Jump to content

Please someone switch off the moon


Recommended Posts

The moon itself is fascinating.

Then there are the planets which are not affected by the moon being in the sky. Double stars likewise. Open and globular clusters and the brighter planetary nebulae. Lots to explore even when the moon is high and bright :smiley:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allways enjoy observing the moon. Just so much to see and idenifying a crater or other feature can be very satisfying. You could spend a lifetime studying the moon properly. 🙂

I observe from the comfort of the conservatory a lot as it gets colder. While the temp may be the same as outside there is no breeze to chill you. 

79CCCBB8-CD3B-4763-BBA4-6026237AF9CA.jpeg

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's around 8°C here with a slight breeze. Very pleasant wearing a t-shirt and a fleece. A good hour's just been spent on the patio observing Mars and Lunar. There's plenty to tease out of an 88% waxing gibbous moon. 

Despite the moon and if by some miracle the clouds stay away, the extra darkness later should be good for some nice open clusters around Perseus and Cassiopeia for starters.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

It's around 8°C here with a slight breeze. Very pleasant wearing a t-shirt and a fleece. A good hour's just been spent on the patio observing Mars and Lunar. There's plenty to tease out of an 88% waxing gibbous moon. 

Despite the moon and if by some miracle the clouds stay away, the extra darkness later should be good for some nice open clusters around Perseus and Cassiopeia for starters.

 

The double cluster in perseus, thats really amazing. But not for a mak 127 (narrow fov). I prefer the startravel 120. Those are my two telescopes. Though the open clusters in cassiopea are my favourites. Little jewel boxes. The owl cluster,man, thats nice

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It turns out you can see quite a lot even under bright moonlit skies! I’ve just spent a couple of hours observing the Moon, Mars, Uranus and some deep-sky objects with my 8-inch Dobsonian. The seeing was very good - I was able to use 300x on the Moon but I preferred the view at 200x as it had more contrast. Mars looked probably the best I’ve ever seen it. The south polar cap, north polar hood and lots of dark markings were visible on the planet. I tried looking for its two moons without any success. 

Uranus was a nice pale blue disc. I couldn’t see any of its moons but there seemed to be a hint of something there. 

By this time Cassiopeia was almost directly overhead (difficult to navigate with a Dob!). I had a nice view of the Pleiades (I prefer the view of this through the finder scope), the double cluster, M34 and M76 (the Little Dumbbell Nebula). It’s easy to see where it gets its name from after observing M27 so many times.

Not a bad session considering the great big spotlight in the sky casting shadows! 😀

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The moon is under rated by many. One man's pain in the A... is another mans beauty.

Planetary is not affected by the moon, doubles and clusters (to a certain limit)  are not effected by the moon that much.

Get yourself a pair of binoviewers and look at the moon and you may find something completely new and beautiful in terms of what you see.

Edited by bomberbaz
  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Switch off the Moon????     Usually the chorus from DSO imagers.  They overlook the fact that full Moon gives them the respite they need from agonising over misshapen stars, mount orientation issues, tracking errors, computer malfunctions, the list goes on!       🙂

  • Like 3
  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 29/10/2020 at 10:52, Peter Drew said:

Switch off the Moon????     Usually the chorus from DSO imagers.  They overlook the fact that full Moon gives them the respite they need from agonising over misshapen stars, mount orientation issues, tracking errors, computer malfunctions, the list goes on!       🙂

And the years wasted learning all the acronyms. 😖

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 27/10/2020 at 18:20, John said:

The moon itself is fascinating.

I agree. When I started I was mostly into dso's but the more time has gone by the more I appreciate the moon.

Last year I tried to list all the astro objects I have observed, and very unexpectedly the longest list by far was not dso's but lunar features.

  • Like 2
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.