What was i looking at

[leehawkins]

Hello All,

Out with my scope last night, just panning the sky, that's all I've been doing at the moment, got my self a new set of eyepieces + Barlow.

I came across an unusual object in the sky, if i can call it that, being new to this (still reading still learning),

It was up in the north east, through my scope it looked like a round foggy misty object with light shinning through it, star inside it i guess,

I tried to get better clearer focus but i could not, come to think about it, i was struggling to know what eye pieces i was meant to be using to get me closer look at the object , i could not really settle on any of my eyepieces, tried my Barlow 2x that easly lost focus quickly,

I did start thinking at one point, have i picked the right scope here!? should i have spent couple of hundred quid more and got an all singing all dancing scope, i just dont know really what i should be doing , i am but :?

Any advice, would be really appreciated

Thanks

lee.

[Greg]

By your description I think you were looking at Comet Holmes..

If it was circular then it was Holmes..If it was oval it was Andromeda

Both in the North East..

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Check the imaging section Lee, there's loads of images of the comet there, that should clarify it for you.

Another big easy thing to find in the North East is the Angel of the North.

Kaptain Klevtsov (with his coat on)

[themos]

That's the 300P Skyliner Dobsonian, right?

[Cloudwatcher]

Another big easy thing to find in the North East is the Angel of the North.

Kaptain Klevtsov (with his coat on)

Made my day,has that!

CW

[Vega]

Congrats Lee... wonderful to hear someone has 'stumbled' across this fascinating Comet, Charles Messier style . At first sight, It must have haunted you a bit

Vega

[leehawkins]

Kaptain Klevtsov, that is Brilliant, Celscope got great image of what i was observing last night.

Couldnt stop looking at it, very weird to me, kept looking up from my scope, thinking am i seing this!, I just couldnt sort out my new eye pieces, fumbling around my garden in the night, think it was about 11.30 ,trying to get clearer image, i cant sort out eyepieces, for and what for

Vega,

Like i said, very weird, and yes it was in a way Haunting, stuck with me all day

That's the 300P Skyliner Dobsonian, right?

Yes thats the one Themos

I there any way i could of got a more better focus on the comet?

[GazOC]

I there any way i could of got a more better focus on the comet?

maybe not, its is just a fuzzy balll at the moment.

[leehawkins]

I think i am getting somewhere with the eyepieces, looking at the moon last night or this morning, don't know why i didn't before! what a brilliant interesting sight to see, i used the 25mm eye piece, that was brilliant, so then put in 6mm that got me in as close as it seemed i could touch it, only thing was not very wide field of view with 6mm, but i did find i could scan around all the craters and things and get a more discriptive veiw, did find it a bit bright on the old eyes though.

I couldnt find the comet again, i did have quite abit of cloud to contend with and i was not sure exactly where my scope was pointing when i found it last time i seen the comet.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Celscope got great image of what i was observing last night.

He does tend to do that you know.

I couldnt find the comet again, i did have quite abit of cloud to contend with and i was not sure exactly where my scope was pointing when i found it last time i seen the comet.

Thats why you need to learn the constellations, so you can make a note, either on paper, electronic or just mental, of where these things are. All the stars and things gradually move across the sky through the night, just like the sun does during the day, so things aren't where you left them when you come back to them. They all move relative to each other, so its very useful if you know what your target was next to if you want to find it again.

Holmes is quite easy to find now, in the NE direction, find the big W shape (Cassiopeia) and below is a triangle of bright stars. Holmes is bottom left, but going up a bit each night.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[leehawkins]

I was sort of thinking the same Kaptain K. , i know you are right, I've got to learn the night sky.

Ive bought the book, 'Turn Left At Orion' going by what people has said on here, it's best book to start off with, looked at some others, those were bit beyond me for the time being, but had some fantastic images in them,

i have certainly been bitten by the Astronomy bug

[GazOC]

Thats a great book to start with Lee. Have you downloaded Stellarium, its a cracking (and free!!) planetarium software?

[leehawkins]

I will have a look at that, i am open to all recommendations

[EA2007]

The Andromeda Galaxy isn't in the North East at this time of year so that rules that out anyway. It currently resides South / South-East.

Comet 17pHomes meanwhile is amazing to look at, even with just a small pair of binoculars!