Great evenings naked eye viewing..

[Ianladd]

Hi all,

I have to precursor this post by saying that it hasn't been the most scientific evenings viewing.. No scopes, no binoculars and probably a few too many beers by this time too

I have however spent good portions of the evening out in the garden with a friend looking at the amazing winter skies. The constellations rotating slowly above us and revealing themselves to be viewed as they appeared into our field of vision.

As much as I love to sit and stare at the skies on my own (My fiancee seems to have NO interest in astronomy) It has been blumming good fun to chat with someone else who may never have the same scientific curiosity that I have, but definitely shares the same sense of wonder when looking up!

Clear Skies All,

Ian

Edit: Damn I cant wait for my bino's to arrive..

[MaxLux]

Hi Ian,

I was stuck at work until 10.15pm last night and as I drove home the skies became clearer. By the time I arrived home at 11.00pm it was a great night for observing but I was so knackered from a 12 hour shift that all I could do was curse and go to bed!! Looks like we are in for another week of cloud if the Met Office are to be believed!

Wishing for time off AND clear skies!!

Max

[Ianladd]

I know the feeling with the wait for time off AND clear skies!! Just itching to get my hands on the 10x50 bino's that are still waiting for me at my fiancee's place of work (She's been off ill.. Doh!) and see those extra stars from West London!!

Next stop after that is choosing a decent scope that won't take over our tiny 2 bed flat.. lol! I looked at the size of a decent dobsonian and thought, nah, she'll kill me

[MaxLux]

How do you find the levels of light pollution in your location. I'm guessing it has to be high? I consider myself very fortunate to be living in rural nottinghamshire and working in rural Lincolnshire, so I'm never far away from quite dark skies. Having bought my first scope a week ago, I'm now looking to spend more money on a decent EP and probably a filter or two. Coming from a background in photography (over 27 years) I thought I knew quite a lot about optics and light gathering properties, but I gotta say the past couple of months researching astronomy, I have learnt loads more and still feel like I'm only scratching the surface!

Good luck with the binos when you get them!

[Ianladd]

Tbh Maxlux, I find the level of light pollution depressing in my area! Last night was 'fairly' clear and with my south west view of the skies the number of stars visible to the naked eye was relatively low (a magnitude 4 star is VERY faint to the naked eye from here)

One of the reasons I can't wait for the bino's is that tiny buy extra light gathering power which until I really know my way around the skies is hopefully going to increase my enjoyment of astronomy. Beyond that I think it's going to be the biggest light bucket I can store in the flat without my lady going too nuts at me! I'm currently thinking the heritage 130p from Skywatcher.. At least until the day I move out of londinium and find a bigger house with darker skies

[MaxLux]

Hi Ian,

Sounds fair, I too am getting it in the neck at the moment about this new piece of technoclutter that she keeps tripping over:D. The good thing is that accessories are small (EPs, Filters etc.) and I can always tell her that they came with the original kit:) She'll be none the wiser!!!

I have been reading a few posts on here about the Heritage 130P and it's apparent inabiity to focus with cheap Barlows. So I guess like me you'll be needing a second spend realtively quickly on decent EP's and a good Barlow, just something to think about:icon_scratch:

[Ianladd]

Hmmmm, that's a very good point there! I was planning a total spend of £150 or less if possible.. £30 to get more eyepieces and a Barlow doesn't sound like it would work to me somehow! Haha!

I suppose my biggest criteria are decent quality and low space considerations, not easy to achieve with that kind of budget eh? Does anyone know if here are any modifications that can be made to the Heritage 130p to allow it to focus? Or would there be better options to go for as a first scope?

P.s. What type of 'technoclutter' did you go for?

[MaxLux]

Hi Ian,

That might be a challenge, but loadsa stuff on e-bay etc. Although I have to say I was amazed at the number of "Watchers" on Astro kit. Seems this is a VERY popular pastime:D

In the end after much deliberation I went for the SW 102ST a 4" F5 Achro refractor with GoTo AltAz mount. £265 delivered from Phil Burton Photography in Bungay. I would have loved an APO Triplet etc. but couldn't budget for that as a starter scope! It has a direct DSLR conection which I am looking to utilise as I want to experiment with imaging with my Canon gear, I've got a spare body which I could get modded if it proves necessary (probable:rolleyes:). But I am intrigued by all the users of SPC900 webcams etc. With CCD imaging and stacking software, so will probably drift into that too eventually;)

[Ianladd]

Yeah, I have to say that I'm amazed that people are using webcams for astro imaging and getting great results, mindboggling stuff really..

As for the amount of watchers on kit on ebay, I think there's probably a lot of folks like myself who stick it in the watch list to see what the average going price is over time. If I had the space an old TAL telescope would be a sure fire first scope from what I keep reading about them..

[MorningMajor]

probably a few too many beers by this time too

The constellations rotating slowly

Well that's your answer - lol

Seriously, even with the naked eye a clear night like last night is wonderful isn't it

[Ianladd]

Hahaha! I think my grammar may be have been a bit off eh MorningMajor? But im guessing you know what I meant

And yes, Whatever views of the (clear) skies I get do make me happy..