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The BEST night yet!


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My astro journey seems to be coming together and getting better and better, at long last. I had my first scope bought me 5 years ago, as a present from the now, wife. When we moved to where we are, I remember commenting, "Wow, just look how dark it is, I've always wanted to get my head around the night sky." I now know that we're actually a Bortle 5, so not as good as it could be! Anyway, I did a similar thing with my telescope as to what I did with my first serious SLR camera 25 years ago - I read around the subject for a few months, got distracted, and didn't pick it back up again until the start of this year (the camera was 10 years gap, which has been my main passion for these last 15 years) The fun in this, like many pursuits, is certainly the learning aspect.

I upgraded the little SW 130 recently to a 10" dob and so am now seeing some of these things far better than I could have previously. My garden faces NE, with the East largely out of view due to a large oak tree, but the West is the my best vantage point. These last couple of months I have been taking in Perseus, Auriga, Gemini and more recently, Leo of course. It's only been the last 6 weeks that I've been trying to observe the Whirlpool Galaxy (and struggling for various reasons, one being it's position directly overhead with the old EQ mount!) along with M81 & M82.

So, last night started off as the best nights usually do, full of little hope! There seemed a window of 6% cloud between 10.30-12am before the cloud rolled in and having just bought a 24mm ES (82 deg) eyepiece from a member here, I was keen to try it (come back to that later!) The cloud seemed to roll out around 10 so I began around half an hour later looking around Auriga. I couldn't find M37 and it didn't seem quite dark enough at that time, so I flipped the dob west to find the beehive cluster as I could see that easily in the binoculars. Simply stunning in the new eyepiece! The 82 degree FOV was/is so immersive! Felt like climbing into the sky. The backend of Leo was easy enough, and I found M65 & M65 quickly. I spent probably 20 minutes trying to find M95 & M96, but for some reason I struggled. I'm still waiting on a 9x50 RACI finder due by the end of the month and so relying totally on the Telrad. I had a printed map but got a little frustrated so moved overhead to the Bode and Cigar Galaxies which I spent some time viewing last week. Found them both quickly and again, looked superb in the 24 and the 16. I wasn't so confident with whirlpool for some reason but I quickly found it last night. Being directly overhead at this time of year is a little odd using the dob. The EQ mount wouldn't have been able to have got the angle for snagging on a leg, but it's strange tracking it at such a vertical angle. I must have spent a good while taking it all in and certainly resolved more of it than I have previously. My next little project will be heading somewhere south of me into a Bortle 4 area. At this point I was ready for a nightcap. Having taken a step back to take it all in and observe the movement of the various constellations, I looked just a touch to the right of the oak tree and could see.....Vega! I've wanted to head out somewhere to view the Hercules cluster and of course, the ring nebula, but there she was, right above our house! It didn't take long at all to find them both from memory, they must be the easiest targets to find. My initial thought of the cluster was how it resembled a 'splat' in the eyepiece, it's quite the most dramatic of clusters. I spent a good time flipping between them both quite in awe at the sight and the fact that I've managed to see them from my own back yard! Time was ticking, so headed back in just after 1, very happy with an immersive nights viewing. Hoping that there's some clear skies at the weekend to take the dob for a drive, maybe...

 

 

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Sounds fantastic, nothing better than a successful night!

I had my first look of this year at M13 on Sunday. Never fails to impress even in my 8inch newt.

I'm sure you will get back into the swing of findings things. I have only ever used a telrad and depending how dark your sky it (I have a bortle 4 garden) it is all I need to find anything with my wide field eyepiece.

Fingers crossed for more good nights soon

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Great report. 👍🏻

Cloud never lifted here unfortunately but looks better for tonight..

Just be aware that during lockdown travelling to a dark site is considered non essential. Was a news story the other day of the police stopping someone on a trip to a dark site and sending them home.

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12 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Great report. 👍🏻

Cloud never lifted here unfortunately but looks better for tonight..

Just be aware that during lockdown travelling to a dark site is considered non essential. Was a news story the other day of the police stopping someone on a trip to a dark site and sending them home.

Yes I do realise that John. I’m in no real rush, curious yes, but it can wait a bit.

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The difference 12 hours can have on a forecast! It was forecast quite a bit of cloud around tonight but now looks clear from midnight. I've probably burnt the midnight oil last night, have an important meeting tomorrow...

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7 hours ago, johninderby said:

Great report. 👍🏻

Cloud never lifted here unfortunately but looks better for tonight..

Just be aware that during lockdown travelling to a dark site is considered non essential. Was a news story the other day of the police stopping someone on a trip to a dark site and sending them home.

As we didn’t get an official Bresser dob  owners thread,  what would a typical session for someone like yourself, who’s been doing this for many years, entail tonight? Have you a load of go-to’s that you generally find yourself flitting between? 

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2 hours ago, Stardaze said:

As we didn’t get an official Bresser dob  owners thread,  what would a typical session for someone like yourself, who’s been doing this for many years, entail tonight? Have you a load of go-to’s that you generally find yourself flitting between? 

If you have a look in the observing sections (link below) you can see what people are or have recently been observing. Also "heads up" posts on interesting short term targets often go into the Astro Lounge or the Celestial Events Heads Up sections (also linked to below)

We are not picking on Bresser owners particularly - we have long resisted single brand sections and scope type sections on the forum because we have seen the negative impact it has had on other forums over the years :smiley:

Here are those links:

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/7-observing/

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/239-celestial-events-heads-up/

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/12-the-astro-lounge/

 

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46 minutes ago, John said:

If you have a look in the observing sections (link below) you can see what people are or have recently been observing. Also "heads up" posts on interesting short term targets often go into the Astro Lounge or the Celestial Events Heads Up sections (also linked to below)

We are not picking on Bresser owners particularly - we have long resisted single brand sections and scope type sections on the forum because we have seen the negative impact it has had on other forums over the years :smiley:

Here are those links:

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/7-observing/

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/239-celestial-events-heads-up/

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/12-the-astro-lounge/

 

Thanks John, I'll venture out of the beginners section now that I've got my 2300 light years badge 👍

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7 minutes ago, Stardaze said:

Thanks John, I'll venture out of the beginners section now that I've got my 2300 light years badge 👍

You don't have to post anywhere else but it's worth seeing what others are looking at :smiley:

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