Gazing at stars 18/8/19

[domstar]

Back in the groove after months of listlessness. When galaxy hunting in Virgo failed to give me peace the whole stargazing business took a back seat. Now that my frame of mind is better in all areas, I was raring to give it another chance.

So there I was, with no research, no targets and just my memory to guide me. Jupiter and Saturn were fuzzy and quickly discarded. M13 and M11 made me relax and then it was on to Sagittarius. Firstly it was the two biggest Globs and then up through the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud to the Swan and the Eagle. Very nice and the UHC didn't improve things greatly. I moved on to the Triffid and Lagoon. The Lagoon was the sight of the night with the UHC. My problem was that I just steamrollered through Sagittarius and missed a lot of the lesser sights due to a lack of research and tenacity, but not bad for a reintroduction. 

About that time the glow on the horizon from the moon was replaced by direct light (sort of) as it cleared the hills. What a change. The sky suddenly became pale and my silhouette was drawn clearly on the ground from shadows. I snapped the rising moon with my first ever smartphone shot. I've had the adapter for months, unused. The results were good enough for my non-stargazing wife to want to put on her facebook page. Just a quick double cluster and then home to bed and a wonderful deep sleep.

Through all the bad few months, I've been reading this site although I didn't post. It has been good for me to read everyone's posts and to keep my stargazing identity alive despite not actually practicing the hobby. Thanks for that, and thanks for reading.

Dominic

[John]

Thanks for posting Dominic - I enjoyed reading it

[Trikeflyer]

Glad you go5 your mojo back. I think we can all feel a bit out of the groove at some point. Thanks for sharing though. I just love those nebulae. The swan is probably my favourite closely followed by the lagoon and the triffid. I have to smile every time I catch them. 

Thanks fir sharing 

Steve 

[Littleguy80]

Great report, Dom. I’m just in from a really enjoyable session. As I was packing up, I actually thought of you and the fact that I hadn’t seen you post recently. Made it extra nice to see your report there just now. State of mind can make such a difference. I’ve forced myself out when overtired and just not had the same zest for it. Then I’ll have a night like tonight where I just cruise around enjoying various targets and everything just feels right. I think you were wise to take a break and come back when you felt the inclination to observe again. It’s just a hobby and should be enjoyed. 

p.s. you should share your Moon picture on here  

[domstar]

@Littleguy80 Thanks very much- that means a lot. 

As for the picture (just for you). I cropped it and changed the colour.

[domstar]

Wow that didn't look great on the phone but at that size it'a an abomination. The lack of detail is striking. Still strangely proud of it , though.

[Littleguy80]

Thanks Dom! For a first go with the smart phone adapter I think it came out well. Takes a bit of playing to figure out how to get the best out of it. 

You should have seen my attempt at M42. If I’d gotten one of the kids to draw it with crayons then it would have been more recognisable 😉

Edited August 20, 2019 by Littleguy80

[Paz]

Great report, thanks for posting. Sometimes I've had a deflating session and lost a bit of steam but then reading the reports of others had helped keep me motivated.

[Saganite]

A lovely report Dominic, and keep posting as they are always a joy.....

[cloudsweeper]

Nice one Dom - I've also noticed you've not been much in evidence lately.  Not done much myself either - went out last night, saw Jupiter, then it started to rain!  Not all a disaster though - I spent some daylight time today playing with the Barlow in the ED80 - cut a long story short, it turns out that for me at least, with the ED80 and two extension tubes,  the Barlow is best used with just its lens cell screwed into each EP.  Now to put that into real action.....

Doug.

[domstar]

15 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

Nice one Dom - I've also noticed you've not been much in evidence lately.  Not done much myself either - went out last night, saw Jupiter, then it started to rain!  Not all a disaster though - I spent some daylight time today playing with the Barlow in the ED80 - cut a long story short, it turns out that for me at least, with the ED80 and two extension tubes,  the Barlow is best used with just its lens cell screwed into each EP.  Now to put that into real action.....

Doug.

Thanks. I've got an unscrewable Barlow but all that fiddling. I tend to keep the same eyepiece and only change with reluctance let alone use a Barlow. Mucky fingers are another of my problems. Last night it was Ritz crackers. So I'll just add manual dexterity to the long list of your admirable traits.

[Stu]

Good to be back in the saddle Dom! Nice report, well worth another trawl up the Milky Way when the moon is put of the way.

[scarp15]

Good report, there are possibly a few on here that will re-emerge following a lengthy period of little insightful observing to contribute much towards. The forum does keep you interested though. The moon is starting to rise a little bit later on and here we have a bank holiday weekend forthcoming and whilst I wont hold my breath, reasonable clear conditions are forecast (just need to say that quietly).