Smithysteve Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) It was 11.30pm last night... I popped out like I usually do most nights, just have a look at what, if anything was happening... I looked up, as you do. My first impression was that of a large cloud running roughly north to south across the sky! As it happens, I was right - it was a cloud of stars, I was looking at The Milky Way! The photons from countless hundreds of thousands of stars were ending their journey at my appreciative eyes! Wow! The sky was fantastically lit up! it's not often that you get to see the Milky Way from my backyard looking so great! ? Looking at this vast array of stars made me feel quite humble. We are but a speck in the vastness of our own galaxy let alone the rest of the universe and that message rang loud and clear in my head! Awesome! ? The Summer Triangle, Deneb, Vega and Altair stood out and was straight overhead. I checked out the constellation of Lyra, all the stars in the constellation were quite visible, including Epsilon Lyra, the double double! I spent ten minutes gazing at the whole spectacle, soaking it up, watching passing satellites, a meteor streaked across the sky... Reminding me about the Perseids in a couple of weeks... This was too good to miss, so I went and got my 11x80 Helios bins giving me 4.5 degrees of view, and started to look a bit deeper. Petes 3D bins would have come in handy no doubt! So many stars... I cannot remember the last time I could see so many... I picked out 'The Coathanger' it looked impressive! The star fields in Cygnus were amazing. I looked at Albireo, the North America Neb, M27, again the double double, only seeing the main double of course! I panned around the sky, taking in the Perseus double cluster, St 2, working my way up and through Cassiopeia, and across to M31 for the first time this year! I swung over to the plough and picked out M81 and M82... I sat there under the stars for quite a while feeling like a very lucky boy! ? It was a great experience, if the sky looked like that every night there would be a lot more astronomers out there... I went off to bed with a crick in my neck and an aching back from looking up! But I could not sleep, I just lay there thinking about the incredible things I had just had the privilege of seeing! Memorable! ? I hope you all got to see something last night! Thanks for reading! ?? Cheers! Edited July 31, 2016 by Smithysteve Johnnyaardvark, Tweedledee and BAZ 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 What a superb read Steve, sounds like it was probably the best night this summer and no moon. It just had to coincide with a night I was not working the next day, but also not feeling too well and had an early night! Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 It truly puts everything into perspective when you are able to comprehend the staggering vastness of what you are looking at. I find it almost comforting trying to grasp the distances involved, only to be completely blown away by the fact that I have got nowhere near. Try lying there at night before you go to sleep and try and imagine the absolute scale of the universe. Imagine that if stars were the size of footballs, at that scale, the nearest one to us would be in Rome. Then try and visualize where the local Galaxies would be, the Virgo cluster, and so on. It really will blow your mind. I think your post just speaks for how many of us can be bothered to look up and try to grasp the enormity of what we are seeing, to see with our own eyes the workings of an entire universe and no sodding Pokemon's at all. Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Sureley was a clear Milky Way night ! Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassinghamobservatory Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Well written post Steve. I too was pleased to see the milky way so clearly. The observatory build is priority at the moment but could not miss such a clear night. I set the ASI120 running with the meteor lens taking 10 sec shots directlly overhead. Over 600 frames and 3 or 4 probable meteors but need checking again. Also ran the 1100D with the lens set to 18mm for a wide view of MW from Cass to Cyg. I have run a quick stack with DSS but as usual it has washed out any colour. Will post a copy when I have have put it through Photoshop to retsore some colour. Whilst these were running I got out the lounger and just gazed up. Saw 3 meteors, one about mag -1 and probably a Capricornid. Also nice to be able to just gaze without being frozen to bits. Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 14 hours ago, BAZ said: It truly puts everything into perspective when you are able to comprehend the staggering vastness of what you are looking at. I find it almost comforting trying to grasp the distances involved, only to be completely blown away by the fact that I have got nowhere near. Try lying there at night before you go to sleep and try and imagine the absolute scale of the universe. Imagine that if stars were the size of footballs, at that scale, the nearest one to us would be in Rome. Then try and visualize where the local Galaxies would be, the Virgo cluster, and so on. It really will blow your mind. I think your post just speaks for how many of us can be bothered to look up and try to grasp the enormity of what we are seeing, to see with our own eyes the workings of an entire universe and no sodding Pokemon's at all. Totally agree with you on many points Martyn...? I really like your post! Learning about astronomy and physics helps us to understand and appreciate the universe we live in! There should be no universe, in fact nothing existing at all. But just because it does and because we do makes it a most interesting subject to ponder on. Like you, I often lie in bed thinking on the effects of gravity, the vastness of space, concepts of time, the speed of light etc... Also on stuff at the small end, the atomic levels - just last night, after reading your post, I was just walking across the landing thinking about the fact that I was walking on a carpet and floorboards made up of mostly space with a few atoms and force fields keeping me up against the force of gravity! ? Most People just seem to toddle along, never looking up, uninterested in science full stop, oblivious to the wonder of it all. Many years ago, last thing before bed, I was taking the dog a walk during the peak of a meteor shower, it could have been the Perseids, I was looking up seeing meteors every few minutes everyone I met was looking down... Along the way I told several people about what was happening, and they looked up too and were amazed to see meteors too! No chance these days either, most young people are glued to their mobiles and don't even notice things happening around them on the streets! Our planet is teeming with life, but we are the only species on Earth that is thinking about the universe, well some of us anyway! ? Cheers! BAZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 21 hours ago, Tweedledee said: What a superb read Steve, sounds like it was probably the best night this summer and no moon. It just had to coincide with a night I was not working the next day, but also not feeling too well and had an early night! Hey Pete, hope you are feeling better! ? You missed a real treat 2 nights back... A rare bonus... thanks for your kind comments.... Last night also promised to be really great, but the dreaded clouds rolled over about 12.00 ...?☁️ I did have a nice long look at the Perseus double cluster and M31 again though... All very good stuff... ? 5 hours ago, Bassinghamobservatory said: Well written post Steve. I too was pleased to see the milky way so clearly. The observatory build is priority at the moment but could not miss such a clear night. I set the ASI120 running with the meteor lens taking 10 sec shots directlly overhead. Over 600 frames and 3 or 4 probable meteors but need checking again. Also ran the 1100D with the lens set to 18mm for a wide view of MW from Cass to Cyg. I have run a quick stack with DSS but as usual it has washed out any colour. Will post a copy when I have have put it through Photoshop to retsore some colour. Whilst these were running I got out the lounger and just gazed up. Saw 3 meteors, one about mag -1 and probably a Capricornid. Also nice to be able to just gaze without being frozen to bits. Hi Graham, congrats on the M51 etc ? I am glad you managed to take advantage of the wonderful conditions on Saturday night! It's always nice to see a meteor or three! ? I hope we have a clear night on the 11th August, thought the odds are always against... Thanks for your kind comments, looking forward to the results of your milky way images...? Cheers! Tweedledee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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