Newbie practice during cloudy nights...

[imarcs]

I've discovered something indoors that seems to be helping me out when i'm outdoors. It's also quite good fun. I am using Stellarium and the book 'The Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders' but i imagine any software or observing book will suffice.

Armed with the knowledge of my binocular FOV, i turn off all the help in Stellarium (names, nebulas etc etc) so all you can see is the representation of the sky.

I then follow the star hopping instructions for a particular object and eventually zoom down to my Binocular FOV (4.4), which is also similar to most finderscopes (i think)

I continue to follow the instructions until i find (or don't) the object and zoom in to confirm.

Sounds easy? I reckon for the experienced observer it is. But it certainly isn't for me. Give it a try.

Once you've found it, zoom back out then try it again a few times. Then when the clouds clear try it for real. Its helping me no end, especially when you again see that the real constellations don't have their names/borders/lines written on them in the sky.

The only 'cheat' i do is to turn the equatorial grid on at high zoom rates so i can get a sense of North South East West.

I can't be the first person to play this game, so sorry if im repeating something REALLY obvious. Have fun.

[rory]

nice idea.

[brantuk]

You mean there are no constellation lines joining the dots in the sky?? eek!

Great idea lol

[JamesM]

That's a good idea idea to help keep you in the groove of things and also to help improve your learning. I do much the same thing with the Sky@Night magazine and in particular with Patrick Moore's moon feature article which I use as a starting point on a simulated moon map. I close in on the mentioned crater to understand understand both what I'm looking at and also what features to look out for. Using a simulator allows me to rehearse finding the object. There is no substitute for the real thing mind you but the simulations have their place especially with long bouts of cloud!

James

[pritc]

Nice idea....

Something to do while waiting for the cloud cover to move away...

Wayne

[Stargazer51N]

That's a great idea - I'll definitely be giving it a go

[imarcs]

You mean there are no constellation lines joining the dots in the sky?? eek!

No, but i sometimes think that i can see them........Generally on a Saturday night

[zainraza]

I might give this a go using Turn Left at Orion, good idea

[GarethA]

You are certainly not the only person who has practised their starhopping using Stallarium with a copy of TLAO in the other hand

(when it's cloudy!)

[glowjet]

If you want something to look at on a cloudy night, invest in the latest publication from the Cambridge University Press, the Photographic Atlas of the Stars, I have just bought a copy and I am very impressed, see what the sky really looks from a dark site, photographed to a scale of 1deg per cm and showing 1500 DSO and 2500 listed stars, together with all other astro information. Oh and the constellations are outlined, covers both Northern and Southern Hemispheres. You can read all about it on Amazon, but disregard it being written in German, this latest publication is in English ( ISBN 978 1107013469 )