I was able to drag her out observing!

Yes, my efforts paid off, and on the first Saturday night I had off in weeks, and not wanting to go out on the tiles (and contemplating going over to Dave MacDonalds to see 'Kylie' in action with an 8" instrument ), I was able to persuade Deirdre to come out into the fields with me, and do some observing! This is just a brief description of our Observing Session!

Started out at 23:35hrs. Brought the Skylux and the 8-24 X 50 binoculars, 2 chairs, notepad, and atlas. Settled down to just watching the stars for a while to get our eyes adjusted. During this time, boy, did we see satellites. The ISS passed overhead at about 23:44hrs, and there were plenty of other things going past. Saw 1 Bootid meteor.

Then the clouds rolled in... But, there were some breaks, and it looked like it would pass, so we just sat there. In fact, one of the landlords cats followed us all the way down, so she kept us company for the duration.

When the clouds broke away, we spotted a spike of light coming up through Perseus, but thought it to be from a high power flash light, or a parked car. So, turning the other way, we got to see Jupiter, Saturn, The Double Double in Lyra, Machholz in Ursa Major, some of the Coma Cluster, the Milky Way, more satellites, M93 in Hercules.... and more of the aurora! Couldn't believe it, Dee said. We saw the aurora develope in front of our eyes at 00:40hrs! 3 spikes, green in colour, and some ripple movement over a period of about 2-3 minutes.

Then her feet became too cold for any more (after I warned her about the two pairs of thin cotton socks not being enough!), so we packed up and came back in at around 01:10hrs.

In all, it was enjoyable night, though 'brief' for my standards, and 'long enough' for Dee's!! Still, it was a nice way to spend the night!

Kylie misbehaved tonight. So I had to punish her. In the shed...

Actually, there *was* a plethora of satellites tonight - I saw loads. Then caught the ISS too - as bright as Jupiter. And it didn't cost me a penny

You got a good seesion in there and its always cool to have company. Sorry I missed the aurora but then I did see spikes and curtaings of light from next door's security light :twisted:

Anyhow, next time Kylie misbehaves, I'll let ye all know. We can all punish her collectively....

Cheers!

Dave McD

Nice one Dave!

By the way, the forecast by the sunset I have just seen seems to indicate that it will be another clear night. I am contemplating going out into the fields again. Anyone interested in joining me??

Seanie.