How about some naked eye observing?

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pakarinen United States of America
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How about some naked eye observing?

#1

Post by pakarinen »


Any interest in naked eye observing? It seems simplicity is best at times. A little tough for me b/c of the LP soup here, but I noticed Scorpius was well up not long before twilight this morning as was Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila. I can't see to the west, so I didn't observe anything setting.

Venus, Jupiter, and Mars looked nice last night from my gym's parking lot. :grin:
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#2

Post by OzEclipse »


Hi Olen,

I often mention to people and did just that last weekend when I had six houseguests how much I enjoy just lying back on a reclining chair and looking up at the night sky with my naked eyes.

From my latitude the Orion arm is reasonably high in the north and then as you go through Monoceros and get to Canis Major and Puppis these areas of the sky are at or near the Zenith. These then follow through to Vela Carina Crux and Centaurus. Then on the opposite side of the pole are the two brightest galaxies in the sky, the Magellanic Clouds.

We observed many meteors and fireballs the other night, some that left persistent gas trails.

Joe
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


When out at night I regularly will spend a few minutes looking up.
There is always something to see :)
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#4

Post by Juno16 »


I’m in Bortle 7, so it’s not something that I do on purpose.
I know that sounds funny, but what I like to do is probably just like many or most of us. Just look up often when the sky is clear or eve when somewhat cloudy just to look around.
Sometimes I get to see something cool like last night. Mars, Jupiter, and a crescent moon (even though you really can’t make out the crescent very well in this phone photo that I snapped last night.
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#5

Post by Bigzmey »


I always devote a portion of my observing sessions to the naked eye observing. Quite few targets could be resolved naked eye if the sky is dark. Tracing constellations and catching meteors is fun to.
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#6

Post by kt4hx »


I also devote some time each observing session at the dark site to simply look up. Usually how it happens is that I am busy chasing galaxies and my observing eye becomes fatigued. So I sit back in my chair and look around for a bit. This not only allows the muscles around my observing eye to relax, but it also gives me time to commune in a personal and emotional way with the night sky. I find it very relaxing and cathartic. That is when I frequently notice meteors and satellites on the larger scale, though I frequently see glimpses of both through the eyepiece while doing my observing. Depending upon the time of year, I also like to simply stare at the summer or winter band of the Milky Way arcing overhead. I find it fascinating and soothing.

Like Jim (and I am sure others), I noticed the conjunction between the crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter, only the moon was the lower of the three when we saw them. Mary came out to see and commented how bright and beautiful they were. Its a simple thing, but sometimes the simplest is the most beautiful and moving.
Alan

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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#7

Post by Juno16 »


kt4hx wrote: Sat Feb 25, 2023 11:43 am
Like Jim (and I am sure others), I noticed the conjunction between the crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter, only the moon was the lower of the three when we saw them. Mary came out to see and commented how bright and beautiful they were. Its a simple thing, but sometimes the simplest is the most beautiful and moving.
Thanks Alan! After reading your post, I realized that I incorrectly identified Venus as Mars in my post!
Thanks buddy for mentioning that!
The trio is definitely bright and beautiful!
The alignment and brightness is definitely eye catching!
Jim

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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#8

Post by Makuser »


Hi Olen and all. I always take a night scan of the skies to gauge the seeing conditions in my LP skies and also admire the moon and planet locations along the ecliptic. But the best treat is viewing the scheduled meteor showers, which is done best with naked eye observing.
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#9

Post by helicon »


Hi everybody. Usually I spend a few minutes of naked eye gazing to let my eyes dark adapt a bit and also to orient myself with an evening's targets. I tend to look for asterisms or familiar groupings, e.g, the Great square of Pegasus, the Keystone asterism (Hercules), the broom-shaped figure of Andromeda (that's my own creation), the W or M of Cassiopeia depending on the season, finding Denebola in Leo and Vindemiatrix in Virgo and mentally drawing a straight line between them. Bingo, the spot of the Virgo Cluster....is at the midpoint.
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#10

Post by jrkirkham »


I usually use the Little Dipper to judge transparency for my logs. Then I do a scan of the night sky to estimate seeing. While I am doing that I usually scan from horizon to horizon and greet the sky like an old friend. Some nights I don't even use the telescope. My favorite naked eye observing is during meteor showers. I often invite people over to join me. When I have groups with me we sit in a large circle in lawn chairs and I use my green laser pointer to introduce them to the various features of the night sky. (It's no longer just naked eye, but if I add 2 or 3 pair of binoculars to the group it adds a It to the night. People can follow my pointer's beam with the binoculars and see a new world open for them.)
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#11

Post by Frankskywatcher »


Bigzmey wrote: Fri Feb 24, 2023 10:15 pm I always devote a portion of my observing sessions to the naked eye observing. Quite few targets could be resolved naked eye if the sky is dark. Tracing constellations and catching meteors is fun to.
Spot on with that observation ( pun intended)!

I have gotten into the habit of getting everything outside right around sunset.
Then after twilight is over I come outside with my 7X50 binoculars and as it gets darker,I scan the whole sky starting with something that I know for sure, like Sirius.

Then in combination with the binoculars as my eyes adjust,if I want to go see from say example down from Sirius to look for that star cluster M 41 my eyes ( and mind) are now adjusted and familiar with the constellations( as you stated) that I can see.
I have to thank you again for that Atlas that in conjunction with everything else I just stated has really been helping me learn the night sky.

Also “ catching meteors “ still lights my fire, even though I’m out there alone I catch myself saying out loud “ holy s¥it did you see that” :o :lol:
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#12

Post by Bigzmey »


Frankskywatcher wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 3:52 pm
Bigzmey wrote: Fri Feb 24, 2023 10:15 pm I always devote a portion of my observing sessions to the naked eye observing. Quite few targets could be resolved naked eye if the sky is dark. Tracing constellations and catching meteors is fun to.
Spot on with that observation ( pun intended)!

I have gotten into the habit of getting everything outside right around sunset.
Then after twilight is over I come outside with my 7X50 binoculars and as it gets darker,I scan the whole sky starting with something that I know for sure, like Sirius.

Then in combination with the binoculars as my eyes adjust,if I want to go see from say example down from Sirius to look for that star cluster M 41 my eyes ( and mind) are now adjusted and familiar with the constellations( as you stated) that I can see.
I have to thank you again for that Atlas that in conjunction with everything else I just stated has really been helping me learn the night sky.

Also “ catching meteors “ still lights my fire, even though I’m out there alone I catch myself saying out loud “ holy s¥it did you see that” :o :lol:
Glad you are enjoying the atlas Frank. Finding familiar constellations patterns never gets old for me. Also, once you know them by heart you can get a green laser and start impressing friends and family. "That's Cassiopeia for you!" :D
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#13

Post by pakarinen »


jrkirkham wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 3:08 pm I usually use the Little Dipper to judge transparency for my logs.
I can only see Pherkad and Kochab at home, even on a good night. :lol:
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Re: How about some naked eye observing?

#14

Post by Chich »


I do enjoy visual observing. Often just wander out on the deck for a look for a minute or two most nights

When I lived in the NWT we worked with Wood Buffalo National Park and had a naked eye observatory built at the Pine lake campground. The link shows it in the first two photos. It is built in a cicle with a bench around which allowed you to lean back and look up. It was big enough for a large group and a speaker could stand in the middle.

I think more places should have something like this.

https://www.tawbas.ca/photo---mike-k-dsf.html
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