A brief astro tour under town LP

[Ships and Stars]

Clear transparent skies early this evening out walking with the family. Pointed out Mars, Saturn and Jupiter to my small daughter who seemed really excited. Vega and Deneb were just starting to show in the dusk.

At home I asked my daughter if she wanted to see her first galaxy in real life. (Andromeda naturally!) so after an enthusiastic response, I raced to set up the 300p as cloud was soon due. 

Going through a quick collimation and cool down, I located Andromeda in the 9x50 RACI and set focus with the 20mm APM.

Went inside to retrieve daughter who decided if it was dark outside, she wasn't going because there were monsters out there. Hard to argue with that line of reasoning.

After much pleading on my part, she put on her wellies and out we went. I think she expected fireworks and amazing colours that she'd seen in astro photographs I'd shown her from Hubble or La Palma, etc, so being rather unimpressed with what she saw through the eyepiece, she soon demanded to go back inside and insisted she only saw stars, no galaxy...I think in hindsight with the 100deg EP she was holding her head off to the side and looking past it. Maybe. 

I'll have to manage her expectations next time! 🤣 I did momentarily drag my wife away from her laptop and endless workload out to the scope after that. She seemed marginally interested at her first view of a galaxy, and I did get some verbal exclamations from her - she stayed at the eyepiece for a brief while which says a little something, and she was able to spot M32 as well when I hinted there were actually two galaxies in the FOV.

Anyway...since the scope was set up and cooled, dad naturally stayed on for a solo hunt. Spent a lot more time on M33 again, getting eyes adjusted etc. M32 was coming through clearly as well -  quite bright. Poking around for M110 - that finally came through as a very faint patch, but still relatively well defined. 

Next, the OIII went on the 20mm and over to the Veil. Decent enough views of the E & W Veil, with a patchy hint of Pickering's Triangle/Wisp.

Actually, the E & W Veil tonight were pretty darn good under the prevailing LP (19.8-20.2 sqm normally, perhaps up to 20.35 on an exceptional night). I should note we are luckily in a 'dark spot' in town without street lights or direct LP, shielded by taller unoccupied buildings that don't have their dozen (yes 12) exterior LED lights on pointed at our house...because I complained incessantly until they got tired of me moaning! There is no one in the buildings at night and very little crime around here, so I also promised I'd keep an eye out for any funny business. The squeaky wheel does get the grease sometimes! 👍

Anyway, after the Veil, I thought I'd chase up the Crescent Nebula since the OIII filter was in place. Bumping the dob around slightly below Deneb, I caught a faint patch of something and stopped and concentrated. Not 100% but it was starting to materialise. One small trick that works for me is to quickly swap eyes - for a fleeting second or two, my other eye seems to give a bit more contrast and larger dark-adapted pupil I think. That confirmed it was the Crescent, but not too impressive I have to admit, having seen it recently under very dark skies with the big dob. Still, it was a hit...

After that I started seeing wisps of high cloud popping up, so quickly over to M57. It was quite small naturally with the 20mm, so I went all out and dropped in the 9mm APM XWA (note: I love this eyepiece for PN and most galaxies - it's killer. Almost didn't bother buying it). After a nice eyeful of M57 at 167x though with a rather tiny 1.83mm exit pupil I popped the OIII on the 9mm and that made a huge difference - the Ring Nebula was totally isolated against the sky background and seemed to really glow.  The OIII certainly did the trick with contrast, even at that small an exit pupil. Not a necessity on M57, but does offer a different view worth trying.

For my grand finale, I thought I'd be a bit silly and put the 9mm on the 2x powermate for a bash at 334x (hey don't know till you try!) but by the time...cloud had rolled in.

The future plan is to gently chuck, er, nudge, the family in the van along with the 300p and nip out of town about 10-15 minutes to set up at my nearest decent dark sky spot in the 21.2-3 sqm region, which is a big, big step up from home. I think that will make enough difference to interest my daughter and wife in some of the brighter sights, especially if I shamelessly bribe my daughter with biscuits. Also, we'll be able to see the Milky Way which I've promised her, so that might be the best approach without any scopes or bins.

If you made it this far - give yourself a pat on the back and thanks for wading though all this - I've written a book this time! 

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Ships and Stars

[scarp15]

Good going with family, not straightforward to get them enthused though. My daughter used to enjoy looking at brighter colourful double stars, Albireo a classic example. Try her on the moon when there is a good lunar phase that always works. My daughter just refers to it as dads hobby, no interest, at nineteen why would she. Set up my refractor tonight (subsequently took back inside due to cloud), my wife asked which telescope I was using, I told her it was the small one, she replied "oh you mean the pipe".  

[Ships and Stars]

@scarp15 yes I'm not sure how long my daughter will keep any level of interest, but she does have a passing amount at the moment. I'll try the moon again and she keeps talking about Saturn, but that's really low in the sky with the buildings here.

The pipe, eh?? I kind of like that...

[scarp15]

10 hours ago, Ships and Stars said:

@scarp15 yes I'm not sure how long my daughter will keep any level of interest, but she does have a passing amount at the moment. I'll try the moon again and she keeps talking about Saturn, but that's really low in the sky with the buildings here.

The pipe, eh?? I kind of like that...

Yes keep aiming to retain her interest, we went as a family to attend Kielder starcamp Spring and Autumn for several years, she loved that and still loves to go camping. She had absorbed the notable distinction of a dark sky and the Milky Way as encountered from a remote camping site and has stuck with her.

The pipe, yep quite a flattering remark, the 14" dobsonian, she had referred to as the water cylinder, usually nowadays less flattering remark; that junk in the corner. 

[Ships and Stars]

3 hours ago, scarp15 said:

Yes keep aiming to retain her interest, we went as a family to attend Kielder starcamp Spring and Autumn for several years, she loved that and still loves to go camping. She had absorbed the notable distinction of a dark sky and the Milky Way as encountered from a remote camping site and has stuck with her.

The pipe, yep quite a flattering remark, the 14" dobsonian, she had referred to as the water cylinder, usually nowadays less flattering remark; that junk in the corner. 

If my daughter walks away with some appreciation of astronomy and the nights skies, them I'm happy if she doesn't take too it like I have (probably a good thing at times!).

My wife is actually pretty accommodating on the whole and just ignores my telescopes which I'm very happy with! She actually wanted to be an astronaut when she was younger, even well into her teens, so there is more than a passing interest for her but her work schedule leaves her drained by the time the stars are out, if she's not still typing away. On occasion she's popped out for a look at the moon which is breathtaking if you've not seen it through a decent scope before.

My daughter's still a little young for camping, we were going to camp in the garden but she bailed out on me after an hour and wanted her bed! We'll work on that before we venture too far afield...

Edited October 9, 2020 by Ships and Stars

[jetstream]

7 minutes ago, Ships and Stars said:

If my daughter walks away with some appreciation of astronomy

This is very good that you are promoting astronomy to your daughter Robert. She might take a few looks here and a few looks there which is all good. I do the same with the eldest G kid, who owns the H130. And what do you know? one day she had friends over for a sleep over and said "Papa can we look through my telescope?". The kids were amazed actually and my grandaughter was very proud of the whole deal.

I'm glad you are doing this for your daughter Robert!

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Brilliant Mr. Ships. 👍

You've plenty of time to convert your daughter. I left it too late. Once they're in their teens they're lost!

The skies have been terrible here for over a week. Although the missus was dragged to the front door kicking and screaming the other night to look at Mars rising in the east. She actually seemed quite impressed by the bright orange ball and forgave me for dragging her away from the laptop. 🙄

[Ships and Stars]

3 minutes ago, jetstream said:

This is very good that you are promoting astronomy to your daughter Robert. She might take a few looks here and a few looks there which is all good. I do the same with the eldest G kid, who owns the H130. And what do you know? one day she had friends over for a sleep over and said "Papa can we look through my telescope?". The kids were amazed actually and my grandaughter was very proud of the whole deal.

I'm glad you are doing this for your daughter Robert!

I'll need someone to help me pack the big dob into the van in a few years! 🤣 

No seriously, if she takes a bit of interest from time to time I'll be thrilled. I think the key is letting her have a look through the 500p sometime when's she's a little older from a dark sky site at things like M42, M57, Rosette, Veil, Whirlpool, Markarian's Chain, etc. If that doesn't stoke the fire, then I'll leave it!

 

[jetstream]

Just now, Ships and Stars said:

if she takes a bit of interest from time to time I'll be thrilled.

I take the position that repeated exposure to different areas of science can kindle the fire...even if it takes a bit. She might find other interest's but she will always remember her Dad showing her the night sky- keep up the good work Robert!

[Ships and Stars]

3 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Brilliant Mr. Ships. 👍

You've plenty of time to convert your daughter. I left it too late. Once they're in their teens they're lost!

The skies have been terrible here for over a week. Although the missus was dragged to the front door kicking and screaming the other night to look at Mars rising in the east. She actually seemed quite impressed by the bright orange ball and forgave me for dragging her away from the laptop. 🙄

We've had a lot of cloud too - was surprised we had a clear moonless window last night. I'll gently steer my daughter towards an appreciation of the night skies and astro but don't want to drive her away from it. I think living in the same household, they'll get enough growing up around my pile of gear strategically scattered throughout the house! If my wife's not busy she'll pop out for a look without much protest.

[scarp15]

The two of us went backpacking, wild camping in the Lake District prior to Grace going back to Uni. We pitched by an upland Tarn, Jupiter and Saturn shone brightly and were reflected like ghostly comets upon the mirror surface. I went back to the tent to tell Grace... but she was fast asleep. The appreciation though is there, as they progress into young adulthood. 

[PeterW]

Just being under a properly dark sky and with a pair of binoculars should keep the smaller ones busy. Ask them to see how many satellites they can count!

I managed to get my youngest to a stayparty, he’d gone to bed early and then it cleared… god it was hard to drag him out, pry his eyes open for a few seconds… I think he saw the milkyway…!

I am still looking for “the monsters”… watched a pair of little owls hunting worms on local cricket pitch a few nights ago. Like cats, I think they were cheesed off I could see them… some animals think they’re invisible!

Peter

[scarp15]

That is true, when they are of a young age, a pair of binoculars, particularly when steadied on a tripod or something are much easier and accessible for them to manage. This kept briefly the attention of Grace and a couple of her friends at starcamp years ago.

[Ships and Stars]

7 hours ago, PeterW said:

Just being under a properly dark sky and with a pair of binoculars should keep the smaller ones busy. Ask them to see how many satellites they can count!

I managed to get my youngest to a stayparty, he’d gone to bed early and then it cleared… god it was hard to drag him out, pry his eyes open for a few seconds… I think he saw the milkyway…!

I am still looking for “the monsters”… watched a pair of little owls hunting worms on local cricket pitch a few nights ago. Like cats, I think they were cheesed off I could see them… some animals think they’re invisible!

Peter

 

6 hours ago, scarp15 said:

That is true, when they are of a young age, a pair of binoculars, particularly when steadied on a tripod or something are much easier and accessible for them to manage. This kept briefly the attention of Grace and a couple of her friends at starcamp years ago.

We can do binoculars! I think the 12x70 Celestrons might work, tons of eye relief. Have to see if the IPD will work at minimum setting. I might be starting her a little bit young, but she has been able to point out nebula and galaxies in books for awhile now. Pre-school age but very curious about the world around her, like mom and dad   

[domstar]

Great report. I really enjoyed reading it. You have the right tactic- biscuits. I could always keep my kids happy to be out with me as long as they were munching on something. I tried the same tactic at football matches too. Now my daughter is 16 and I'm happy when she indulges me by looking at a planet or a sunspot from the balcony. 

[PeterW]

I sent some wide old second hand 7x35 I’d got from ebay to a young family relation, easier to hold, lots of stars.

 

peter