A year of stargazing-hits and misses

[domstar]

Hi. I thought I'd give my report on my first year of observing the sky. I'd be especially interested in what inexperienced star gazers have done.

HIT-Jupiter and the Galilean moons. Nothing topped that.

MISS-Looking for Jupiter with a 4mm eyepiece. HIT-Finding it sometimes. MISS-Losing it for half an hour at a time.

HIT-My first double star Algieba in Leo. 20mm-no. 3x Barlow-no. 4mm Oh yes.

HIT-Saturn's rings and maybe Titan. As a child I'd wondered how they knew that Saturn has rings. Now I know.

HIT-M71 in Sagitta from my balcony. The faintest of faint things in my scope. 5 minutes to decide if it was really there at all.

HIT-Finding M15 twice from the balcony moving from star to star in my finder scope (I wouldn't dignify my efforts with the word starhopping)

MISS-Feeling ultra proud of myself then reading it described as an easy target for binoculars.

MISS-Not writing down what I've seen and how to find it again.

HIT-Actually seeing another galaxy (guess which one) 

MISS-Looking for galaxies before it was properly dark and looking for galaxies that are far beyond the capabilities of my telescope.

HIT-The thrill of bidding on Ebay. WARNING-Do not attempt to bid for astronomical items after the consumption of alcohol.

Happy new year to you all.

[Pete Presland]

Congratulations on the hits! Always good to have a few misses, it gives you some immediate goals for next year

[Stu]

Sounds like you are right in amongst it now! Great stuff, and plenty to aim for next year  

[rockystar]

nice one, good round up of your year.

I think my hits from this year (being my second year of - and the first was only six months) are: Changing my scope from an EQ5 to a dob, identifying M32 and M110 around the Andromeda Galaxy. And spotting all 3 of the Leo triplet (with a bit of help) from a dark site.

the misses are all the missed opportunities of star gazing, from the very limited pot, due to illness, laziness or life in general having other priorities for me.

hope your second year is as productive as mine was

 

[laudropb]

Congratulations on a productive first year. The misses are all part of the learning experience. Good luck in 2017.

[Astro Imp]

Nice summary of your first year.

The misses are as relevant as the hits, they should teach you more.

Good luck for 2017.