Lovely tonight

[ChrisEdu]

Actually gathered up enough motivation tonight to take my scope outside and take a look, largely due to the intense brightness of Venus.

So, needless to say, Venus was my first target and with my 25mm and 12.4mm eyepieces it looked lovely. At higher mag. things became a bit too hazy to be worthwhile.

Next, I turned my attention to the orion Nebula. Wow! It looked so bright tonight. Had lovely views with all my eyepieces, right down to my 9.7mm (my highest mag at present). The outline was easily observable and it looked great.

My next idea was to use the tour feature on my GOTO to take a look at a few more things. In no particualr order, I then observed several double stars (sorry, can't remember their names, although I know started Psi P.....), Kembles Cascade, Kite cluster, Little Fish, and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Over all, I've been really pleased with what I've seen tonight, although, it has made me wonder how much more I'd see with even a slightly bigger scope, e.g. 6" v 4"?

Edit: I forgot to mention, I also took a look at several clusters, open and double. They made me wish I had an eyepiece with a wider field of view so I could fit more in.

[MartinB]

Great to see that someone has managed to get out observing. Sounds like an enjoyable session Chris. Don't fret about aperture or your EPs Chris, just enjoy the views.

[ChrisEdu]

It's glorious outside tonight - warm and clear and no problems (so far) with dew! Only trouble that I've had is with some ice on my decking (obviously a patch that hasn't yet caught the Sun to defrost).

It's been really nice just scanning through the Heavens, enjoying the view. But, as I said, it does make me wonder what I'm missing with a small scope.

[philf]

Cracking here in Hampshire too

[Psychobilly]

I Grabbed a few hours "ugly" sleep before thinking about popping out for a few hours... I wasn't going to bother setting up the kit in the obs just wanted have a go with the camera on a fixed tirpod I think...see how the CLS-CCD clip in gets on...

Only to find wall to wall cloud ....

Billy...

[scotastro]

Clear all across the sky in SW Scotland. Been comet hunting with a big Dob.

One hit (144P Kushida) one miss (A1 McNaught).

Mike

[ChrisEdu]

Sounds good! I saw something flash across my view earlier, only to realise that it was an aircraft! Anyhow, time to pop back outside and see whatelse is visible.

[ChrisEdu]

D'oh! Well, that didn't take long - everything was either covered in ice or dew! My eyepieces had frozen to the table I'd put them on and the scope was soaking wet! Ah, well! It was fun whilst it lasted! I did get a nice view of the Moon rising over some trees.

[Psychobilly]

Raining here...

[Black Shuck]

Sounds like great fun Chris. I enjoy these sort of 'impromptu' sessions.

Lovely and clear here too but was too late back from work. However, I expect Dave (Centroid) is busy imaging away on the other side of Ipswich!! Might be some images posted in the morning ??

Cheers

Bill£

[MikeP]

Snuck out at 8pm for a quick look for comet Kushida - no chance - needed a darker sky.

The moon was starting to have too much of an effect so after a quick look at M31 / M110 and M81 / M82 I decided to start my lunar education. Harder than I thought, could not get orientated at all. It was made harder by the secondary dewing up. Also, trying to learn my way round with a dob using moderate power was not a good idea.

Not as good a night as I'd hoped but nice to be outside again.

Mike

[MartinB]

Was cloudy here until the early hours