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Whats been your most dissapointing astronomical moment?

beamer3.6m

By beamer3.6m
in The Astro Lounge

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russ

russ

Posted
Posted
Flocking my xlt150 newt and testing it next to an un flocked 150p and found no difference icon_sad.gif

Thanks Mick, that was going to be my next mod for the dob. You could have just saved me my most disappointing astronomical moment :)

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rusirius

rusirius

Posted
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As a newbie, M31 would have been my diappointment. Being our nearest galaxy I expected to see more but as many have said, all you get, even though a telescop, is this fuzzy patch. The amount of fuzz you see does seem to vary quite a bit. About a year ago though, using binnoculars, I did see far more detail in Andromeda than is usual. It was much brighter than usual and I could see much more than just the fuzzy core although of course nothing like the glossy pictures. I even saw what I took to be the M82 very close to it, although in retrospect it could have been the M110. I don't know what atmospheric conditions contributed to my getting such a good view but I haven't seen it like that since. A few nights ago there was a reasonably good view of it too with some nebulosity being visible extending out from the usual fuzzy patch core but not as brilliant as that night a year ago.

For most nights of the year the M31 is disappointing.

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661-pete

661-pete

Posted
Posted

M32 (you mean '32' of course not '82') is actually a fair bit brighter and more compact than M110, you'll need pretty good binoculars and very dark skies to see M110, and my guess is that it's M32 you saw. Maybe the confusing thing is that on most photos M32 appears to merge in with the outer reaches of M31. Seen visually, of course, they appear separate.

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glennbech

glennbech

Posted
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I dragged my Explorer 200 & HEQ5 Pro into the woods to a pretty "dark site" (So I thought) and started slewing around with the goto. The newt was badly out of collimation, it was cold, wet and not so dark after all. There was also a radio tower nearby with a blinking light that constantly disrupted my night vision. I spent most of the night trying to align the HEQ5 Pro with no luck. Looking back I probably entered the date in the wrong format (mm/dd/yyyy! Who invented that system!?)

I had a short break after that and got interested again when I bought a T-ring for my DSLR. I now also enjoy visual astronomy, but with a Vixen Porta & Megrez 90 for "grab and go" :-)

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  • 3 years later...
EntropyStar

EntropyStar

Posted
Posted

Venus transit 2012!!!!

Booked the day off work a year in advance, built my own DIY solar filter, organised for a group of friends to come and see the spectacle. Everyone agreed we'd do a last minute overnight drive to somewhere clear. I watched the weather intently for the weeks preceeding.

As we all know it was virtually a total washout in the UK, no clear skies at all within an hour or two of my location. To add insult to injury the sky cleared up a mere 15 mins after final contact, I sit down to take a peek at the sun, clouds roll in.....give up and go back to bed.

If it wasn't for NasaTv I would still be fuming now! At least got to see it in realtime albeit via the net!

Edit:.....ooops! Just realised this thread is 4 years old!! In my defense it did just show up when I did a site search for the 'Veil Nebula' and I thought it was current!!!!

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Woking

Woking

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Posted

Good old thread to resume though!

Asking a group of Aussies to point out the Southern Cross for me when on a liveaboard dive boat in the middle of the Coral Sea. None of them knew, despite it being the stars on their flag :grin:

Then went to see the boat's captain who gave me a maritime tour of the stars from the bridge :cool:

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JB80

JB80

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I think I would have to agree with the metor showers, a few times every year we all bundle out in expectation of a show only to be clouded out or it turns into a non event.

Draconids was a good example last year, mind you the couple I did see through gaps in the clouds managed to out do some years Perseids.

That said I love nothing better than sitting out waiting for meteors.

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lucjam

lucjam

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I think I would have to agree with the metor showers, a few times every year we all bundle out in expectation of a show only to be clouded out or it turns into a non event.

Draconids was a good example last year, mind you the couple I did see through gaps in the clouds managed to out do some years Perseids.

That said I love nothing better than sitting out waiting for meteors.

Don't say that i was looking forward to my first view of the Perseids this year.

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Andy_E

Andy_E

Posted
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Controversial comment here, but I remember how disappointed I was when I first saw M51 a few years back. Imaging aside, I still can’t quite work out why it causes such a fuss – M31, M33, M81, M82, M94, M63, M65, M66 – etc etc, all knock the socks off it from viewing position – and that’s just the Messiers! Plenty of corkers like NGC6946 also give it a good run for its money. Sorry if there are any M51 fans out there!

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Mr Flibble

Mr Flibble

Posted
Posted

Mine is the North American Nebula mainly because I've yet to find it after many times looking. I know its huge but faint, must really have to invest in a pair of bins.

Mars again. Only ever seen it once in good seeing conditions where I could make out quite good surface detail, other than that it always seems to be a fiery red blob.

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Alastair Rae

Alastair Rae

Posted
Posted

We were booked to travel deep into the Sahara to see the total eclipse in March 2006. Can you image totality in pure blue skies and 360 horizon? Then my other half broke her hip so we had to cancel. Not made better by the fact that the guy I sit next to at work got to see it.

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Ganymede12

Ganymede12

Posted
Posted

I'd have to agree with Mars.

Admittedly my telescope is tiny compared to most so not seeing planetary detail was not surprising, but when I went to a CAS meeting during Mars's Opposition I was offered a look through one of their flexitube dobsonian's. They told me that I should be able to see some planetary detail but I couldn't see much more than through my Telescope.

Interestingly, when I made a thread asking what I'de see through a Skyliner 200P, the sketches I was shown had planetary detail! Despite being a smaller scope than the CAS one!

But the disappointment during the CAS meet meant then when I went to a meet with the rest of the South Wales group and looked through Matt's dobsonian I could see loads of planetary detail which made me go "wow".

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  • 3 months later...
pajr777

pajr777

Posted
Posted

I think I would have to agree with the metor showers, a few times every year we all bundle out in expectation of a show only to be clouded out or it turns into a non event.

Draconids was a good example last year, mind you the couple I did see through gaps in the clouds managed to out do some years Perseids.

That said I love nothing better than sitting out waiting for meteors.

I was out for the Draconids last night, saw one bright white streak, clear at first and heading almost straight down towards the NNE horizon into cloud.... and then the clouds rolled in and that was that. The forecast was for 2/8 cloud cover, turned out 8/8 by 10pm, so that was quite disappointing! Not looking good for tonight either.

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Scott

Scott

Posted
Posted

apart from the obvious (cloud) i'd say my biggest disappointment would have to be when i go out to a beautiful clear sky and the atmosphere/seeing is pants. As far as targets go i honestly can't recall a disappointment. for me, finding a dso thats hardly visable is as much a buzz as seeing the rings of saturn. i love it when after hours (sometimes days) of searching i get that little fuzzy ball in the middle of my e.p. I don't mind that its just a fuzzy bal (i've seen the pictures so i know what they look like). it just amazes me that i'm looking at something millions of lightyears away. as they say, the thrill is in the chase. for me anyway.

Scott

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FarSide

FarSide

Posted
Posted

My biggest disappointment, like with others, was M31. I think most DSO's are disappointing really, with whatever aperture you have. I'm a planetary man primarily so i get to avoid most of the disappointment thankfully.

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