Griving a tour to a friend

[Joe_L]

A friend of my wife's has been asking for a while to have a go, last night it suddenly cleared for the first time in a month so I texted her to come over. I started with Jupiter and a nice line of 4 moons. I was pleased she took some time to get comfortable at the eyepeice and get her eye positioning right and have a little practice with focusing. At 115x with my Hyperion 13mm she commented on it fizzing and I explained about the atmosphere and backed off to 83x for a much sharper image.Seeing seemed quite transparent but not stable enough for high mags.

She was wowed by it and then we moved on to the pleiades. For this I used my new GSO 32mm which just about stretched to the whole cluster - this is the first time I have used it and I barely got time for more than a quick glance through it as she was hogging it (with encouragement!). We moved on to another couple of clusters like M44, each view better than the last. We practiced averted vision on some of the fainter stars in the cluster.

Then I showed her M82 and M81, wondering if her eyes would pick it up but no problem there. We talked about distances and crazy unimaginable numbers, comparing the distances and sizes of the pleiades, M44 and the galaxy.

Then we moved on to a quick couple of doubles to finish as it was getting late, Alcor and Algieba as a taster for more another time. She headed off home quite impressed and I was dead pleased the session had all gone to plan without the usual faffing about or clouds rolling in. My wife occasionally gets dragged out to see something spectacular - I get a quick "very nice" but she's more than happy to leave me to get on with my hobby by myself, so it was nice to show someone who's more effusive.

I can't wait to get spend a lot more time getting to know my new friend - the GSO 32mm which I hardly got more than a glimpse through

Joe

[Orange Haze]

Sounds like you had a decent viewing session there Joe. It's always nice to share this hobby with others who have the same sense of wonder when they look up. It's also nice to share what u know and I have found I can surprise myself with how far my limited knowledge can go.

My wife is incredibly supportive of my hobby, but the "very nice" comment you are familiar with, is about her limit of enthusiasm when it comes to getting involved. But that's cool.

Good read Joe, thanks for sharing. Clear skies!

[Joe_L]

After she had gone I was torn between a nice long session on my own or going to bed at a decent time as I knew I had a long day at work the next day - the decision was made for me 5 mins later when I wrapped the cable and it pulled out losing my alignment. In my hurry to set up I had failed to properly secure the cable and hadn't bothered putting new batteries in that would have acted as a backup. Never mind, I enjoyed the session - as you say it's good to share.