First trip to an away site to observe

First posted to Stargazers Lounge forum on 19th January 2017

Tonight I headed out for the first time my destination being Cookham Dean Common, which I thought may have been reasonably dark. I was on site and set up by about 19:45. I was accompanied by my eldest son. The visibility was very good, the sky being quite dark with the main exception being to the East (is there a way to switch London off?). 

I made my first target The Orion Nebula (again) as I wanted a good look in better observing conditions. Once again, the nebula was a captivating sight and accounted for a good 15 minutes of time. I then stepped aside to give my son some eyepiece time and his first taste of Orion which he seemed to enjoy.

We then did a bit of naked eye scanning and I explained the method of averted viewing to him utilising the nebula and Pleiades. After a few minutes he got it and was able to confirm he could just see a misty patch in the right location for the nebula with his eye alone. I then lined the scope up on Pleiades and let him spend some time scanning the area, getting a feel for the scopes controls. Whilst doing they he had the pleasure of being obs bombed by a satellite or piece of space debris transiting the FOV. He was quite pleased by that.

We then tried to locate Andromeda to observe the galaxy but, due to the profusion of visible stars and the fact that Starlite on the iPad going into wibble mode (showing Orion as below the horizon etc.) I couldn't get my eye in. Lack of preparation also meant that, once I twigged where The Big Dipper was, although I seemed to have some recollection of using the dipper as a guide to Andromeda, I was unable to remember how. 

Not to worry though. Time at the scope is all a learning experience. We decided to call it a night at about 21:30 due to cold feet. Once the car was packed up and the heater on, life returned to the toes and all was well with the world. Even better- on arrival home and unpacking the car, I identified what I needed to do to stabilise a slightly wobbly mount on the tripod.

All in all, a productive and educational first expedition.