Astronomy, bino viewing tonight

[Wing Nut]

...Well, until I can get my Celestar out of storage, it's going to be bino viewing for a bit.  Tonight was my first time viewing for a few months and I've missed it terribly.  I think the wife was relieved when I pulled the tripod out with the bino mount on it. I don't use anything big for it.  I have some Wal-Mart variety Bushnells (16x50 and 12x50) on an old Bogen tripod with a home made mount.

Keep in mind, this is in the parking lot of my apartment building, with floodlights all around, and probably only about 3 dozen stars visible.  Tonight was a great night for it with light pollution kind of killing it, and limiting me to basic targets.  

Jupiter was awesome, and the big moons all present.  It almost look in phase though.  Kind of weird.  

Saturn was a nice little ball and the rings were quite visible.  It even seemed to have a yellowish tint to it too.

The Orion Nebula was easily visible with the cloud showing up nicely, even though it is a small target for my binos.  It's a beautiful sight no matter what you use, so it's hard to be disappointed with it. Betelguese and Rigel are fun to play with so I spent a while with them too.

The moon was there.  It looked nice and that's all I can say for it.

So my 2004 viewing season has officially kicked off, and despite a less than auspicious start, I have great hopes for this year.  My goal is to visit every Messier before summer is out.

Kevin

[HawkerTempest5]

I used to love star gazing I even have a half decent telescope tucked away somewhere. Sadly where I live now only offers a very limited view of the sky. I've always been fascinated by the universe and I still remember the first time I ever saw Saturn's rings. Just amazing.

[Fly2e]

bino viewing tonight

At first I thought you were saying "Vino Viewing tonight". Nothing like a nice glass and a few stars to look at!  ;)
Hey Pip, I have a really nice set up myself!
I have the adapter for my 35mm Nikon to go on it also. Took some really nice shots when Halley's comet came around a few years back. It has been in storage since I moved into my house 3 years ago, there was really no place to set it up. I see it as, if you have a telescope it needs to be set up all the time so you can just go to it and view it! If you need to go break it out every time, it becomes more work to get it, set it up and align and before you know it you are just like.....
With my new extension in my master bedroom, I will have it set up all the time now. The moon rises right over my big window and am looking forward to firing that thing up again. It actually has a motor and software that you can tell it where to look! Pretty neat!!

Dave