Clear Skies !!!

[BWBlackett]

What a great night - just collimated my scope - took about an hour, then spend 2 hours outside.

Managed to bring my Messier count up to 8.

Tonight's' sights were M3, M92 (WOW), M103, M13, Double Cluster, M31 M32

Brilliant.

[Albireo380]

Good for you BWB, a new 'scope, freshly collimated and a clear sky - the Gods are smiling on you.

Went to my dark sky site for 9pm and the clouds rolled in as I was polar aligning, I hung around for half an hour and then drove home. It was clear at midnight - Grrr!

Tom

[cygnusx1]

These clouds are a blumming nuisance!

Waited and waited for clear skies, eventually 12am it clear as crystal, setup the mount + camera, got the focussing sorted, went in for a coffee....

came out and woosh, the clouds had started rolling over

2 hrs later they were still there.

You just can't win eh?

[jcm]

Same problem here.

Wanted to try out the WCS polar alignment software. Managed to get the polar elevation sorted then waited a bit but ended up chasing stars through gaps in the clouds , then thick , gave up and went to bed. My wife was surprised as she was expecting me to be outside for ages.

John

[themos]

M92, eh? I tried going for it yesterday but the clouds came in. I think I did spot it in my binoculars. I figured out that it is (roughly) at the same RA (17h 17m) as that star between Pi and Rho Herculis so with a reasonable polar alignment, I only had to find the star and then go directly north with the DEClination knob in my Equatorial. Of course, with your Dobsonian and a decent finder, it's much easier.

[BWBlackett]

I seem to be doing really well at finding DSO using Stellarium to give me a rough position e.g. it looks like it's half way between them two stars and up a bit, a red dot finder (rather than the supplied finderscope) and a superb 2" 32mm eyepiece (last two supplied by FLO).

I had a great session last night - probably the best I've had yet with my scope and just happened to get my targets with minimum of 'hunting'.

M92 was a real WOW - I think it's even better than M13.

Brian.

[jcm]

I had some free options when I bought my scope. I'm really glad I chose a red dot finder. Its really useful. The only slight problem is the lowest brightness setting could be a bit dimmer.

John

[Azelfafage]

I had a great session last night - probably the best I've had yet with my scope and just happened to get my targets with minimum of 'hunting'.

M92 was a real WOW - I think it's even better than M13.

Brian.

Agreed - said as much on an earlier post. One could make a case for M13 being TOO big

Rgds,

A

[Rob]

M3 & M92 are great objects. Keep going on the M count. And yes, it was indeed a great (clear) night. I could not get myself, but hope to tonight

[themos]

And yes, it was indeed a great (clear) night.

First night in the UK (Oxford) I could convince myself that I could see more than 3 stars in Ursa Minor and the Milky Way.

[Astroman]

M92, eh? I tried going for it yesterday but the clouds came in. I think I did spot it in my bonoculars. I figured out that it is (roughly) at the same RA (17h 17m) as that star between Pi and Rho Herculis so with a reasonable polar alignment, I only had to find the star and then go directly north with the DEClination knob in my Equatorial.

That's exactly the way I find it. Takes seconds. Nice!

[themos]

Great minds think alike, eh?

Here's another one: tonight, in the UK at 22:00, the NCP will be 43 mins almost precisely TO THE LEFT of Polaris. Should save on polar alignment time...

[cygnusx1]

Great minds think alike, eh?

Here's another one: tonight, in the UK at 22:00, the NCP will be 43 mins almost precisely TO THE LEFT of Polaris. Should save on polar alignment time...

Umm, looking from what direction