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Hello from Edinburgh


davyludo

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Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself....I'm Davy and I'm from Edinburgh :icon_biggrin:

I got my first telescope 2 years ago (gift from girlfriend) and my mind was blown away from the very first time I used it. Being from the city, I never thought I'd be able to see so much just with a small scope. I've lurked on this forum a lot over the last few years and learned a lot from other people's posts.

My current scope is a Celestron Astromaster (76mm x 700mm reflector) on an alt-az mount. Living in a city...and Scotland means that my observing style is very much "oh look, a gap in the clouds and no rain, quick get out!" Then I tend to just drift about the sky for an hour with my jaw half open amazed at everything I see (maybe I should plan it more).

I've been lazy for the last 6 months so thought I'd try and be more active on here and get back into looking up. I'll be looking at getting a new telescope and mount soon...so I'll be pestering you all for advice :icon_razz:

Looking forward to being part of the community!

Cheers,

Davy 

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Welcome, Davy, from up the road a bit.

Scotland is not the best place to practise astronomy, nor the rest of the UK for that matter!  But, as I was often told when I was a younger 'un, it's 'character building' ... ?

Smile when you can, and deal with the rest.

Hope you have lots of fun with the forum and the hobby.

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Thank you all for a warm welcome.

Nice to see a few people are nearby....so we can all complain about the weather at the same time! 

 

14 hours ago, Floater said:

Scotland is not the best place to practise astronomy, nor the rest of the UK for that matter!  But, as I was often told when I was a younger 'un, it's 'character building' ... ?

Hahaha - yeah and it will also put 'hairs on your chest'....apparently....

 

1 hour ago, BigRD said:

Hi Davy, it's suprising how easily you can lose an hour staring at the sky. Astrophotography can assist in losing many more :-)

I'm still trying to learn the skies just now....at the moment I tend to use Orion as my starting point. I've got a copy of Turn Left at Orion, so will work my way through that and try to learn some more (over the summer months). Try and take a more structured approach to my viewing. Once I can navigate happily...I might need to venture into Astrophotography...and invest in some super warm clothes to keep me safe while I'm hanging about :tongue2:

 

Cheers, 

Davy

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2 minutes ago, popeye85 said:

And download stelarium!

Yeah I've had a wee play with stelarium. I still can't quite believe it's free! I like the fact that you can select scope and eyepieces and then pick the mode to see what your view will be. Really useful, especially for someone like me who's still trying to get to grips with arc minutes and seconds....

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1 hour ago, popeye85 said:

Not sure where you are observing from but the are lots of dark spots outside of the city.

Well I currently live in the north of Edinburgh, but my mum lIves in the south (close to the pentlands). So I sometimes set up in her garden...then I also get provided with cups of tea!

I need to stop being lazy and travel to darker spots. I've read that a few people go to harperrig reservoir. Do you have any other suggestions?

 

Cheers,

Davy

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Aye harperigg is a popular spot but I have only been up there once to be honest. East Lothian Is full of little spots and hide aways- I tend to observe at hailes castle, you do get a little bit of sky glow to the north but nothing to worry about plus observing in the ruins if a old castle makes for a fun atmosphere!!

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3 minutes ago, popeye85 said:

Aye harperigg is a popular spot but I have only been up there once to be honest. East Lothian Is full of little spots and hide aways- I tend to observe at hailes castle, you do get a little bit of sky glow to the north but nothing to worry about plus observing in the ruins if a old castle makes for a fun atmosphere!!

That sounds awesome! I guess I just need to get out and find places nearby. Thanks popeye :icon_biggrin:

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Always happy to help and if you find yourself out East Lothian way with your scope don't be shy in giving me a shout!

You would be amazed what a difference getting away from the streetlights make, some night I struggle to make it even the most obvious contallations due to the high number of stars viable.

 

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