Jump to content

Narrowband

What an amazing week


Recommended Posts

Looking back through my Astro diary was all the reminder I needed to realise how little opportunity I have had this year courtesy of the weather. Nothing at all for more than a month except bang on the full moon!
 

The weather gods were predicting clear all week! Surely not? and it only went and happened. 
Despite having to work all week, I decided to use my time wisely and focus on Astro.

Sunday 18th set up the 150pds on EQ5 as far up the garden as the extension lead would allow. At 9pm the sun was going down and I started to wonder how late it would be before it became dark enough to do anything. 
Looking to my west Venus blazing in the bright dusk. Just goes to show there is most often something to see despite the time.

All set up by 9:30 to take in a bit of the evening I really enjoy. Sitting back in my fishing chair watching the sky slowly change from day to night. I like to think of it as the shift change. It is a time when so much wildlife comes out to play.
Barn owls, Bats and the moths they hunt, the garden is noisy now with innumerable crickets.

The first stars are starting to show, Arcturus to my east being the first I see. Another ten minutes and Polaris becomes visible so time to do all the alignment bit. I am sorted by 10:00 but it still seems like daylight, I haven’t noticed that summer has crept up on us.

Back to the fishing chair. Satellite spotting, which seems to be far easier these days! Meteors, three in ten minutes but in random areas of the sky, must check to see if there are meteor showers this week.
Not until 10:30 is it dark enough to observe so M13 in Hercules. What a fantastic globular. Right then I decide to put on the camera as I have never done an imaging run on a glob.

I decide to leave the whole thing running for an hour and a half and curl up asleep with the dogs on the sofa. Being self employed gives me flexibility but I still have to get up in the morning and do a days work sadly.

00:30 I go back out to get some dark frames and pack all the kit away. The sky is so clear and the seeing is amazing. So many stars it is quite hard to make out some of the lesser constellations. If only I could stay out all night.

The next three nights are identical conditions so two nights imaging Markarians Chain and Thursday the last night before cloud ended it all I delved into M101. The Pinwheel truly is a remarkable looking galaxy.

Other highlights include the ISS passing right overhead Monday 19th, man that thing is motoring. A couple of satellites that gave off bright flashes of light like a camera flash. A Nightjar beating all the bats to the moths, what incredible flight. Stars in my garden!!! Turns out to be glowworms.

I finish up Thursdays session at 1:00 am Friday morning by a long over due look with the EP’s. Sagittarius is rising in the south so I chance my arm at M4. I am 101/110 of Messier’s famous list and this glob did not disappoint despite the low altitude. M80 should be do able and sure enough there it is. The book says it is extremely compact and bright but nothing prepared me for that, I guess words cannot describe it sometimes. Now 103/110👍

After all that. I feel very lucky to have had that opportunity, certainly something I will never forget. I don’t feel I struck quite the right balance as one of those nights should have been EP only but the flip side is that hopefully I have some great pictures as a souvenir.

To top off the whole thing, a good friend gave me! an NEQ6R yesterday. It needs a rebuild and new belts for the Roman mod but it’s like Christmas in May and all this on new moon. When does that ever happen?
 

Marvin

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.