Mars!

I was able to observe for about 25 minutes tonight. Problems with my finder scope and the odd patch of clouds hindered my session quite a bit, but I did get some time to view M42, the Pleiades, and Mars. At the clearest parts of the session, I had Mars near 200x, and was starting to detect some "seas" of darker color to the right of my view. Still, clouds came and ruined everything, and I packed it in after no further clearings looked likely.

New Year's Resolution: more aperture and GoTo. Passed on a few LX90s already this year, as I knew the weather wouldn't cooperate much in Dec/Jan, and I'd hate lugging an 8" SCT out for a 10 minute session.

I'm thinking of getting one of those inexpensive iOptron "Cube" alt/az mounts and a used 4" achromat just to have a grab-n-go scope for the winter. If it doesn't work well, I'm only out a few hundred :)

Clear (winter) skies,
Todd

Friday Night at Mingo Star Party

I journeyed out to Mingo park again on Friday, where the AAAP was holding another weekend of star parties. I meant to go Saturday, but Friday was looking good and my kids somehow got to bed early. Go figure!

I brought my usual gear, but this was the first time with the new eyepieces and case (pics coming soon). I setup my tripod, for the camera and binoculars, my scope (‘ol Blue), my beach chair and the small equipment table. The table is actually a kids folding table that I steal from my 6 year old. Remind me to get a real observing table.

Venus and Saturn were close together, but setting fast. I used the barlowed 9mm to view them both at 155x, which was a treat. It’s the largest I’ve seen either in this scope, and they both looked great. They moved fast, so I decided to try Jupiter for a while.

Jupiter stayed out all night, and Mingo has a GREAT view of the southern sky. I saw more in the south tonight than I ever have before. Jupiter and the 4 main moons barely fit into the eyepiece view at 155x, but I got them. Better detail than I expected, including 2 cloud bands and possibly the red spot (I may have seen it, or I may have wanted to see it so badly that I faked my own eyes out ;-)). At that magnification, it moved out of view FAST. Tracking would be a good thing to have on the next scope, so maybe the Dob is out after all.

By far, my favorites of the night came from Sagittarius, where I was able to see several Messier objects with just the binoculars. I spotted M8 (Lagoon Nebula), M20 (Trifid Nebula), and M21 in what has to be the prettiest binocular-ready section of the sky. The Milky Way was “flowing” right out of the teapot of Sagittarius, and made my night. I can only imagine what darker sites would do for this part of the sky.

I also spent some time on Antares in Scorpius, and again used binoculars to find M4. By this point, I was also viewing M4 and M25 through the 24” reflector Mingo’s observatory, so I was getting a little spoiled. This scope now features a rotating turret of eyepieces, so changing between the 5 or 6 magnifications was perfectly simple. A great star party addition, especially since those eyepieces were all Tele-Vue Naglers. What I’d give to have a set of those in my eyepiece arsenal! Someday!

I started packing up at about 12:45, just as a lovely reddish-brown moon rose behind me. I took several shots of the moon, none of which really worked. Ah well.

Overall, a great night! I met several new people, and I’m sure I’ll even remember their names someday (I’m terrible with names!).

Jupiter, baby!

Another clear night last night. I was busy working on a video project and didn't get out for long, but I did see a few things. I was helping my wife unload the groceries at about 10:30 (thank you 24 hour grocery stores), and she pointed out a bright star in the south east part of the sky. Big, bright, and yellow - I figured it had to be Jupiter.

I grabbed the Nikons and took a quick peek - and there it was, a lovely yellow disc with three small pinpoints in an angle alongside. Jupiter and three of his moons, perfectly framed in the eyepeices. Though that part of the sky is almost completely covered by trees in my neighborhood, there was a "hole" in the trees that Jupiter fit nicely into. I set the tripod and let my wife have a good long look, too :)

I tried to show her M44, but the sky had a bit of haze (and Venus being uber-bright in that part of the sky likely didn't help). No M44 tonight, and my wife called it quits. I stayed out for a few minutes, and used the averted vision trick again to see M13. Can't wait for a darker location to REALLY get some better looks at everything.

The moon was bright and lovely - a nice night for Luna gazing.