Having been hot and sunny here for the last few days I decided that finally I would get my scope out to take a quick look at the beckoning summer sky.

Scope: 4.5" Skywatcher EQ1 Newtonian 

First stop M13: Found it with my wide angle lens. Inserted my Super 10. (50x) A even grey fuzz. This was a lovely view. I didn't expect much at the mo. The sky was still quite light despite gone 11:00. After inserting the 2x Barlow I couldn't see much. Except a bright fuzzy point and a swimming atmosphere. It was 24°C here yesterday. All the houses were releasing the built up heat.

Lyra was just visable above the conifers. I tried for M57. With the wide angle lens I could see a faint elongated smudge. The 10mm actually made it fainter. I dared the barlow Just moving atmosphere.

I moved the scope around to a better view of Cygnus and Lyra. Tried for Epsilon Lyrae. If I found it it was just two stars. An easier catch was Albireo. The Gold and Blue stars sparkled through all lenses. I had to defocus a bit through the barlow.

By now the sky was darker and I could see stars down to around 5th mag. I retried M13. This time it showed a bright core and a mottled halo. The barlow worked better now. In steady moments I could resolve a couple of stars in the halo. It was getting late and I decided to go in and to bed after that. The sky wasn't finnished quite yet though... A satellite flew into view. It passed between Ophiuchus' head and Hercules' feet. It fadded in Cygnus. I made guesses as to the mag. Around Alpha Oph and Gamma Cyg. Once the scope was put away I logged onto Heavens-above. (Even though it was late.) The satellite was the UARS (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite).

All in all not a bad session.
 

Oliver Tunnah:

All in all not a bad session.
 

I'll agree, not bad at all.

This is a terrible time for observing for those of us in the south. With the hot humid days, we can usually count on muggy, hazy nights to follow. Especially since I'm so close to the coast. If clouds or rain doesn't get us from the west, or southwest, then the sea breeze slides in to meet the heat of the day and unsteady the atmosphere. If it isn't pop up showers from the mixing of cool and warm air, then it's the haze that takes over the balmy night sky. And my wife wonders why I love observing during the winter so much?

Thanks for the report, Oliver.  It sounds like you faced challenges at every turn.  That is the nature of our hobby, though, isn't it?  I just keep reminding myself that if it were easy it wouldn't be near as much fun.

Great report Oliver - any session when we see something is a good session.

George

Thanks for the comments.

Here in Bristol, we do get a number of clear nights. My Southwest- West- North West Horizon is the lightdome of Bristol. Only planets the Sun and the Moon is really worth viewing there. Even most clear nights are bad, only stars around 3rd mag faintly shine through. Every now and then I get a night like that. It's a little clearer, One winter night I had a fantastic time. However the sky was just too light due to the sun's position.

One thing I have to moan about is: I'm not going on holiday this year. No dark sky and a clear southern horizon. Well I might plan a weekend away to the South coast...