0213Hrs and I found The Eskimo.

[Kirkos73]

Yep, In the early hours of this morning and after spending a hour scanning back and forth I finally found NGC 457-The Eskimo Nebula. Obviously not much to look at in my 90mm,a very,very faint blob of fuzz. I used my Super 25mm as I thought it may be easier having a wide field to look at. This so far has been for me my toughest piece of observing yet (in my opinion).

I had a quick fire bagging of M36,M37 and M38, although I did find myself muttering "My god, look at that",(as you do) Had a visit to M1 and down to Jupiter with her moons in a nice line up (used my 12.5mm Plossl and 2x Barlow) belts looked good from what I could see, and managed a naked eye view of M31.

Finally, What DID bring a smile to my face was NGC 457-The Skiing Cluster, and yes it does look like E.T. I found it using my 20x80s then onto the scope, and again using my 25mm doubled up, he sat nicely in my EP. Then a deserved cup of tea sat out on the decking, going back to the eyepiece and seeing him still there looking down on me. At this point it was getting cold now, so very happy with what I managed, I got no GOTO computers or Sky Align which makes MY observations a bit more special to me,so it is all about learning my way around the sky. But I am have to get myself up onto the local Common and have a night up there, I am very limited with the amount of sky I see from my garden.

If anybody have any advice or tips for me from reading any of my posts, it be really appreciated..

Clear Skies

[Double Kick Drum]

A nice collection of objects.

Slightly surprised you found the Eskimo very very feint. It normally holds up quite well in light polluted skies and appears as a quite small but bright circular smudge, or at least it does in my 127mm scope. When viewed at low magnification, it appears like an out of focus star.

Thanks for sharing.

[cotterless45]

Well done for getting NGC2392 (C39) , the Esquimo. You'll find NGC2169 (the "37" cluster) in Orion fun to look at.

Good to hear that you're finding your way around, it's very rewarding.

Good way is to get the Sky and Telescope's "Pocket Atlas", you'll find a lot of acheivable targets in there. I much prefer star clusters with a refractor, they look clenaer without the Newt vanes. You should be able to find Neptune in Aquarius with a small scope this month.

They'll also the Leonids meteor shower from the 16th-19th.

This is a handy site;

http://www.skymaps.com/

For kick of, I'd just do one constellation. Cassiopeia is superb, there's plenty to keep you busy with M52, NGC7789(Caroline's Rose), the double eta and the triple iota.

clear skies, Nick.

[Kirkos73]

Cheers Nick, I will do that. It saves swinging the scope around wondering what I will look next. I will start with Cassiopeia as it is full of interesting sites.

Clear Skies.

[Kirkos73]

Thanks Double Kick Drum, I will take that on board on my next session.

Clear Skies.

[Kirkos73]

Nick, I just noticed that I used the incorrect NGC number.

[Double Kick Drum]

Cheers Nick, I will do that. It saves swinging the scope around wondering what I will look next. I will start with Cassiopeia as it is full of interesting sites.

Clear Skies.

M52 and NGC 7789. Two of the nicest looking clusters around. NGC 663 and M103 are also quite superior.

Enjoy!

[andrew63]

Enjoyed reading your report, you already have a a good range range DSO are the darker nights of autumn will aid you considerable. I second a copy pocket sky atlas - it's a real gem. Gone up in price a bit direct from amazon, but the new one's from other sellers are still about £10.

Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas: Amazon.co.uk: Roger W. Sinnott: Books

andrew