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Ships and Stars

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Hi all, been ages since I was on here, hope everyone is doing well. I'm counting down the days once more to true darkness here at 57N-ish. August 12th is the first evening the sun dips more than 18deg below the horizon, so the official start of observing season once more and the nights will rapidly get longer from there of course.

Haven't been up to much astro-related over the summer, bought some second-hand Pentax 20x60s bins which are absolutely brilliant, by far my favs out of the four pair in the inventory. 

I removed and gently cleaned the 20" mirror on the 500p over the summer with tap water in the bath tub (big mirror! haha) and am keeping the leisure battery charged.

I'd like to try and catch Neowise soon before it disappears. Don't know how quickly that will happen, but from home I can't see it easily due to buildings etc.

Anyway, thought I'd check in and see what everyone is up to.

Hoping to train the 300p on Neowise soon, need to read up more on timings and location.

Cheers, S&S

 

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4 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

Hi all, been ages since I was on here, hope everyone is doing well. I'm counting down the days once more to true darkness here at 57N-ish. August 12th is the first evening the sun dips more than 18deg below the horizon, so the official start of observing season once more and the nights will rapidly get longer from there of course.

Haven't been up to much astro-related over the summer, bought some second-hand Pentax 20x60s bins which are absolutely brilliant, by far my favs out of the four pair in the inventory. 

I removed and gently cleaned the 20" mirror on the 500p over the summer with tap water in the bath tub (big mirror! haha) and am keeping the leisure battery charged.

I'd like to try and catch Neowise soon before it disappears. Don't know how quickly that will happen, but from home I can't see it easily due to buildings etc.

Anyway, thought I'd check in and see what everyone is up to.

Hoping to train the 300p on Neowise soon, need to read up more on timings and location.

Cheers, S&S

 

Hello again!

I've been playing as much as I could during this early summer ... which turned out to be just a few times 😞. These short nights are really annoying. I don't like starting my session at midnight.  I did see a few nice things for the first time though (including the eastern  veil nebula). 

I also got some binos, Nikon action 10x50 which were great on Neowise... On that topic, you have to hurry up! it will fade quickly. I am no comet expert but this was an amazing display. 

Raph

 

 

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Perhaps your binoculars Robert, get to a lofty location with a good NW / N horizon and if possible no light pollution. Of course the sun will be impacting a little. Best from about midnight onwards, probably the last good opportunities in the next few nights. A breezy site for obvious reasons would be applicable 🙂 

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16 minutes ago, scarp15 said:

Perhaps your binoculars Robert, get to a lofty location with a good NW / N horizon and if possible no light pollution. Of course the sun will be impacting a little. Best from about midnight onwards, probably the last good opportunities in the next few nights. A breezy site for obvious reasons would be applicable 🙂 

Thanks Iain! I've had so much on I missed the best nights here. I looked about two nights ago, just naked eye, but I'm down too low to see much here. Need to get up to the local hill and have a shot. Hoping for at least a glimpse before it vanishes for the next 6800 years ;)

 

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55 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

Thanks Iain! I've had so much on I missed the best nights here. I looked about two nights ago, just naked eye, but I'm down too low to see much here. Need to get up to the local hill and have a shot. Hoping for at least a glimpse before it vanishes for the next 6800 years ;)

 

Yeah same here, I have been toing and froing to Leeds doing jobs at my daughters house for Uni and missed a few good nights. I had considered setting up on the Newcastle Town Moor, not far from home, but really wanted to do this properly and get to a dark site. It is very much a must see encounter if you get the chance.

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1 hour ago, Gina said:

Welcome back 😀

Thanks Gina, hope you are well! I'm hoping to have a good observing season this year once the midges disappear. Late last August, I set up in the heart of the Cairngorms and was absolutely overrun with midges. Even my van was filled inside with all the windows closed. It was a bloodbath despite headnet, coat and repellent. I'll observe locally at my closest spot until September. You should be getting proper darkness around 1am now your way according to the trusty suncalc. We've not had a particularly brilliant summer here, June was persistent fog and the rain has been frequent since then. A few good days, hopefully more before autumn. 

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I’m the same as you, do very little, if any observing during the summer which I always regret because there’s a lot of summer objects I miss out on, but work etc, make the VERY late summer nights impractical. I intend to put all that right in the summer of 2022 because I will have retired 🎉🎉 I also will begin setting up again in the next 2-3 weeks.

Regarding Neowise, be quick and use your bins, I had a great view through my 10x50’s and everyone says the view is better through bins than a scope.

Welcome back

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5 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

I’m the same as you, do very little, if any observing during the summer which I always regret because there’s a lot of summer objects I miss out on, but work etc, make the VERY late summer nights impractical. I intend to put all that right in the summer of 2022 because I will have retired 🎉🎉 I also will begin setting up again in the next 2-3 weeks.

Regarding Neowise, be quick and use your bins, I had a great view through my 10x50’s and everyone says the view is better through bins than a scope.

Welcome back

Thank you! Ah retirement, I've a long way yet! Thanks also for the tip on the binoculars, that's probably about all I'll be able to muster given my available time at the moment. A good glimpse will at least cure the fever before it disappears. 

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