I Think I'm Getting The Hang of This

[webboid]

I am a relative beginner at astronomy but extremely keen, although struggling to navigate the immense sky above me. I bought an Explorer 200P a few months ago. Reasonable light pollution around my back garden but at the moment I can see to about mag 4.5 by eye.

I have invested in a home made light protection shroud because of all the ambient light from neighbours around me. This consists of 4 garden fence posts, mounted on spikes giving a 3mx3m area inside. This I have attached tarpaulins about 2.4m high all around. This manages to block all the neighbours lights & security spots. I loose a bit of the lower sky but this is mostly light polluted anyway. I have also flocked my scope using flockboard which I believe has made a difference.

So on to last nights session. I started off around 10pm having a good look at the moon with my new eyepiece (Meade 18mm 5000 HD-60) & I must say the sharpness of detail was so much better than the standard eye pieces. Despite using a lunar filter & mostly viewing near the shadow I had to abandon viewing as it was a bit uncomfortable. Next I had a look at Saturn again, which I find most captivating. I could just make out 2 or 3 of it's moons. I could also make out some details on the surface but no cassini with the 10mm standard eye piece.

Now it was time for me to try for some new stuff. I now had a sky atlas 2000 & Cygnus was nicely in view. So I selected the appropriate page & I went hunting the dumbbell nebular (M27). My limited experience at star hopping was now about to be challenged. Using a plastic FOV template & starting at Albireo I started my journey. Amazingly I had not been distracted by any ambient light & the moon was below my light shroud, so I was getting reasonably dark adapted. So hopping back & forth from atlas to finder scope, checking star patterns & getting my orientation. This was taking a bit longer than I thought as I couldn't remember where I was. Oh well back to the beginning! Now I seemed to be getting the hang of it. Three stars in a line go up a bit & slightly left, kept checking the atlas. I must be close I thought so I checked in the eyepiece & WOW!! there it was. I was so pleased with my self I nearly shouted out loud. So I spent some time with different eyepiece combos enjoying the view. So now feeling a bit more confident I thought I would try for the globular cluster M71, which was fairly near by. So off again in my pursuit of more distant faint objects. This time as I got closer in my hopping I could just see M71 in the finder scope so I centred it & back to the eyepiece. Amazing, by no means as impressive as M13 but I found it. Now there was no stopping me. I had tried & failed several times to locate globular cluster M92 in Hercules. So off I went star hopping again. Surprisingly in no time at all I found it. Dwelt there for a while & enjoyed the view. Finished about 1am.

I am so elated with last nights success that I just wanted to share with you folks at SGL

Happy hunting

Paul

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report! You'll get better and better at star-hopping as you gain experience. There is a lot more to be found up there. For example, quite close to M13 there is a galaxy NGC 6207, which I got with my 8" last year.

Clear skies!

[jeremy1]

Nice one Paul. It's still a bit too dismal and cloudy for me here in Bristol but I cant wait for better skys and like you do some star hoping and get to see those wonderful sites.

[Delboy_Hog]

Congratulations Paul - it's a lovely feeling when you get a night like that isn't it?! Well worth waiting through weeks of cloud and rain!

Keep up the good work and let us know what you find and how you get on next time!

[Paulus17]

Fantastic Paul.

I have the same problem trying to navigate my way round the night sky but i guess it all comes with practise.

I like the idea of your shroud and i have been looking at a similar sort of thing,but have been looking for a pop up tent sort of thing.

It would be even better if you could get it so it rotates round???

[rory]

great going paul. your well on your way now.

[JamesF]

Well done. As Michael said, it becomes much easier with practice and experience and, as you've discovered, it's a great feeling when you find something you've been hunting for.

James

[WaveSoarer]

That's great stuff. I find star hopping all part of the fun. I went after M51 last night which is not overly difficult to find - though I did have to nip back in to the house to check stellarium a few times to make sure I knew I was looking in the right place.

[WaveSoarer]

Incidentally, the next time you have a chance, look for M57 (the ring nebula) which is quite easy to find via star hopping and is in a patch of sky not that far from M27. It's quite something to see and relatively bright.

[ASTROSTUART]

What an excellent report,im sure all of us here have had the same feeling when it all clicked for the first time ! I can certainly relate to your feeling of satisfaction , now if only these darn clouds would shift......

Clear skies and good luck

Astrostuart

[webboid]

Incidentally, the next time you have a chance, look for M57 (the ring nebula) which is quite easy to find via star hopping and is in a patch of sky not that far from M27. It's quite something to see and relatively bright.

As it goes I have already had a look at M57 very small but quite exquisite

Thanks for every bodies comments

[Double Kick Drum]

Great report on some nice objects.

Thanks for sharing!

[AlexxxAA]

Hi Paul. Sounds like youre starting to get the hang of it pretty well. The only thing i would recommend (if you dont have one already) is a good wide eyepiece. A good quality 24mm, or 30-ish mm eyepiece with a 60, 70, or 80-degree apparent field of view, will give you lots of help with the starhopping. That way you can starhop with the finder, and when youve estimated that you are in the correct general area, you look through the wide EP and find the fuzzy item youre looking for. Most Messiers and brighter NGC's are hard to miss with a scope your size. Once youve located what youre looking for, pop in the desired eyepiece you want for further examination.

I live in Los Angeles and the light pollution here is HORRIBLE! But Starhopping with the finder and my 24mm 68-degree has been quite easy

[Nurse Roberts]

hi paul, got myself a sky atlas as well and its a massive help. because of its size i take pics on my iphone of the area that i require and with it covered in red film use that. i find this is an excellant way as a phone is so easy to hold and can be used for quick reference while staying at the eyepiece.

happy hunting!