Wedge - Blogs Feed

My First Comet!

Wedge — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:16:27

I was surfing the web today, and i read about comet 17P/Holmes. I as over the moon, as i had never seen a comet before, and this was in a perfect position for tonight.

The clouds stayed away, and i got outside. I was really happy to beable to see the extra 'star' in Perseus with the naked eye, and even more happy to see a fuzzy patch with binoculars.

I legged my telescope downstairs, and set it up.

AMAZING.

I was absolutely amazed at the incerdible detail I could see. It actually looked better than most of the photgraphs I have seen, and the fact it was so clear was brilliant.

I called out my Mum for her to have a look, and I also showed one of my neighbours. They were both really impressed too!

Tonight, i have been really happy at sighting my first comet, and I have also been very impressed with the optical quality of my telescope. A good nights observing!

Ouch!!

Wedge — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:41:25

This is a sad entry...

Last night, when cleaning under my telescope set-up, i banged my head on a sticking out collimation screw when i came to stand up.

It seriously hurt, and it started to bleed, however I am fine now, although i have a small headache, and a scab on my head. I guess I can look back at it and laugh.

My telescope is not damaged either, although i think it is now out of collimation, so i will have to invest in a laser collimater. (What an expensive bang that turned out to be)

I hope that you feel sympathetic for me!

New Telescope - Observation Session 2 - 19/10/07

Wedge — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:53:22

Lastnight, i braved the cold, to get some great use out of my new telescope.

I sepertated the mount, tube and tripod, and took it outside in 3 bits, and set it up. I started to observe. I am still getting used to locating objects, and the whole way that you see upside down, however I found M31 quickly, and looked at it through my only eyepiece which offers 30x. I was impressed at how good it looked compared to through 10x50 binos.

Next i turned my sights onto M33, at least i tried to.

I managed to locate many 9 or 10 magnitude stars around where it should be, however i could see no misty patch what so ever. I am not sure weather i am MENT to see and misaty patch, but i absolutely saw nothing which made me think 'galaxy' I guess it could be due to light pollution, or not being dark adapted, however i could see some dim stars, through my eyepiece, so it seems very odd...

Perhaps someone at SGL can help...

A New Blog. A New Dawn

Wedge — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:15:44

While out observing tonight, I decided to start off a blog, so that I can keep track of my astronomy.

I shall make my first entry explaining a little about myself.

My name is Remy, and I am 14, I have been interested in space, and the space programme for a long time, however I first started practical astronomy about 3 or 4 years ago, when I noticed 'little stars' going around the 'bright star in the sky' using my Dad's 10x50 binoculars. I find out a few days later that it was actually the planet Jupiter which I had seen, by reading an astronomy book.

Last Christmas, by brother gave me the DK Book Universe which I have now read thousands of times. There were small sky charts in the back, and I started to use them and the binoculars to do some observing. I had always noticed Orion’s belt, even when I was young, and I found it very interesting to start seeing other stars of the constellation, and the Orion Nebula.

As Orion started to set in the west, I began to realise that I had no idea what I was looking at. I started to buy the BBC's Sky at Night magazine, and soon learnt the summer constellations, and I found the andromeda galaxy, which I found incredible seeing as it is so far away.

As my birthday grew near, I began to realise what I really wanted: a good quality telescope, to do observing with. I spent many hours on forums such as SGL, and after much looking around, I chose the Celestron Omni XLT 150 - a 6" Newtonian reflector.

Last Friday, (12th October) was my birthday, and my prayers were answered, I got a brilliant telescope! I have now used it twice, and I am very impressed with just how much I can see. I just cannot wait to see things such as Saturn’s Rings.

I shall leave you with a picture of my new baby, so you can see just how great it is, and how happy I am!