cotterless45

Sounds very much like one of my tinkering about under the Moon sessions. The old school Ultima 7.5mm is a gem and one I always reach for , just pure clean views. On occasion it even works in an old school triplet x2 Vixen silverside Barlow. Its always worth swapping eyepieces around and quite a good adventure ! Nick.

Super report , Tegmine is a special sight . Compares very well to Beta Mon. For a super view try the bright star( 15 Monocerotis) base of the Christmas tree cluster NGC 2264. Super sky here last night , get out there and grab some clear skies ! Nick.

Anyone believing that the Earth is flat ,would do no better than visit the Isle of Wight ! old Nick.

Same here , think of all those that Heather inspired, Nick.

Puppis , just above the horizon here , but what a treat. South of Procyon and East of Sirius will find Puppis , it's here that the planetary nebula NGC 2440 sits. Nicely blinking in a wide field. M47 is a real gem here , dominating here is the bright and wide binary Σ1121, a dazzling view. Sissy Haas gives 69 multiples here, most too low for Midlands. M46 looked really delicate, it holds the planetary nebula NGC 2438 at it's edge. NGC 2477 is a fabulously rich cluster and NGC 2467, a bright planetary nebula. Both too low from here. Just a slow tour south , finding h3945 , the bright "winter Albireo " in CaMa. Another look at that sumptuous deep coal red of "Hind's crimson". Swing around to rising Canes Venatici in the north and a bright "La Superba"(Y CNv). Monoceros gave a lovely view of "Hubble's variable nebula " NGC 2261. The 22mm LVW hardly picked it up, but it was clear with a BST 25mm eyepiece. Worth swapping around eyepieces. Another view of the spread of NGC 2301, what a view of "Hagrid's dragon". Just tootling around the sky to the double cluster , M35, M67 and the busy M44. Clear , but chill, then light cloud drifted in. Here's to clear skies ! Nick.

Firstly , it's a challenge just to get out there ! The most enjoyable challenges have rewarded others , especially those lost in the sky. I remember at SGL passing a couple holding a planisphère up in various positions. 5 hours later , I not only got them handy with the sky , but able to star hop and find targets. The planisphère was packed away. I think that a few shots at this send you'll rake up handy tips and learn much yourself. Those members of the public at outreach are mainly awed . Special mention must be made of the young Jack Sparrow who tried to swing both scope and mount around. It was a challenge biting my tongue and banishing various images of fiery hot doom . Observing binary stars presents several challenges , contrast of magnitudes, closeness of separation and colour. Very often the most stunning views are a lower magnification just barely splitting , but often getting just the tiniest split. Similarly lovely views when very faint companions suddenly appear beside the A star. Again these look lovely at low magnification. Colour increases with smaller aperture and a handy aperture mask can give the glowing coal of carbon stars or contrasting colours. There's also the challenge of light pollution versus the faint fuzzies. They're always worth a shot. Nearly fell over seeing a perfect Swan Nebula (M17) low over town without filters. Similarly Hubble 's variable Nebula( NGC 2261)and the Eastern Veil can show up from town. It's all a challenge , but oh ! the rewards ! Nick.

Take note !

Booked ! Friday and Saturday nights. Looking forward to a great meeting , Nick.

Try these beauties ! http://users.compaqnet.be/doublestars/ Nick.

That's a great scope, I spent many a happy hour with this most useful long Newtonian. Nothing wrong with optics to get such a tight split . Enjoy ! Nick.

Fantastic ! Count me in , will be pleased if this takes off and becomes as great as the original PSP. Great for newbies and the right place to learn ! not often you will get onto a campsite outside of opening dates ! Nick.

Just before 5.40 this morning , looked out to the northeast . A huge line of bright satellites ! Quite a sight ! Much wider apart than in the YouTube video https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-night-sky-visibility-guide.html I can see how it would affect research / imaging , but what a sight for the observer ! Nick.

Think that the article is overlooking the main problem with light pollution; lack of contrast. I'd say increasing magnification until the view degrades will give you contrast . I can't see any other factors ,with regard to letting more light in ,would affect the light pollution. Rather similar to light buckets letting in lots of light pollution. There was another gem , air turbulence bubbles are said (!) to be 4" diameter . Using a 4" aparture frac will optimise this ! I'll put that idea next to my cloud busting gun. Anyway , the only 100 degree eyepiece that l looked through , I could get my eye around the view ! Nick.

Clear, but not transparent. The seeing got better up to midnight, giving some cracking views. Not really a night for galaxies , tried for comet Panstarrs , but Perseus was lit up by light pollution. Had a shot of Venus, low Neptune and a very high Uranus disc. M50 in Monoceros , overlooked , but a lovely big cluster. NGC 2396 in Canis Major gave a lovely dense sparkle. Lepus and "Hind's Crimson " SAO 150058 didn't disappoint. Just a cry of joy with Leo 54, an absolutely stunning yellow and blue , SAO 81583. Onto some right challenges , Weiss 14 in Gemini, delicately difficult, about 2". Σ1037, SAO 79170 in Gemini, well below 1". Comparison of beta Monocerotis and the tighter Zeta Cancri, really both are beautiful. Comparison of "winter Albireos ", preferred the more colourful closer h3945 to iota Cancri. Σ 1374 in Leo Minor , 2.8" with a delicate companion. NGC 2367, with a lovely binary Lal 53. Got a bit nippy around midnight down to minus three . Ice on everything , put the frac on top of the freezer. Bit of gentle heat to thaw it out. A covered hot water on the ep case keep them dew free, hoping for clear skies ! Nick.

Wonderful exciting read ! Shows that you don't need mega aperture in great skies , Nick.

Pleasure to read and what a very rich area to observe, Nick.

Waiting for those promised clear skies and deep frost , just cloud gaps slowly clearing. Seeing was bad , especially over the town to the south . Tight binaries were nearly clacking together like kids toys. Went for some carbon star colour and galaxies to the north. Winter carbon stars. catching up with these variables again , "La Superba" even low at 10.15 was a bright cheery red , if you look at one star choose this one ! "Hind's Crimson "has toned down a bit , but it's still as cheery as tomato soup. Mon RV and Gem.Tu were the only dim ones. "Hinds variable Nebula" NGC 2261 looked wonderfully bright in Monoceros. Lovely view of NGC 2264 and NGC 2244. Don't forget the dusty M67. Up to Lynx and a glimpse of the distant NGC 2419 hanging at the end of a fish hook of stars. Averted view of the "Owl", M97. Over to "Bode's " and a glimpse of NGC 3077 and NGC 2903. The sky went a bit downhill , the only clear galaxy in Leo being our near twin ,NGC 2903 up near the head. Always had seeing nasties with high pressure weather, must be like a huge hand pressing down on those clear skies ! Nick.

Forecast looked great , clouds soon moved in. Auriga was wonderfully placed for a comfy seat at the sharp end. Scooping up the lovely M37 and other open clusters I noticed that the seeing and transparency were good . Good enough to get to M1. Time enough to catch some binaries and wait for Tegmine to arrive. Time to check out the Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392) and M35. Don't forget Wasat while you're there. Σ666 gave a full star field with just the binary so clearly double. Bu 560 was even more beautiful, twin eyes appearing in an empty field. A real gem. Σ941 gave a slightly contrasting view. For a real delicacy ES 15 firstly showed up by averted vision , but soon snapped into plain view. Had this a few times with faint stuff , suddenly they're willed into appearing. 59 Auriga is most definitely binary and in a long triangle with 60 and 61 Auriga. Couldn't leave without a very high up Uranus and a lovely view of Tegmine. Here's to more clear skies ! Nick.

Absolutely inspiring ! Nick.

Brilliant size , its equivalent to having a 10" eyeball ! nick.

Thanks to ever depressing forecasts , I drew the curtains and settled down for the duration. Going outside , there was a sparkling dark sky , wow. Setting up in double time with a band of broken clouds to the west , soon got cracking . The seeing was bad , couldn't break through 1.3". But the transparency was just ace . Got a grip of the dust lane in M82 before searching around the Messier's. Open clusters just sparkle with clear sky. The Eskimo Nebula was really bright, as were M44 ( praesepe) and a bright NGC 2841 ( +9.3) galaxy in UMa. Got out the PSA and galaxy potted around UMa. Very pleased to get Σ1374 (SAO 61629) ( Leo Minor)and the wonderfully contrasty visual pair σ2 ( SAO 14788) in UMa. Talitha once again eluded me. A great waft of clouds moved in , leaving small areas clear . Hoping for better Clear skies ! Nick. Our son arrived , although caring about terra firma , asked where the bright red star had gone. Pointing at Betelgeuse, now hardly standing out . Here's hoping for something awesome .

Oh my ! That came around quick. We'll be getting an extra three minutes of daylight per day . Where did that long winter nights observing season go ? Here's to clear skies ! Nick.

Number of useful sessions this year ...73. Not too shabby compared to previous years, but some long gaps due to inclement weather. It's not be an easy year , especially for seeing . Just a very few beautiful nights with great transparency and superb seeing. February 25th gave 21 degrees C. some crazy weather out there . The end of May into July gave some great views of Jupiter, maxing out at 46". June gave two weeks of constant rain here. Saturn kept along the low ecliptic , with Neptune and Uranus on view. The cancelling on the SGL star party was a low for this year. So much work and anticipation. The good feature here ,was the change to small led streetlights. On a good night , the galaxies and nebulae returned. Looking forward to continuing this season , under clear skies ! Seasons greetings , Nick.

Brilliant ! Reminded me of the black hole in my wallet ! clear skies , Nick.

Ouch , down to minus five at midnight. But so clear , the frost took the humidity away but seeing was a bit variable. Remembered a few hidden secrets in Monoceros . Big surprise to get NGC 2261 with very little contrast at an early 13.30. Very obvious and bright at x50. Its variability caused by matter around the star. Lovely cone . An early start at 5.30 and some clusters in Perseus, NGC 1582 and NGC 1342. Even NGC 1023 showed up in the stars. 63 Gem gave a glorious view of its very faint companion , mainly by averted view, very faint. Orion gave NGC 1981 and NGC 1662, I kept returning to the variable Nebula, lovely and to M50 in Monoceros. Zeta Cancri took some getting split , it didn't like 5.5mm at x216 , but split easily and cleanly at x240 with a Vixen 5mm LVW . Had a break every half hour to warm up, it's was so great out there , not only to catch the usual haul , but get onto the secret treasures. I put a covered hot water bottle in the ep case. Kept the eps and hands warm, under , clear skies ! Nick.