Andromeda in the Morning

[Bobj]

Up at 04.00 and towed the dob to next door's vacant block. set up and was stunned at seeing Andromeda!! Changed from 2x barlow and 9 mm to no barlow and 25 mm. Simply gob smacked by the trio :eyepop:. Moved on to M33 but was rather disappointed at the low level of brightness :shrug:
Spent a very pleasant hour looking at the various sights and had a good look at the Pleiades, then packed up to check out what was what on the computer. Just finished putting the gear away and.... the moon came up; well, what's left of it.;) But I was quite satisfied with the morning's viewing. Always tomorrow, hey?

[iceman]

Nice report Bob, I wish that I could even see it from here. But trees and light glow from Newcastle prevent any chance.

I've only seen it once, from Snake Valley camp in Nov 2005 which had a great northern horizon and dark skies.

Through binoculars it was quite a sight.

[Bobj]

I know what you mean.......The next house past the vacant block has their toilet light on :lol: ;):whistle:

[CoombellKid]

I slept in this morning, but I'm looking forward to viewing M31 in my 20x80's

regards,CS

[erick]

Yes, it's on my agenda for my 30x100 bins and for my scope - I've only ever seen it late last year in 20x80s, often though smoke-affected air. But I have to travel away from home - how to organise that for 4am? And getting a Melbourne morning without rain or fog is a bit of a gamble at present. Still several months of opportunities lie ahead!

[Rob]

What kind of scope did you use Bob?

Good effort getting out there at 4am in the cold!

[Bobj]

G'day mate. Getting up early is easy when you're an old bloke busting for a....:lol:
I have a brand spanking new 10" Skywatcher dob. And, it isn't too cold in the Mackay area.... Really.;)Not at 11 C

[davidpretorius]

yes, i want to get north to see it again!

[DaveR]

I was pleased to see Pegasus up in the north when I was heading for the train earlier this week, swung around and Orion was clear of the eastern horizon. First signs that summer is coming, especially pleasing after a work trip to Canberra last week. Talk about freezing the walls off a grass humpy:)

[erick]

Well "warm" will be a long time yet down here, but it's good to see Orion return to the dark sky. I've been seeing it before dawn when I head off for early gym before work.

[Ingo]

I need to buy a 12" dobson. I'd really like to see things in the sky but since my crappy meade beginner telescope wont take in that much light and I just spent a ton of money on my car audio, so dobson is a no go for now :(

[jjjnettie]

The Andromeda Galaxy is beautiful isn't it Bob.
I was up early this morning myself to have a look see. 2 degrees celcius, Brrrrrrr. No telescope, just my bare eyes. It was positively glowing, even with the moon rising over to the right.
It was also great to see both of the Magellanic Clouds up above the horizon.
I'll be up again tomorrow morning and capture a few widefield pics to stack.

[ballaratdragons]

Wierd! They never set here. It would seem strange to me to see them 'set'.

I didn't realise that they would actually go below the horizon in QLD. Probably coz I never thought about it :confuse3: :reindeer:

It also find it amazing that we get such a nice view of Andromeda waayyy down here.

[CoombellKid]

I was up this morning and nabbed M31 with 20x80's this morning along with
M32 M110. Pretty much stretches right across the FOV. It was quite a sight!!!
M33 was nice also. M83 was another easy target last night, but boy I need
to sort some sort of mount for the 20x80's.

LMC & SMC pretty much grazes the horizon here on the north coast.

Damn chilly this morning we have a nice frost, and I appear to have lost
my gloves grrrrr....

regards,CS

[Bobj]

Simply fabulous, JJJ. Even better with only the 25mm and no barlow...... and that really marvellous moon with the Earthshine :thumbsup: As my back yard backs onto National Park land, I cannot see the Small Magellanic cloud too well because the trees are 60 ft tall, but got a glimpse of 47 Tucana.
And, yes it was very Brrrrr this morning, even here, in Mackay.

[hickny]

I too was up early this morning:cold: with the idea of checking out Mars:astron:. A bit disappointed :violin:with the view really. I suppose it will look better as we get closer in the coming months. I then looked to the North East and saw three stars in a line I now think that these were Betelgeuse, Alnilam and Rigel :computer: Cartes du Ciel is a wonderful program :thanks: to the member who pointed me toward this free software :thumbsup: . While attempting to view them I came across this cloudy object that I investigated further. I now believe that I have seen M42 :eyepop: for the first time. I found a picture on the net which is attached

I hope I haven't broken any rules in sharing this. I'm stoked!! :stargaze: http://seds.org/messier/Jpg/m42.jpg

[jjjnettie]

Congratulations Peter!
I tell ya, you never ever forget the first time you see M42.

[glenc]

My best view of M31 was with 20x80 triplets using a reclining banana lounge to support my head and elbows and a balaclava, parker, gloves, and blanket to keep me warm. The 20x80s have a 3.2 degree field which is great for M31, the LMC and the SMC. They also show M32, M110 and M33, 20x80s even show NGC7331 which is mag 10.3.

[Mick]

Hey Bob, our cat woke me at 5am for a feed, just in time to see Andromeda naked eye from my backyard, what a beautiful sight. If it wasn't for your post I probably wouldn't have looked mate. :thumbsup:

[erick]

Snaffled M31 and M42 this morning through 12x60s in a Sydney-glow lit sky. Great to catch up with them again. :thumbsup: I'll get the 30x100s and scope onto them in the weeks ahead.

And what's that bright reddish star? Hmmm? Cannot identify it from the planisphere. No, not Aldelbaran? Too high. Not twinkling?? Took me 20 minutes before enlightenment dawned in my brain. Mars! :ashamed:

[bluescope]

I used to see M31 regularly from my previous home .... nice dark skies and high viewing position to look north. No such luck here as I am in a bit of a dip plus the skyglow from the city, which is only around 2 kms away to the north west, is awful. I think I will have to join AGWA and go to there dark sky location to see objects like that again.

:thumbsup: