Observing from last night

[Sam]

The 16" Lightbridge has had a real workout over the last few nights with the good weather we've had lately.

I started with the usual view of M31, M32 and M110 followed by a tour of the Auriga clusters. Then I spent the most amount of time on the Orion Nebula. I used the 32mm eyepice with the 3 X barlow to finally see the E and F stars. They are very close to the other stars of the Trapezium and very very faint.

The next stop was to have a look at the Eskimo nebula which I was imaging with the other setup. This is quite easy to find just under Gemini and just above a bright star. It looks like a big fuzzy star with a halo and bright centre.

The final stop for the night was a look at Orion's belt to see if I could catch a glimpse of the Horse Head, no such luck.

Earlier in the night my kids had a look at M15, M31 and M36. They really enjoyed looking at all three but were especially impressed with M15. They could make out the individual stars and were really impressed by the number of stars. It's great watching them enjoy it so much.

Sam

[russ]

Hi Sam,

Sounded a great evening. Those E & F stars are certainly faint. Where you using a UHC or OIII for M42?

The Eskimo is a nice easy target. Did you play with the magnification much? Or try a filter?

And great you have the kids enjoying the DSO's too. Do you mind me asking how old they are? My youngest, who is 5, has a real interest but we haven't moved past the moon and planets. Just happy he has an interest and don't want to kill it by looking at a faint fuzzy. But i may try him on the brighter DSO's. The only problem is i have to come up with some sort of Star Wars connection.

Regards

Russ

[Sam]

Russ,

I haven't got any filters other than coloured ones and a moon filter so no filters were used. My two kids that were observing last night are 9 so they really enjoy looking and have some idea what they are looking at.

Sam

[coolhandluke]

Sounds like a good nights viewing Sam. Great to hear the kids are getting into it! I think M31 is going to be my next target.

Russ - do the OIII and UHC make much of a difference?

[Doc]

:crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby:

I want to go out with my LB but it's always cloudy.

Great report Sam glad you had a great night.

[Starjumper]

Hi Sam,

Sounds like you had another god nights veiwing ( thats the beauty of those dark skies ) well done, I think its great that your children are showing an interest too, a nice way to spend a family evening.

John