Hello Andromeda

[deadfraggle]

Wow. Last night was an excellent opportunity to go out for some early stargazing! No Moon, Cygnus directly overhead in the middle of the Milky Way (which cut the sky into two almost equal halves), no bugs, and although a bit nippy, not so cold to be uncomfortable.

I took the opportunity to finally view the Andromeda galaxy through bins, but was underwhelmed. Perhaps I've been spoiled by all those great detailed images posted over the years. The cool thing was though, once I could find Andromeda with binoculars, I could also see it with the naked eye.

Still working on saving up enough for a decent camera that does proper astro photography. That goal unfortunately competes with the nerd in me who is constantly after pc upgrades. I was still able to do some single shots with the $50 point-and-shoot I currently own. It is neat one can image a galaxy quite cheaply, albeit at very low resolution.

[allcart]

Good find. You had better luck than me last night. I was getting set to go out to take pics in the early hours, then the dreaded clouds rolled in.

[Capricorn]

I was having much the same viewing here in the UK at around midnight, Andromeda was high. Found that the car has the right shape to lean against and look up with a degree of comfort with binoculars.

It is never going to look spectacular even in a big scope, but at least in binoculars you get it all at once.

As you said the milky way was directly above, finding Casseiopia and Cygnus was a bit difficult.

[deadfraggle]

I think perhaps I need a checklist and take victory in observing an object, and not in hoping to be dazzled.

Been seeing many "shooting stars" too. A few weeks ago, I saw one that broke in two and continued separately for several seconds. Last night I noticed one near the horizon in my peripheral vision to the right. Though the meteor(?) was gone when I turned, the trail remained visible for a few seconds. It almost looked like a comet, but it faded away. Seemed to be visible longer than usual to me anyhow.

And the ISS a few times. Pretty unmistakable, except to one of my friends who remains unconvinced it's not aliens.