Admiring the night sky.

[Benton1991]

So I've been up since 7am, did the afters shift and had a 2 hour drive home which takes it to 1:30. All the way I could see Ursa Major I believe it was (looks like a frying pan). I got in back garden to look up at sky and it is absolutely breath taking! So first things first, grab a chair, grab a cold can of cider and sit and appreciate the night sky. It's moments like this that make me want to invest in astronomy and see more than the eye can take. I'll be placing a order soon with FLO for a Barlow and a eyepiece so for times like this in the future I can get the scope out and spend some nice cold hours observing. At the beggining of the year I set myself a target to look for planets and galaxies etc and I've not done it yet, but there's still plenty of time

Much love <3

[Qualia]

Aye, lovely post and lovely sentiments, Benton and as you say, there's still plenty of time. If the weather plays ball, there'll be plenty of mind blowing creations of nature to view this autumn and winter in the night sky. If you haven't been out for a while, give yourself a good number of sessions to appreciate your scope and its virtues and limitations, value and evaluate your gear before pressing the buy button for your next astro purchase. It might turn out that what you thought you needed isn't so after a few hours out under the night sky.

Look forward to reading more of your adventures

[ghostdance]

Couldn't agree more. I just woke early after feeling lousy yesterday with sore throat etc, grab the binoculars, open the window and see Jupiter + moons, Orion, Sirius, Andromeda Galaxy, Pl&Hy, and ( a first for me so absolutely thrilled!) the Beehive...just utterly utterly gorgeous.

And the ISS due for a flyby in just a bit.

I tell ya, my sore throat can go jump off a bridge....

[Pete Presland]

agreed nothing better than the majesty of the heavens!

[ccfcbob]

Cracking night here last night. The sky was crystal clear, make you wonder why people even bother going to bed with nights like last night.

Seriously thinking about that scope upgrade now had almost 12 months at this

[Charic]

........You don't mention them, but get yourself some wide view Binoculars NOW!, enjoy the skies even better. You will be blown away at what 's up there, but don't overdo the Binoculars. If you're serious about a new telescope, get some Binoculars of say 8x40 or 7x50 or 10x50. These will work well with a new telescope. I can also highly recommend a Dobsonian telescope for your visual observations, if your skies are as good as you say they are. A 6" would be the absolute minimum to look at, but  seriously consider an 8" Sky-watcher Skyliner 200P (8")

[callisto]

Fantastic

[RichM63]

Yeah, t'was great here in the pre dawn hours, Andromeda up for grabs, M45 doing their sister act, and Orion neb playing tennis with Jupiter (eyes, left right, left right).

So much available it was hard not to fall over backwards.

And all NAKED EYE.

Great method to wind down Benton, know how you feel.

[kirkster501]

Glad you had a great night and an enjoyable experience.

Bins = winner.  I love 'em.  Sometimes getting the scope set up is a PITA especially if you know it may cloud over shortly (i.e. most of the time in UK).  With bins sling 'em round your neck, get the Star Atlas, red torch and sun lounger out, glass of brandy and sorted.  I can thing of few things in life more enjoyable.