Popular Post Daz Type-R Posted February 10, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) I was supposed to be going to the gym tonight but the weather looked good, Sat24 looked good, all the weather apps for once agreed that it looked clear until at least midnight, so I canned the gym and came right home. I was set up and scope cooling for 19:00 so sat and ate tea and then put my son to bed. Remembering that some of my neighbours had expressed an interest in astronomy I invited round a few of them and they all rather enthusiastically agreed. I got SWMBO on tea/coffee duties while I set about with my trusty laser explaining constellations, asterisms ETC ETC and a brief tour of the night sky. It turned out to be a good all round educational experience for a lot of them, as one of the neighbours had left their security light on, so I explained about light pollution ETC and just to prove a point, asked them to go back home and turn it off, after 15-20 minutes the whole group were amazed at how damaging one security light is as it made the view from my back garden so much better - win for me So while waiting for Jupiter to rise out of the trees and murk we observed the following, with some fantastic WOW moments when I used sky safari to real off some facts and figures...... M31 M34 M35 M36 M42 M44 M45 M51 M81 M82 NGC869+NGC884 - The double cluster Showed them the difference in colour between Betelgeuse and Rigel, explaining how one is young and hot, the other older and cooler Jupiter. Also saw 1 satellite and 2 shooting stars. The night was also good for me as I have at last (I believe) sorted my focus issues, even at one point using the 8mm and the 2 X power mate on Jupiter to give 300x magnification - yeah it was daft and not as clear as at 150x but it proved a point. By this time everyone else (bar me) was cold so they all left and I carried on observing until cloud came over a few hours earlier than expected and stopped play. So a good time for the neighbours, a great time for me and Im hoping that they all went away understanding a bit more about light pollution and the negative effect on my observing Edited February 10, 2016 by Daz Type-R +Streetbob, andyboy1970, BAZ and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 sounds all good then set to clear shortly i think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 10, 2016 Author Share Posted February 10, 2016 Yeah it clouded over completely about 22:10 ish so I packed up, was perfectly clear again by the time I had finished.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 yes i noticed that also damn typical, i just kept imaging only lost a couple of subs so not so bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Nice idea getting the neighbours to understand what it is all about, and how their lighting might cause a problem I had a very enjoyable session in the back yard till the cloud came Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ibbo Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 hope they remember about the lights in future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 10, 2016 Author Share Posted February 10, 2016 2 minutes ago, Ibbo said: hope they remember about the lights in future I`m hoping so too, to be honest its not that bad but if everybody just remembered to turn their own lights off, the skies might be that little bit darker. Fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 People are generally very careless with lights, leaving them on all around the house with curtains open and nobody even in the room. Not to mention outside flood/security lights and dusk till dawn sensors etc. I remember when I were a lad, we only had one bulb in each room and electricity was relatively expensive. My dad used to tell me off if I accidentally left a light on in a room after walking out of it, not for astronomical reasons, but simply because it was a waste of money. Damn good policy I think. Having said that, I've just counted 23 bulbs in my lounge and 29 bulbs in my kitchen!!! I do try and make sure we only use what we need though. +Ibbo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 That was a good night Daz, it looks like a result all round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Streetbob Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Good plan to get the neighbours involved. As usual i seem to be working when the nights are clear. When I'm not it's cloudy. Doh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Great idea Darren, getting the neighbours on board with lighting and giving a tour of the sky to boot? Looks like you all had a great time, including tea and biscuits too! i bet they all enjoyed it, and will now understand more about light pollution... And may well be back for more... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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