Just gotta love this hobby

[domstar]

Jan 26 2017.

First up was M77 in Cetus. Easy to find-difficult to see in my 70mm frac . It was early evening just the very start of astro dark so I put the kids on the balcony. Difficult for them but they think they saw it or at least claimed to have done in order to get out of the cold. After their bedtime my plan was an attack on the crab nebular, where it all started for Charles Messier. In and out, in and out from balcony to stellarium keeping my good eye covered (I must get an eyepatch). I found the place but not the nebula. After about five minutes with averted vision I could see the faintest suggestion of a puff of smoke. I'm sure it was the right thing because it seemed to be moving sideways across my view. Elated but tired of bending in strange positions, I pointed the scope roughly between Betelgeuse and Procyon without the finder and stumbled upon the Christmas tree cluster. What a night.

Anyway, the thing I noticed most was the beautiful silence after 10 o'clock when it's minus 7. My ears were ringing (slightly worrying). Seeing the constellations rise 4 minutes earlier everyday has really given me a new perspective on the passing of time, and all my life I've cursed the early darkness in winter and counted the days till spring.No more.

Clear skies.

[Pieter]

Yeah winternight's are special, certainly under a bright and clear sky! Looks like you had a blast

[cloudsweeper]

Love it - too right!  I too had a good session in the early hours.  And Yes, you do get a different perspective on winter with this hobby.

M1 Crab Nebula - "a puff of smoke" just about describes it - from our skies, anyway!  You soon get used to spotting these fuzzies, and regular reference to Stellarium is an excellent guide to what you're looking at.

Doug.