Rushed but rewarding session

[mattjanes100]

For various reasons (primarily weather), I haven't been out for a session for quite a while. Over the course of the day in Bournemouth we had rain, sleet and wind so I wasn't holding out much hope for the evening. Fortunately, the clouds parted! I knew I wouldn't have long for a session as I had to drop my wife off and pick her up 90 minutes later, but having bought a DSLR in the new year and spent many rainy nights since poring over Covington's book, I was determined to get out and look at/photograph something....

The problem then was that I had set up the scope and camera but with no plan or specific target in mind I ended up trying to look at everything and then was moving back and forth between scope and camera without really taking any time to do either thing properly!

First stop was of course M42, followed by M45. Didn't spend long here before targeting Sirius - no joy with the Pup. I tried for Neptune but then had started trying some snaps with the camera.

Initial attempts at some long exposures with the kit lens provided some promising results of Orion and Taurus. I then tried to capture the Moon/Venus conjunction over Bournemouth but could not quite get the settings right for a good image unfortunately.

By this time it was time to pack up and head back for pickup.

This was a rewarding session in as much as it was just good to get out and be observing, but lesson learned that a session plan is definitely needed to avoid wasted time and a scattered approach.

Edited January 29, 2020 by mattjanes100

[Stu]

Good to get out the Matt, the weather has been so awful recently you have to take every chance.

Planning is good. I grabbed about half an hour last night with the specific aim of seeing the Moon, Venus and Neptune conjunction, which I managed successfully.

Let's hope the skies play ball a bit more!