Chuffed to bits!

[Black Knight]

Well I didn't bother getting the scope out tonight because of variable weather. So instead I thought I'd spend a while outside with the bino's once the cloud had cleared a bit.

After trekking through a few of my personal favourites (M31, the double cluster to name but a few), I thought I'd try and find Sagittarrius, which is always a tricky prospect from where I live. A neighbours house obscures much of the view to the south, and heavy light pollution from Swindon makes matters worse. Unaided you can hardly make out any stars low down in the south at all, and for the life of me I've never been able to discern the outline of the teapot let alone the rest of the constellation!

Undaunted, I thought I'd try and find the Lagoon nebula - something I have yet to see with my own eyes. It took me a while to find my bearings, but in the end I managed to successfully star hop from Sabik in Ophiuchus, and there it was! Couldn't believe it - I had to check the pattern of stars I saw with Stellarium to verify, but yes that was it: The Lagoon nebula. Chuffed to bits I was . Could also make out the Trifid nebula, and what I believe to be the open cluster M23 before the clouds rolled back in.

Going out for another look now - if the clouds have rolled over!

[Tantalus]

Well Done on finding the Lagoon and Trifid, BK.

Sometimes I just can't be bothered hauling the full set-up outdoors and it's nice to be able to just pop out with nothing more than a pair of bins.

I've just moved into a new flat, and for the first time ever I have a good view of the southern sky almost to the horizon, despite being near the centre of town. I can see the teapot quite clearly and the Sagittarius region is rapidly becomming my favourite part of the sky - so much to see there. Good luck with your night's quest, Andy.