Hello from the Midwest

[estwing]

you need to rack up the post first mike,like the classifieds you need 250 post and a month on here..soon goes tho.

[michigander]

Welcome to SGL, Mike!

Baseball fan?

Dana

[MorningMajor]

Hi Mike and welcome - great intro - Enjoy!

[Bizibilder]

Hello Mike and welcome to SGL!!

[stellawolf]

Hi MIke & Welcome to SGL

[Mikester]

Hi Mike, welcome to SGL

you need to rack up the post first mike,like the classifieds you need 250 post and a month on here..soon goes tho.

Thanks guys! No worries... I know from the other forums I'm on (car forums) about post count limitations. It's okay- I have time=)

Welcome to SGL, Mike! Baseball fan? Dana

Hi Dana! Not a baseball fan, but St Louis is a HUGE baseball/hockey town... So I try to get to the stadium & hockey arena at least once/twice a year. Even though I am not an avid sports fan, it's always a great time to hang out with friends, drink beer & watch a game in the actual seats vs. watching on the TV.

Hello Mike and welcome to SGL!!

Hi MIke & Welcome to SGL

Thank you very much!

Well, I FINALLY got my scope out into the dark Saturday night. It was a bit windy & freezing cold, but crystal clear. Started out with my usual 2 views- Jupiter & the Orion nebula- Both looked amazing! Got to see Io transition behind the planet, which was neat. Then I zoomed over to the Beehive cluster; which is also one of my favorites. The amount of detail I could see in it without the city lights interfering was incredible! After that, I zoomed over to the moon (since it was so bright)... Also, it looked awesome and I was able to see cratering that I had not yet seen around midway up the surface.

After that, I spent the next couple hours just roaming around some of the named objects in my mount's database. Perseus cluster was "okay," double cluster was spectacular, as was the Cascade cluster... Then the kite cluster, number 3, little fish, number 7 and "W" clusters (named for obvious reasons I came to find out haha)... For clusters, the one that I thought was absolutely GORGEOUS was the double cluster. I apologize I don't know the Messier names of many of these objects. I slewed over to M31, which I hadn't really been able to see in the city. It was a bit close to the moon, so it was hard to pick out any detail without averting my eyes, but I was able to see it. Also, I was able to see the Crab nebula... Much less spectacular than the Orion nebula, just a little oval "poof" really.,.. But I saw it nonetheless. Looking forward to seeing these nebulas in a little more detail when I get an OIII and UHC(?)... Anyway, thankjs again for the welcome! Looking forward to more clear skies. Off to do homework now (I'm in a Physics class)...

--Mike

[Mikester]

Oh, I forgot to add... I huing out until Saturn crested the horizon... Looked at that a bit, then I was so cold; all I could think about was packing up & going home lol. Also looking forward to seeing Saturn at a bit higher than 50x magnification. My 9mm EP should be here soon... Power tank just arrived today and is charging.

Mikester out