Richard's Not a Star Party

[Richard N]

I have booked in at Fforest Fields 7-12 November.  I have asked for a dark pitch. It's a Bortle 3 site. Anyone else coming?

[cajen2]

I'd be interested but I don't know if it's possible yet. Also, looking at the succession of low pressures following each other over the Atlantic......it'll.be a dark sky all right just because of the cloud! 😆

[Richard N]

8 hours ago, cajen2 said:

I'd be interested but I don't know if it's possible yet. Also, looking at the succession of low pressures following each other over the Atlantic......it'll.be a dark sky all right just because of the cloud! 😆

Sounds good. Let me know! Admittedly the weather will probably be dreadful. It’s a nice campsite. 

[cajen2]

Ok, Richard, I've checked it and I can actually make it. We can sit in the pouring rain together....😆. Is there a pub nearby?

[Richard N]

There’s not a pub within an easy walk from the site. Sorry!

[cajen2]

Oh well. I'll make sure I'm fully stocked beforehand then! Which pitch are you on? Perhaps I can book one not too far away.

[Richard N]

10 hours ago, cajen2 said:

Oh well. I'll make sure I'm fully stocked beforehand then! Which pitch are you on? Perhaps I can book one not too far away.

I have not been allocated a pitch but I have asked for a darker one. In addition to their normal rows of pitches, they have a large field soth some hardstanding pitches in it. They look to be the most suitavle for astronomy to me. I have stayed there a couple of times. I will DM you my phone number.

[wookie1965]

Is there any EHU on site for a tent.

[Richard N]

Yes. EHU for camping. However looking at the forecast it might be a washout. 

[Richard N]

Pitches - I have just spoken to the owner (very friendly). Having been before I suggested to her that their hardstanding pitches in the field might be best. She agreed. We then got onto discussing access - they require driving across the grass to reach them. She said that it was best to sort it out on arrival as much would depend on the weather.  The upshot is that I don't have a pitch number. At the moment it's possibly four of us - but the forecast is dreadful. Bring a book to read!

 

 

[wookie1965]

Weather is looking awful I will keep this site for next year, if you go I do hope it's dry for you. 

[Richard N]

3 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

Weather is looking awful I will keep this site for next year, if you go I do hope it's dry for you. 

Don’t blame you. It’s a nice site but no good for astronomy in this weather. 

[cajen2]

Well, I'm here, @Richard N. The field's ideal with no grass to drive over.

[cajen2]

Well, Richard and I have just had a great session with a couple of hours of virtually cloudless skies. I like my planets, so I was on Jupiter and Saturn with a soupçon of the Pleiades for contrast. The Starfield and Sightron Japan combination performed impeccably and I was able to compare the Morpheus 4.5mm with and without the Baader Contrast Booster, which I'd bought for planetary viewing. There was the usual subtle improvement with the filter.

I was impressed with Richard's little setup: a Meade 80mm achromat on an AZ5. He uses a green laser sighter which made finding stuff a doddle. He likes his DSOs and we saw the Andromeda galaxy and Dumbbell Nebula. He also did a nice sketch of the Pleiades. Then we were swamped by clouds but it was a cracking night.

[Stu]

47 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

Well, Richard and I have just had a great session with a couple of hours of virtually cloudless skies. I like my planets, so I was on Jupiter and Saturn with a soupçon of the Pleiades for contrast. The Starfield and Sightron Japan combination performed impeccably and I was able to compare the Morpheus 4.5mm with and without the Baader Contrast Booster, which I'd bought for planetary viewing. There was the usual subtle improvement with the filter.

I was impressed with Richard's little setup: a Meade 80mm achromat on an AZ5. He uses a green laser sighter which made finding stuff a doddle. He likes his DSOs and we saw the Andromeda galaxy and Dumbbell Nebula. He also did a nice sketch of the Pleiades. Then we were swamped by clouds but it was a cracking night.

Fantastic! Glad you got some observing in as it looked pretty dire in terms of forecast didn’t it! 👍

[Richard N]

Today at Britain’s smallest star party, we woke to clear skies. By chance I heard of the occultation of Venus by the Moon so we set up to observe. Naturally, it soon became cloudy but we enjoyed what we saw. It was also fun to try different eyepieces in the light. 

[Richard N]

The fun continued last night. We had sun and showers all day and the early evening was much the same. Lots of running in and out with telescopes. We enjoyed Jupiter and some doubles with Clives’s Starfield 102. With the ST80 I was thrilled to see both galaxies of Bodes Nebulae - I have only ever seen one before.

However, my best observation was M110. I have lost count of how many times I have looked for this galaxy over the last couple of years but this was the night. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was very faint but it was there. I asked Clive if I could borrow his Morpheus 12.5 and that brought it from an averted view object to a direct object. Nice! Too wet for sketching unfortunately. 

I then started hopping to the Blue Snowball Nebula but the sky went black, the stars disappeared and the rain resumed. We gave up at that point. An amusing evening. 
 

Given the conditions I was rather glad that I brought the ST80 rather than the 8 inch Dob. I can only run with one of those scope options. 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Richard N

[Live_Steam_Mad]

11 hours ago, Richard N said:

The fun continued last night. We had sun and showers all day and the early evening was much the same. Lots of running in and out with telescopes. We enjoyed Jupiter and some doubles with Clives’s Starfield 102. With the ST80 I was thrilled to see both galaxies of Bodes Nebulae - I have only ever seen one before.

However, my best observation was M110. I have lost count of how many times I have looked for this galaxy over the last couple of years but this was the night. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was very faint but it was there. I asked Clive if I could borrow his Morpheus 12.5 and that brought it from an averted view object to a direct object. Nice! Too wet for sketching unfortunately. 

I then started hopping to the Blue Snowball Nebula but the sky went black, the stars disappeared and the rain resumed. We gave up at that point. An amusing evening. 
 

Given the conditions I was rather glad that I brought the ST80 rather than the 8 inch Dob. I can only run with one of those scope options. 

M110 and M32 are pretty bright and large in a 12" SCT, with the dust lane showing in the main Galaxy quite easily. Weight is 18Kg for the tube, but I lift it onto the mount using my chair! You could keep such a thing set up and ready to go on an EQ6 mount, and tie a cover around the OTA with a thin nylon rope and then it will withstand some 40+ MPH winds no problem, and any amount of rain (admittedly needs a dew shield adding when observing starts, and heater band). Just a thought. I tried a 4" APO in Bortle 2 near Aberdaron, but the sky there was so amazing that the scope got left alone for the vast majority of the time and I used 50mm aperture bins instead... but for lesser skies I find I need tracking, aperture, a sitting position, chair, and GOTO, and a very dim phone screen now and again running Sky Safari.

I'd love to come along and join you, and I usually go to several Starcamps in the year. This coming year (2024) I am thinking of giving Brecon Astrocamp a miss though as it's very far to drive to (nearly 4 hours) for just 3 nights. So I am looking at other options.

Alistair G.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Live_Steam_Mad

[Richard N]

19 minutes ago, Live_Steam_Mad said:

 

I'd love to come along and join you, and I usually go to several Starcamps in the year. This coming year (2024) I am thinking of giving Brecon Astrocamp a miss though as it's very far to drive to (nearly 4 hours) for just 3 nights. So I am looking at other options.

Alistair G.

I noted that down by Aberdaron looks great!  I have been chatting to the Marketing Director here about organising a more formal star party in the future. They seem quite keen and interested. It’s certainly nice and dark. We got in an hour tonight before the clouds rolled in. So far we have managed some observing every day. Quite happy with that. 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Richard N

[cajen2]

4 hours ago, Richard N said:

 It’s certainly nice and dark. We got in an hour tonight before the clouds rolled in. So far we have managed some observing every day. Quite happy with that. 

Yes, this is the first 'star party' I've ever been to where I could use the scope every night - this despite the dire forecast before the event. All the sessions have been short ones but I'd estimate about 5 hours of observation in total so far. That with great dark skies and convivial company has made the whole thing very enjoyable.

Thanks to Richard for organising it and let's hope his efforts to negotiate a regular one bear fruit.

[cajen2]

Last night for us and the longest session of the week! Saw loads of targets and I did a lot of experimentation with different EPs for my favourite targets. Heavy dew finally drove us in as there was only one dew heater between two scopes and all my EPs had also dewed up. A fantastic night, though and (drum roll), five consecutive nights of observation! In Wales.....in November! My best 'star party' ever. Richard, his wife and I hope to meet up again though we live a long way apart. Here's hoping something comes of his efforts to make it a regular feature as Fforest Fields is an ideal stargazing site.