Dusting off the cobwebs

[PeterW]

On @GavStar suggestion that the weather (and moon) are looking to get worse I cracked open the old NV kit to see what was about. Now which doodah do I need to fit into which other one?? Observing NV location lying on  ground by the backdoor so the streetlights don’t interfere. I am also using my black flocked tube to further shield out extraneous photonic muck.
Sky a bit grey, not as good as I’ve seen it. At 1x with a Long pass filter to see if all those stars were still there… yep countless. Move over to the old “pirate scope”, with 7nm hydrogen alpha filter, bit more sparkly view, but the Orion Nebula was bright and billowy (though rather small). Move up and hey there’s the flame and even ic434, don’t want to claim that the averted imagination could make out the horsehead notch though. Swing over and up, monkey head nice as defined as was the Rosette, adjusting my vision between the central cluster and Nebula. Moving further, the California was good and long with a slight dim region down the middle, now to go for some harder stuff. Flaming star (the main core regions ic401/410), old friends.

Couldn’t see the fox fur or lowers neb, nor barnards loop or meissa Nebula. Just realised I forgot to catch up with the pacman! 

To avoid the lovely new LED streetlights I walked down the far end of the garden to have a go around Cassiopeia, specifically the heart and soul… ohhh both there. The heart with the darker centre and two clear brighter knots, the soup looking like a footprint. Hands getting a bit chilly, but good to remind myself my garden isn’t quite as hopeless as I sometimes think. Maybe I should look to see how it handles even narrower filters that exist and maybe look to speed up my optics too. Should get the 8” out too.

 

Peter

 

[Mike JW]

Good for you for getting out there, despite the light pollution.