Dirty dog does me a favour!

[Quatermass]

Got up last night at 4.30 am to go to the loo and the dirty dog had done a whoopsee in the hall way arrghh you bad dog grrr out you go. When I went out side the wonderful constellation of Orion was up in the sky clear and bright and so having never seen the Orion Nebula M42 got my telescope pronto to see it.

WOW!

After my telescope had been out for 20minutes I aimed my sights on it and was rewarded with an awsome view of this amazing wonder. So the dirty dog did me a favour buy making me go outside at 4 in the morning!

First time I have ever seen it and also the winter triangle. Having seen this amazing nebula with my x2 barlow and 25mm lens I will be setting my alarm for 4am tonight for sure:D

[omneferuss]

Sorry, but "the dirty dog had done a whoopsee in the hall way " is just too much shades of Frank Spencer! LOL

[Quatermass]

Sorry, but "the dirty dog had done a whoopsee in the hall way " is just too much shades of Frank Spencer! LOL

He he yes it does sound a bit like that doesnt it lol:D

But I am kinda grateful to my dear old dog Max as it was really cold and I would not have gone outside and spotted the oreion nebula unless he had got me out there at 4 am. Seeing it for the first time was just amazing and more then made up for having to clean up dog poop in the early hours:D

[omneferuss]

There's nothing like those early hours and what the sky might hold in store for world-weary eyes.. rejuvenating miracle drops of wonder, that freshen the eyes and gladden the heart and reinvigourate the tired bones and sullied soul....

just don't step in the dog-poop

[Quatermass]

There's nothing like those early hours and what the sky might hold in store for world-weary eyes.. rejuvenating miracle drops of wonder, that freshen the eyes and gladden the heart and reinvigourate the tired bones and sullied soul....

just don't step in the dog-poop

A fellow astronomer on the forums told me that he had been up until 7am the other night and I thought mmm, dont think I could stay up all night but having seen the Orion nebula in the early hours I have changed my mind. And yes indeed my heart was glad and my bones reinvigourated by that wonderful site in the night sky:)

[omneferuss]

Well I hope you and Max have many many uplifting early mornings together

..just 'cos Orion will be up at 8PM in future nights, before you know it!, doesn't mean the owl-hours will be more poop than splendour, either! ..there's always something new and splendid on the horizon!

[Quatermass]

Looking forward to it being on view at a better time I dont like getting up at the crack of dawn but I will make the effort one more time and take the dog for a long walk as well that will teach him lol

[kev]

Hmmm, I have some sympathy... I get much the same occasionally but from cat sick!

[Quatermass]

Cat poo is far worse then dog poo having lived with some one who had over 30 cats:icon_eek: I would never have a cat in the house, Ok let me be really honest I am not a fan of cats I can still recall the horror of having one of them **** under my bed the smell was truly horrific:eek: and the cat was not very popular to say the least. Still whatever gets you out of bed and looking at the stars has to be a good thing yes My dog has now said sorry and told me he will never do that again I told him it was ok seeing that I got to look at the Orion Nebula but he was not getting any more scraps for a while.

[Petrol]

I cant wait to see Orion with my fist scope - I will be up all night

[Beyond_Vision]

Good ending to a sorry tail lol

[SeedyF]

Sorry, but "the dirty dog had done a whoopsee in the hall way " is just too much shades of Frank Spencer! LOL

Exactly what i thought

[Petrol]

Exactly what i thought

Me too but the morale of the story is, it's never too early / late to observe

[Quatermass]

Me too but the morale of the story is, it's never too early / late to observe

Thats the moral of this story getting up in the early hours is worth doing dog poo or not lol.

Getting back to the first view of the Orion nebula through my new scope this was a truly stunning sight. I have seen the ring nebula and Andromeda galaxy many times now but the Orion Nebula had a much different effect on me. It was freezing cold and I was very tired but I just could not walk away from the eye piece once it was focused on this wonderful spectacle. It will be great when it comes into view sooner but even so it was well worth getting up early for and I will be doing it again this morning. Got my coffee maker primed and timed to go at 4am my telescope is ready to go and my woolly hat and gloves are at the ready! Nothing quite compares to the first time you see something like this. The neighbours just dont know what they are missing out on as they sleep away the night never bothering to look at the stars for more then a quick glance. I feel awed by these wonders of the heavens and it makes me really appreciate my small part in all this

[Quatermass]

I cant wait to see Orion with my fist scope - I will be up all night

Your will go oh wow when you see it just make sure you chose a good dark site if you can as that will make a big difference:)

[Petrol]

I can't wait! Orion for me... is the ultimate goal! I took some pics of it with my DSLR last year before I had a scope... Now I can't wait to see it in all it's glory

[Quatermass]

I can't wait! Orion for me... is the ultimate goal! I took some pics of it with my DSLR last year before I had a scope... Now I can't wait to see it in all it's glory

Its exciting isnt it. My wife said what are you doing? I replyed clearing up the dogs mess and now I am going outside to see the mighty Orion Nebula as its 4am in the morning and I have never seen it before ok she said let me know how cool it is. I did and it was. I had no idea how big it was or how bright it was just spent ages staring at it thinking man how I wish I had the gear to photograph this awsome sight. But for now just seeing it was enought to inspire me on to bigger things. What a fantastic hobby this is I am having a great time wish I had done this years ago:D Hope you get good view of it through your 200p with mine I use the 2x barlow with the 25mm wide angle lens that works great and give a lovely view. Right off to bed as I have to get up extra early happy viewing Petrol:)

[Petrol]

Oh the tease! Thanks for the kind words and for the description of Orion! I just can't wait

Yes it's exiting! and I can't agree more - It's a great hobby!

Expect to hear a lot more from me on this forum as I find it interesting

[Quatermass]

Oh the tease! Thanks for the kind words and for the description of Orion! I just can't wait

Yes it's exiting! and I can't agree more - It's a great hobby!

Expect to hear a lot more from me on this forum as I find it interesting

Hi Petrol just took a look at the work you have done to your car wow thats amazing must have took you ages. If your astronomy and photography is like the work you have done on that car then I expect to see some mega astro images from you! Hope you get nice clear sky's for the view of Orion. How long have you had the sky watcher 200p by the way?

[simon84]

Sounds like you had an interesting morning, dont leave looking at Orion until its up at the friendlier hours, take every clear night that you can.

I did the same thing recently and had to come down and settle my dog who was barking at something through the back door, as soon as I stood back up there was Orion, I stood there for about half an hour in the end....I did go and grab my bins though.

[Quatermass]

Sounds like you had an interesting morning, dont leave looking at Orion until its up at the friendlier hours, take every clear night that you can.

I did the same thing recently and had to come down and settle my dog who was barking at something through the back door, as soon as I stood back up there was Orion, I stood there for about half an hour in the end....I did go and grab my bins though.

Hi Simon I am going to have to get my telescope set up in the shed ready for action instead of keeping it in the house. I just bought myself a nice shiny new pair of Celestron Up close 10x50s for quick observations as well, a bargain at 20.00 and very good binoculars and have ordered a moon filter so I dont stumble over the garden furniture blinded by the moon .

Orion is a magnificent constellation to observe and viewing the sky in the early hours does give a great perspective on how every thing changes in a few hours. I was going to get up this morning at 4am but the cloud had me beat so decided to go back to sleep I think my dog was pleased about that

[SeedyF]

Your will go oh wow when you see it just make sure you chose a good dark site if you can as that will make a big difference:)

That's exactly what I did, truly jaw dropping when you realise what you're looking at. Even in my light polluted town location. I really must take the scope out somewhere dark.

[Petrol]

Hi Petrol just took a look at the work you have done to your car wow thats amazing must have took you ages. If your astronomy and photography is like the work you have done on that car then I expect to see some mega astro images from you! Hope you get nice clear sky's for the view of Orion. How long have you had the sky watcher 200p by the way?

Thanks for the kind words, the car rebuild took an insane amount of time. I didn’t count the hours but I was at it every day for at least a couple of years I also tidied up a Nissan 200SX S13 a few years ago and use that as a daily drive. That one is 17 years old now.

I have had the scope for less than a week and my brain is in “overload” I’m not very bright when it comes to mathematical stuff - Grade 5 CSE doesn’t stand you in good stead for understanding polar alignment and tracking objects. I don’t expect to take pictures anywhere near the standard that some of the guys on here take. The best I will probably do is a mushy blob.

I took some pics of Orion last year; static camera & standard lens but when I looked at them I thought WOW, there’s summat interesting up there. Next clear night I might set the alarm clock and get up to have a look

[Quatermass]

That's exactly what I did, truly jaw dropping when you realise what you're looking at. Even in my light polluted town location. I really must take the scope out somewhere dark.

Might be worth joining an astronomical society if there is one near you. I have just joined the Norwich Astronomical Society which has a great dark site and club house with 3 observatory's and they are a really friendly bunch.

[Quatermass]

I have had the scope for less than a week and my brain is in “overload” I’m not very bright when it comes to mathematical stuff - Grade 5 CSE doesn’t stand you in good stead for understanding polar alignment and tracking objects.

I tend not to fuss about polar alignment too much unless I really want to track an object for ages. Most of the time I plonk my scope down and just point at what I am looking for if its easy to find. And if you check my blog you can see some more pics of the moon all taken with my mobile phone held up to the eye piece but hoping to get an SLR camera soon to get some better shots. One thing to get right with the telescope is the colmination though. If its out significantly your images will suffer. Easy why to check it is to point at a bright star and when its in focus defocus inwards then slowly come back into focus. If you see little perfect rings and a bright point in the middle your pretty much ok but if the star is looking like a comet with an off centre tail then its time to collomate your scope. Great job on the car I have just started doing up the underbody of my old caravan so might pick your brain for some tips on how to tidy the metal work up.