see more women getting interested in the hobby. I`m sure you`ll be hooked just like the rest of us. One thing is for certain your bank balance is going to suffer.

Clear skies

Alan

Thanks Alan.

I guess I'll have to make intelligent choices of equipment before I buy, and not buy on a whim.  After all, I must keep my Bank Manager sweet 😉

Thank you iapa.

I'll have a look through when I get chance.

Thank you Michael.

Since I joined (3 days ago) I've had cloudy skies, and tonight there is rain and strong winds forecast, so not much chance to kick start my new hobby yet ☹️

I've just checked the weather forecast for my area today and it's not looking very good at all.

Rain and strong winds up to 44 mph are expected ☹️  Oh dear, no stargazing tonight then.

Thank you Steve.