[Fleecewife]

We don't have a hobbies group on TAS, but some of you must have them (I know there's rarely time, and for most of us our smallholding is our hobby)  Anyway, I wondered if anyone on here is into Stargazing, telescopes and so on?  Many of us live in areas with really good dark skies, so we can expect dark nights without too much light pollution.
I now have a stargazing telescope    and I'm just waiting for the freezing fog at night to clear, then I'll be getting that crick in the neck that staring at the sky causes.  Meanwhile I'm trying to learn as much as I can from youtube, books etc and I'm due to start a 'Futurelearn' online course which teaches all about Orion and what to look for in that constellation both with the naked eye and a telescope.

So, is anyone else interested or am I on my own?

[shygirl]

the space station (?) apparently was visible from Scotland on xmas eve, but it was a cloudy night here so we couldn't see anything. it was supposed to look like a moving star.
I know a few constellations but that's all.

[SallyintNorth]

I love looking at the night sky and do a fair bit of it.

I like to be able to find the constellations; I don't know them all but I know quite a few.  When I first see Orion each year I know winter's a-coming; in the summer here we don't get so much stargazing done as the nights mostly don't get truly black.

We seem to get a lot of meteors in our skies - shooting stars - and I usually have a wish.  And it usually comes true!  One time, a couple of years ago, I saw a shooting star and couldn't think of a wish.  Even after pondering off and on the next day, I still couldn't think of a wish.  Which was, of course, the best gift of all!   

I live in hope of seeing the Aurora Borealis, but so far, despite getting all the alerts and spending many hours on many nights out late and willing the colours on the horizons to start shimmering, the only times the lights have been reported our way have been nights I've been sound asleep at the time!  (And/or it's been thick cloud, so nothing to see from the ground.)

[Anke]

I love to see the milky way and some of the constellations I know, but just haven't got the time to learn more.... other hobbies take priority usually (and I am normally knackered once it gets past 9pm...)

[little blue]

love watching the skies - OH had a telescope last birthday, and I've signed him up for the Futurelearn course on Orion too Fleecewife (I've done a few of their courses myself, thought it would keep him out of mischief for a while!)

We enjoy the meteor showers - there's a website whose name escapes me, that gives dates and timings of them for different areas.

I love the moon!!

[Backinwellies]

the space station (?) apparently was visible from Scotland on xmas eve, but it was a cloudy night here so we couldn't see anything. it was supposed to look like a moving star.
I know a few constellations but that's all.

We watched space station go over Wales very clearly ... lovely

[mowhaugh]

the space station (?) apparently was visible from Scotland on xmas eve, but it was a cloudy night here so we couldn't see anything. it was supposed to look like a moving star.
I know a few constellations but that's all.

The Space Station was just a cover up for the fact that Santa allowed himself to be spotted by accident!

I love stars, but don't have much knowledge other than a few basic constellations, would love to find out more.

[Oopsiboughtasheep]

I also love looking at the stars and as I seem to spend a lot of time out in the fields at night (!!) have downloaded the free 'Sky Map' app to my iPad. Now if I take my ipad out and aim it at the sky, it tells me what constellation I am looking at and what the various stars/planets are. Or you can just aim it out of a window to what you are looking at. I've found it really interesting. It must be amazing to see them through a telescope though. What a lovely present!

[Fleecewife]

Oh good, I'm so glad there are more star lovers out there.  I find that lambing is a great time to see the stars, when I go out for night time checks.  The big drawback at the moment is that clear nights always coincide with freezing    nights so many layers are called for.
I saw the aurora a few times when we first came to live here, but since then the horizon to the north of us, spreading right across the Central Belt of Scotland, seems to give off far more light pollution than it used to, so we don't see much in that direction. Also every single tiny village around us has street lights which are on all night, and are not shaded, whereas 20 years ago there was only one that we could see    Still, Monday night looks promising for clear skies and not too much moon.

 It's often cloudy when an aurora is forecast, and for the space station/Santa, I didn't hear about it until the next day.  Apparently you could see it over London too.

The iPad app sounds really useful for identifying the constellations.  So far, I know Orion including Betelgeuse, Rigel and the Orion nebula, the great and small ploughs, Pleiades, Cassiopeia, pole star, Canis major including Sirius, and I've seen the southern cross years ago.  I need a good clear night to pick out Draco.  I'm wanting to learn to pick out the planets, and now I know they are all in the same plane I think there's hope I'll be able to pick them out. So far I've spotted Jupiter and Mars.

My telescope is a 'go-to' which is a total cheat, but I never used our old telescope because I could never find the stars 

I'll see your husband on futurelearn little blue    I'm really looking forward to it 


How about if anyone hears in advance about something celestial we might be interested in, they post it here so we can all see?

[ellied]

One of my unfulfilled ambitions in life is to see the Aurora Borealis so if anyone knows of a sighting due in Fife please shout!  I'm usually in bed or it's cloudy, but I do love a brief stare a stars on a cold evening or first thing when I'm out for whatever reason.

I was thinking of the Futurelearn course but don't have a telescope and am familiar with a few constellations but would love to learn more.  Might give it a go and see how I get on as I'm not doing any FL at the moment and usually have a couple current or catching up!  Maybe see you there FW!

[pgkevet]

https://www.calsky.com/

This is the site I used for reference when i bought my scope. In the light polluted london area a 6" refractor could just about cope with the planets..moons of jupiter, saturns cassini division etc. But the novelty did wear off after freezing my buns for many nights - a lot just carting the heavy scope out and waiting for it to all cool down to an even temp.

Out here in darkest wales there's just so much more to see - but the scope is still a heavy beast to drag out and setup and somehow i lost the finderscope in the move. I hate to admit that it's been sat in the barn for 3 yrs unused. Realistically I should admit i lost interest and sell it.

[devonlady]

Shygirl, that wasn't a space station, that was Father Christmas and all my younger grand/great grandchildren saw him!!
Sally, to see the Northern Lights is my before-I-die ambition.

[john and helen]

our next-door neighbours daughter downloaded a star gazing app on her phone…you just point the phone and it tells you whats what….it was impressive

[SallyintNorth]

Phillips do a Star Atlas, a wheel on which you set the date and it shows you what constellations are visible and where.  On the back is information telling you how to plot the planets for any given date.  I'm due to get another one - they cover about 10 years, I think, and this will be my third!

My constellation list is similar to yours, FW, except I've never got the hang of Sirius and Canis Major, nor Draco reliably.  I can usually find the twins, Castor and Pollux.  When I was in Exmoor, with no light pollution in our valley, good dark nights (that started earlier in summer too), I used to aim to learn another constellation or two each year.  We get a fair bit of light pollution here, in every direction, so there will be some stars I'll never see from home.  But we do see the space station frequently, so I doubt that many kids around here were fooled into thinking that was Santa's sleigh!

[Fleecewife]

One of my unfulfilled ambitions in life is to see the Aurora Borealis so if anyone knows of a sighting due in Fife please shout!  I'm usually in bed or it's cloudy, but I do love a brief stare a stars on a cold evening or first thing when I'm out for whatever reason.

I was thinking of the Futurelearn course but don't have a telescope and am familiar with a few constellations but would love to learn more.  Might give it a go and see how I get on as I'm not doing any FL at the moment and usually have a couple current or catching up!  Maybe see you there FW!

Ellied - they say you don't need a telescope for the FL course, although binocs would be helpful - though not necessary.  I'm assuming it's a mix of naked eye and their pictures.  See you there.