First night in months

[iamjulian]

Despite being knackered from many nights of baby broken sleep, and having a meeting this morning, I decided to stay up to play with the stars. Sat around outside waiting for darkness and watched the stars appear one by one.

Just as it was starting to get fairly dark, there was a power cut! Didn't affect the nearby town unfortunately, but it did improve the sky a bit. Estimated the limit as mag 4.8, based on stars in Cassiopeia and Ursa Minor.

I haven't been out with the scope for months and months. Partly because of the baby and partly because of the cloud. So spent a while looking at all the old favourites. Glad I still knew where they were, without having to use maps.

Best part of the night was M13. Best view ever! 125x magnification and there were dozens of outer stars resolved, dancing around as my eye moved. It was magical. 250x magnification was ok, but not as good. The atmosphere must have been super steady. Only wish I could have stayed up for Jupiter - I bet lots of people got marvellous views.

[Beulah]

Well done for getting out there Julian - great timing with the power cut!!

I was existing on pure adrenaline last night, as I put in a 22 hour day....

But somehow the sky calls and exhaustion vanishes, doesn't it?

[Talitha]

Glad you finally got a chance to get some viewing in, Julian.. give the wee one a little kiss from Wisconsin, ok? After waiting for so long, you earned the power cut ... congratulations on the good views, and here's hoping it happens again real soon.

[DarkerSky]

Nice one Julian. Always good to get out there and see 'old friends'