Uranus 25th Sept 08

[SteelRat]

After watching the ISS fly over I sat out with my little Tal1 newt last night (yay ) Started with a good long look around Lyra, Cygnus, Vulp and Sag. The dumbbell and ring nebs were both where I left them and then back towards north so was Double cluster. M31 with it's satelites was a nice sight in the big TV 32mm when it rose above the trees, the sky being good and dark by then.

Best of all though was Uranus, my first sighting since 2006. Obvious even in just the 9mm ortho. Just a small very pale turquoise disc but a treat to sit and watch for a while at x161 with the 15mm and x3barlow, and then with the 4mm ortho. Not much for description to others, more of a 'had to be there' gem.

A great night.

[jgs001]

Lucky man Matt. Sounds like a good session. I was just getting my gear out and prepping to setup when the clouds moved in with a vengeance...

[brendant]

Nice find all the same Matt, another one ticked off the list.

Brendan

[SteelRat]

Had it ticked in 06 Last year was a bit of a write-off for me. Nice to have it down in the book for this year though, and from the little Tal1 too 8) A visit to Neptune might be in order later (I'm seeing blue sky up there shhh... )

[thing]

I'm hoping for Neptune tonight. It clears my neighbour's house around midnight so i think I'll just leave it tracking and watch telly for a bit till then. Funnily enough I've never seen Venus through the scope yet, done all the others except Pluto which I don't think I'll be bothering with. Dwarf planets, who needs 'em.