I just like looking at stars - is that ok?

[Mr Spock]

When I'm not looking at the moon, or planets, I spend my time on double stars. I have no idea what the fascination is.

However, on the way to them, I'm looking at star fields as I'm star hopping. I enjoy that just as much as the doubles themselves. Is that unusual? Does anyone else do it?

I just like looking at stars!

[IB20]

I agree. Definitely part of the attraction of observing double stars is finding them. Not sure I’d be as interested in them if I had a goto system, it would remove all the fun.

I find star hopping a challenge due to local light pollution, I think that’s a lot of the attraction too, I’m quite competitive!

[glafnazur]

As Tom Jones sang, it's not unusual. Well it may be but I do it too. I just like stars, they've fascinated me for as long as I can remember and I love looking at them. Once when I was star hopping to another object I found one that seemed to be almost a Forget-me-not blue colour. I spent ages just looking at this beautiful star, the only problem was I didn't note down any details so I've never seen it again. I can't even remember what time of year it was now although I can rule out summer as the sky was dark. My favourite observing targets are doubles and star clusters. 

Edited June 6 by glafnazur
Typo

[PeterStudz]

Nice topic for a thread. I know what you mean and think it’s perfectly OK.

When I started out I just wanted to look at targets. The starts in-between didn’t hold much interesting. But this had changed. A recent example was looking at the ring nebula. I found the most enjoyment looking at the ring at low power - so I could only just make out the structure. Well, not so much the ring itself but the ring plus the star field. The stars, with different brightness and variable colours plus the space around, made the whole thing far more impressive.

[Oscar23]

Nothing wrong with that, doubles and especially binaries are cool. It's nice and oddly zen to just pan around and see what you see. Especially fun to point the scope at a patch of sky that's seemingly empty in the finder and see that it is, in fact, full of stars Not really a surprising result I suppose but still fun!

[Sunshine]

Certainly we must all enjoy looking at star fields, sometimes I will just move my telescope around with a wide field eyepiece and surprise myself with what runs across my FOV. There are so many rich fields when sweeping across the milky way region, one could get lost in the spectacle, in fact, some of most rewarding sessions are no target list nights.

Who am I kidding? i never make a target list, that seems like work.

Edited June 6 by Sunshine

[F15Rules]

Yep, I too am a "Stargazer"!!😄

I first got into stargazing back in the 1970's, when most amateur refractors were F15 achromats: they were great on double stars (still are!), but they definitely were not ideal for viewing starfields.

In more recent years I have got quite hooked by more modern wide field 2" eyepieces for low power "cruising" around the sky.

My main scope has an F7.7 focal length, and with my pair of Axiom LX UWA (84/85 degree FOV) 2" eyepieces of 23mm and 31mm focal length the views of star clusters and the Milky Way starfields are jaw dropping.

A few standout objects, particularly with these two eps are:

Pleiades, Praesepe (Beehive Cluster), Perseus Double Cluster (outstanding, mesmerising!), M42/Sigma Orionis/the Belt trio, Cygnus Region around Sadr (central star of the Cross asterism, too many stars to take in), Albireo double star and background field, Mizar/ Alcor multiple System in Ursa Major, to name just a few.

So for me, I would take one of the above clusters/vistas over any number of wispy, ghostly, barely discernible nebulae!😊😄

Dave

[Highburymark]

I do too. It’s easy to get obsessed with ticking off lists of objects and lusting after ever bigger telescopes, but sometimes stars are all that’s needed for a therapeutic session. Preferably a few OCs and doubles in there. Stars must be pinpoint, and sharp to the edge. So for me a decent refractor is preferred to other designs. I’ve settled on Nagler 22mm as my OC eyepiece, but there are endless good choices out there. 

[Piero]

For me it is the opposite: DSO all the way and very rarely (almost never) observe planets, double stars and the moon.

[Sunshine]

1 hour ago, Piero said:

For me it is the opposite: DSO all the way and very rarely (almost never) observe planets, double stars and the moon.

It would seem you are missing out!

[ST_Steve]

It is perfectly ok and something I enjoy immensely.

There’s no merit in following the herd and we’re all different, whatever and however you choose to follow this interesting pastime is completely up to you.

[Emperor!Takahashi!]

Definitely. Some of my favorite observing time is when I'm between "targets." I enjoy stepping away from the telescope, and I always try to keep binoculars within reach to just scan around and take it all in. And then I put those down and just look up and feel glad to be alive. This is especially the case under dark skies, though... I do feel a sense of loss here in the city.

[lunator]

I do enjoy scanning through the milky way starfiellds with binoculars or my scopes. It is very relaxing

cheers

Ian

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I like trawling through star fields with big binoculars a lot. Much more relaxing than imaging, I find (unless the mount is ticking over happily and all is well with camera/filter wheel, scope etc). I remember a trip to South Africa for a family visit, and I brought along 15x70 bins. Just scanning these unknown constellations was awesome. Only after thoroughly enjoying the rich star fields littered with clusters and nebulae did I start identifying them with a star atlas. I then turned back to just scanning the skies. Brilliant relaxation.

 

[maw lod qan]

Does it count that I just love standing under a perfectly clear sky and look at the stars with my eyes?

All the stars scattered from horizon to horizon, then the milkyway running through it all!

[Emperor!Takahashi!]

4 minutes ago, maw lod qan said:

Does it count that I just love standing under a perfectly clear sky and look at the stars with my eyes?

All the stars scattered from horizon to horizon, then the milkyway running through it all!

Doesn't count; you need an APO.

Just kidding. That's beautiful, and I feel the same.

[part timer]

I would estimate that in any one session outside, I spend 25% of time looking through a scope, and the rest is nearly always spent just staring up with or without binoculars.

Just kind of mentally adjusting to the reality of being very small, in a very big universe.

Plus all the stuff, you'd miss through an eyepiece, like meteors aand the ISS pass you didn't check for.

I find that time just staring up at stars to be the closest I come to mediditative. And the closest I come to a sense of real peace.

Even though the number of actual stars I see has dropped significantly over the last 30 years, I know they are there and I suppose that certainty is very relaxing.