Crème de la crème.

[cotterless45]

This doesn't have to be extremely mind blowing . I remember being humbled talking to a guy who through his Dob had seen the results of a comet hitting Jupiter. I get that feeling of a stone sinking in the stomach in the presence of greatness !

What "wow !" moments are with you ?

Memorable experience or very rare nights when seeing , transparency and ultimate darkness combine. Or even one ! That moment when your socks are blown away and you are glued to the view. Firstly you doubt what you're seeing , then it dawns , like a curtain rising , " that's it !!"

My first was M 38 with a Heritage 130, just couldn't believe it was possible to see such beauty.That was my first scope and Messier's after months with a red torch and star map laying on the grass. Neighbours must of thought that the men in white coats would arrive.
Then came.

First view of Saturn with open rings , Cassini division .Got the boss out of bed at 3 am for this , not a happy bunny.

Jupiter , the ragged festooned belt edges and the GRS , changes in shape and colour. Still wows ! Those moon shadow transits and the white pea like moons transmitting , just more magic.

Comets , just amazed at these visitors , either by eye ,binoculars or those magic scope sights.

Testing the C6r with LeeB. We were both astonished to get some of the central rill to the Alpine Valley " that's a kilometre wide ,at a quarter of a million miles away". The terminator still calls its magic views.

Planets at opposition. To watch over some weeks the frost in the Hellas basin and the Mars ice cap melt , more magic.

First star party and those that followed ! So much to learn and so many other enthusiasts. All those nights struggling alone are over ! Many many super folk well met . I can accurately recall looking through Mapstar's 22" and being blown away forever. Better reach for the aperture bottle.

Catching the many binary , carbon red and coloured stars.Highlight here was getting an easy 1.1" split of 36 Andromedae with Patbloke.

First view of pristine dark sky . Things like the spiral arms of M33 and the dust lane and halo to NGC 891. This lead to managing light polluted sky and achieving realistic  
observing.The search for dark skies led to visiting some wild and remote areas . As a bonus , sitting and watching Aurora displays on seven occasions had been breath taking. 

Watching the M82 supernova a day after being accidentally found . There's achievement in reading about these things and seeing them.

 

On the gear side, ( I'm not a gear person !)
First view of the double double in a Vixen 102. Couldn't believe the clarity , sharpness and contrast of the view. Refractors .....real scopes ! Way to go ! This led to an appreciation of achros and the capabilities of optics.

Upgrading from the 130 Heritage to the 200p Dob. Way to go , the Universe is now open for easy viewing and star hopping . Collimation is easy !

GEM mount , motorised ! No more slo mo cables . Just track for hours , viva RA!

Goto, as interest grew and observing weather reduced , less time meant more to find and observe. It's still a pleasure to take the Dob and hunt.

Conclusions.
No amount of spending will get you there , the dominant factor is the sky. Share your findings , failures and experiences . Others will benefit from your knowledge and experience and might be enthused. No better gain. 

I suppose that there's a lot omitted , looking forward to your thoughts ,
Nick.

 

[xtreemchaos]

I agree, after 43 years owning many scopes, I still get the Wow all the time, you don't think I'm easily please do you ?. great read Nick. thanks, charl.

[Charic]

My best wow! shot over the last few Years was a view of Jupiter, crystal  clear image and a perfect black spot, the transit shadow of the Moon Io. 

I can also extract a wow! from anyone when the scope is aimed at the Moon, so much detail, takes their breath away! 

[Craney]

Seeing the moving, shimmering Aurora with my eyes on the moors near Pateley Bridge a couple of years back...

I was by myself  ( 1 oclock in the morning)   and I actually said 'Wow'  out loud....

Here is a photo.  The memory will always stick with me.

[Littleguy80]

Awesome post, Nick. As a newbie to the hobby this year, I’ve had plenty of wow moments. The first time I saw Jupiter and it’s moons. That’s when the bug bit. After that I read about “grey fuzzies” and saw my first...The great Orion Nebula! Jaw dropping. The night where I first pushed the magnification all the way up on M13, saw M51 and the Veil for the first time. What a session that was! Comet Johnson, my first, found flying through Bootes. The first viewing of Saturn, the only target I really had in mind when I got my scope. Seeing the swan in the Omega nebula. Returning to Sagittarius to see the Lagoon, Star Cloud and numerous other beautiful targets. The Nova in Scutum, asteroid Florence making her pass, the list goes on! 

It’s been a wonderful 9 months! I’m officially hooked!

[wookie1965]

 

My first view of Saturn and the cassini division stands out, the Trapezium in Orion and on one of the best nights I've ever had spotting E and F what a thrill. 

Second time at psp meeting Nick and finding out I had been given wrong information about how to find "Bodes". I had been told to go from Phad to Dubne and the same distance again. Nick sent me straight I had the EQ3-2 mount then everytime I went out after that I could find it seeing M81 and M82 in same FOV was brilliant. 

Buxton last year with Nick the stuff I saw that night was amazing the whale sticks out too many to remember but what a night. 

Looking at the Leo trio and M51 in Damians 22inch stunning objects I had been searching for for over 3 years. 

Seeing a black spot on Jupiter then realising it was a shadow of a moon brilliant. 

Seeing the double double in lyra with the Tal so easy. 

Seeing the double cluster and NGC 457 look at these every time I go out. 

With the help of Nick and Damian who did a cracking job on my mount I can now enjoy this hobby more knowing what to look for rather than just galaxies and my mount fettled. 

[RT65CB-SWL]

My three "wow !" moments are...

• seeing the 1999 solar eclipse...
• seeing the Moon and planets through any telescope...
• seeing the 2004 Tranist of Venus... [and the smiles of joy it gave to a class of school kids and their teachers & parents from a local nursery/junior school].

 

 

 

[edit: 05.10.2017] - I have a binocular "wow !" moment...

• seeing the 'coathanger' asterism a few years ago.

[scarp15]

Most recently, my last two visits to a dark site, not feeling overly confident that I was doing the right thing, hope for the best prepare for the worst, frame of mind. Then stepping out of the car, looking up and being greeted by clear sky, the milky way overhead and beyond, the constellations fully displayed and an occasional meteor scudding through it all, amazement, wonder and relief.

[alanjgreen]

Great post Nick.

My first two wows with my 130mm reflector were seeing Jupiter and its moons and my first view of the double cluster!

with my c8, I got to watch the Great Red Spot transit again and again and the rings of Saturn. My first galaxy smudges and I wanted more.

Onto the c11 and the galaxy viewing became my passion.

when we moved house, I was only ever going to move somewhere darker and rural... galaxies and nebula were now my prey and there have been many to see. To see M51 with its spirals is unforgettable 

now as I chase the spirals of m33 and m101, I have moved to the 20" (my last port of call). In the 5 months that I have been on this ship, nebulas have revealed more and more and the wow's seem to come on a monthly basis. 

I'm now more matured in this hobby and take quality over quantity. The joy of studying a target to tease out the never before seen detail  the understanding that rewards can come at any time when the conditions just fall into place and a wow is assured. Taking that fine memory back inside to a warm house with a cold body, to sit and ponder what you have just seen...

Alan

[wookie1965]

5 minutes ago, Philip R said:

My two "wow !" moments are...

• seeing the 1999 solar eclipse.
• seeing the Moon and planets through any telescope.

OMG I had forgot to write that in, I was concentrating on everything since I got my Scope. Left Prescot on Merseyside at 2am with my best mate and my sons and my mates nephew drove down to Torquay we were going to Newquay to be with Sir Patrick but decided against it, good job we did otherwise would not have seen it. It had been cloudy all day and we knew it had started but about half way through the clouds parted and what a sight everyone was clapping. 

[barkis]

What a superb narrative Nick.  I would hazard a guess that you've just relived moments of Amazement, Awe, and Excitement that many of us have experienced at times in the past.                You've mentioned many examples, and some I can associate with. However, the events that made me shiver, was also the Shoemaker Levy fragments impacting Jupiter.   Of course I did not see the actual impacts, but at the eyepiece of my 12" f6  Home Made  Newt. I. Observed the dark impact scars, as they came into view as Jupiter revolved. The other memorable events, which I'm sure many of us recall. Were the Comets Hayukutaki, and Hale Bopp.    Magnificent sights, at times visible all the  night they were circumpolar. I wonder if we'll see their like again.

[Dbswales]

Definitely seeing Saturn when I was a teenager through a cheap refractor my dad bought me. Actually trying to get my mind around what I was actually seeing and finding it was just amazing. Hale Bopp as mentioned above. Magical. M42, the 1st time I ever got any image from my attempts when I started AP recently. I think it will always be my favourite if only because I managed to get something! I looked out of my window a couple of nights ago and saw the familiar Orion constellation and it just fills me with a good feeling knowing that it'll be in a handy position in a few months time. 

I think just ready everyone's posts and getting your juices going again after a what feels like a really 'long time out' due to illness is a great feeling too. 

 

[cloudsweeper]

Seeing things I previously thought were merely stars, which turned out to be planets - Jupiter, with bands, and a neat line of moons; Saturn, with rings.  

The thrill of seeing hundreds of tiny stars concentrated in a cluster; the Double Cluster twice the pleasure!

Detail on the Moon - those beautiful little craterlets in smooth lava-filled regions.

But what really stopped me in my tracks was my first galaxy, M31.  To see a fuzzy smudge before the eyes, and then ponder that it's a whole different galaxy to ours, with billions of stars, and the whole thing unimaginably further away than the objects we can more readily see.  Wow indeed!

Doug.

 

 

[John]

Nice post Nick

I can't recall all the "wows" during my 30+ years in the hobby but many of them have already been mentioned both in your opening post and by other contributors.

The most significant thing that happened to me in the hobby was joining this forum, almost 12 years ago

 

 

 

[Charic]

16 minutes ago, John said:

The most significant thing that happened to me in the hobby was joining this forum, almost 12 years ago

Promotion to admin  John (maybe).
John,  you not only joined, but have been very informative and helpful too.

[chiltonstar]

What a thread!

A few Big Wow moments for me..... definitely the comet fragment scars on Jupiter - I had my 4" frac set up for a couple of nights in my front garden, and neighbours looked as they walked their dogs. All were stunned. A few months ago, a young women with a babe came up to me in Sainsburys and reminded me of that - she'd been a child then of course!

The first good view of Saturn (very high in the sky then!), seeing Cassini and moons.

The aurora from a field station in Sweden - the same evening we saw the tracks and poo, but didn't see the wolf unfortunately!

A starry night from the peak of Monte Rosa at ca. 15,000 feet.

Recently, at a dark sky location in Cornwall seeing an oval out of the corner of my eye as I was watching an owl hunting and realising it was M31 - galaxy shape with naked eye!

Chris

[jetstream]

My best WOW moment was a few years ago with the 90mm refractor up here before I bought the place. My little 4 yr old grand daughter was waiting in the house peering out of the window waiting for Papa (me) to set the scope up. This was the first time I had a truly dark view (darker than I realized then) of the M42 area...

Anyway, I carried the little one out into the pitch black and she said "look at all the lights in the sky" Papa!

That view of M42 is etched into my brain and at 4 yrs old she had a stunning view of "wings" as she called it lol! When the scope turned to the Pleiades I saw its nebulosity with all its beauty, including Meropes fan. The view through the refractor that night offered such an exquisite view it will not be forgotten.

As a matter of fact this view spurred me on to purchase the place that gave it.

[niallk]

Some wow moments for me, in no particular order: 

* An amazing dark & transparent night on the Orion nebula with my 10", it appeared ever so finely and delicately detailed, very strong green in colour, it seemed 3D with a scooped out shape

* Seeing the needle galaxy for the first time (10")

* Seeing Saturn several years ago before dawn in achingly good steady seeing: breathtaking!

* Seeing the Cassini division for the first time with the aid of binoviewers (10")

* M13 in my 10" for the first time ("my god, it's full of stars!")

* First time seeing the Veil (10" + O-III)

* Pointing and wandering around in the general direction of the Virgo supercluster for the first time and seeing more galaxies in 5mins than my previous total to-date (10")

* M81 - 1st light with my 15": the outer spiral arms... it was so huge relative to M82

* Finally seeing the Sombrero galaxy with my 15"

* Makarian's chain in my 10"

* Fleeting detail of intersecting ellipses in the Cat's Eye neb (15")

* Showcase planetary nebs in my 15" on a really good dark night: M27 as a massive rugby ball of nebulosity almost filling the entire afov

* The Omega nebula (15"): such fine detail and structure in the dust one very good night

* Seeing the ansae of the Saturn nebula

* Mars and Saturn in my 15" one late evening - gorgeous details on Mars and coloured banding on Saturn, with distinct colour difference between the A,B and C rings.

* Io on Jupiter's limb appearing as a sharp colored 3D ball (15")

* Uranus as a gorgeous sharp blue/green disc, with 4 moons (15")

* Catching Triton (15")

* Observing the sun in Ha for the 1st time (not my setup) - spurred me on to purchase a Ha scope, and it wows me pretty much every time I use it. There was an amazing double loop of plasma the other day... just beautiful to be able to see the effects of the magnetic fields like that

* The Milky Way naked eye from the dark skies of West Cork & Kerry, and the Andromeda galaxy as a surprisingly large ellipse with averted vision

* Standing back from the scope and by chance catching a large meteor breaking up with green streaks and a smoky trail

* Staying up after observing in the dark, then just watching the sky go through every shade of blue as dawn arrived, and wrapping up with a peak at the phase of Mercury as it cleared the horizon

[cloudsweeper]

7 hours ago, John said:

Nice post Nick

I can't recall all the "wows" during my 30+ years in the hobby but many of them have already been mentioned both in your opening post and by other contributors.

The most significant thing that happened to me in the hobby was joining this forum, almost 12 years ago

 

 

 

I'd definitely go along with that John.

And further to my previous post, another experience we all share, but that I still find wonderful is when I train a 'scope at a sky with only dozens of stars visible, naked eye, and suddenly see so many treasures opened to view - nebulae, clusters, galaxies, doubles, etc. - many even when the sky isn't all that dark!

Doug.

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

Excellent thread Nick you have reminded so many members of their wonderful moments. I have had so many 'wow' moments but I can recall the feeling of excitement when Venus touched the side of the Sun in 2004. I thought that nobody on Earth has seen this event that was still living although I accepted that there might be 100s doing the same as me.

[billyharris72]

Mine was a naked eye view of a properly dark sky for the first time, and took place before I ever owned a scope. Would have been in 2012, camping in Madagascar (40th birthday present) maybe a thousand feet or so below the summit of Pic Boby (so guess I'd have been somewhere around 7,000 feet above sea level). Maybe about 50km to the nearest town, but well shielded by the mountains and the town (Ambalavao) doesn't have street lighting anyway (most houses are lit by fires).

I remember just being gobsmacked - the sky was like a fireworks display, with the Milky Way not so much visible as screamingly, overtly bright and shot through with visible colour. I'm sure I couldn't have, but it felt like I could have read a book by its light. I thought I had seen dark skies before this (walking in the Trossachs National Park and the like, where the skies can be good) but not even vaguely close.

Stayed with me that has.

Billy.

[xtreemchaos]

johns got me thinking "yes smoke coming out my ears" I had a huge WOW moment the first time I started imaging about 4 years ago with a 450d and 200p, this too I'm blaming on SGL because id just joined after being a vis man all my life. the firstthing I imaged was M42 WOW WOW Darn wow yes hooked. I carnt believe I didn't start imaging sooner, it shows you so much more and you can keep it forever and show people    charl.

[FenlandPaul]

Great post and some amazing replies.  I'll be a little more brief:

* Milky Way from a truly dark site in France - just amazing the structure visible with the naked eye.

* Comet Hale Bopp - again best without optical aid (well, maybe some bins), but I simply couldn't take my eyes off it

* The expectation and anticipation of the night I sat glued to the eyepiece when Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter.  My little Tasco 4.5" reflector showed nothing at all, but the excitement and then seeing the first pictures on the news later that night was awesome.

* First view of the Orion Nebula through the 12" dob - such intricate details

* Leo Triplet on a particularly dark and transparent night about 2 years ago - all 3 were so bright and different it was as if someone had turned them up to 11.

* Finally getting the Veil this Summer, both in the 70ED and 12" dob - audible murmurings galore.

* Tracking asteroid 2014 JO25 as it flew by the Earth earlier this year, and seeing it move - real time - in the eyepiece!

In all honesty, every time I go out and observe, even for a short period of time, is memorable.

Paul

[popeye85]

Fraid I am going to have to add my name under 'jupiter' to see the colours and detail on that 'star' for the first time absolutely blew me away! And bit just one either, I can honestly say that every year the highlight is seeing the red giant again for the first time.

The details on the moon and the double cluster are also big favourites and included a wow moment first time I saw them. 

I just wonder what else is waiting for me out there and what part of the sky my next big moment will appear from....

[Astro Imp]

Brilliant thread Nick, thanks for starting us all thinking and sharing.

I still fondly remember my early experience with my first scope, an S/W 150P, first light was seeing M45 and a few nights later Jupiter and it's moons. I still feel it amazing that with a modest outlay you can see these treasures from your own backyard. 

Since those early days I have had many wonderful nights not too dissimilar to previous posters. 

I'm sure there will be plenty more to come.