It has to be said.........

[Paxo]

Set up for the first time in a couple of months last night at 6pm under crystal clear skies, got bogged down with technical problems for a couple of hours (even though I make sure the same cables are used in the same configurations and ports). After getting everything working, wondered why HH wasn't responding very well, that would be the wall-to-wall cloud I failed to spot coming in - never mind eh, thers always tonight.

Steve

[ZOG]

I was out from 17:30 till about 9 when I succumbed to the freezing temperatures. My main discovery was, that after collimating with the new laser, the 32 and 26mm EP's were really good but as I went down through the sizes, my EP's got progressively worse to focus to the point where the 5mm showed Beatelgeuse as a fuzzy blob. Collimation looks spot on with the laser though.

[Ant]

My excuse is that it snowed all evening!

Tonight is another matter though! Assuming it stays clear, I'll be going to the moon, Venus and Saturn!

Also my WIFI will not reach where i set the scope up, so if I was out I wouldn't be on SGL

Ant

[James]

As I type, the last satellite pic shows 70% of the country to have clear skies. The seeing is good, transparency fair, and there is a near full moon about to set, and Saturn on high.

The kind of night we all wait for, no?

More the kind of night we usually get for me. A beautifully transparent night was continually interrupted by hazy cloud and great big globs of cumulus drifting over. I gave up on the 10 minutes exposures, then the five, then the two... then at 2am gave up altogether. The cold wasn't a problem, -4 is easy enough to deal with.

Strikes me as a tad odd, that out of a couple of thousand members, only 3 are actually online at the moment. (You other two know who you are!)

A couple of weeks back I was out imaging and I checked SGL and there wasn't a single person online :shock: I found it bizarre how lonely that felt...

Star parties are the same, more than half the camp sleep through most of the best hours......

I'm still amazed that at Kelling last September I went for a walk through the red field out to the viewpoint at the north of the site and there were just three people still up, SteveL doing his flats, Steve doing... why were you awake Steve?, and one solitary observer at the north end of the red field. OK, it was 2.30am and it was the third clear night in a row but others had commented that the red field turned in at about midnight on other nights...

James

[CELESCOPE]

Errrr TJ its been snowing here mate , if i could have got out i would , all the 6inches of snow from monday had gone , woke up to a lovely half inch , but even more dangerous as the council have not gritted ,came down Langdon Hill sideways in the Car . but looks clear now Sun out Beautiful day, so gets out my magic wand and waving it SAY, may a milion snow flakes fall on you Tonight TJ ehheheheheheheheheh

Rog

[Tiny]

We had snow here too. None was forecast but it fell anyway. Now it is melting (I hope. It is the wrong sort of snow for snowballs.)

[Tiny]

Errrr TJ its been snowing here mate , if i could have got out i would , all the 6inches of snow from monday had gone , woke up to a lovely half inch , but even more dangerous as the council have not gritted ,came down Langdon Hill sideways in the Car . but looks clear now Sun out Beautiful day, so gets out my magic wand and waving it SAY, may a milion snow flakes fall on you Tonight TJ ehheheheheheheheheh

Your mentioning of going down those Essex hills reminds me of a chap who arrived at work one Saturday. He lived round there and headed out. Coming to a hill there was one track down so he started in it - and then he saw a car descending the next hill in the same track. Braking did no good - he was on ice and the car was a sledge - now speeding down. From the actions of the other car it occupants had the same problem.

So they both slid down the hill at a closing speed of 30mph plus waiting the crash.

At the bottom our man noticed the single track divided into two and unbelievably - although he had no control the car took the left lane while the other one did the same. He said that the cars flashed past each other and he caught a look at the other driver. Then he realised he must look the same - total shock and terror and thanks that he was still alive.

[MikeD]

I was out till 2.30 but to be honest it was a bit of a wast of time trying to get good data with the moon so full.

I spent a few hours getting some Ha data on IC10 to mix later with some LRGB ( when I get it) then moved onto the soul Neb , Ha again (not an ideal target but further from the moon)

the result is very faint even 24 @ 5 Min's tried 15 Min's but it was washing out.

By this time the scope was starting to dew up so I called it a night.

Time to get back into some Luna work me thinks.

Mike.

[EA2007]

I stayed in the warmth of my lovely house and did some widefield imaging.

The moon was a little too bright.........ha ha

[ZOG]

I realise that quite a few dont need a laptop or internet access for their astronomy (heaven only knows how they cope

It's called observing mate. I think it was some Italian guy called Gallileo who made it popular :mrgreen:

[Beyond_Vision]

I decided to set up my LX90 and have a go at the Moon and Saturn. Whilst the scope was cooling down I spent an hour doing some static shots of various parts of the sky with my 50D and 10-20mm Sigma lens. I then decided to align my LX90 and couldn't get it to align. Then I realised I had stupidly set the date to 6th Jan Dohhhh!. I then still couldn't align it and then I realised I had set the Daylight Saving to YES, double DOHHHHH!

I then started another alignment and a cable got snagged and blew the fuse in my power lead. Triple DOHHHH!.

At this point I decided enough is enough and elected to bring all the kit inside. I then kipped on the settee waiting for the Moon to set so that I could use the Astrotrac on the opposite side of the sky. You guessed it I fell asleep only to have slept through to 6.00am, because I forgot to set my alarm.

Regards

Kevin

[FLO]

... three people still up, SteveL doing his flats, Steve doing... why were you awake Steve?, and one solitary observer at the north end of the red field.

Can't remember, probably getting a quick lesson from SteveL. I confess I often don't make it through the night at Kelling. We are spoilt here in Devon, there is no shortage of dark skies. Gregs sky is only 20-mins away, and that is better than Kelling. I go to Star Parties for the social

[dark knight]

I was out from about 8.30pm till 4.00am this morning. The first clear night for ages, but the moon washed everything out, it was like daylight with the snow reflecting all that light, but I wasn't giving up that easily. I used the time to do some pec training on the synscan. Had one dodgy moment when the motors on the mount gave up ( I think due to the weight of attaching D80, but a restart and removing D80 sorted that out ( note to oneself to balance everything with camera attached).I did get to see M42 and M43 for the first time, the nebulae was easily seenand for that reason alone last night was a success,although a moonless night would have been better Also managed to split Mizar into A and B (at least I think it was A and which was breathtaking. Next up was Saturn and clearly visible was one of it's moons but not sure which one, edge on rings clearly visible, so rigged up neximage which turned out to be a waste of time, I really can't get the hang of using this camera, results were rubbish, an upgradedefinitelyrequired. The moon was not so good for me, through the neximage it soon became apparent there was a lot ofturbulence, the surface appeared to be boiling so I gave up with that after taking some shots with my D80.Wrapping up warm with proper clothing meant I was as warm as toast, although somewhat like a mitchelin man in appearance.I have also noticed some dirt in the optical chain so will need to track down where it is and clean it.Anyhow fun was had which balanced out some of the frustrations.TJ - Great blog by the way, very funny and amusing, it's compulsive reading, loved it.Cheers for now.Carl

[Helen]

I had a great hour out with a friend between 6 and 7 testing the ETX125 on her horizon tripod. It worked really well (once we found the axis locks - d'oh). So we got some great views of Venus, Orion Neb, and the moon was awesome - well so I'm told, as I didn't get a look in as Jean was having so much fun!

It looks like our idea of swapping my ETX for her Lightbridge 8 might work for both us. As I got the dob out when I got home for a few hours before the thin cloud took over (couldn't the Obs because of snow) and had a bit of fun too! Got my first views of Saturn this time - no detail but 2 or 3 moons :hello1:

And Jean certainly found the ETX easier to handle than the dob

Win-Win!!

Helen

[Psychobilly]

I have banned the internet fromn the obs as its been responsible for most of my muck-ups...

Billy...

[Tim]

ahhhhh, you see! Thats better! Plenty of folks out!

My three targets were, in order, M101, waste of 4 hours that....... Markarians chain......not horrible but I mistook saturn for Arcturus and missed an hour of it.....and finally M13.

None of them are gonna be up to much, so if it IS clear tonight then I think the sct will come out and we'll do some planetary, its been nearly a year since I did any planets I think.

Not sure if Richie Jarvis is about, but he sometimes has an IRC channel running, which is a nice way to pass a bit of time if you are imaging.

Kevin, nights like that are best spent with a stiff drink in a warm bed. When the dominoes start tumbling, they seem to know no bounds!

Thanks for responding everyone!

[kniclander]

I wasnt out at 4.30 cos i was in bed having a lovely dream (Mmmmmmmmmmm..........) and i have absolutely no idea if it was cloudy or clear but when I am out I wouldn't be online cos I'd be looking at the sky not at a screen.

looking at the sky is very nice - I think it's called astrology (or something)

[Tim]

....but when I am out I wouldn't be online cos I'd be looking at the sky not at a screen.

a fair enough comment, I suppose I have kind of gotten used to waiting 5 mins for the picture to appear, but then being able so see mag 17 objects right there on screen. Im saving up for an 8m mirror so that I can do the same visually.....

Best comment I have heard so far, from somebody who shall remain nameless, in response to the question "Are you out tonight?" came back a clear and concise retort;

"Nope, I'm drunk."

[Astronut]

I was out for about 3 hours last night until the cold got the better of me ( I really must get a warmer coat) and the dob was starting to ice up. I didn't even bother clearing the snow from my back yard so my dob's base had to be dried off when I brought it back indoors. The gaps in the veneer at the chipboard edges are well varnished though to keep the damp off the chipboard underneath.

It's been the first chance I've had to use the Telrad dewshield and I'm pleased to say it works almost as well as the Astrozap dewshield protecting the secondary

I'm not really a lunar observer and I don't have a moon filter (it's on the list of things to buy) but it looks awesome in the 13mm Ethos massive FOV, huge and extremely bright - I was partially blind in my right eye for a few minutes after - should have used my shades but then I wouldn't have been able to see the whole FOV.

I stayed up until Saturn cleared the house and despite the heat haze from the roof-tops, the edge-on rings were clearly visible with just a hint of the ring's shadow in steady moments. Titan and Rhea were also easily visible and Tethys and Enceladus were hovering at each end of the rings. I could even detect Titan had an orange tint to it.

I had a go at Sirius B but couldn't detect it and the trapezium F star eluded me too. Maybe I should have resisted looking at the Moon until last I've seen The F star before but last night's seeing wasn't as good as that time and the glare from the moon washed all but the brightest DSO's out.

[irishbloke]

I Scraped 4" of snow of a meter sq patch out the back and set the 250px out to cool. Nice views of venus started me off. Scope wasn't really cooled properly yet and swam a bit. Also had a bit of colour separation on it. Later Had fun finding andromeda and then my first find of the double cluster. It was a "wow" moment! A satellite flew through the field of view when I was looking at andromeda. Quite cool.

Went inside for a bit waiting on the moon coming over the roof. Then had a play with the moon. It was amazing how it can shine through the clouds. Fun.

Mite put the scope out earlier tonight and see if a webcam of venus possible.

Brian

PS I have been wondering how the FLO team manage to be posting at all hours of the day or night :shock: !!

They're not so much burning the candles at both ends, as barbecuing them!!! Saying that they've been fantastic with me. Many thanks.

[Whippy]

Personally, I've had enough sleep deprivation in my earlier years for it to make a difference these days, so all-nighters when I'm guaranteed to be up at 7am with my boys is a no-no. It was only half-clear here at 11.30 when I hit the sack last night and I wasn't about to run across the ice-rink that is my patio at that time with all the kit. Tonight's looking more promising but as it's nearly full moon, it's an eyepiece only night for me if it's clear.

As I like to do a bit of observing whilst imaging, there's no point in have the laptop running a web connection because it'll ruin my night vision and besides, once the first couple of subs come in and you give them the once over, what's the point of sitting there? Do some observing, go inside and grab a cuppa, annoy the neighbours .

Tony..

[centroid]

I wasn't out because I was 'tucked up' warm and snug in bed, in the wee small hours.

With astronomy, its very much case of 'what goes around, comes around', so what appears in the wee small hours one month, it visible at a more sociable hour another month.

Even being someone fortunate enough to have an obsy with a comfy warm room, I still don't bother staying out much later than 02.00.

To put it into context, I try to ensure that it remains a hobby, and not an obsession.

40 years ago, as a newly licensed Radio Amateur, my wife would often go off to bed, leaving me with a set of headphones on, and tapping away on the Morse key. Often she would get up the following morning, to find me still 'tapping' away .

The hobby had become an obsession, and needed a more balanced approach.

So, my view is go out and observe/image when you want to, and not because you feel that you have to, just because its clear.

The universe has been there for a long time, and so will likely still be there tomorrow, next week, next month....................................!!!

Its not an endurance test, to see who can be the first one to 'freeze his whotsits off'. So, relax and enjoy!!!.

Dave

[Ghost66]

went out for a while in the evening. had to go out at 3.30 to see saturn as i can only see it from my backyard around then. was well worth it a lovely sight . watched it for about 30 mins

[FLO]

I have been wondering how the FLO team manage to be posting at all hours of the day or night :shock: !!

They're not so much burning the candles at both ends, as barbecuing them!!! Saying that they've been fantastic with me. Many thanks.

Caffeine :shaking2:

[saturn5]

I wasn't out because I was 'tucked up' warm and snug in bed, in the wee small hours.

With astronomy, its very much case of 'what goes around, comes around', so what appears in the wee small hours one month, it visible at a more sociable hour another month.

Even being someone fortunate enough to have an obsy with a comfy warm room, I still don't bother staying out much later than 02.00.

To put it into context, I try to ensure that it remains a hobby, and not an obsession.

40 years ago, as a newly licensed Radio Amateur, my wife would often go off to bed, leaving me with a set of headphones on, and tapping away on the Morse key. Often she would get up the following morning, to find me still 'tapping' away .

The hobby had become an obsession, and needed a more balanced approach.

So, my view is go out and observe/image when you want to, and not because you feel that you have to, just because its clear.

The universe has been there for a long time, and so will likely still be there tomorrow, next week, next month.................................. ..!!!

Its not an endurance test, to see who can be the first one to 'freeze his whotsits off'. So, relax and enjoy!!!.

Dave

Now that is without doubt the best way to approach astronomy.The last 3 lines sum it up perfectly and i've just come in from a wee look at the moon with my newly bodged up dob mount because my whotsits are freezing.The windchill is a killer tonight.Will go out for a wee while later on but probably not for long.