Hi from the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy ...

[PaulRS]

 ... And from the even more unfashionable east side of Orpington!

It's great to hear that there's such an active society on my doorstep, but with so much else on, I regret I won't have time to take an active part.

I'm an ex-biologist who still takes a passing interest in where all those atoms that make biology possible came from.  Unfortunately my active astronomy extends no further than taking a look at the sky whenever there's something interesting announced in the News or on the Sky at Night.  A few months ago I proved that the supernova couldn't be resolved using my telephoto lens - but it was good fun trying.  Likewise I stayed up to see the Perseids ... saw just the one ... and a nice Iridium flare, so not a wasted evening at all.

I look forward to hearing what you folks think can and can't be seen from my less-than-ideal home just by the sodium lights on the bypass.

All the best,

Paul Syms.

[Carole]

Hi Paul.  Welcome to the forum.  Shame you can't take part more actively.

You can certainly see the planets, and some of the brighter objects like Andromeda galaxy, Orion Nebula, Dumbbell Nebula, M13 globular cluster, depending on your optics.  You should be able to make these out with binoculars, though not sure about the Dumbbell as I never tried that.

See what the others come up with.

Carole

[Mac]

Greetings,

May clear skies grace your presents, Failing that grab a bottle,
Astronomy is probably the fastest way to learn about alcohol in this country, 
Especially with the current climate we have.

You might be surprised at what you can and can't see from your backyard.
As Carole said, there are quite a few things up there that can be seen,

If you buy a light pollution filter then there are quite a few more that appear, as it removes
that beautiful fake aurora of sodium glow. Although it dosen't do much for the full moon as you will find that the moon
also removes the glow of the lights, so the fainter object truly disappear unless you go down the realms of narrow band imaging.

A nice pair of binoculars should see you fine.
If you also grab a planisphere 51.5N then that will also give you a head start, as to what you should be looking at.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Planisphere-Northern-Degrees-Astronomy/dp/054008817X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319801315&sr=8-1

As we are on your doorstep, why not pop down to the meetings, or even the observing evenings,
at least you can see the inside of the change of horses, and observe the decor.

Mac.