Oh I do like to be…

[SuburbanMak]

Normally my offers to take the teenagers in my life out observing are met with a cursory “yeah maybe” before they return to their various screens.  

To my pleasant surprise however, tonight’s offer was taken up enthusiastically by both 16 & 15 year old boys + one “she’s not my girlfriend” extra.  I think the idea of a midnight beach excursion  did the trick & we duly set off post barbecue for Lepe beach on the Solent arriving just after 11. 

My plan was to seek out a nice low horizon and put the lights of the South coast ports behind me in an attempt to pick out the most Southerly Messier objects. 
Would’ve worked too had it not been for a fairly dense bank of sea mist hanging between the mainland & the Isle of Wight. 

I could pick out Antares with maybe 5 degrees to spare below but it was locally murky at first & although it cleared a bit later, by then M6, 7 etc had slipped from view, another time… 

Meantime we had great fun with Mak 127 on the moon - lunar X & Y plainly visible tonight and increasingly good views of Jupiter and Saturn, massive hits with the youth-club and “not my girlfriend” suitably blown away by the view.

ST80 was on widefield duty with a 31mm Hyperion Aspheric - really is a joy to sweep the Milky Way with this rig, optically a bit flawed but a magic experience nevertheless. 

Lined up M13 & M31 for them and as it cleared a bit I got to have another look at the Lagoon nebula (M8) which was looking superb despite the murk. M16 /17 and M20 visible but not as good as my last session given the reduced transparency. I did manage to pick up the globular M28 so advanced my Messier tally by one but there’s no rush. 

I took my rarely used Nikon D90 down with a nice 20mm Nikkor lens and although I couldn’t see what I was doing shot a few 25s Milky Way exposures - based on the results for almost zero effort I’ll probably keep this in my go bag from now. 

Throw in a stunning moon-set, 2 ISS passes and a couple of cracking meteors along the way & it all added up to a memorable summer night in a magical setting.

Lovely to share what’s normally a fairly solitary pursuit & have the grudging admission that my obsession is in fact, “slightly cool”. 
 

Edited July 17, 2021 by SuburbanMak

[Ibbo!]

Sounds like a good night out complete with a bit of bonding.

Glad they "enjoyed it"

Is "slightly cool" a bit like "mostly harmless" 😀

[Stardaze]

Sounds a very productive night on all fronts. “Not my girlfriend” particularly brought a smile 😃 

[Ouroboros]

Wait til it’s minus 5 in January and they’ll thinks is really cool! 😉

[Alan White]

Sounds a wonderful night and memories for all formed.

The”she’s not my girlfriend” made me chuckle, have the opposite chant in my life a few years back.

Sharing this hobby with others is such a pleasure.

 

 

[Pixies]

My 16 yo son couldn't sleep last night and appeared outside a couple of times during the session.

1st appearance I showed him M57 and Albireo. He seemed relatively impressed at the sights. 

When he came down later, I was getting ready to call it a night. His young eyesight is much better than mine, and he could pick out many satellites naked eye. ISS duly arrived on cue (I can see that one), tracked across the sky and passed within 1° of Jupiter.

His sister had made an appearance earlier, turned the kitchen light on, got a glass of water, and vanished.! 🙄

Edited July 17, 2021 by Pixies

[SuburbanMak]

5 hours ago, Ibbo! said:

Sounds like a good night out complete with a bit of bonding.

Glad they "enjoyed it"

Is "slightly cool" a bit like "mostly harmless" 😀

 

I liked to think it was a bit better than that but you’re probably right  

[JeremyS]

Great report 👍🏻

[Alan White]

4 hours ago, Pixies said:

Got a glass of water, and vanished.! 🙄

I know that routine, one daughter puts on the outside lights to see if I am in the garden GRRRRRR.....

[SuburbanMak]

Here are those hit&hope shots with the DSLR…

[City9Town0]

His sister had made an appearance earlier, turned the kitchen light on, got a glass of water, and vanished.! 

 

What's in the water!!!