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Last night on Exmoor


Dogstar45

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I arrived at Webbers Post on Exmoor just after sunset as a grey curtain of cloud swept over the sky from the south. This wasn't supposed to happen! After half an hour it cleared up and I stopped having terrible thoughts about weather forecasters.

Seeing conditions were very good, the sky was clear but wind from the SW was a bit lively.

Started as ever with the Pentax 40mm to give 18 magnification through the Tak FC100DC. Glorious views of Orion and the Pleiades. Then changed over to a 27mm for 27x mag. Same targets, similar fantastic views. Continued increasing the mag up to 74x. At this point the wind disturbance was unacceptable so back to a 19mm for 39x. This was the sweet spot on that particular night's balancing act of light v. magnification v. stability.

I wanted to see E and F in the Trapezium but wasn't able to. On a less windy night with higher magnification, maybe? This was the best view I've had of the Nebula, definitely a green cast to it and much more of it visible compared to the view from my garden.

Then on to Sigma Orionis again at mag 39x. Was able to split into two after some uncertainty. Pretty sure I did actually see two points of light.

Next up was Auriga. I had been observing the open cluster M36, 37 and 38 at home and was eager to see more. Wasn't disappointed, fantastic views of all. M38 looked like an angry insect. Some individual stars resolved but mainly grey haze. Speaking of which I then swung around to Andromeda for a look at M31. Although all I could see was a grey smudge simply knowing what it is and how far away is all the same very impressive.

Around this time I had run out of hot beverages and the chill was getting in. Packed the gear up, retreated to the car and thanked myself for getting one with a heated steering wheel! A great session and I'll definitely be going back for more.

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