Hi Suzy,
Thank you so much for that thoughtful reply and the links to your observing challenges. I’ll make a note of those and see if I can find some of them!
I’ve only been observing for a few weeks now but I’m gradually finding out where things are are and also what interests me the most. I’ve been experimenting with taking a few photos, both with the camera on a tripod and also through a telescope but I don’t think that I’ll be going the full hog on astrophotography. I just find it useful to be able to take a quick snap of an area I’ve been looking at so that I can view it later and identify a few more things. My current setup is a 150/750 Newtonian with a cheap 80x400 refractor mounted on the top (which I attach the camera to). I also just added a 9x50 right angled finder scope with an erecting prism so that it all looks the “right way up” when I’m searching. Much easier to find my way around at this early stage. Easier on the back too!
I was intrigued to hear of your interest in the carbon star near Mimosa (Beta Crucis) and to hear that it’s called Ruby Crucis. A couple of nights ago I took some pictures of that same area that included Beta Crucis and The nearby Jewel Box. I use iPhoto on a Mac for photo storage and it apparently has a built in algorithm that checks for hot pixels and removes them after a few seconds (my old Canon 600D always has a sprinkling of them). So when I looked at the photos later I noticed what I thought was another “hot pixel” near Beta Crucis and was waiting for the software to remove it!
When I checked other pictures I could see that the red dot had moved position and was it fact a star. So of course I then had to name it “Hot Pixel Crucis.” (Picture below although some of that lovely red has washed out in the transfer unfortunately.)
I got a few glimpses of Orion when I first began (which was only a few weeks ago, back in April) but it’s too low in the sky now to get a decent look. By the time it gets dark it’s more or less behind the house, and it’s also in the worst area for light, so I’ll need to wait a few more months to explore that one. In the meantime I get great views of anything anywhere near the S. Cross - such as Scorpius, Musca, Ara, Circinus, Carina, Lupus, etc. They're all easy to see from my position outside the shed, so that’s where I’ve been mostly looking. Currently trying to memorise the star positions and learn more about Scorpius.
I also made the intriguing discovery that I have a (very modest) family connection to the moon, but I’ll put that story in another post.
Thanks again for the tips.
Cheers,
Chris