Some thoughts on observing

[MishMich]

I'm fairly new to this (bought my first scope in September), and I find with the 8" SPX or 5" Meade & a 6mm eyepiece, Mars is an orb, and it is very bright. I get glimpses of detail, hints really, and a hint of colour, but it is washed out because it is so bright.

This is why I image - at least I get to see a bit of detail of what I am looking at, and a record of it. But it doesn't quite match up to seeing it.

Saturn and Jupiter are (for me) most rewarding, because I can clearly see the Galilean moons, and make out the bands, and Saturn's ring(s) as well as two or three of its moons if I am lucky.

100 years ago, with a 1.5 meter reflector, Lowell charted canals on Mars, and these were only disproved half a century later. People have had problems with Mars using telescopes more powerful than we are likely to ever own. I admire people who observe and sketch Mars, but I have no idea how they manage it - maybe my eyes are too old, although perhaps if I spent more time just looking, I would see more.

I do now and then resist the urge to swap a camera for the eyepiece, and just watch - but it takes a long time for my eyes to start seeing what is there. Perhaps when I get used to the idea that these objects aren't going anywhere in a hurry (and when they do, they'll be back again), I'll be able to forget about trying to capture them and just spend time looking instead.

I still get the same sense of wonder when I look at Saturn as the first time I saw it, and the same for Jupiter and its moons (although I've not seen Jupiter for a few weeks now, and suspect I won't be seeing him for a while again). At least I can see the planets, apart from a glimpse of M31 and some of the nebulosity of M42, Pleiades and Hyades, I've not managed much in the way of deep space observing.

I couldn't see what it was that drew people to Pleiades at first, and never thought there any point bothering with Hyades. But, each time I look at Pleiades, it just grabs me now. And I love it when I see it with the naked eye. Hyades, well, that too seems better when it can be made out with the naked eye.

Which leads me to constellations. Orion and the Plough section of Ursa Major have always been in my consciousness. Yet now, they jump out at me whenever they are clear, and so too does Cassiopeia. The problem for me, wearing varifocal glasses, is that I have to remove them when using the telescope, and so everything is a bit blurred when I look up at the sky, and yet when I wear them and the sky is dark, it all comes alive for me.

I have not sought to learn the names and positions of stars, but gradually, they become lodged in the brain somehow. And when I pack everything away in the early hours of the morning, I always take a look up, amazed at what I have found in my own back yard, and feel a sense of peace, and wish them all goodnight until the next time we meet.

No wonder our ancestors attributed them names and personalities, for in so many ways they are creatures in the same way we are. All part of this one mysterious and paradoxical creation.

M

[yeti monster]

I really couldn't have put that better. I heartily agree with what you are saying, especially that last look up as you go inside to the warmth.

Here in the South Sea, during summertime, we still have nice long night, although very humid the skies are generally very clear. I'm looking forward so perhaps some slightly different constellations then and hopefully I'll have a pair of my own binoculars instead of keep borrowing the ones out of the control room.

Whilst I've never experienced imaging, it does strike me as somewhat removed from observing and I can't imagine a better way of looking at the heavens.

[kniclander]

I'm purely visual. For visual, the one thing that never ever disappoints me is the moon. Mars was kind of fun and challenging for a couple of nights, saturn is always a big WOW, the galilean moons are interesting (specially transits etc) and open clusters in big bins are just unreal but for just sitting and gazing and seeing new things, to my mind, you can't beat the moon. I was out for a couple of hours earlier this week looking at it in a variety of e/ps through my ed80 - there is always so much more to see and watching things change as the shadow creeps across is great. I love the moon in big bins too (the whole 3d thing) and I am looking for binoviewers for my upcoming birthday (for looking at the moon mostly:)).

when it's a little cloudy and you can't see anything else, you can still look at the moon (in fact, near ful, it's better with a little cloud).

I wish we had two of them.

[russ]

Very well put M, couldn't agree more. And i know exactly what you mean about M45 and other objects like it. When i started the hobby i knew exactly what i wanted to see (moon and planets) and really couldn't see the draw of rubbish (regardless of cost and quality) binoculars and low power widefields. But after a few months i soon found myself drawn to those starry fields. And suddenly the binoculars made perfect sense. M31 from a dark sky with the 10x50's was an experience almost on a par with the planets and got me hooked on galaxies for years to come.

I hate going indoors when it's still clear, i have a sense of guilt for wasting a clear sky. I think it's one of the reasons i love an early start so much. That way my observing is ended for me by the dawn sky and i have nothing to feel guilty about.

[DarkerSky]

Very well written M. The night sky is so rich with astronomical gems. Some are static to our eyes, some change. Whichever one I choose to look at I immerse myself in the wonderment of it all, try to take in everything about it, and just look to see how much detail I can get out of it. Sometimes I recall a memory of when I last observed it, sometimes it is new - and I revel in the excitement of unwrapping its layers of mystery with each step up in magnification I go.

Put simply, there is a whole universe to discover out there

[Teddy]

Very nice words m

I am new and awaiting a scope. The part i enjoy most is the thoughts that are created by looking at these objects. It's not what your looking at.... It's what your seeing !!!

I enjoy the thoughts about mystery. We know so much , yet we really know so little. I can sit , look up and enjoy being alive. It makes the everyday ratrace seem so silly and meaningless , yet makes me feel blessed to have children and family and actually be alive right now!!

I will image in the future but it won't make me forget the above thoughts that keep me happy

Teddy

[Sam]

Great thread M and very well put. I enjoy observing and though the details are not that great sometimes it's the joy and satisfaction of finding something and seeing it no matter how fleeting the details are.

Sam

[LukeSkywatcher]

I always end a telescope session with a scan of the skies with bins (normally 10X50) but even after that i like to take a few mins using just my eyes to scan the skies also and soak it all up before heading inside.