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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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 The night sky awaits you ...
If you have not visited our Society before, why not come along?
If you've ever looked up at the starry night sky and been enthralled by what you've seen, we'll be more than happy to show you more and help you understand its beauty ...
Clear skies to all!
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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
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For information on our observing
field trips to Hardraw, Yorkshire ... Click
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great success. As a result we are looking for more of you
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