First time out for the new scope. It's not collimated yet (I'm waiting for the postie to deliver the required laser-gadget) so the view quality was never going to be good. Couple that with the fact that I've only got the one eyepiece until the new set is delivered, so I was restricted to just the one magnification (x50).
First off was a shufty at Mars. At x50 it's just a tiny flat orange disc so there was nothing to get excited about. It served as a handy target for practicing with the manual RA and Dec adjusters (leccy computerised set on order).
Next up was the Moon. It's just past full, so there was much detail on the terminator, where there were shadows which added depth to the view. Chris was really impressed when she eventually got a chance to have a look-see. I grabbed the D50 and took some hand-held snaps through the eyepiece. I really need to get a T-ring to fit the camera directly to the scope.
Finally, Saturn was visible to the left of the Moon, so I slewed around to that and got a decent view. Titan was obvious, and two other moons were just visible. Anna was still awake so I let her have a look, she was really wowed by the view. Her class is studying the planets, she's so chuffed now that she can tell all her classmates that she's really seen another planet and another moon! I took a few snaps but they're rubbish and don't show any moons, so I'll not post them here.
THE SMALL(ish) PRINT... (updated 23/07/2016)
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Wow...and by coincidence, Space 1999 is on the tv just now. Difficult to spot the difference. Great photo, BG!
Thanks for the kudos, Duncan.
Maybe I'll set up the scope when you stopover for the OSOS08?
"Saturn was visible to the left of the Moon"
To the left of the moon? That's like saying Britain's to the right of America (which is obviously wrong, whichever way you look at it!!)
[quote comment="832"]"Saturn was visible to the left of the Moon"
To the left of the moon? That's like saying Britain's to the right of America (which is obviously wrong, whichever way you look at it!!)[/quote]
OK, smartar5e.
How about "Saturn was visible at approximately RA: 10h 39m 5.15s, Dec: 10d 26m 8.7s @ UT 20:01:30, Sidereal Time 7h 8m 45.3s, Julian Day Number 2454490.45938, just to the left of the Moon but not so far left as to warrant being deliberately misinterpreted by a dodgy-kneed academic based in a small principality just to the west of England"?
Deuce.
😆
Hi Kate.