M3 M13 at last

OK, so I expect all you 'old hands' will have seen these before, but
tonight was my first time, what with not being able to see the sky
through the haze, street lights, london's night glow, bedroom /
bathroom lights left on at night etc. Oh and fact that it has taken
ages to get the Meade autostar to work so that it tracks a star that I
can recognise!

'There, it's focused, take a look at M13', I said to my 10 year old,
who, very much past his bedtime, was hoping I would just give up.

'Nope I can't see it, just a few faint stars and a smudge on the
lens'.

'Er, the smudge is M13'.

'Oh, er great Dad... can I go to bed now?'

'Ok, thanks for staying up. That was fun, right?'.

'Er, of course it was Dad'.

Mmm, thinks, better get a 6 or 8 inch then.

Reddog.

Congrats. A first is a first, no matter what it is, or how long it takes to
get there.

What scope are you using?

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

Are you interested in understanding optics?
Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ATM_Optics_Software/

To reply, remove Delete and change period com to period net
************************************************** ************

"Reddog" wrote in message
...
OK, so I expect all you 'old hands' will have seen these before, but
tonight was my first time, what with not being able to see the sky
through the haze, street lights, london's night glow, bedroom /
bathroom lights left on at night etc. Oh and fact that it has taken
ages to get the Meade autostar to work so that it tracks a star that I
can recognise!

'There, it's focused, take a look at M13', I said to my 10 year old,
who, very much past his bedtime, was hoping I would just give up.

'Nope I can't see it, just a few faint stars and a smudge on the
lens'.

'Er, the smudge is M13'.

'Oh, er great Dad... can I go to bed now?'

'Ok, thanks for staying up. That was fun, right?'.

'Er, of course it was Dad'.

Mmm, thinks, better get a 6 or 8 inch then.

Reddog.

Congrats. A first is a first, no matter what it is, or how long it takes to
get there.

What scope are you using?


Meade DS114 ( F910mm, f/8, Quasar) with Autostar handset and
motor drives. The tripod is a bit shaky!


Do you observe the moon?

I have and shall once its up and the sky is clear!

Did you see my post earlier 'Cheap ebay 6", 8" refelctors...'
Any comments?

Did you see my post earlier 'Cheap ebay 6", 8" refelctors...'
Any comments?

A friend of mine had an opportunity to look through an ebay scope and found
a spherical mirror.

:-(

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

Are you interested in understanding optics?
Try http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ATM_Optics_Software/

To reply, remove Delete and change period com to period net
************************************************** ************