Venus is back wahey!! :)

hamster

Any of you guys see venus the other night? I saw it under the new cresent moon on Wednesdau night around 10:40. Forgot how bright this was... puts jupiter into the shade...

Mars.. though... I can't get myself out of bed to see it early hours of the morning. Although soon enough... staying up a little late will do it... if we get better weather.

Flukey

Venus may be coming but Jupiter still dominates for a while yet. There is not much on view at this time of year. If you look to the north it never really gets totally dark now, especially the further north you are in the country. You'll see a few things looking north these nights, with Capella being the most prominent object. Summer is wonderful, but a bit limiting for us astronomers! There is plenty to see nevertheless, and the winter to look forward too.

Is1ldur

I was thinking of heading out somewhere tomorrow night to see if I can get a good view. I have never been out properly before. Any ideas where I can go, I live in Drimnagh. Do I have to head up the mountains or something. I see that Jupiter is following the moon tomorrow night. Will I be able to see it? I only have a pair of zoom bino's 8-24x50. Even I just get to see the moon and pick out a few constellations I will be happy. I notice also that three planets are following the Sun all day. Fairly close, but would they be visible at or just after sunset?
By the way, is there anything coming up soon regarding Star parties or something like that, I've never actually seen the moon through anything more powerful than a kids telescope (you know the plastic ones). I'd love to get a proper idea of what I can expect when I eventually take the plunge and buy a scope.

Tea drinker

The moon is good though all but the worst scope.
It's good in my little 114mm but is super in my brother's 10" Dob.
You get a kind of 3d effect, or some sense of depth / proportion.

I haven't been to any of the star parties myself, but I do go up near Johny Fox's sometimes.... it's not the best, but is way better than anywhere near me. If you have any holidays planned in Ireland bring the Bino's with you.
I was down in Kerry last august or so, and the skies were super, very dark apart from the best view of the milky way I have ever seen.... and I lived in country until my teens.

Keep an eye on the Die and Sell, I got my scope in there for 50 euro, it's good quality optics, weak mount, but well worth the price.

Flukey

Is1ldur, Jupiter is easy to spot any night now. It is the brightest thing in the sky. Even from Drimnagh you have no problem in seeing it. Look to the south and it will be there. If you have a south-facing garden, just go out and look up. In some ways being in the suburbs makes it easier to find. The light pollution will reduce the amount of stars you can see, so it stands out even more. Unless you have a telescope or a good pair of binoculars you won't see any detail, but it is still good to see.

If you can go up to the mountains and away from the city lights, you will see many more things in the night sky, though not as much as you will in the winter. A good pair of binoculars, like those you have, will enable you to see a lot more than with the naked eye. It is a fascinating hobby, and a very simple one to start. All you have to do is go outside and look up!

Here are some of the things I have seen and photographed, and they are nothing compared to what some people can photograph:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~flukey/AstronomyPage.htm

Is1ldur

Way too overcast at the moment to go anywhere, and it does not look like it will improve, however I can keep hoping. Had not thought of looking in the Buy and Sell Tea, will do so now. And Flukey, those photos don't look bad at all, I particularly like the pics of Jupiter.
I have a gren in Wexford and the sky really is unbelievable down there. Hoping to get down there over the Summer too.
I will keep you all informed how I get on.

Flukey

There are some gaps in the clouds, so have the occasional look out and you may spot it. Somewhere in Wexford would be great to view the skies from. I live in the Dublin suburbs too, so it is always amazing to see the difference in the amount of stars to be seen when I am away in some rural location. Be sure to go down in the winter. Longer and darker nights and far better constellations to see, with Orion being the King of them. Saturn will be visible then too, and you will be able to see its rings if you have a good telescope by then.

Is1ldur

Got down to the Phoenix Park. Still a lot of cloud about, and the bino's were a disappointing. I presume Jupiter was the very bright 'star' to the left of the moon. Need to get myself a telescope!! At least I know I saw it, but it still did not look any better than a dot of light.

Orion

If you are buying a scope here's a couple of threads to help you decide what to buy.

http://www.irishastronomy.org/boards/viewtopic.php?p=10567#10567

http://www.irishastronomy.org/boards/viewtopic.php?p=10631#10631

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=233800

The next Star Party that I'm aware of is the Whirlpool in September - not sure where that is though.

albertw

Flukey wrote:

There are some gaps in the clouds, so have the occasional look out and you may spot it. Somewhere in Wexford would be great to view the skies from.

You dont need to go that far south, anywhere in the wicklow mountains away from the main towns and south west of the sugarloaf will do.

I'll scan in the wicklow portion of the dark sky map and put it on the ILPAC site (and hope Philips dont notice!).

As someone pointed out though, its nearly midsummer so you wont have dark skies anywhere. I was trying to get spectra from stars a couple of weeks back and only was able to use a half hour window around 1am. So unless there is an aurora or something else spectacular (any noctilucent cloud pictures yet anyone?) I wouldn't bother travelling to a dark sky until near august.

Cheers,
~Al

Orion

ILPAC Site