Although I've always been interested in the stars. It's not really been an active hobby I've ever pursued, just something I've never really put the effort into.
That's was until a couple of months ago. There was a meteor shower, and although we missed it, it has managed to spark the interest in both myself and my boyfriend to get into Astronomy properly.
Since then we've been watching the wonderful Brian Cox Wonders collections, downloading stargazing apps, and borrowing telescopes and binoculars.
On a clear night we've been out sky watching, sometimes deep into the night and discovered many 'new' objects.
So far we have:
°Observed the moon in great detail.
°Learned basic constellations like Cassiopeia, Pegasus and Ursa Major.
°Pinpointed seasonal references like the Summer Triangle of Deneb, Altair and Vega.
°Named our first star Padza via staracle (a combination of both our names)
°Spotted our first planets Neptune and Jupiter (something we's always just presumed were bright stars!)
°And more recently spotted our first Galaxy (M31 or Andromeda).
Today was a special session, our first early morning viewing. We got up at 5:30 am to view the stars from a different angle!
It was amazing to see the sky so clear, with so many more stars visible compared to evening viewing. It was a bit confusing at first to see the sky in a completely different pattern to what we're used to. But once we got our bearings we were able to see lots.
We saw Venus for the first time. Also a first sighting of the Orion constellation, and within it our first Nebula, and the red giant Betelgeuse.
I also saw what I think was my first meteor sighting in the Draco constellation. :) Very exciting.
Hopefully I'm going to post some of my photos later.
Now I'm wishing the day away until it gets dark again!
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