I saw that the sky had cleared earlier this evening so set up the scope outside to cool at about 21:00.
I head out at 21:20 and used the moon to confirm spotter alignment before traversing onto Orion. My target tonight was the Orion Nebula.
Now, as a new guy to this, I wasn't sure where in the constellation the nebula resides. Starlight, the iPad app that my son loaded for me is a good bit of kit but, I haven't quite got used to its vagaries yet. I initially set up with the x2 Barlow and the 25mm eyepiece and used this to explore the constellation while my eye settled in. I then upped to the x2 and 10mm and used the finder scope to try and identify fuzzy points of light as opposed to pinpoints.
Having found one, I checked the EP and blow me, a line of stars leading into an irregular cloud with a group of 4 stars within. Not being sure yet as there was the odd bit of wispy cloud around, I stayed with it for 5 minutes but the irregular cloud remained constant. I was satisfied that I was observing a DSO however, it wasn't until I had finished and researched the nebula that I was satisfied I had achieved my aim. The nebula was very distinct, more so than my first DSO- Andromeda. The visibility of the object was almost immediate. I don't know if this is because I had my eye in or because the nebula is more prominent than Andromeda? I spent a good 20 minutes following the nebula through the heavens. A very enjoyable time it was too.
I then decided to relocate to the back of the house to try for Uranus. Starlight had it about three fingers above my visible horizon (the roof of a 2 storey apartment block opposite) so light pollution was a bit of an issue. I lined the finder up on what I thought may have been Uranus and, with the Barlow and 10mm, I saw a prominent point of light a dull yellow in colour. I'm not sure if Uranus would be a visible disc on my set up (Skywatcher explorer 150P) so don't know if I had it.
Being in the right part of the garden to observe I then decided to have a look at Pleiades. I have always loved the look of this feature with the naked eye. It's shape reminding me of Concord in flight. Once aligned, I swapped between the 10mm and 25mm in the Barlow. To quote a certain reasonably well known SF film, "My God, its full of stars!" Beautiful.
It was about now I identified my one major mistake of the evening- footwear. I had pulled on a pair of light pumps for the session and as I stood at the EP, my slight movements were accompanied by the sound and feel of ice forming on the patio. Wow but my feet were cold (I currently have them resting on a warm hot water bottle!). A bank of cloud was starting to roll in so I decided to call it a night. Only and hour and 20 minutes at the scope but very satisfying.
No comments:
Post a Comment