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Impressions of Hardraw, August 29 - 31, 2008 ...
True to form, our visit to Hardraw sprung a very pleasant surprise
for those who arrived early on Thursday ...
Miraculously we had a clear night (Friday 0100 to 0400) but the rest
of the weekend was cloudy. I went up with Richard Low and Malcolm was
there too. We briefly saw Jupiter at about 2100 on Thursday, then the
Milky Way for a bit at 2300. It clouded over but cleared again at 1am.
We had the Milky Way for the rest of the night until it was too light
to see it. I feel sorry for the people who came up on Friday because
they did not see anything!
I had my 8 inch reflector with me and it was
the first time that I had a chance to use it on a dark sky (I have had
it for 19 months). I also put all of my 2 inch wide angled eyepieces
to good use. The ones that got the most use were my 30mm, 80 degree field
of view non-branded and 21mm Hyperion (68 degree FoV).
I used my UHC-S
filter with the Hyperion and it was a good combination. I went nebula
hunting. I saw two parts of the Veil nebula (Cygnus Loop and Witches
Broom), the Dumbbell nebula, the Ring nebula and the North American nebula.
They all looked fabulous against the dark sky. I used the 30mm to look
at the North American nebula and I think I could see a bit of red in
it.
M31, M32 and M110 looked amazing through the 30mm eyepiece. I could see
dust lanes in M31 and the milky galactic haze stretched across the eyepiece.
M110 and M33 looked impressive as well. I also looked at M13 (briefly),
M35, M36, M37, M38, M103, The Double Cluster and M1. M1 never looks impressive
but I could see it clearly without a filter.
I spent a lot of time just
gazing up at the Milky Way. It was not faint at all and looked like it
had been lime washed onto the sky with a wallpaper brush (A lovely analogy
- Ed). I will never get tired of looking at it, and I want more. I can't
wait for the next trip to Hardraw.
Christopher Hill
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Keep up-to-date with Society events and subscribe to the electronic version of our newsletter - 'What's Up?' ... Click
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 July and August updates ...
The bright twilight nights are slowly giving way to darker skies and the prospect of revealing a little-known nightly sight. Away from the towns and cities, the Milky Way will soon be glimpsed meandering through the constellation of Cygnus. This river of stars was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians ... Nowadays, especially when we approach the end of Summer, it's astronomers that turn their gaze skyward and praise the sight of a myriad of stars arching high above them.
The following sections have been updated: This month's night sky and observations.
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Would you like to join our newly formed visual observing group? We will now be holding regular observing sessions at some of our dark-sky sites across Macclesfield. If you would llike to be added to our contact list, don't delay ... Click
here. |
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For information on our observing
field trips to Hardraw, Yorkshire ... Click
here. |
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Our Workshops continue to be a
great success. As a result we are looking for more of you
to participate and give your own short presentations to Society
members. Let us know if you'd like to get involved ... Click
here. |
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