Out in the DRIVEWAY!

Well I setup my new(old) LX90 LNT in the driveway last night. Now I am a corner house with traffic going by......and one of those BAD streetlights on the corner, that I can mostly block out with the house.

Gotos are still very accurate and continue to surprise me. Observed about 10 different objects including the Double Cluster and Saturn, but those faint DSOs were mostly beyond my grasp. I got a "hint" of several (I think) with averted vision. Mostly stuck with objects brighter than about 7 magnitude. All in all a pretty good evening for my light polluted skies. Saturn of course was excellent.

Great to hear Joe! 8)
Just wait... Jupiter is another great SHOW... 8) (and it is just around the corner)

Hi, Joe. I am glad to hear you are making the best of your situation, getting out and observing. Sometimes, when I want to observe the moon and Jupiter and Saturn, I set up in the driveway like you and laugh at the cars and streetlights. Other times, I have to sneak around the yard and get in the shadow of a bush or the corner of the house to look at the dim fuzzies. I have seen 108 of the Messier objects, and lots of NGCs that way. I don't know what I would do in a dark location. Be scared, probably.

Best wishes,
Rick

Gamo makes a very good pellet gun. Of course, I don't advocate shooting out offending street lights under any circumstances, and most commmunities have statutes against shooting anything with a projectile. There's a streetlight near my driveway, but I think it's going to burn out pretty soon. I have to park my van between my 12"LB and the offensive light, or pack it all up and drive 15miles. Woe is me.