Great Night of Stargazing or 'Who Needs a Scope Anyway?'

[Neon]

Met up with a friend for a dinner at a local pub yesterday, with a plan that if the weather was good we'd go and do a bit of astronomy with my grab n' go setup. Our luck was in and we headed up to Coombe Hill near to Butlers Cross in Buckinghamshire and pitched up here. A nice location surrounded by trees to help stop the wind and with relatively little light pollution, that about one hundred yards from the car park.

My 80mm Antares takes a couple of minutes to setup and we went straight for Jupiter with my 8mm Hyperion. Views were good but not great, mainly 'cos the scope wasn't fully cooled, but also due to our yet to adjust eyesight. It was at about this time I realised that I'd forgotten my laptop (I use Stellarium) and we checked out a few of my favorites that I know quite well (M11, M27 & M2), but eventually we just gave up and stood admiring the skies.

It's been a while since I just stared up at the stars without a specific motive other than to just look at them, since getting a scope I just tend to seek out planets and nebulae. But without such a definite goal I just browsed the heavens like i used to do and it was glorious. The views steadily improved as the night wore on, revealing the milky way and several satellites, with only occasional wispy clouds to get in the way.

When we checked our watches and saw the time (23:17) it was time to pack up and head home before our significant others reported two missing persons, but not before another look at Jupiter. By now the sky was much darker and our eyes were more accustomed to the darkness, so I zeroed in on the gas giant and popped in my barlow to give us 120x mag. Phew! Best view of Jupiter I've yet to see. We could make out 4 (5?) moons as well as some faint surface detail.

Five minutes later we were back in our cars and on the way home.

If you live close to Wendover in Bucks then I'd recommend the location for some away from home astronomy. It's not far from a quiet road, and the surrounding trees offer a good barrier against the wind and light pollution. Hopefully we'll be back on the 13th of August, armed with a couple of deck chairs and the bins to check out the Perseids. Although if it's anything like last night I won't worry if I forget my laptop.

[Vega]

Nice one Neon. I agree, sometimes you cant beat just using the mk 1 eyeballs and simply looking up. I especially enjoy looking at the milky way overhead. To be honest, its only a small window of opportunity in the year to see it properly (without waiting until the wee hours). I usually narrrow it down to the couple of weeks in August when the sky gets dark early enough and the moon isn't around.

Matt

[lunator]

Neon

Sounds like a great evening.

Sometimes we do forget just to take in the view.

Cheers

Ian

[Baskii]

That's a nice location Neon! I've driven past it many times but never ventured up there. Maybe I'll squeeze the newt into the car some time and give it a go. (There's another good location on top of the "Golden Ball" in West Wycombe but it's always full of cars with steamed up windows at night - a little offputting!) ;-)

[Albireo380]

I understand where you are coming from Neon. There is something wonderful about just siting back under the stars and gazing upwards.

I was at COAA in the Algarve at the end of May. I spent about an hour each night flat on my back (not due to the wine - hic) just gazing up. At one point, three of us were flat on our backs, with a purring cat rubbing up against us, just ... looking ... Wonderful. It was 2.30am and we had already had 4 hours under a clear sky (and it was still 18 degrees Celsius)

Naked eye stronomy is a great thing.

Tom

[beetlejuice]

I was in Lanzarote this month - where it was actually dark by 10.30pm. Drove out into the countryside. With no lights visible, the naked eye sky was just fantastic - hard to identify some of the constellations since so many stars were visible - no skyglow. Jupiter was high in the sky as you would expect at a latitude of 27N. Sweeping through the milky way with my binos was just great. And it was 20 degrees C at midnight and clear every night - try that in Glasgow!

[Doc]

I was in Lanzarote this month - where it was actually dark by 10.30pm. Drove out into the countryside. With no lights visible, the naked eye sky was just fantastic - hard to identify some of the constellations since so many stars were visible - no skyglow. Jupiter was high in the sky as you would expect at a latitude of 27N. Sweeping through the milky way with my binos was just great. And it was 20 degrees C at midnight and clear every night - try that in Glasgow!

I agree.

Last year I was in Gozo a little island off Malta on holiday.

The sky there is really dark, showed so many stars made it very hard to star hop. Only had 10x25 bins but picked out a few dso's.

Btw Neon excellent report.

[Neon]

I recommend it Baskii. The best part is that you're very close to the car park, but the hedges and trees keep the light from passing traffic to a minimum, and you can quickly dash back if need be to check on your car.

Also, a few months back I was in Sri Lanka having a much needed holiday. The skies there are fantastic too and I'd remembered to take my 15x70's and got to do a little stargazing around the pool (nice recliners there). Unfortunately there was lighting from the bar and restaurant, but it was still clear enough to make out Saturn.

First night I let some of the guests and staff have a look at some of the clusters, nebulas and planets, next night I get loads of the staff coming over wanting to have a look. News travels fast! I wish I'd taken a little scope like a WO66 as it would have made the views even more impressive (and easier to find).

Cheers for the nice responses, I'll let you know how it goes on the 13th at the same location.

[Baskii]

Thanks Neon - if the weather is ok this weekend I may wander down there and investigate!

I visited Sri Lanka in 1995 with my then girlfriend and her family. One evening we were visiting the ruins at Anuradhapura, and we stopped at what I think was this stupa so that the family could pray. Not being Buddhist, I was laying on my back looking up at the white floodlit dome, the night sky hidden in the glare, when there was a power cut. It was as if someone had flipped a switch and the stars had suddenly come on - it took my breath away!