Good session but too cold for iPad

[RobertI]

Ventured out for a sub-zero session with my Megrez 72 and newly modded Horizon tripod on Saturday evening. It was a beautiful crisp, black winter's night dominated by Orion to the south - what a truly stunning constellation this is, 7 stars all brighter than mag 2, which define a distinct human shape, the belt (which is an amazing asterism that is in its own right), deep orange Betelgeuse, M42 and numerous doubles.

Inspired by Betelgeuse I cast around for some other orange stars - Aldebaran in Taurus and Kochab in Ursa Minor both caught my eye as very distinctly orange. Looking at Kochab and Pherkad (the 'guardians of the pole') in the same field of view through the Meg72 was a beautiful sight with the deep orange of Kochab contrasting with the brilliant White of Pherkad.

Then some coloured doubles, Almach in Andromeda and Alkurah in Cepheus, both with orange primaries with blue companions separated by about 10". To be honest I found it difficult to see the blue, even when defocussing, but the orange primaries were obvious. Very pretty but I think more power would have improved them.

I enjoyed touring some open clusters, it was fun to observe them through 10x50 binoculars first and then through the scope at 43x. Targets included M44, M35, M45, M34 and NGC752.

I was drawn back to Orion on numerous occasions to view the Orion and Running Man Nebulae. I found an interesting and pretty pattern of stars about 40' South west of Alnitak comprising two groups of three closely grouped stars around Sigma Orionis.

Finally finished the night with a quick view of Jupiter only 10 degrees above the horizon. Four moons and equatorial bands visible at 43x but not much else, although seeing very good.

By this there was a thick frost on the ground and optics were starting to fog. Also my iPad had stopped working due to the cold; ironically the message was 'your iPad needs to cool down before you can use it'!! Next time I shall revert to trusty printed charts.

Rob

[Stu]

Nice one Rob

It certainly was chilly on Saturday night, my dob froze up nicely by about 10pm unfortunately. Hairdryer coming for Christmas :-)

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[Scooot]

Good read Rob. It was cold wasn't it.

I got that message on my iPad as well shortly after going out which was a bit odd. I'd only just updated to ios8 and put it down to that. I powered down and rebooted and then it was alright all night. I went out at 12 and came in at 2.30ish by which time it must have been well below zero so try that if it happens again.

[SteveB72]

My secondary was totally iced up by 10 on Saturday as well. Parts arriving this week for a heater. I enjoyed the clear skies too. Thank you for your report.

[RobertI]

Good read Rob. It was cold wasn't it.

I got that message on my iPad as well shortly after going out which was a bit odd. I'd only just updated to ios8 and put it down to that. I powered down and rebooted and then it was alright all night. I went out at 12 and came in at 2.30ish by which time it must have been well below zero so try that if it happens again.

Thanks for the tip Richard, I shall definitely give that a go. I have also just upgraded to iOS8 so that probably explains it. Unfortunately iOS8 has caused a few problems on my iPad2 (the worst being that Safari now takes ages to display web pages making surfing a pain) - I think iOS8 is a turkey and Apple's equivalent of Windows Vista.

[Stu]

My secondary was totally iced up by 10 on Saturday as well. Parts arriving this week for a heater. I enjoyed the clear skies too. Thank you for your report.

I must try and sort a heater at some point. My secondary really need replacing or re silvering so I guess I'm putting it off to do in one go!

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[m.tweedy]

I use this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Griffin-GB02480-Survivor-Military-Stand/dp/B004SPVZKW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418761787&sr=8-1&keywords=heavy+duty+ipad+covers

on my ipad and it seems to give that little extra protection (mainly from the damp)

also a 12v heated travel pad 

http://www.vancomfort.co.uk/12vheatedtravelblankets.htm

inside a briefcase with the ipad if it is REALLY cold works well (also good for my laptop that hates the cold)

[RobertI]

I use this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Griffin-GB02480-Survivor-Military-Stand/dp/B004SPVZKW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418761787&sr=8-1&keywords=heavy+duty+ipad+covers

on my ipad and it seems to give that little extra protection (mainly from the damp)

also a 12v heated travel pad 

http://www.vancomfort.co.uk/12vheatedtravelblankets.htm

inside a briefcase with the ipad if it is REALLY cold works well (also good for my laptop that hates the cold)

Thanks for the links Michael, it's good to know there are some options out there.

[SteveB72]

I have ordered some resistors, cable and plugs after reaserching in the DIY group on how to make my own heater. Looking forward to giving it a go during the Christmas break.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice one. One big advantage of my old Star Atlas 2000.0 plus paper and pencil notepad is that they never pack in however cold it gets. I also find the bright screen of a tablet or notebook ruins my night vision, so I never consult them when DSO hunting

[Special K]

Nice report, Robert, that's dedication out there in the cold!!!  These clear winter nights are a treasure, for sure.  Jupiter is really swinging around now and easy to fit it into most sessions now. 

Happy hunting!