Am I being too optimistic setting up tonight?

[[1ponders]]

Well it's been a month today since my last opportunity to fully setup and nearly 2 months before that. (Smilie moon faces don't count :P ) It looks promising for tonight but am I getting my hopes up too high.

[astroron]

I have already Setup and am ready to go:astron::astron::stargaze:

[acropolite]

I voted less than 50%, I have to work tomorrow and I don't function well without sleep. But tommorow night's another story....:whistle:

[[1ponders]]

Yep I've often considered becoming a Dob owner. :lol:

[matt]

Was just wondering the same.

Hmmm.

Wish I wasn't feeling so tired, though.:(

[AlexN]

Mate, it looks nice enough to me! I would be set up if I didnt have to work at 5am :( This past few clear nights has really annoyed me because I've not been able to enjoy it! :D

Go for gold son!

[jjjnettie]

Tonight is going to be better than last night!! (I'm still set up)
I'm heading back outside shortly.
My advice is to get out there Paul, enjoy 3 hours of dark sky goodness. It'll do you the world of good.

[[1ponders]]

I've got the mount setup but I've not put anything on it yet. I'll wait to see if these rolls of clouds break up. Bit frustrating really. It looked great this arvo and then on sunset it started to move in from the west. Fingers crossed.

[AlexN]

Geez Paul... I'd want to get the cables sorted out before dark... you could end up in quite a pickle with the amount of cables you've got to deal with!

[[1ponders]]

Nah..could do that blindfolded and in my sleep.

[astroron]

Maybe not so good for imaging, :(but might get some visual observing in:(:astron::astron:

[[1ponders]]

I might just drag out a blanket and a set of binoculars for a while. I've also go a mag -8 Iridium due at 20:15, might try to get that onto a chip.

[jjjnettie]

The clouds seem to be thinning out and I reckon it'll clear.

[jjjnettie]

Thanks for the heads up on the iridium Paul.

[[1ponders]]

Don't know how bright it will be out your way Jeanette, it's only -5 at Ron's. The center is 1.5 km to my east but 8.8 east from Ron's. I doubt if you will see it.

[[1ponders]]

Just checked for Villeneuve and it's -3 there at 20:15:28 Alt 49 deg Az 89 deg (due east right next to Sirius).

[thunderchildobs]

It is clear in ipswich, and supernova hunting is underway.

[[1ponders]]

Go get 'em Brenden. Good luck!!

I got to see the flare, nice and bright, unfortunately I rushed my camera focus and I was soft. Never mind.

The clouds are playing "Look over here...there's a sucker hole....No it's over here now...no over here" so it looks like I'll be taking option number 4 tonight, Sigourney Weaver and Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection tonight, seeing as I did Alien and Aliens last night :lol:

[Ric]

I voted according to my conditions tonight, thick cloud so I'll be keeping the cat company.

Hope you get a good night in Paul.

Cheers

[astroron]

Just packed up Observed flair , brightest in Canis Major:)
Observed Comet P/144 Kushida in Taurus quite bright,seems brighter thanthe given mag of 10.8 some hint of a nuculus and maybe a short tail,maybe an image would confirm my suspicions;);)
Used the Tour mode in the ARGO NAVIS to look at Open clusters in Canis Major then a quick look at VY Canis Major and the good old Tarantula and 47Tuc, then called it a night.A nice start to the next week or so of observing till the 24th Astronight:thumbsup::astron:

[leon]

Ok Guys it is about time we all bought Paul an Observatory, :whistle: :whistle: he has helped us all out with knowledge, ;) and stuff. :thumbsup:

Leon :thumbsup:

Any takers, i will contribute.:rolleyes:

[TrevorW]

Not a chance in hell tonight 34C at 9:30pm expecting 42 tommorow

[leon]

Bloody hell Trevor, you mean that crap hot stuff is coming to Victoria by Monday, bugger.

Leon

[jjjnettie]

The iridium flare was a big hit. It coincided with my two boys coming back from fishing. So there were 4 kids and 3 adults sharing the experience.
I'm not very good at judging magnitudes, but it wouldn't have been too far off the estimated -8. (I checked heavens above) It passed behind cloud for part of the flare and it was beautiful the way it was lit up.
The cloud was a bit of a bummer, but it stayed clear to the south, so I did have some sky to play with. Plenty of 2min subs of eta carina with the 20d. It was very low though, so the quality will be poor.
After it cleared I got a few pics of M42 then cruised back south, changed cameras over and took some RGBL of the Eta Carina neb. The moon had well and truly risen by the time I got to taking the blue and lum. Not to worried about it though, it's only to practice the processing on. I'm looking forward to learning how to do this. Good fun.

[astroron]

Just hope it is the start of a good couple weeks of observing Jeanette, It was worth the effort setting up:thumbsup:

[Dennis]

Managed to actually split Sirius A & B visually for the 1st time tonight. For brief periods, the Pup just stood there, looking back straight at me just past the in-focus diffraction rings:2thumbs::cool:.

Yippeee and woohoo!:party:

I also ran a couple of AVI’s to confirm it, as well as turned off the mount’s tracking to watch the Pup follow Sirius A as it drifted towards the edge of the field.:)

Cheers

Dennis

PS - Whoops – almost forgot to mention: Mewlon 180 F12 with Tak 5mm LE eyepiece.

[jjjnettie]

Congratulations Dennis!!
You must be feeling pretty chuffed.:thumbsup:

[Dennis]

Thanks Jeanette. Once I had determined that I had a good candidate for seeing the Pup, I felt more of a great sense of relief than anything else, knowing that I had succeeded, as I had been trying visually ever since I acquired the Mewlon 180 from RobT.

I hope you had an enjoyable and rewarding night too!

Cheers

Dennis

[astroron]

I had a look outside about 08:00, clear as clear could be, so even though the ground was wet I set up the scope on my concrete pad, had a look at P/144 Kushida and a couple of other objects:)then it came over all cloudy and started raining:(
Scope is still set up with the cover on in the hope that it will clear up again:P

[[1ponders]]

Bit of a bugger 'eh Ron. I looked out a while ago and it looked great straight up, but plenty of cloud around the edges. Pretty yucky now. :(

[astroron]

I was to optimistic:P, its pouring down now :cloudy:
Just got the scope put away with just a bit of moisture, so can't put a cover over it, but it is under cover:)
Well there is always another night, we hope;)

[jjjnettie]

I got the little go-to out last night and gave it a run.
Plugged in the Gstar ( I don't use eyepieces with it) and spent an hour or so just cruising around. I'd forgotten what good fun it is, I should do it more often.
But then the clouds opened up.
I just threw a tarp over the lot of it in the hope that I'd get up early enough to catch Lulin.
Still, it was nice to have it clear for a little while.