A night of mixed emotions

[Olli]

After a long waited it as finally clear and I was in the right mood an mind set to go out. Anyway it was around 8:30pm and started to set up my scope weather was looking great stars already starting to shine through. Now I had my targets Jupiter was the main one and also some other objects that you lot had kindly suggested early on.

now fast forward to around 10pm or so I wanted to double check that my red dot finder was still properly aligned. So I saw a bright object facing near south. Had a look through the eyepiece and the object was out of focus however when I managed to get it in focus I was presented with one of the best views through my scope so far .. IT WAS JUPITER! Please  excuse my excitement but this is the first planet I have ever seen and I was probably smiling for about half an hour.I could clearly make out the cloud bands and also four of its moons and I think one was in transition as it was slightly above to the left. I spent a good two or so hours observing having to look through trees at one point but it was incredible.

So it was about 12pm and Now I tried tried to look at the targets that we're mentioned in my early post but I really struggled to find them I found m5 which was quite nice but could not find Leo triplet again or even the sombrero galaxy which is quite easy however couldn't find it and decided to go in as I was getting slightly frustrated.

so was about 1am now and had to sleep on the sofa so I didn't wake everyone up had about 2 and a half hours sleep and I woke up and looked through our double doors and saw for the first time Mars and Saturn all nicely Lined up with the moon as well as Jupiter.  I got my scope first had a look at Saturn quickly and saw the rings which was amazing wasn't any detail just a bright disc and the planet was the size of a pea,also tried mars which was not as good Maybe the moon had an effect?or was just in a bad spot but was slightly yellow/red colour to it.

 

so after a spell of frustration I was rewarded with great views of the planets and seeing them for the first time was incredible and something I won't forget.

 

 

Thanks for  reading  

[oobydooby]

You lucky devil.  Cloudy here and missed both the planets and the aurora that were easily visible from here, according to some.

[Littleguy80]

Great report, Olli! I remember that feeling the first time I saw Jupiter. It was the tiny moons that really amazed me. Getting Saturn and Mars too, brilliant! I often have power naps on the sofa too for the same reason  

Don’t worry about the struggles to find targets. That just comes with practise. Sometimes it’s just down to conditions on the night. Galaxies benefit from dark skies. 

[Stu]

Still a pretty good session Olli, three planets in two sittings is not to be sniffed at!

Getting comfortable finding things is one of the biggest challenges, and I’m sure there are times all of us still struggle but you will get there.

[Olli]

12 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Great report, Olli! I remember that feeling the first time I saw Jupiter. It was the tiny moons that really amazed me. Getting Saturn and Mars too, brilliant! I often have power naps on the sofa too for the same reason  

Don’t worry about the struggles to find targets. That just comes with practise. Sometimes it’s just down to conditions on the night. Galaxies benefit from dark skies. 

Thanks, my skies are fairly dark maybe the viewing just wasn't great. I guess I will have to keep practising it's always rewarding though once you find the targets  and power naps are quite helpful!

[Olli]

10 minutes ago, Stu said:

Still a pretty good session Olli, three planets in two sittings is not to be sniffed at!

Getting comfortable finding things is one of the biggest challenges, and I’m sure there are times all of us still struggle but you will get there.

Thanks Stu, no I am pleased about the planets wish I had a decent camera would have made a good photo with all of them together.  The thing I think I struggle with is the distances how to match them from looking at my atlas or stellerium.

[domstar]

Great report. Every session should have successes and failures and successes don't come any better than Jupiter and Saturn for the first time. I'm not surprised you missed your galaxies after a long time on Jupiter. It's a bit like playing badminton straight after a tennis match. 

[Red Dwarfer]

Sounds like a good night , Olli - and very well done on Jupiter !

I counted 18 galaxies , 3 planets , a few doubles and a couple of planetary nebulas here . 

[Nyctimene]

A nice writeup, Olli, reminding me of my own first steps in stargazing. Congrats for finding M 5, it's not so easy. You could try the globulars M 12, M 10 and M 14 in Ophiuchus nearby; and M 4 in Scorpius. M 22 in Sagittarius beats them, but is always low down; good luck with the hunt.

Stephan

 

[Olli]

4 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

A nice writeup, Olli, reminding me of my own first steps in stargazing. Congrats for finding M 5, it's not so easy. You could try the globulars M 12, M 10 and M 14 in Ophiuchus nearby; and M 4 in Scorpius. M 22 in Sagittarius beats them, but is always low down; good luck with the hunt.

Stephan

 

Thanks Stephan will give those a go next time around