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Hi From Biggar

BiggarDigger

By BiggarDigger
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BiggarDigger

BiggarDigger

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Hello from Biggar!

My name's Richard and as you may have guessed, I live near Biggar in Southern Scotland.  Being fairly rural, we have dark skies, especially to from East, through South round to West.

I've had a passing interest in astronomy for many years, but family and work have always come first.  This Christmas just past however, Santa was kind enough to bring me a Celestron 130EQ.  A few evening sessions over the holiday season whetted my appetite still further but I had real trouble using the red dot finder.  After some reading up on this forum and other sources, I decided to try the Telrad finder and what a difference it made.

Last night the clouds rolled back soon after work and I was out in the back garden from 8pm to past 10pm with really encouraging results.  Instead of struggling to even find the Orion Nebula, I was on it in a flash - literally a few minutes after setting up.  Then across the sky to an object I've read about many times before and tried to observe without luck in my first few sessions - The Andromeda Galaxy.  Just a few minutes of alignment, after juggling with the tripod due to the height of the eyepiece!  All I can say is wow!  I was totally enthralled and could have observed it for hours.  Unfortunately I had to come in when everything got dewed up, but I was bouncing off the ceiling.

I think I'll play with the the scope more over the coming months before having a think about upgrades and T pieces for my wife's camera.

Pleased to meet everyone here and looking forward learning more!

Richard

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BiggarDigger

BiggarDigger

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Good morning one and all and thanks for your welcome messages!

Yes, I think the bug has bitten, though it has probably been there for many years: it's just taken a while to sink it's teeth in.  My first significant interest in astronomy was probably 30 years ago when a relative who was moving house offloaded a box full of books.  One was called The Universe, or similar.  It was a fascinating read, delving into technical explanations and details of star formation etc.

As children came along they all played with "toy" 'scopes and I enjoyed spending time with them looking at The Moon and the planets etc., but they were young and our priorities lay elsewhere.  Now they are mostly at or preparing to go to university, I have a little time (though never as much as I might hope for!) and have been keen to rekindle my interest.

I really was very excited to view M31 and it's companions the other night.  I've read a bit over recent months about what to expect and even though the Milky Way is easily viewed here on cloudless nights, I had been a bit concerned about the neighbours lights spilling across the garden; but no problem once I located it - better than I had hoped for.  The cold and frost was a problem, but thermals helped and I've been thinking about how to overcome dew problems.

I had hoped to go out again last night, but the mist came up the valley and it got very cold and frosty indeed.  This morning we have an inch of snow on the ground.

So I'm now looking forward to further evening sessions and thinking about what interests me and what objects to look out for.

Sorry for my ramblings,

Richard

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Les Ewan

Les Ewan

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Hi richard,

I wont say welcome as you were here before me. Apart from cloud the amateur has many problems, time is a major one the best seeing conditions often occur in the small hours which is not conducive to a early start for work.:homework:

A hair drier is good for drying lenses and eyepieces but be careful and demist them slowly,and of course use a contact breaker if you do this outside.If you have more than one set of eyepieces dry them indoors in front (but not too close)of a fan heater and swap them around.It all seems like a pain and it is Im afraid.

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