An update.........

[davetucker]

This is only my 2nd post. I joined the forum after I bought my Celestron 130slt and eye piece collection. I am slightly concerned as I am starting to watch the weather forecast like a hawk! The slightest suggestion of a clear night finds me out of bed at 04.00am and in the garden dressed in my dressing gown, woolly hat and boots, thank goodness it is dark and most people are still in bed; is this normal behaviour?

Getting to grips with the scope and its limitations, but loving every minute. This morning I was watching Jupiter, Venus and Mars, and took the attached image with my Nikon P900 camera.

Warm Regards

Dave

East Yorkshire

[Paul73]

Dave

Your behaviour is perfectly normal. A quick word with the neighbours might be in order, before the rumours spread about "Mad Dave from no. 59".

It does calm down a bit, but you will be addicted to weather apps/sites for ever more....

Nice image BTW. Welcome to to SGL.

Paul

[swag72]

So true............ sadly the odd behaviour that we all seem to develop!!

[PeterCPC]

Define "Normal"

Peter

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Get used to it, it tends to get worse with the years

[davetucker]

Sara (Swag72) those images on your flickr account are stunning, just followed you,

Dave

[davetucker]

Thanks for all the responses, so I am not alone, and apparently normal (ish)

[davetucker]

When looking at the planets, they are all very bright, with my eye piece set came a selection of coloured filters, do they make a difference??? Not tried them yet..

Dave

[Purplehayze104]

well ive heard that certain colours bring out different detail depending on what planet you are viewing, ive not used them but im sure someone with greater experience will help out, also a barlow lens will in some ways help and will make the planet larger also as more glass in optic train will reduce the glare an dim them somewhat, hope this sorta helps.

clear skies

john

[Stu]

When looking at the planets, they are all very bright, with my eye piece set came a selection of coloured filters, do they make a difference??? Not tried them yet..

Dave

This link has some relevant info on the use of coloured filters.

http://starizona.com/acb/basics/equip_filters_lunar.aspx

The only filter I regularly use on planets is the Baader Neodymium filter which works very well on Jupiter and Mars.

I would not necessarily agree with the 'Barlow/more glass in the optical train' comments above. Often simple eyepieces such as orthoscopics give excellent images, although the more complex designs with excellent polishing and coatings such as Pentax XWs, Delos etc are probably on a par.

What does make a difference is getting the magnification right. High enough to reduce the glare but low enough so the contrast in the features is maintained and the image doesn't break down. That depends on the scope and conditions.

[laudropb]

It might be deemed a bit weird by the general population, but your behaviour is par for the course for a star gazer.

[Astro Imp]

Nothing weird there, wait 'til you put a cloak over your head to cut out excess light and use an eye patch on the non-observing eye, even that is considered normal here.

Don't worry about it just continue to enjoy.

[xtreemchaos]

your hooked now mate, goodluck and clear skys  charl.

[Charic]

.....at some stage in the future, you may expect a dose of aperture fever? There is only one cure!

Until then enjoy your new hobby, welcome to SGL

[employee2-4601]

I've never been considered normal, even before I started star gazing... ;-)

[cjdawson]

Yep, nothing strange about that behaviour.

The other week I was out sat in my front garden at midnight watching a film on my iPad whilst my scope was busy taking astro photos.  It was freezing, and I was sat there wearing hat scarf gloves boots and several layers of clothing.  Would have looked weird to anyone walking by as I had a perfectly good house with central heating and a big tv, but oh no, I was out in the garden using an iPad and clothing to keep warm.  

[Knighty2112]

I got up at 6am Monday morning, and before I had coffe or any breakfast, or took the dog out for a walk, strolled outside in my jimmy jams, slippers and dressing gown to look at the trio of planets glowing on the morning sky too through my 15 x 70 binos. If I had time I would have got the scope out too for a closer view. Par for the course for an astronomer really!

[Lee7763]

LOL We are all fruit cakes.

I couldn't sleep one night last week so decided at 4:30am to get up and make a cuppa tea. I opened the back door so I could have a smoke to notice that even though it was windy and partly cloudy the sky was darker than I have ever seen it. (All the neighbours gone to bed and switched off their lights) So I thought I would grab my 130SLT and have a quick few mins with it in the doorway to keep out of the wind. All I can say is WOW. The best viewing I have ever had of the Orion Smudge. I've never seen it so bright.  The neighbours lights been turned off and the clouds blocking a lot of light pollution seem to have made a world of difference. I can't wait for another night or morning like that:)

[SteveNickolls]

Good capture Dave, admire your dedication. Welcome to SGL by the way.

Cheers,

Steve