Renewed Enthusiasm

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Now i must admit, I hadn't been on SGL for months and months, maybe even near a year until the approach to the eclipse, so long in fact that i had about 700 notifications (i didnt go through them all!). On top of that, up until my eclipse practise run, the telescope hadnt been out in years, the date on the handset when I turned it on was 2013. I guess i lost motivation to keep pulling the scope outside every clear night, and found other things to do, that always seemed better to do.

However with the excitment of the eclipse, hanging out on here again, chatting with everyone and getting all the gear again, its renewed my enthusiasm for astonomy, and now i cant wait to get back out there, just gotta wait for the next clear night now...

Matt.

[swag72]

Welcome back Matt - Glad that you found your mojo again

[Cath]

Having a good long break from the things we regularly do in life is never a bad thing.

Theirs very little in this universe that doesn't have a cycle

[rustyjames]

Welcome back Matt,I too have had a resurgence in my interest,I had a bout of illness last summer and,for a while I have lacked the enthusiasm for anything,just checking the site every few days but I was asked by my daughter if I would take my scope to a star party at her school that was set to coincide with the eclipse the following day,the reaction of most of the children and a lot of staff members to the views of Jupiter and the knowledgeable husband of Meg's teacher really buoyed me,I have vowed to really put some effort back in

[LukeSkywatcher]

The eclipse has made me want to do more solar observing. Ive only really started observing the sun in the last 2-3 weeks. If the last 2 days are anything to go by, there should be plenty ob solar observing over the coming weeks.

[jonathan]

Same for me too - the little solar eclipse party that just seemed to happen by accident when I set up my Lunt in the company car park at work was quite inspiring for me, seeing ordinary people I knew getting a chance to see the solar eclipse up close in the eyepiece like most probably never got the chance to.  Also having missed the transit of Venus due to cloud I had felt disappointed, but this partial solar eclipse turned out to be a big success for me despite patchy cloud (probably 80% coverage at the time).

Every-day solar observing won't compare to the eclipse of course, but seeing those big prominences and filaments has filled me with optimism for the coming summer months; there are also some good astronomical events on the calendar this year, I'll be looking for the comet(s) in September and hoping to see some of the other things they mentioned on Stargazing Live.

Putting the scope in the car and setting it up away from home was a milestone for me, I've only ever done that once before and that was when I saw Panstarrs from a chilly windy hilltop.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I had to set up for the eclipse on the driveway outside of the gate unfortunately as the house next door blocked the Sun, but i had a few neighbours round who were interested, and asking me all about the gear i was using, and swapping the solar glasses between us to get a better look.

Matt.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I wasnt impressed with the Baader eclipse glasses i bought, for 3 reasons:

1/ They didnt fit my fat head

2/ The lenses were way too small

3/ All i could see through them was the reflections of my own eyes and eyelashes.

I tried them for all of 30 seconds before giving up and using my scope and hershel wedge.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I didn't have any of those problems, strange considering I was using the same ones. I thought they were very good on the day.

Matt.

[Stargazer_00]

Same for me, with the eclipse.

I hadn't set up in so long I pointed my scope at the sun without a filter in place.  I was rushing because of the momentary break in the cloud.

Good job it was cloudy...

[Matt Scunthorpe]

A very good job it was cloudy, or you have never had the chance to set up again!

Matt.