22/10/17 Back to the balcony

[domstar]

With my usual Friday night entertainment unavailable due to my wife's absence, I was forced to stay in and look after the kids. After a spring and summer of taking my new kit to the local baseball pitch (including a hour on Wednesday looking at nothing but clouds), I set up on the balcony. It was like a flashback to my observing sessions prior to March although the foliage on the opposite trees made the view even more obstructed than before and the upgraded scope created a much tighter space between the wall and the balcony rails.

So it really seemed like a blast from the past- the targets pretty much picked themselves but on the other hand the paucity of choice encouraged me to spend a much longer time observing each object. First, straight in front of me was M11 the Wild Duck cluster. At last I realised what my underused 18mm was made for. Then it was over to M13 the great cluster in Hercules before it disappeared behind the wall. It's a beautiful object that I mainly neglected this summer because of its height, but now it's perfect for my back and neck. Then it was time for the attempt of something new- M72, M73 and perhaps the Saturn nebula all in Aquarius. The main advantage of being at home is the frequent trips inside to look at stellarium so I was in out, in out, about 5 times, but the main disadvantage is, of course, the lack of darkness. If it's possible to feel nostalgia about last year and an old scope then that's how I felt. Staring at the space where I know an object should be, willing it to pop out gave me a perverse sense of pride. Anyway, I never did get to see M72, which at mag 9.2 is probably just too dim for my home conditions. I thought I could make out M73, but looking at wikipedia, it says it's just a 4 star asterism so it was obviously wishful thinking, and as for the Saturn nebula, it didn't jump out at me and my reserves of patience and tenacity were already depleted.

I predict I can still take the Autumn cold for another month before I'm forced back onto the balcony exclusively for the winter, but I feel a lot better about observing from home again than I did for the first 10 minutes. I think I could get into the long long observing of objects and trying to see rather than trying to find. When I have the whole sky to choose from I'm like a kid (or adult) at a pick n mix.

The happy ending was my wife getting home at 9.45 so I quickly headed out to the local, where my unwise attempts to catch up have left me somewhat lethargic today.

Thanks for reading.

[Astro Imp]

Nice report, M11, the wild duck cluster is a great object. 

BTW being forced to spend time on objects is no bad thing, the longer you look the more you see.

Good luck.