Observing with the g/f 5/8/2010

[Holliday]

After having been cloudy for what seems a lifetime, tonight predicted clear skies and eventually they didn't disappoint!

Had my scope outside cooling down for a good 2 hours or so with my newly made dew shield equipped. I levelled the base best I could with an iPod app called Clinometer, then roughly lined the setting circle base up along with my Wixey angle gauge and I was ready to go!

Headed out about 11 and corrected my setting circle pointer to the nearest star, the inclination read pretty much spot on.

What I saw; M57 Ring Nebula, a few globular clusters, Jupiter, lots of satellites and glimpses of 2 perseid meteors.

What the g/f saw; M57 Ring Nebula, a few globular clusters, Jupiter, lots of satellites and 5 perseid meteors(!)

Yes, 5! Whilst I was busy messing around with my scope she managed to bag 5 meteors in the space of about 40 minutes, moral of the story is you don't need any equipment to stargaze.

And the kicker for the night was a UFO. Seen by both of us so one of us isn't crazy. To describe it, visually it looked milky, cloud like. Cliche as it may sound, it seemed to be in the shape of a typical saucer. It was moving silently in a straight direction eastwards. From wha I can tell it seemed quite low down and seemed to be moving fairly fast.

All in all, a great night!

[LukeSkywatcher]

It sounds to me that the UFO could have been a cloud. Theres pretty strong air circulation about tonight in many parts.

[Talitha]

Glad your sky finally cleared up, sounds like you had a great night.

When using the binos instead of the scope, i always see a lot more widefield things like meteors and satellites. But thankfully i've never seen anything that couldn't be explained or identified, TBH i'm not really sure if it'd thrill me or spook me.

Here's hoping you have many more clear nights.

[Holliday]

It sounds to me that the UFO could have been a cloud. Theres pretty strong air circulation about tonight in many parts.

That's probably the most likely explanation, that or a plastic carrier bag. If it was a cloud, there were no other like it throughout the whole night, there were some in the distance but no others nearby, it seemed to float at quite a low altitude and from it passing over seemed to hold its circular shape very well.

Glad your sky finally cleared up, sounds like you had a great night.

When using the binos instead of the scope, i always see a lot more widefield things like meteors and satellites. But thankfully i've never seen anything that couldn't be explained or identified, TBH i'm not really sure if it'd thrill me or spook me.

Here's hoping you have many more clear nights.

Cheers, was a wonderful night. My girlfriend had a pair of binoculars and I think I may have to get myself a decent pair, I didn't realise how many stars you could see with a simple pair. (or how many meteors you could miss whilst messing with your scope ).

The UFO did freak us out a bit If I'm honest. I'm glad we both saw it as I probably would have thought I was going crazy this morning. We both agreed we'd never seen anything like it before. I'm quite a UFO/Extraterrestrial enthusiast, she isn't.

It's just insane how during the night time the sky just comes to life, so much going on.