Some clear skies at last!

[Bioboybill]

Went to my first meeting of Cleveland and Darlington Astronomical Society last night. As I left I noticed the sky was starting to clear a bit, so grabbed the new bins I got for Christmas. The talk was very enjoyable and afterwards they said we might be able to spot a few things outside using a couple of scopes they brought along and they opened their observatory.

The skies had partially clouded over, but started to clear again as we allowed our eyes to accustomise to the dark. It was a noticeably darker sky than my back garden, and I quickly spotted Orion's belt, had a look through my bins and spotted Orion's Nebula. The Pleiades were also easy to see, so again looked at those through the bins.

I then went to the observatory and had a look at the Trapezium cluster in Orion. Then I went back outside and had a look at the Crab Nebula, which was basically a smokey smudge in their 8" Dob.

The people were all very friendly and it was nice to actually get out and see something after such a long spell of poor weather.

[triton1]

At least you had a break in the perma cloud the crab has always eluded me

[Bioboybill]

I can't take the credit for the Crab Nebula. It was found for me. On my own I doubt I would have spotted it.

[laudropb]

Congratulations on your first night at the astro club. I am glad you enjoyed the experience and had a very friendly reception.