16th-17th May Grab and Go report

[Marki]

I had planned to get out and test a second hand MiniTower with a Starwave 102mm ED last night, but frankly I was just too tired after a rubbish day at work. Just as we were planning to go to bed, my wife pointed out it was still a clear sky and said it was a shame I hadn't felt up to going out, given that the forecast for the next week looks a bit bad.

Shamed, I grabbed my "new" bins (recently acquired second-hand 10x50 Carl Zeiss Jenoptem) and out into the front yard I went. So glad I did. Despite living in a heavily light polluted location, the seeing seemed good and in the bins loads more stars were visible than I often see. Checked Saturn (oval blob, but ring slightly more obvious than usual in my bins) and Mars (tiny orange spot as usual). Managed to get Albireo (just) and a couple of other easy doubles and had some lovely views of some of the constellations to my south and east (north and west are a bit blocked for).

After getting my eye in a bit I thought I'd see if I could find some Messiers and started with the easy M29 open cluster in Cygnus (as I had just been searching for the double at 61 Cygnus) - lovely scatter of stars!. After a bit of searching I found the great globular M13 - never seen it from my front yeard before now. Emboldened, I thought I'd have a go at something a little more tricky (at least, for me) and so tried to hunt down the globular, M3 in Canes Venatici. I have never seen this before, and it took me a some time to find, but eventually got it with averted vision. So excited to have done this without go-to or a finder scope !

Actually the good seeing almost made it harder to find things - loads more stars visible than are shown in the Turn Left at Orion guide maps, so I kept getting lost! I lost track of time and came in well gone 1 am, as some clouds started rolling in, tired but elated (despite the looming 6 am start!).

I love my bins - sharp and beautfully clear images! Very tired this morning though but still grinning, despite work ! (Sorry for length of this post, but really had to share my elation - my work colleagues just don't get it)!

[onesmallstep]

I lost track of time and came in well gone 1 am, as some clouds started rolling in, tired but elated (despite the looming 6 am start!).

I love my bins - sharp and beautfully clear images! Very tired this morning though but still grinning, despite work ! (Sorry for length of this post, but really had to share my elation - my work colleagues just don't get it)!

That's why we do what we do!

[KevUU]

I lost track of time and came in well gone 1 am, as some clouds started rolling in, tired but elated (despite the looming 6 am start!).

I love my bins - sharp and beautfully clear images! Very tired this morning though but still grinning, despite work ! (Sorry for length of this post, but really had to share my elation - my work colleagues just don't get it)!

Yep, that's it right there. i was out 'til 2am the other night then wrote my log up while I was still excited and crawled into bed just before 3 - okay I'm on holiday but it did mean the next day was a bit of a write off. (Luckily my girlfriend gets the wonder factor and was out with me - until 1 anyway - so it's not a problem...)

It's just, well it's hard to define really ... you know you shouldn't but then being out and wondering at the universe is a great antidote to the stresses of life, so you go do it anyway and never end up regretting it

Kev

[ToxoLight]

Nothing like getting lost for an hour or two a few light years away from home.

[Alma]

You've encapsulated the beauty of lightweight binocular viewing perfectly! After a stressful day at work the hassle of setting up a mounted scope can be just too much of an ask. On those occassions you can't beat a comfy recliner and hand held binoculars I.m.o.h. It's amazing what you CAN see with 50mm bins.

Alan

[BinocularSky]

You've encapsulated the beauty of lightweight binocular viewing perfectly!

+1