Clear at Last

[dick_dangerous]

Hi All,

I've been conspicuous by my absence on this forum, apart from the odd occasion when I've been able to observe. Tuesday was one of these, and it involved a trip to Ranmore Common in Surrey where we stumbled on one of the local astronomy societies having an observing night. Who can blame them? It was the first clear night in ages. It was also my first chance to take the Dob somewhere in the car, and while Ranmore isn't exactly pristine dark skies it was still dark enough to yield some deep sky gems; more than in my usual spot in Bushy Park.

We racked up 7 galaxies:

• M77 - The little Seyfert galaxy in Cetus, which responds well to magnification
• M33 - Managed to find the Triangulum Galaxy, although it was very hazy in the bright sky
• M31, M32 & M110 - This little triumverate is too large to fit in the FoV but showed a fair extent of M31 and even dim little M110
• M81 & M82 - in a bad place in the direction of London, but very obvious all the same

I also had amazing views of M42/43 with the UHC filter, the Double Cluster and M1 (Another one that was "just about"). And not forgetting a quick look at Uranus.

Here's hoping we get a few more pleasant nights like this in the run up to Christmas!

Paul

[cotterless45]

Well spotted ! Sometimes the effort really pays off under

Clear skies !

Nick.

[laudropb]

Nice report. Still no signs of clear skies here.