who is out tonight

[Mr Spock]

Not tonight - too busy

[niallk]

Bringing the kids to Santy later tonight in the dark, so just stole a quick look at Venus from the front garden with the binoviewers in the 250px. Views weren't great - pretty poor tbh, but hey, saw the phase of Venus for the first time in yonks

[Knighty2112]

I just got back in. A wee bit chilly too! Had a great view of Mars with my ED80 tonight. Pushed it with a TV 2.5 Powermate & 6mm WO EP to 250x and stood up really well. Could even make out the odd detail when the seeing settled nicely.  

[bejay1957]

Rain and drizzle have stopped, but still 100% cloud cover here - and Aurora Notififier has pinged a KP7 alert :-(

[ChrisLX200]

Not a good night for kit tonight - my StarTech 7-port hub on the pier has died. My own fault because I remember now that on this one I failed to spray the PCB with ACF50, I was in a hurry and just sprayed down the port sockets. I had meant to do the job properly but never got around to it. Stripping it revealed the damage, green corrosion on some of the contacts inside. Its replacement is already in the post and this time I WILL remember to strip the PCB out and spray it properly!

ChrisH

[BXRO]

Clear here In Lincolnshire, been out and caught Venus earlier, just been looking at Andromeda galaxy and the paleades, now inside warming up going to give Orion a bashing a little later

[Tim]

1 hour ago, faulksy said:

have you got your 18 sorted ?

I had an offer from Orion to sort out the mirror for less than half the price they originally quoted, after a discussion with them. However I had an offer from a very respected mirror maker to do it for less than half that again, and it is going to him on tuesday. Finally

[Alfian]

Partially clear in the east, looked good, then cloud, then rain, then mainly cloud with brief windows of hazy clear skies. Better than usual really.

[westmarch]

got out between 5pm and 7.30.  Safe zone was within 30 degrees of zenith, anything lower risked snow blindness from illuminated icicles. Bah Humbug!  Now raining so everything lashed down for Storm Barbara.

Merry Xmas.  See you on the other side.   

 

[Tommohawk]

Nothing doing here - too cloudy. Good luck to anyone who's giving it a go.

Merry Christmas to all and best wished for the New Year!

[Charic]

Its mainly dry and clear here at present, and from the back window (North) Ursa major is on full display just now, but for how long, who knows, were expecting some isolated wintry showers later.

The Weather folk are saying Gales for me on Friday , becoming severe, with more gales on Christmas Day,  again possibly severe.

I know the winds cause so much damage up here, but if a power cut could only affect my street lighting, it may be worth having a peek outside over the next 6 Days, though sitting out in galeforce winds, freezing my ***** off, and trying to prevent the Dob from spinning in the wind, sounds like a barrel of laughs!

Did I say 6 Days........Merry Christmas everyone, I`m back to work  middle of next week! hic, hic Cheers  

[Peco4321]

Looked really clear, had a few presents to wrap then set up at 9, put light shields up to cut out xmas lights ? Found M81 and M82 and now the clouds have rolled in to East Yorkshire. May just pack up. 

[RayD]

Absolutely crystal clear here (in Spain) and fortunately, and whilst devoid of telescopes, I brought my 20x80 bins, and WOW!!!

Little did I know what fabulous views I was going to have.  Orion nebula looks stunning, and for the first time I've had a great view of M31 with my own eyes (not imaging).

I shall go to bed a happy bunny now 

[Charic]

35 minutes ago, RayD said:

.........first time I've had a great view of M31

For me, M31 is nowt but a  very small wispy patch of hard to find " is that it"  from my garden, due to my  local conditions, but as you appreciate, under the right conditions and skies, M31 is very impressive, filling  my 70° Panaview,  when viewed with the scope away from the house.
The old  forgotten secluded 'football pitch', to  the rear of my house,  now provides me with  better views using Binoculars, but I'm of the age where  many items are only just visible, naked eye, if my sky is Moonless, and no street light.
I`m going to source some mode of transportation, a pram or similar, to convey the scope there?

[johnfosteruk]

I was hoping to get out a bit later i.e. Now. Christmas things with work then Rogue One with The Present Mrs Foster. 

Clear in between restaurant and cinema, lovely thought I. Perfect end to a lovely evening. Setup and cooled the frac (which doesn't take long) for a tour of Orion and now the clouds are here. Meh

its quite mild though so I'll give it half an hour and see what happens

[Tim]

Hmmmph, fogged out here, was going well too :/

[Hawksmoor]

In bed as its rain all the way at the moment here in Suffolk Northeast. Any serious observing or imaging will not resume until 2017, that is if I value the goodwill of my wife and family. Well it is the season of goodwill!

George moist of Lowestoft.

[John]

Back from the movies and it's clear here ATM. Might pop out with 11x70 binocs as I can't be faffed to get a scope set up.

[johnfosteruk]

Stayed out a little while. Got a peak at some of Orion's delights but I'm pooped so what could be a good opportunity is going to waste. 

[A40farinagolf]

Lovely and clear here in Mid Cheshire, used my 7x50 Fujinons and 16x70 Lunt binos on my favourite winter targets  - brilliant to see them again.

Unfortunately early start tomorrow so off to bed.

[ChrisLX200]

Clouded out now - thought it was too good to last. My reading of the Sat24 images is that it may clear again in an hour or so so I'll do some processing and see what happens.

[SonnyE]

Raining here, so I think I'll be tapping the Internet, or watching television, or reading, ...

The weather will be what the weather will be whether we weather it or not. I just batten down the hatches to make sure my 32 gallon dome keeps my mount dry and ride it out.

I hope you have a great night and enjoy the clear skies!

[mdstuart]

Mark

Happy Christmas. I was out for a few hours here. It went clear and then eventually misty but I managed to bag six galaxies in the clear slot.

NGC 1530 was fun but I could not see the arms. I really need a 1/10th wave mirror.

Mark

[BritAngler]

Picked up my new 'scope last night (Opticstar ARC-102S) so had a look through it before finally saying "yes". Looked at a few globular clusters, Albireo, Orion Nebula, Pleiades and the Andromeda Galaxy. A bit of thin high cloud but otherwise the viewing was good. Now just need to modify the 'scope before I take it out again  

[faulksy]

quite funny last night, had my 12 year old boy out with me, we looke at the prize objects, had the dob pointing at the eskimo neb at 300x and my boy said wow what is it, it looks like a snowman he said he could see some red in m82 as well