Just Purchased Celestron Explorer 102AZ

[Marmot]

Turn Left At Orion.  A book about learning your way around the sky and how to find objects with a small telescope.

Yes it’s frustrating whilst it’s cloudy. I have taken to having a pair of binoculars handy (10x50) so on evenings when the clear moments are short lived between the clouds, I can quickly pop out for a look. Even with a pair of binoculars of this size, there is a lot more visible than with the naked eye and things like The Pleiades give a wonderful view.

 

Second hand copies on auction sites. Earlier additions even cheaper.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Marmot

[Nightspore]

A good Planisphere is always useful. Admittedly a bit 'old skool'.

 

 

I've owned the Phillips' since I was at school.

 

 

David Chandler Planisphere

 

[Sgt Pepper]

Got out for maybe half an hour tonight, no scope just eyes before clouds rolled in.😥

[Marmot]

1 hour ago, Sgt Pepper said:

Got out for maybe half an hour tonight, no scope just eyes before clouds rolled in.😥

I often find there is not long enough to get the scope out, but I often look up just reminding myself what is where. Looking up at the Stars is never wasted time🙂

[Sgt Pepper]

Fingers crossed next week is looking better:

 

https://clearoutside.com/forecast/54.97/-1.55

[Nightspore]

1 hour ago, Sgt Pepper said:

Fingers crossed next week is looking better:

 

https://clearoutside.com/forecast/54.97/-1.55

 

There can be some nice nights mid to late December. The past couple of years I've been out on Xmas Eve/Day.

[Sgt Pepper]

Just looking and Friday night is looking good for NE England.🤞

[Nightspore]

Not looking bad for Friday here either.

[Sgt Pepper]

Showing cloud again now for Friday.😢

[Sgt Pepper]

Just been out for a couple of hours...........wow this scope does wonders and makes life so easy. Andromeda, double stars, double clusters, to many to remember, need to organise myself better with EP's etc but time just flew past, until the cold really got to me. Need warmer clothing next time. Buzzing.🥳

[Nightspore]

1 hour ago, Sgt Pepper said:

Just been out for a couple of hours...........wow this scope does wonders and makes life so easy. Andromeda, double stars, double clusters, to many to remember, need to organise myself better with EP's etc but time just flew past, until the cold really got to me. Need warmer clothing next time. Buzzing.🥳

 

Sounds great. I had around a couple of hours tonight with my 72ED. Seeing wasn't brilliant but the transparency was above average. The Moon didn't help for rich field but I had a pretty decent time. Fairly mild here (Worcestershire) considering. I could see Iota Cass with the naked eye and split it at 105x.

[Marmot]

19 hours ago, Sgt Pepper said:

Just been out for a couple of hours...........wow this scope does wonders and makes life so easy. Andromeda, double stars, double clusters, to many to remember, need to organise myself better with EP's etc but time just flew past, until the cold really got to me. Need warmer clothing next time. Buzzing.🥳

Glad you have had such a good experience. Sounds like you covered a few targets so I suspect you have got to grips with the location system your scope has (must save a lot of time?).

I love this time of year for observing as it’s dark earlier and the cold air provides some good clear views. However, the cold temperatures need to be dealt with: warm jacket, warm gloves and maybe a mug of warm mulled wine😉

[Sgt Pepper]

1 hour ago, Marmot said:

Glad you have had such a good experience. Sounds like you covered a few targets so I suspect you have got to grips with the location system your scope has (must save a lot of time?).

I love this time of year for observing as it’s dark earlier and the cold air provides some good clear views. However, the cold temperatures need to be dealt with: warm jacket, warm gloves and maybe a mug of warm mulled wine😉

 It was great Martin, better than I expected, I was able to zip around the sky with ease. Just need to find a field or something near by as it was limited viewing in my back garden.

 

I have just ordered a case for my EP's etc as I was getting a bit mixed up, hopefully this will help organise things a bit:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I1GVL8K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Mulled wine......now there is an idea.😉

Edited December 11, 2021 by Sgt Pepper

[Nightspore]

I had an eyepiece case phase.

 

 

Everything just goes out in bolt cases now.

 

[Marmot]

I also have a small flight case for EPs etc. I don’t always use it, but it’s good to have the option.

I can relate to your remark of it being “better than expected”. Just how I felt last winter when I had my first observing sessions. It’s truly amazing how much is out there that you can see with even a small scope, that you can’t see with the naked eye.

Your location system sounds very efficient. I am envious in some ways, but I do also enjoy searching for and locating things. Very satisfying when you find them. I do however, sometimes forget that the image in the EP is not what you see with the naked eye and on more than one occasion I have found myself looking in the wrong place!

[Sgt Pepper]

3 hours ago, Marmot said:

I also have a small flight case for EPs etc. I don’t always use it, but it’s good to have the option.

I can relate to your remark of it being “better than expected”. Just how I felt last winter when I had my first observing sessions. It’s truly amazing how much is out there that you can see with even a small scope, that you can’t see with the naked eye.

Your location system sounds very efficient. I am envious in some ways, but I do also enjoy searching for and locating things. Very satisfying when you find them. I do however, sometimes forget that the image in the EP is not what you see with the naked eye and on more than one occasion I have found myself looking in the wrong place!

 maybe sometime soon I am going to go it alone using books etc just to add to the excitement and learning my way across the night sky.

[Nightspore]

11 hours ago, Sgt Pepper said:

 maybe sometime soon I am going to go it alone using books etc just to add to the excitement and learning my way across the night sky.

 

I recommend this.

 

 

Well, and Cartes du Ciel.

[Sgt Pepper]

Thanks. I have also been using Stellarium:

 

https://stellarium.org

 

[Nightspore]

I've been using Stellarium for around fourteen years.

 

 

I finally managed to get the PPA version running on Ubuntu.

 

 

There's nothing wrong with the Snap package but it hadn't been updated for a while.

 

 

I've got nothing against Snaps but they're not always updated. I probably use SkySafari the most nowadays (macOS and Chrome). 

 

[Nightspore]

Older version:

 

 

Not sure if this was the Snap, probably an older PPA version.

 

 

Looks like Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Nightspore

[Nightspore]

Not sure if anyone else runs the PPA version of Stellarium on any of the flavours of Ubuntu (or Debian) but I got a PPA warning icon in my systems tray yesterday (OS is Focal Fossa 20.04 LTS). I checked the updater and it was Stellarium causing it. I re-booted and it disappeared. Probably a glitch in the matrix. My guess is that the PPA hadn't pinged Planet Ubuntu or had failed to load and issued the icon warning.

 

 

It also happened the day after I uninstalled the PPA Pinta (image manipulation program forked off Paint.NET). I disabled the Pinta PPA and the warning icon disappeared. 

 

 

AFAIK Stellarium hasn't updated recently and I haven't uninstalled it. Curious and curiouser ...

Edited December 17, 2021 by Nightspore

[Sgt Pepper]

Looking good for clear skies for a couple of nights this week.🤞

[Nightspore]

The Met Office's definition of 'clear' and my definition of it differ somewhat. 

[Sgt Pepper]

It was clear here tonight so managed to get some observation of Jupiter and three of it's moons, bit disappointed I could not see any detail just one very very faint band. Wind picked up so that was that.☹️

[Nightspore]

I saw Jupiter with Ganymede and Io. I thought I could see Callisto near the limb at 62.5x with my 90mm Mak. I couldn't see Europa's shadow transit. Although I did get to see Venus and Mercury. It was a while before I could see Saturn. Transparency's a bit dodgy. The Moon was nice too.