What an amazing night of Stargazing! :)

[tingting44]

Howdy guys and gals

Well where to start...... i set my alarm for 2am as the MET was stating it should be clear and i have been dying to image Venus for the 1st time as i have been seeing it all week from work and it has been doing my head in not being able to image it lol, so woke up and yup! it was crystal clear. Got all my equipment dismantled and packed into the car i closed the front door behind me and....OOPSS! i for got the tomtom and my house keys so i thought dam it im not waking the mrs up and started heading out to the forest and the plan was to stay out till she wakes up at about 8am.

The 1st part of the night did not go very well, i couldnt find my normal dark spot in the forest without my tomtom this time so i parked up somewhere and started walking around to find a decent place to setup my gear, after about 10 mins of walking through ankle high mud i thought this is not going to be any good as its way to muddy so turned around and started heading back to the car, after 10 mins i thought mhh where is the car!!! yup i was lost, long story short i ended up trecking throough thick forest for about 45 mins trying to find a road or the car park where i left my car, i have to admit i have never been so scared i think, i was thinking what the hell am i going to do!! no phone, on my own and lost in the middle of no where, but after about 40mins i ended up on the main road which i new which direction to go in then, and another 10 mins i was back to the car, was a horrible feeling tho

SO jumped in the car and went to look for another spot, found one with lovely horizons, perfect for seeing Venus pop up, so got all my gear setup and chilled for a bit while it was cooling down

my dark spot, sunrise - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

my dark spot, sunrise_1 - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

my dark spot, sunrise_2 - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

my dark spot, sunrise_3 - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

and here is my 1st attempt at capturing Venus

Venus - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

Here is one of my widefield shots of Venus with the sunrising

sunrise & Venus - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

here is a lovely cloud formation with the sun rising that was really lovely, the picture does not do it justice really...

Sunrise & nice cloud formation - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

and finally the sun has rised lol

White light

Sun (white light) - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

False color

Sun (false color) - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

oopss nearly forgot my quick image i grabbed of Jupiter too

Jupiter - 01-03-14 by tingting44, on Flickr

so all in all a great night of stargazing for me, even if the start was a bit worrying when i got lost lol

i got shed loads of data that ive not even looked at yet lol so will update if i find they are better

Thanks for looking

all the best

Martin

[wxsatuser]

Worth the effort of getting lost.

[tingting44]

Worth the effort of getting lost.

defo lol was blooming freezing too! was about -1oC i think, i still cant feel my little finger

[dweller25]

Well done for putting in all that effort - the Sun photos are great.

[sloz1664]

Great night out, well if you forget the mishaps

Steve

[davefrance]

Blimey, I get the jitters observing in our garden - pitch black without the moon and full of weird noises, never mind getting lost in a forest, now that's really scary.

[Pete Presland]

looks a good spot, albiet a little muddy! nice images of Venus, Jupiter and a solar disc. one question regarding the forest have never seen the blair witch project

[Mukv]

Greetings

What an awsome site you have there and the results sofar look just as awsome, it looks as cold or colder than just frozen fingers perhaps we should start a rating system like magnitudes of cold for body extemities... Be careful there are some smart navigaters on here and with views like these in your photos they will workout where you are and next time you will struggle to get a spot!

Awsome!

Andy

[Leveye]

Quite the trooper well done!!

[glowingturnip]

Astrophotography meets the Blair Witch project, love it !  All you need is some wolf howls and some eerie red eyes glowing in the undergrowth.

Great pics - think you've gone a touch far with the wavelets though, you've got white ringing round your sunspots and the edge of the solar disc, and i think that strange flat spot on your venus just behind the middle of the crescent is a wavelet artifact too.  Excellent work though

[tingting44]

Well done for putting in all that effort - the Sun photos are great.

Thanks dweller

Great night out, well if you forget the mishaps

Steve

For sure Steve haha

Blimey, I get the jitters observing in our garden - pitch black without the moon and full of weird noises, never mind getting lost in a forest, now that's really scary.

Tell me about it davefrance! one thing that really shook me up (aswel as getting lost lol were a gang that came lurking around me probably seeing what im doing on their patch lol, i had to shew them away they were getting right up close to my gear at one point lol)

(didnt bother getting the tripod out for this pic just a quick point and shoot loooool )

lol by tingting44, on Flickr

looks a good spot, albiet a little muddy! nice images of Venus, Jupiter and a solar disc. one question regarding the forest have never seen the blair witch project

yeah, 1st time i went to this spot (dont ask me to find it again lol) my normal spot is nicer but could i find it without the tomtom lol. Thanks for you kind comments i was expecting better of imaging Venus but it seems a hard one to image ahhhh dont, it was like my own blair witch when i was lost lol

Greetings

What an awsome site you have there and the results sofar look just as awsome, it looks as cold or colder than just frozen fingers perhaps we should start a rating system like magnitudes of cold for body extemities... Be careful there are some smart navigaters on here and with views like these in your photos they will workout where you are and next time you will struggle to get a spot!

Awsome!

Andy

Howdy Andy

Thanks mate, its amazing for DSO's out there, its hard to even make out constelations where the sky is filled with SO MANY stars lol it is truely unreal and it never fails to take my breath away out there, ohh almost forgot i saw 1 meteor burn up also when i was out yes that would be good to have a rating system for coldness lol all i know is that its the coldest my body has felt in a while.

i wouldnt mind if people started coming to the dark spot at least id have help shewing away the horses and we can all get lost together lol

[tingting44]

Quite the trooper well done!!

thanks buddy

Astrophotography meets the Blair Witch project, love it !  All you need is some wolf howls and some eerie red eyes glowing in the undergrowth.

Great pics - think you've gone a touch far with the wavelets though, you've got white ringing round your sunspots and the edge of the solar disc, and i think that strange flat spot on your venus just behind the middle of the crescent is a wavelet artifact too.  Excellent work though

haha, glad i wasnt thinking about the blair witch when i was lost lol i would have probably had a cardiac arrest i was hearing a lot of chickens tho, very weird lol

i know i all ways seem to over do the wavelts mate, thanks for your honest tips, i will have a more in depth go at this later and see if i can improve, love to get feedback to better my images so thank you buddy i think its where i all ways try to tease out as much detail as i can and sacrifice the quality

[Sandancer10]

Hats off to you. Not only getting lost in a forest and having the perseverance to still up your kit, but putting it in a field of horses.  

Having kept horses for many years, I can tell you that you were probably in more danger in the field lol. 

Images are great by the way.

[tingting44]

Hats off to you. Not only getting lost in a forest and having the perseverance to still up your kit, but putting it in a field of horses.  

Having kept horses for many years, I can tell you that you were probably in more danger in the field lol. 

Images are great by the way.

Thanks Brenda

yes the horses were freaking me out when they were coming close to the scope not much i could have done against 4 horses but run and hope to salvage my gear once they had gone lol

thank you for your kind comments, ive got a long way to go till im happy with my images but definately improving in most aspects of my astro photography and loving every minute of it

all the best

Martin

[StargeezerTim]

Nice one,

So far, I venture no further than my patio. Must get myself a power pack and go out somewhere dark when it warms up a bit. I'm constrained in that I can only see north and south and overhead, but I'm enjoying it so far. I'm also close to the lights of stansted airport. But at least there is no danger of getting mugged at home, though my wife is getting a bit too fed up with the time I'm spending away from her! ha ha.

Tim. 

[tingting44]

Nice one,

So far, I venture no further than my patio. Must get myself a power pack and go out somewhere dark when it warms up a bit. I'm constrained in that I can only see north and south and overhead, but I'm enjoying it so far. I'm also close to the lights of stansted airport. But at least there is no danger of getting mugged at home, though my wife is getting a bit too fed up with the time I'm spending away from her! ha ha.

Tim. 

Thanks Tim

it is nice getting to a dark sky, but it is a LOT of effort to get everything their and setup, even more so when its sub zero conditions, ive been loving it the last month where i live all the lamp posts have been switched off for around a month, but now the new white light ones are all switched on now and they are terribly bright! ive spoke to the council and they are coming out to fit a light shield to the one shining in my back garden which is good, one email to them so not a lot of fuss.

i hear you about the mrs i said to her ohh look! it looks like its going to be clear again last night and she said, ohhh your not going out to the forest again are you, on that note i put up with my garden spot with the terrible LP

as for a power pack i got this one from maplins and it s brilliant, must have had it near on a year and its never failed me, every few months they put it on discount so keep an eye out

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/nikkai-portable-jumpstarter-3-in-1-400a-a81jw

all the best

Martin

[Langy]

That's what you call an eventful time.

At least it was worth while in the end with all those great images.

[StargeezerTim]

Thanks Martin,

How long does that pack last you? Do you power a laptop with it as well when you are out?

Tim. 

[dtokez]

Crazy adventure mate, wish I had joined you! Is that spot near our old one u think? The sunrise looked epic too! Damn horses they are a nightmare out there aren't they! I wish there was something we could do to keep them back, some kind of ultrasonic thing like the ones that keep cats away would be good lol. Here's to the next clear nights that we can get out there mate!

[davefrance]

Thanks dweller

For sure Steve haha

Tell me about it davefrance! one thing that really shook me up (aswel as getting lost lol were a gang that came lurking around me probably seeing what im doing on their patch lol, i had to shew them away they were getting right up close to my gear at one point lol)

(didnt bother getting the tripod out for this pic just a quick point and shoot loooool )

lol by tingting44, on Flickr

yeah, 1st time i went to this spot (dont ask me to find it again lol) my normal spot is nicer but could i find it without the tomtom lol. Thanks for you kind comments i was expecting better of imaging Venus but it seems a hard one to image ahhhh dont, it was like my own blair witch when i was lost lol

Howdy Andy

Thanks mate, its amazing for DSO's out there, its hard to even make out constelations where the sky is filled with SO MANY stars lol it is truely unreal and it never fails to take my breath away out there, ohh almost forgot i saw 1 meteor burn up also when i was out yes that would be good to have a rating system for coldness lol all i know is that its the coldest my body has felt in a while.

i wouldnt mind if people started coming to the dark spot at least id have help shewing away the horses and we can all get lost together lol

Your not selling it to me.....................

[tingting44]

That's what you call an eventful time.

At least it was worth while in the end with all those great images.

yes i certainly will have that night in the old memory bank for a while lool

Thanks Martin,

How long does that pack last you? Do you power a laptop with it as well when you are out?

Tim. 

tbh mate ive never had it run out on me amazingly, and ive run it out night before when i had my GOTO mount with ease, no i didnt power the laptop from it, not any need as the laptop lasted all night so that was a bonus, i took my daughters laptop out and was pleasantly surprised by it

Crazy adventure mate, wish I had joined you! Is that spot near our old one u think? The sunrise looked epic too! Damn horses they are a nightmare out there aren't they! I wish there was something we could do to keep them back, some kind of ultrasonic thing like the ones that keep cats away would be good lol. Here's to the next clear nights that we can get out there mate!

yoooo Dan!!! yeah i know, gutted you couldnt make it mate yeah it cant be no more then 10min drive away from our normal spot, dont know how i couldnt find our normal spot tbh, was a bit puzzling really lol, cheers mate, yes the sunrise was a lovely one with a nice bit of fog rising from the ground, eerie, but lovely, yeah an ultrasonic horse deterrent would be awsome lol guess they just wanted to see what i was doing in the back garden lol, im itching to get out there again, this time for some DSO as ill be getting my coma corrector next week, so really excited about really getting into deep space imaging im going to try to guide with my SPC900 1st, if that does not work ill go down the QHY5L-ll finder guider route probably...

Your not selling it to me.....................

loooooooool :D

edit> just tried to change the title to the blair witch adventure but it wont let me lol

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

Lol only you could become lost ting ting lol. next time you need to put a 40kg pack on and make sure you have man provisions.

Its a very very nice site , looks like up on kelling heath but without the water lol ( used to do conservation there ). theres a few sites i know of in norfolk

that could be awesome i never really paid attention to them as viewing sites.

[tingting44]

Lol only you could become lost ting ting lol. next time you need to put a 40kg pack on and make sure you have man provisions.

Its a very very nice site , looks like up on kelling heath but without the water lol ( used to do conservation there ). theres a few sites i know of in norfolk

that could be awesome i never really paid attention to them as viewing sites.

lol tell me about it tam yeah mate ill have to take survival supplies and a flare next time  

i guess you have come across a few good spots for stargazing when you go out for a bash with the RC's, thinking back to when i had my brushless revo a lot of places i went to would be fab for stargazing, not that i remember how to get back to them places lol im terrible with directions

[hippie]

Nice one Martin,  I use the Forest and admit some dark nights I get pretty freaky with some of the noises you hear out there on my own sometimes  ,  I take Sam dog with me to see of those night gremlins  ,  Sometimes I get the police turn up & get to show them some of the wonders of the universe!  They normally go away inspired   .

[tingting44]

Nice one Martin,  I use the Forest and admit some dark nights I get pretty freaky with some of the noises you hear out there on my own sometimes  ,  I take Sam dog with me to see of those night gremlins  ,  Sometimes I get the police turn up & get to show them some of the wonders of the universe!  They normally go away inspired   .

Thanks hippie

yeah the forest gets like that, if you actually stop and start thinking about all the noises it really freaks you out, especially when your on your own lol, just have to take a deep breath and relax lol ahh bet the dog loves it all them long nights out with loads of space to run around

ohh not had the police turn up at my spots yet, id love to give the officers a beginners lesson and let them have a peek through the scope