First star party (Stargazing LIVE 2013, St Andrews)

[furrysocks]

Last night, I spent a wonderful evening at the Fairmont Hotel and Clubhouse (near St Andrews) for Stargazing LIVE 2013, with Professor Ian Morison - many thanks to all involved, and well done for putting on a great night!

I took along my Aldi 76/350 dobson with a 30mm Vixen NPL and after the first presentation, coffee and shortbread, my mate and I went out to chat with folk and observe. I started the night by perching my scope on a nearby rubbish bin and touring the objects I knew how to find - Jupiter, the Pleiades, the Hyades and the Orion Nebula. We were a short distance away from the rest of the folk (it was the nearest bin I could find!) and Ian Morison came across with his image stabilising binos. He showed me how to find the Double Cluster in Perseus and we viewed that, the Pleiades and M36 through my small scope. I think he was pleasantly surprised - I even got a mention right at the end of the night, in his closing talk.

At one point, I was debating whether or not to look at Jupiter through one guy's 8" f/6 newt. I'm presently building my own 8.5" f/7.6 (which may eventually turn into a binoscope) and I didn't really want to spoil the anticipation - I'd never looked through anything larger than my 3" and hoped that looking through my own 'big one' would be a first in that respect. However, after reasoning about what I'd see in terms of size, brightness, colour and detail at 120x, and given the stiff wind at the time, I had a peek through and why not!

I looked at the Orion Nebula through pretty much every other scope that was there to look through, including through a pair of 15x70 binos, an 8" and a 5" newt and what I think was a 4" refractor. The view through the binos really jumped out at me - that's another one for the shopping list, then.

The Aldi scope has helped me get started in a way that I've found quite exciting, while I'm building the other one. I'm a month or two into stargazing and just starting to crystalise my own thoughts on what it's all about - or what my expectations are, at least.

Aperture fever is something to which I could readily subscribe - I've always known that my first 'proper' scope was never going to be <8 inches - a good place for me to start I think.

Planetary viewing seems to be as much about the opportunity (time of year, oppositions, etc...) as it is the viewing itself. Bigger scopes will show more detail but the brightness is such that even small scopes can give fair views, and there's plenty theory to occupy the mind in celestial and orbital mechanics.

Then there are objects such as clusters, nebulae and multiple stars. Becoming acquainted with these expands one's knowledge of constellations and asterisms in the night sky. Many are 'naked eye' objects or discovered/classified using very early optics. The variety and abundance of these objects creates a sense of wonder in trying to put the Earth and our solar system into context within our own galaxy. For this, the contrast and ease of use of a good pair of binos wins, in my mind.

Astrophotography requires an altogether different temperament - patient and attentive to detail - as well as more time and money. I would eventually like to drive one axis of my 8.5" scope, so I plan to begin with a split-ring mount made from laminated ply and a few bearings to give me a fighting chance.

Viewing other galaxies appears to be all about aperture and astrophotography.

All in all, this was an enjoyable, eye-opening evening - my first star party and certainly not my last.

[furrysocks]

Oops - meant 2013 - can a mod fix the subject line??

[acey]

Glad you had a good session and a clear sky. Good luck with your subsequent observing and projects. Just want to pick up one point, you say, "Viewing other galaxies appears to be all about aperture and astrophotography." Instead I'd say that viewing galaxies by eye is all about having a dark enough sky. if it's dark enough to see the Milky Way naked eye, then there are dozens of galaxies visible in aperture less than 4", hundreds in an 8", and thousands in a 12". And plenty of dark sky around St Andrews, so best of luck with that.

[andrew63]

Sounds like a good night - you were lucky it was clear! Good luck with the telescope project.

andrew

[cotterless45]

Sounds great, got clear skies here from the early hours onwards,

Nick.

[toilandtrouble123]

Sounds like a wicked night, so congrats to you. Have fun with your build, sounds like a monster!! You should post periodic pics of your progress on here.

Nat

xx

[furrysocks]

Cheers, folks.

Yes, we had good skies - the forecast even had us with some the best skies in the country for an SGL event that night, so we were told.

Certainly looking forward to more observing. I held off on buying binos today as I would have had to justify it financially as a retrospective Christmas present to myself - a little tenuous to say the least!

My scope build is being blogged intermittently over here: DIY Build - 8" reflector. No pictures yet, though.

[Viv]

Oops - meant 2013 - can a mod fix the subject line??

Done - think we're all still trying to get used to 2013 !

Sound like a cracking evening

[furrysocks]

Done - think we're all still trying to get used to 2013 !

Sound like a cracking evening

Thanks, Viv.

[Space Dragon]

I went down on the Wednesday, it was another clear night and it's a good spot considering how close to St Andrews it is.

Very welcoming bunch of people, the hotel laid on coffee and Ian Morrison was a gent.

I can highly recommend two-eyed viewing.......a binoviewer in a large Dob can be a wide-field wonder.