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Out for longer

The Warthog

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The Warthog

The Warthog

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After "Corner Gas" (Canadian comedy) was over, there was nothing to watch for at least a half hour, so I took a look outside, and found the night as crystalline and starry as it gets around here. So, I put on my parka, and set up my scope. I popped in the 32mm ep, and after careful and diligent searching, I failed to find M81 and 82. Buoyed on by my lack of success, I then failed to see M108 and M97, and decided to fail to find M51 and 63, as well. Put the scope on M44 and Saturn for a moment, then failed to locate M67. Since I could find the Moon, I watched it for a considerable length of time at 30x and 116x.

I had tried to find M81/82 using Phecda and Dubhe as pointers. I looked through the ep for a long time, hoping to tease out the shape of these two galaxies, which I have seen before, through a 10" scope at a star party, but I don't really count an object if I haven't seen it through my own gear.

Need a bigger scope.

As far as how I felt about the night, it's a bit like going fishing, and not catching any fish. I was still outside in the fresh air for two hours, saw some interesting stuff, and didn't think about any of the problems of my little world. Can't be unhappy with that. :laugh:

Corner Gas featured Wanda's use of a telescope to view a meteor shower that occurs only once every 12,000 years (!). (Sorry I missed it.) She was going to watch this phenomenon using a Meade scope, apparently a 5 or 6" Schmidt Newtonian, with the finderscope at the end opposite the ep, and mounted on a camera tripod. Oh, the ep was on a 90degree diagonal. I wonder who the astronomy nut who put that together was? I love the show, but that was even worse than some of the astronomical gaffes CSI has pulled (an astronomer setting up his 4.5" scope in the middle of a woods? Egad!)

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GordonCopestake

GordonCopestake

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A good report WH, I regularly have excellent observing sessions where I fail to find all manner of objects and still have fun doing so! One night I even managed to fail to find the moon, but I shall say that in a quiet voice... I’m off to see if i can fail to find Jupiter now as its 5:30am here!

[edit]Scratch that! 100% cloud cover and a spattering of rain.... The dawn chorus is pleasant though [/edit]

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Naz

Naz

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Excellant report WH, Good to see others have the similiar happenings to myself.

As for fishing, there is a saying, "catching a fish is a bonus"

nabban :laugh:

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MartinB

MartinB

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Very enjoyable report as always WH. It's the failures that make the successes sweet :? :laugh:

Telrad!!! I couldn't star hop to M81/82 despite hours of trying in some very uncomforatable positions. Piece of cake with the Telrad though.

show up ok in the ED80 so your reflector should be ok. Only small and smudgy though :?

Martin

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FLO

FLO

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I popped in the 32mm ep, and after careful and diligent searching, I failed to find M81 and 82. Buoyed on by my lack of success, I then failed to see M108 and M97, and decided to fail to find M51 and 63, as well. Put the scope on M44 and Saturn for a moment, then failed to locate M67. Since I could find the Moon, I watched it for a considerable length of time at 30x and 116x.

I had tried to find M81/82 using Phecda and Dubhe as pointers. I looked through the ep for a long time, hoping to tease out the shape of these two galaxies, which I have seen before, through a 10" scope at a star party, but I don't really count an object if I haven't seen it through my own gear.

As far as how I felt about the night, it's a bit like going fishing, and not catching any fish. I was still outside in the fresh air for two hours, saw some interesting stuff, and didn't think about any of the problems of my little world. Can't be unhappy with that. :laugh:

Hhmmm ... I'm starting to question my decision to sell the GOTO scope!

(Thanks for the report WH; they are always a good read :laugh:)

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FLO

FLO

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I wasn't going to look for it! I was going to not look for it. :laugh:

I was referring to me, I looked for it thru a 4" before I knew better :laugh:

BTW, 'nieve' is a Scots word for 'fist.' You are looking for 'naive.'

I stand corrected :laugh:

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