my best nights viewing ever!

[crashtestdummy]

So tonight,after looking through the social section for dark sky sites i decided to try Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire which is about 60 miles from me.I arrived just as it was getting dark and had a drive arround the area and decided to view from the bus park part of the Sutton Bank visitor centre as it seemed to be the best bit to avoid too much stray light from passing cars.A bit about the site first-its an acknowledeg dark sky site with the milky way clearly visible which i can confirm.What i can also say is that M31 was also visible with the naked eye and two of the galaxies i found for the first time were easily spotable through my 8x50 finderscope which i assumed only m31 would be.

So,a bit of a slow start as i arrived at 5pm just as it was getting dark so i spent the first hour after setting up just looking at m31/m21 and m110 that i have seen before but definately not as clearly as i did from this site.i also spent lots of time just admiring the milky way and a few patches of cloud caused a few 5 minute spells of down time which allowed time for the sandwiches and tea to be feased upon.

After 7pm the sky had become really dark so i decided to start on objects in Ursa Major as there are quiet a few messiers i was wanting to see.i managed to bag them all with the exception of m109 which i may have seen but with something faint i like to find it 2 or 3 times just to make sure and i couldnt with this object.M51 the whirlpool showed up as 2 dots with faint smudges,m97 and m108 as faint smudges,m101 as a slighly more distinctive blur.The big surprises were m81 and m82 both of which were visible in the finder and looked slightly better in my 15x70 skymasters.my favourite turned out to be m82 which showed good levels of detail and a gap in the disc could be seen quite easily and also stood up quite well to magnification although i didnt delve too deep.I had tried to find M1 a few times but it turns out i was looking at the wrong finder star and after finding the right one it was easily visible but gave up precious little detail.The last two that i viewed were m74 and m77.M74 looked quite faint but m74 showed up quite well and even looked quite cluster like.To cap the night off i added two new planets to my list by viewing Uranus and Neptune so all in all a brilliant night.Had a bit of a dew problem with the finder at one point but as i had the car parked 5 yards away i just started the engine up and put the finder infront of the heater for 20 seconds and hey presto!

Afew down sides to the site-you do get a few cars coming past and while its easy enough to spot them and avert your vision for the passing ones,its not as easy when one parks across from you for 10 minutes with their headlights on.The only other problem is not being able to get any horizons as there are trees all around the site although they arent too high so you only lose about 15 degrees on 2-3 sides and 10 on the final side.

Al in all a great night and i look forward to viewing from this spot in the future and maybe setting up a meet there

[scoobee]

It will be an understatement to say you had a good night, I was planning a good session tonight but looks like the rain is setting in the only thing that the weather forecast never picked up on any onwards and upwards

[Coco]

Great report

[andrew63]

That's an excellent nights observing!

andrew

[crashtestdummy]

cant wait for the coma berenices/canes venatici to rise high enough for decent viewing then hopefully i can crack a 10 messier in a night out

[Mike73]

Congrats sounds like a rewarding night.

Biggest thing I learnt from last springs galaxy hunt was keeping good dark adaption so that may be worth keeping in mind next time you head off to a dark site.

Clear skies.

[crashtestdummy]

To add-even though i have a relatively large scope i still definately need some extra weight on the mirror cell to balance the ES 82 30mm eyepiece when viewing close to the horizon as the scope does drop a bit.

[foundaplanet]

Nice one, good read...

I went dob tonight for my first ever time and loved it. My highlights were Ceres and Vesta, first time I've seen them for 30yrs, thrilled...

[rory]

exellent going ctd. sounds like a tip top night. i spent a good 30 mins looking at m1 tonight to see if there was any detail to be had with my 8" from my town location,but no not a bean. ive sketched it for reference,but it can be such a dissapointing object.

[crashtestdummy]

I think it will be much better when it rises in the sky a bit

[wookie1965]

I really need to go to a dark site.

[Double Kick Drum]

Great report.

M109 is quite cheeky but if you could see M74 from that location, it should be reasonably easy when it is higher up in the sky.

Thanks for sharing!

[KevUU]

Wow, that sounds like a spectacular night! Good job

[paul schofield]

Wow what a night. The price I pay for a good night observing is weeks of white fluffy's.

[Auntystatic]

If you drive on the road out the back of the car park you can pull over on the verge and get better views, I know a place further north that has almost 360 deg viewing but its a steep single track with shear drops in places, its marked as unsuitable for motors but loads of walkers park up there during the day, I use it for amateur radio but would love to try it with the scopes, just when it gets dark up there I keep thinking about the film an american werewolf in london!

[flashbennett]

You had a awesome night, :-)

[crashtestdummy]

When viewing the horizon i pass the visitors centre and turn off for the gliding centre then before there i turn left down a dirt track and park up at the bottom.got stuck the other night.as there was lots of snow on the ground over muddy holes

[bomberbaz]

good night ctd, in fact no, excellent night, I aim to have a similar night very soon if I can get permission from swmbo. Just need to keep on her good side

[starman1969]

Sounds like a fair drive. Glad it was worthwhile.

[Vince1963]

Good to hear you had as good a night as me, Great report.