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Old 19-01-2015, 09:30 PM
Sconesbie (Scott)
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Location: Legana, Tasmania
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Viewing tonight

Skies clear over Legana (North of Launceston) so out I go. Still finding my way but showing my wife and mum (who is visiting) I was quite pleased and proud to show them Seven Sisters, M42 (is getting easier to find), Betelgeuse, LMC and Sirius. I tried to find the Jewel Box and Eta Carinae but I've got a ruddy gum tree in the way. I'm about to head back out and find Comet Lovejoy. It won't beat me. I've said before, and many on here say the same, the more I get out, the more I'm learning where things are and what they're called. Don't give me a quiz just yet though. I've made my own hand drawn map which is a lot easier. It's certainly helped me tonight. I've got some street lights on the other side of my house across the road and I think it's hindering clear viewing. That is unless my eyes are playing up. The reason I say its the lights is that the LMC loses focus in my eyepiece and seems slightly blurry after a few seconds. Why would you want to do anything else hey? My next trick as I head back out is this comet and Jupiter and just some random looking. I know I should focus on one or two objects and get to know some characteristics, but I'm having too much fun this way. I'll leave the studying for another night.

One thing I have started is a bit of a journal of what I've found, roughly where it is and what I saw. This might help me later too.

Clear skies everyone and good night.
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Old 20-01-2015, 08:23 AM
geolindon (Lindon)
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your excited breath might be fogging the ep.
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Old 20-01-2015, 08:46 AM
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Amaranthus (Barry)
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I was out doing some casual visual observing for a few hours last night too, in southern Tassie (Huon Valley). The skies were crystal clear, the seeing was excellent, and the the Milky Way arched magnificently overhead.

Although somewhat low on the northern horizon (I am at 43 S!) Comet Lovejoy was a clear naked eye fuzzy dot, similar in appearance to 47 Tuc. In my 12x36 Canon IS II binoculars it was a spectacular halo, with traceries of a tail visible. After monitoring it on and off for about 3 hours (whilst I hunted around for other binocular feasts), I could see it move discernibly against a couple of nearby reference stars that I'd marked out in my mind at the start of the night.

Just spending time contemplating and observing visually and with a nice light pair of binoculars, when you're treated to ultra-dark skies like I now am, is a really deep philosophical experience for me. I love it. Yes, I tend to spend more time these days either mucking about with astrophotography or at the telescope eyepiece, but it is definitely worth occasionally going minimalist and just enjoying the great celestial sphere with your thoughts, and the sound of owls and thumping wallabies in the background...
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Old 20-01-2015, 09:06 AM
Sconesbie (Scott)
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I found Loveljoy last night. It was fairly low on the horizon for me (I blame the roof of my house) but was pretty pleased when I saw it. It was a bright blur similar to the cluster in LMC with a bright glow in the middle of it. The amazement of finding something for the first time gives me a bit of a buzz and sense of achievement. Weird? I didn’t watch it for long. I needed to pack up as I had work today and couldn’t stay out forever, as much as I’d have liked to.
At this stage, I am just trying to familiarise myself with objects and their names as well as their locations. I’ll keep doing this until I am happy and can do it on my own. Once I’ve done that I’ll start looking at things for longer and studying in more detail, learning about their characteristics and so on.
This morning I started a diary of what I saw and where I saw it in the sky and stapled it into a book along with the Skymap printout highlighting the things I looked at. I feel this is a great way for me to keep track (no pun intended).
I’m using a 10” collapsible dob with no Goto or Argo Navis. I’m deciding which way to go on that and pending what my budget says I can get. In saying that, going manually is a good way to learn.
My next few targets are 47 Tucanae, Jewel Box, Coalsack Nebula, Eta Carinae. Any other suggestions to look out for with Nebula or star objects?
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Old 20-01-2015, 08:41 PM
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barx1963 (Malcolm)
Bright the hawk's flight

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sconesbie View Post
I found Loveljoy last night. It was fairly low on the horizon for me (I blame the roof of my house) but was pretty pleased when I saw it. It was a bright blur similar to the cluster in LMC with a bright glow in the middle of it. The amazement of finding something for the first time gives me a bit of a buzz and sense of achievement. Weird? I didn’t watch it for long. I needed to pack up as I had work today and couldn’t stay out forever, as much as I’d have liked to.
At this stage, I am just trying to familiarise myself with objects and their names as well as their locations. I’ll keep doing this until I am happy and can do it on my own. Once I’ve done that I’ll start looking at things for longer and studying in more detail, learning about their characteristics and so on.
This morning I started a diary of what I saw and where I saw it in the sky and stapled it into a book along with the Skymap printout highlighting the things I looked at. I feel this is a great way for me to keep track (no pun intended).
I’m using a 10” collapsible dob with no Goto or Argo Navis. I’m deciding which way to go on that and pending what my budget says I can get. In saying that, going manually is a good way to learn.
My next few targets are 47 Tucanae, Jewel Box, Coalsack Nebula, Eta Carinae. Any other suggestions to look out for with Nebula or star objects?
Well done Scott! Very good idea to keep a diary or notebook. I have notebooks, A4 spiral bound ones that I keep all my notes in then I have a spreadsheet where I record the objects and some very basic info and the dates. I keep a printout of the spreadsheet with my notebooks so I can always cheeck if i have a previous observation, saves a lot of wasted time at the scope. Found this to be essential once I had more than 40 or 50 objects logged!!

Those targets a all good, just remember the Coalsack is very large, and is easily seen in dark skies by naked eye later in the year when Crux has risen higher.

Malcolm
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