15 years later.... getting the scope out again

[FenlandPaul]

It's been nearly 15 years since I last used my telescope, and since then a very disappointing astro degree (put me right off the subject!), work and family have all conspired to ensure my scope has done nothing but gather dust and house hibernating insects.

My eldest son, Noah, got very excited when he saw my scope in the shed, so I started to tell him all about spending nights outside staring at the stars. I showed him my old observing logs, with the sketches I used to make and the occasional photographs (generally dreadful). Then we drove out onto the fen one evening together and I pointed out some of the constellations and planets Within moments under that moonless sky, with the wonderful sounds of the migrating birds and Noah chatting away excitedly and asking every conceivable question, I was hooked again.

So after spending a few hours at the weekend cleaning up the scope and doing some primitive collimation, I'd identified an evening during a week off when the skies were supposed to be clear and the moon wasn't due to rise until well after midnight. I'd scouted out a fantastic observing site a few days before that was accessible by car a couple of minutes from my house and offered a completely uninterrupted, 270 degree horizon that sloped away to the south. I was ready to be back at the eyepiece!!

I drove down at about 9pm. The sun had just set and it gave me a good chance to set up in the light. Jupiter was the first object to emerge from the darkening skies and was clearly visible by the time I'd finished putting my scope together. It's a Beacon Hill 220mm f/5 reflector on an equatorial mount; I'd bought it used after saving up over a lot of paper rounds / hotel washing up sessions etc when I was 15, and it should really be mounted permanently in an observatory. But it's just about transportable, even if you couldn't call it portable!

Jupiter looked splendid, even in fairly cruddy seeing. The north and south equatorial belts were plain as the day, although I struggled to make out much more detail through the shaky murk. The SEB seemed to be a bit sharper and more prominent. I felt a tingle go down the back of my neck as I stared at it!

A few moments later I felt a rather different tingle as a chap walking a dog started heading towards me, clutching a carving knife! He'd turned up to cut some asparagus from his allotment (the edges of which, it turned out, I was observing from!) and he was very interested to take a look through the scope. I showed him Jupiter, apologetically because I was sure he would be disappointed as the scope isn't in pristine condition and the seeing was so poor. But he was amazed by the cloud belts and moons; genuinely impressed. He started asking about the constellations and was familiar with Orion's Belt, so we slewed the scope to M42. Unfortunately the twilight was too bright to see much of the nebulosity, but he could see a fuzz around the Trapezium and was nonetheless delighted. Praesepe was the next stop, although even in my widest field eyepiece it overspilled and was much better through the binoculars.

i wasn't able to show him much, but it felt really good to be able to share some of the fantastic views with someone else. It's one of the joys of this hobby really. I suppose I learned that that it's always best to have a few easy gems up your sleeve at any time of the year and for all conditions just for occasions such as these; what a privilige to share such beautiful sites with others. He said he had his own scope that his wife once bought him, and I suspect I'll see him up there again one day exploring his new hobby.

After he'd gone I had another quick look at Jupiter and managed to see another dark belt south of the SEB, after a thin lighter-shaded area. Again I was unable to see the GRS; I've always found this a bit elusive and I wonder if that indicates I've got sub-optimal eyepieces or optics. Alternatively I'm not very observant...

Next on my list was the open cluster M35 in Gemini. Initially I found it hard to orientate myself around Mu and Eta Gem - out of practice I guess - but once I'd sussed it out I found the cluster fairly easily. At x22 it was fairly unimpressive, but it filled the field at x44, maybe 50 stars clearly identifiable and unstructured fuzziness surrounding it. Just to the south and further west was NGC ???, which was loose and not all that impressive visually.

At 21.45, just as I was about to look at Mars, I saw Saturn emerging from the murk in the south east. Well, Saturn trumps Mars in my book, so rather than take this year's summer planets in turn, I let Saturn jump the queue. It appeared very yellow - nearly orange - and quite small a few weeks before a fairly unfavourable opposition. The marvellous rings were wide open and Titan was clearly visible, but the poor seeing and its low altitude meant nothing else was visible yet.

So to Mars. My scrawled notes point out the obvious that it was very red. The polar ice cap (not sure which one - need to check) was very pronounced - the brightest I can recall seeing it. At x88 and x173, the dark markings were very clear, and the triangular form of Syrtis Major was beautifully presented. I was even able to get the Barlow out to get to x346 and in moments of good seeing it looked splendid. It's the first time I've ever been impressed with Mars - so pleased to have "discovered" it!

Whilst on a planetary roll, I tried Jupiter again, but it was quite low down now and I seemed to get some rebound every time I tried to manoeuvred the scope. So x346 was useless.

Lyra was beginning to get a bit higher by this time, and one of my favourite all-time objects is the Ring Nebula. My finder was beginning to dew up quite markedly by this point but I did some sweeps at x22 and soon tracked it down as a slightly hazy star. At x88 it was a clear ring and at x173 it became a lovely elongated smoke ring. It really is stunning. I couldn't make out the central star at any power, however.

By just after 23.00 the moon was starting to rise, but I'd wanted to take a stroll through the Virgo / Coma clusters before heading in. I don't recall ever really exploring Virgo when I was younger, but a couple of magazines had features on it recently I was keen to take a look. After a quick look at Porrima, the lovely golden pair of almost the same brightness, I starhopped from Epsilon Virginis to M60 and M59, which were in the same field. M60 appeared the brighter of the two, although all this was now relative as the moon was starting to interfere. A quick slew from that pairing too me to M87, which was clearly elliptical and glowed beautifully in what was becoming a milky sky.

And then moon stopped play.

It was fantastic to get back out under the stars. I hope it now becomes a regular if not frequent event. I also know that I really want to keep showing others the view through my scope, but that there's also such a joy in viewing things solo. When I got home, cold and with an aching back (I'm sure that didn't happen when I was 16!!) I slept very well indeed. Can't wait to get out there again.

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[FenlandPaul]

All of that was on 18 April by the way - sorry it took so long to post!

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[swamp thing]

What a nice write up.

Thanks for sharing Paul. It's always nice to read reports from people re-finding the hobby again.

[cutepetgroomer]

that sounds like an interesting night for you. I too have recently started up my stargazing again after my mother gave me my older scope back that she had in her home. I haven't used it in years and was in highschool when I last used it. I did get a newer scope for mother's day from my husband and he has an interest in stargazing as well which is also good for me. I am saving up to get new eyepieces but I have taken the time to use the ones that I already have plus the new ones that came with the new scope. Last night I did get lucky several times to lock in on comets without really trying and I made some progress with the barlow that came with the new scope.

[Astro Imp]

Thanks for posting a really interesting report Paul, I thoroughly enjoyed reading of your re-introduction to the hobby and look forward to hearing your further adventures.

Good luck and clear skies.

[dick_dangerous]

Lovely report - I was out on 18 April wandering through the Virgo cluster. It was my birthday! I have a similar story to you having owned a telescope as a teenager, fell out of love with the subject through a Physics degree (Ended up specialising in Zoology) then rediscovered Astronomy as a hobby later on in life.

Good luck with your further astronomical experiences - there's something tranquil about being alone with the stars!

DD

[Jim Steele]

A compelling read thanks for sharing, reminds me of why I look upwards

[andrew63]

All of that was on 18 April by the way - sorry it took so long to post!

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Well it was worth the wait !  Enjoyed the read.

andrew

[Schorhr]

Very interesting read, thanks, I hope you Get a few clear nights soon :-)

[Pondus]

Great read. Really. Thank you.

Rune

[cotterless45]

Neat, any report at this time of year is eagerly consumed !

Nick.

[Dave]

A great write-up.

Inspiring me to get out to dark sites to do more visual.

Dave

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Lovely report. Glad to hear you have rediscovered astronomy

[JulianFR]

Thanks for your report... Makes me want to get out again myself as soon as possible. When the weather permits!

[FenlandPaul]

Thanks for all your kind comments. Looking forward to the next available clear night!!

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[andyb505]

Makes me look forward even more to the next clear night. Also must try and find a darker site than the back garden!

Andrew

[Charlie_starz]

What a great write up, and indeed a great night viewing. I don't think I would have waited around to find out about the knife-wielding dog walker. I may have scarpered before he got close, but fair play, I think the opportunity to see Jupiter would give any passer by a thrill.