Log in

View Full Version here: : gee I love observing from home


ving
24-07-2005, 08:26 PM
got home from a BBQ at the brother-in-laws place at about 6... much earlier than i get home from work and noted the temperature was still mild... springs coming guys! so under a little protest I decides tht staying out for just a little while wouldnt hurt my cold. besides venus and mercury were up and I hadn't seen them yet this year....

I took the scope out and after 10 mins of forcing the evenings air down the OTA (I was to impatient to let it cool naturally) viewed venus thru my 8" with a barlowed 10.5mm ( you do the calculations). it was very very unstable but this is fairly natural for this planet so i put my skyglow filter on and apperture stop to reslove a lovely disc. same but smaller for its neighbour mercury with out the apperture stop... theres my first ever view of mercury not much but I am ver excited :D

took the 10.5 out and put in my 15mm SV with the skyglow filter, i really like this EP it seems to work well on my scope except just a bit of chip pinching seagulls at the very edge. time to visit sagitarius... I had a few nebulas i wanted to visit.

first up the lagoon. it shows easy in my finder so its a no brainer to find. nice clear dust lane and really quite beautiful to behold... but no challenges there for me, still very pleasing.

next, the triffid. easy to find in the finder again, but this time becuase of the stars around it. I remember when i first saw it last year i could just make it out but this time it was easier. I could easily make out the dust lanes and the double within it and heaps more stood out with averted vision. i could even make out most detail with out the filter in.

and next the swan.... oops! too far south. viewing a glob... M20 isnt it? looks funny with the filter on. lots of resolved stars tho. i whipped the filter off for another look. much better :P

the swan. she's a beauty in my scope but I imagine the bloods rushing to her head! :P loads of detail and very pleasing to see. standing on her head, up the long slender neck to the plump body... I wonder what swan tases like.

tried all three neb without the filter and they didnt disapear... I love my backyard with the 2 street light shining and the nieghbours flood lights blaring and the milkyway faintly snaking its way accross sky in the early evening.

I headed in at about 7:30 inspired enought to tell you guys... Its been too long since my last observing session. god I love this hobby! :love:
this is life in the outter burbs of sydney at its best! :D

Mick
24-07-2005, 08:42 PM
Yeh it's the cats wiskers Ving. Nice work mate. :)

asimov
24-07-2005, 08:47 PM
Nice report Ving. I caught my first view ever of mercury....well it was a couple of weeks ago I think. Very exciting stuff! Cant believe it took 20 odd year's to see it! Thru the refractor, it was a lot better to view than venus, for obvious reasons..

cahullian
24-07-2005, 08:48 PM
Nice write up ving
I hope you had your music blasting your ears off? :poke:

davidpretorius
24-07-2005, 08:49 PM
very poetic and straight from the heart!!

jjjnettie
24-07-2005, 11:43 PM
Enjoyed the report Ving. thanks
Jeanette

toetoe
25-07-2005, 07:31 AM
Good reading David, thanks. I viewed the swan a couple of weeks ago for the first time while out viewing with John and Anna (xstream). It is a mighty sight once it comes into view for the first time.

ving
25-07-2005, 09:06 AM
umm... i prefer the sound of crickets and frogs when observing. :)

ballaratdragons
25-07-2005, 12:22 PM
Sounds like a great evening David!

Do you mean that there is actually a sky up there at night. Clouds have been around for so long I forgot.

ving
25-07-2005, 12:26 PM
the whole weekend was clear ken. it was beautifully warm all day. I guess I was just excited to get out. :)
I was only out for a little over and hour but it was great :D

dhumpie
25-07-2005, 01:11 PM
Very nice report. I too like observing from home (a balcony on the third floor!) and do it as frequently as I can. Its a lot more convinient and I find myself getting more creative with my observing program. You tend to know what can be done and what cannot be done. I usually save those mag 10 and above galaxies for dark sky visits (which is very few and far between due to my current workload and the boss who must be obeyed :)

Darren