A beautiful night tonight......

[British Red]

I don't know if anyone else saw clouds scudding over the moon tonight - absolutely incredible!

Sometimes the sky is so beautiful I can just stare for hours

Red

 

[wicca]

Sometimes the sky is so beautiful I can just stare for hours

Red[/QUOTE]

I know what you mean Red. Sometimes out on the ocean miles from land, I feel as if I can just reach up and touch the moon when it's like that. Beautiful.

 

[VirusKiller]

I saw it too low down on the horizon. Wonderful!

 

[shep]

Yep a stunning sky.
Alas my only view of it was on the way in to a night shift...

 

[inthewids]

Great photos, what lens did you use?

 

[British Red]

A Sigma 135-400mm zoom Inthewids. Heavy old thing but it works well

Red

 

[Mistwalker]

Wow, those are stunning! Thanks for sharing. I think I have to get another converter lense for my camera in order to take moon shots at night

 

[redandshane]

Great photos
I used a borrowed telescope to take a closer look at the moon last night
First time I have used one so it was all a bit trial and error
I too can spend hours staring at the sky

 

[Walks with dogs]

The sky is always fantastic at night, clear or cloudy .

 

[bushcraftbob]

Used our new telescope tonight - was absolutely gobsmacked by the view (am new to astronomy) - a truly lovely night!

 

[VirusKiller]

Used our new telescope tonight - was absolutely gobsmacked by the view (am new to astronomy)

Cool. What are you using?

 

[Walks with dogs]

Bushcraft Bob, tell us more about your new scope and what you have been looking at. I can recommend a couple of fantastic books for getting started.

 

[bushcraftbob]

I bought a skywatcher 130 p, it was a present for the missus but the novelty has worn off on her now so its more like my own new toy!!! With all this snow about though there has not been many clear evenings but the other night was perfect.

I have been meaning to get some books so recommendations would be great.

 

[Walks with dogs]

Two best books in my view are "Turn left at Orion" and "Nightwatch". The first is a guided "how to" direction how to find and look at various night sky objects . The second is in my view the definitive book for getting started and gives a good overview of pretty much everything.

Have fun!

 

[y0dsa]

Nice photos, Red. The moon was looking great for a few nights back then. With some snow, the nights were really bright and beautiful.

Is that Jupiter in the South/ SSW? I looked at it with a pair of binos and thought I could see a ring.

 

[Kepis]

Nice photos, Red. The moon was looking great for a few nights back then. With some snow, the nights were really bright and beautiful.

Is that Jupiter in the South/ SSW? I looked at it with a pair of binos and thought I could see a ring.

If it's very very bright it's Venus, Jupiter doesnt have a ring im afraid, thats Saturn

 

[Walks with dogs]

What time of night did you see the object you looked at Yodsa? Sirius is S/SW about now, brightest star you can see. If you know what Orion's belt is, that points pretty much directly at it. Up to about 8pm it was most probably Venus.

 

[eskimo]

I recently bought a Bresser Messier R127 but all have been able to see is the mountains on the moon.

Had a look at what I believe to be venus but even on full power just looks to be a very small half crescent.

Spent hours searching the sky last night as it was crystal clear but couldn't even find the Andromeda gallaxy which I have been told should be the easiest to find.

 

[Kepis]

Had a look at what I believe to be venus but even on full power just looks to be a very small half crescent.

Spent hours searching the sky last night as it was crystal clear but couldn't even find the Andromeda gallaxy which I have been told should be the easiest to find.

Thats about all you will see of Venus, although it's fascinating to follow the phase of the planet over a period of time, if you want to find more "stuff" get a copy of Turn Left At Orion, best book there is bar none for finding things in the night sky.

 

[VirusKiller]

I recently bought a Bresser Messier R127 but all have been able to see is the mountains on the moon.

But aren't they wonderful?!

Had a look at what I believe to be venus but even on full power just looks to be a very small half crescent.

That's all you'll see with Venus as it's entirely covered with sulphuric acid clouds. Greenhouse effect...

Spent hours searching the sky last night as it was crystal clear but couldn't even find the Andromeda gallaxy which I have been told should be the easiest to find.

Finding Andremeda is not as easy as it sounds and, in my experience, it is actually often easier to see with the naked eye. On a good clear night, you can see it with the naked eye as a small fuzzy patch using averted vision. Using a telescope, make sure you use the lowest power eyepiece you have. You will never see it as it's shown in books unfortunately - you need long exposure photography for that.