Awesome Night

Yesterday was a good day weather wise, and I packed up the Beast and
made ready to go up to the corner. Was up there by about 5pm, enough
time to unload, set up, realine the scope and rest while watching the
sunset.

First lady showed up with a kid before it was dark enough, they
couldn't wait, but I gave the boy some of the goodies JPL sent me to
hand out ( Another good contact fostered by me ), it was to bad they
left so soon, within 10 mins venus was seeable and in 20mins the Full
moon had cleared the trees with Jupiter above it.

I didn't have loads of people stop, but the ones that did got a good
show! First came the moon, ( 24mm ep with moon filter & light blue
filter stacked on ), then a fast change and next would come Jupiter
and last night was just awesome, NO wind, NO fronts, NO air movement
of any kind, I could not only make out the main two cloud belts, but
also could make out many of the smaller fainted belts too, something I
don't see offen, not from that area. Then from there I'd swing over to
Venus with a stop over at Orion's M42.

The last two groups just before closing time, also got Saturn as it
was still in neck brake country but just past the dob hole. I could
even see some slight shading on Saturn.

Got home and after a bit to eat and a asprin for my pains, I drove to
the otherside of the freeway area and set up in the empty field and
enjoyed another 3 hours of watching Jupiter and Saturn and other
sights.

Tonight if it's as good, I'll pull out my 4.8 neggler and give it a
try on Jupiter too.

I had one guy ( jarhead ) who came over, ask me who PAID me to do
this? I pointed toward the jar with the 2 25cent coins in it and told
him it wasn't the little bit of money I might get, but it was the
enjoyment of giving people a view of the nightly show that goes on
over their head and getting them to maybe look UP now and then. He
took a look at the sights, got into his souped up car and peeled out.
I don't think he'll ever be one to look up very offen. But it didn't
matter, the last ones was a man with his little gal ( about 6 I
think ) and hearing the WOW when she saw the full moon in all it's
glory.

All in All a very good night.



--
Dragons Must Fly when Thread's in the Sky

www.starlord.org

Starlord wrote:

Yesterday was a good day weather wise, and I packed up the Beast and
made ready to go up to the corner. Was up there by about 5pm, enough
time to unload, set up, realine the scope and rest while watching the
sunset.

First lady showed up with a kid before it was dark enough, they
couldn't wait, but I gave the boy some of the goodies JPL sent me to
hand out ( Another good contact fostered by me ), it was to bad they
left so soon, within 10 mins venus was seeable and in 20mins the Full
moon had cleared the trees with Jupiter above it.

What is your equipment? I've got a 4 inch and its not very good, most of
what i see (other than i can see Saturns rings) is white circles about the
size of pencil erasers, or a little smaller.
Eric


I didn't have loads of people stop, but the ones that did got a good
show! First came the moon, ( 24mm ep with moon filter & light blue
filter stacked on ), then a fast change and next would come Jupiter
and last night was just awesome, NO wind, NO fronts, NO air movement
of any kind, I could not only make out the main two cloud belts, but
also could make out many of the smaller fainted belts too, something I
don't see offen, not from that area. Then from there I'd swing over to
Venus with a stop over at Orion's M42.

The last two groups just before closing time, also got Saturn as it
was still in neck brake country but just past the dob hole. I could
even see some slight shading on Saturn.

Got home and after a bit to eat and a asprin for my pains, I drove to
the otherside of the freeway area and set up in the empty field and
enjoyed another 3 hours of watching Jupiter and Saturn and other
sights.

Tonight if it's as good, I'll pull out my 4.8 neggler and give it a
try on Jupiter too.

I had one guy ( jarhead ) who came over, ask me who PAID me to do
this? I pointed toward the jar with the 2 25cent coins in it and told
him it wasn't the little bit of money I might get, but it was the
enjoyment of giving people a view of the nightly show that goes on
over their head and getting them to maybe look UP now and then. He
took a look at the sights, got into his souped up car and peeled out.
I don't think he'll ever be one to look up very offen. But it didn't
matter, the last ones was a man with his little gal ( about 6 I
think ) and hearing the WOW when she saw the full moon in all it's
glory.

All in All a very good night.

At this time my scope ( Babylon 8 ) is a F8 8inch Dob, but before it
was built, I used for 4 years a Stargazer Steve 4.25in F9 Dob and it
gave very good views too.

http://home.inreach.com/starlord Telescope Buyers FAQ


"Eric" wrote in message
news:cFd3c.150973$Xp.623400@attbi_s54...

What is your equipment? I've got a 4 inch and its not very good,
most of
what i see (other than i can see Saturns rings) is white circles
about the
size of pencil erasers, or a little smaller.
Eric

What is your equipment? I've got a 4 inch and its not very good, most of
what i see (other than i can see Saturns rings) is white circles about the
size of pencil erasers, or a little smaller.
Eric

Sounds to me like you are not able to get your scope to focus. One sees white
circles in any scope that is defocused.

This could be a problem with the scope (what is it?) or with your technique.
If it is a probably with the scope, it probably means that you hit the limits
of the focuser travel before reaching focus.

With some more information, this is probably fixable.

jon

I don't think he'll ever be one to look up very offen. But it didn't
matter, the last ones was a man with his little gal ( about 6 I
think ) and hearing the WOW when she saw the full moon in all it's
glory.


It's very nice to see people's reactions when they first look through a
telescope. I saw and old lady of about 70 view Jupiter & Saturn for the
first time last year. It reminded me of the wonder when I first saw them as
a 12 year old.


DaveL

Starlord-
Just read your report for the night of the 8th. Great report. I managed
to get out Sunday night, the 7th, and while I only had the guy across the
street & his kid join me, it was much the same. "Wow!" by a youngster makes
it all worthwhile.
I had pretty good luck with the planets (although Venus in the 'scope is
just like Venus by the Mark10 eyeball, only more so), and managed (I
thought) to see not only the North & South Equatorial Bands on Jupiter, but
also some more slight features in both hemispheres.
Saturn was a joy, as always, & we were thinking we were seeing at least
three moons (to the NW, if I remember correctly).
As usual, the moon left me wishing I knew the topography better. Well, one
more thing to study up on.

Take care of both you & the Beast. Oh, & remember, he was a "jarhead."

Rob
37.54 N
121.98 W

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"Starlord" wrote in message
...
At this time my scope ( Babylon 8 ) is a F8 8inch Dob, but before it
was built, I used for 4 years a Stargazer Steve 4.25in F9 Dob and it
gave very good views too.

http://home.inreach.com/starlord Telescope Buyers FAQ


"Eric" wrote in message
news:cFd3c.150973$Xp.623400@attbi_s54...

What is your equipment? I've got a 4 inch and its not very good,
most of
what i see (other than i can see Saturns rings) is white circles
about the
size of pencil erasers, or a little smaller.
Eric

Jon Isaacs wrote:


What is your equipment? I've got a 4 inch and its not very good, most of
what i see (other than i can see Saturns rings) is white circles about the
size of pencil erasers, or a little smaller.
Eric

Sounds to me like you are not able to get your scope to focus. One sees
white circles in any scope that is defocused.

This could be a problem with the scope (what is it?) or with your
technique. If it is a probably with the scope, it probably means that you
hit the limits of the focuser travel before reaching focus.

With some more information, this is probably fixable.

jon
Sorry, i used poor wording, what i meant was white dots
Eric

Jon Isaacs wrote:


What is your equipment? I've got a 4 inch and its not very good, most of
what i see (other than i can see Saturns rings) is white circles about the
size of pencil erasers, or a little smaller.
Eric

Sounds to me like you are not able to get your scope to focus. One sees
white circles in any scope that is defocused.

This could be a problem with the scope (what is it?) or with your
technique. If it is a probably with the scope, it probably means that you
hit the limits of the focuser travel before reaching focus.

With some more information, this is probably fixable.

jon
I've got a Celestron NexStar 114GT I bought at Costco. I want to clarify
that I'm not seeing circles but I meant dots (poor choice of words, sorry)
I thought i could make out Mars' polar cap last December when it was very
close to earth and i could definately see Saturns rings but I guess i
expected to see larger images and more detail. I havnt found a good night
yet to check out the moon, I'm in Olympia WA and the weather here is mostly
rainy and cloudy. I'm a long way (5 miles or so) from any real well lit
city type area but there is a street light not too far away that i try to
hide from as best i can.
Eric

I've got a Celestron NexStar 114GT I bought at Costco. I want to clarify
that I'm not seeing circles but I meant dots (poor choice of words, sorry)

That's good to know...



I thought i could make out Mars' polar cap last December when it was very
close to earth and i could definately see Saturns rings but I guess i
expected to see larger images and more detail.

Expectations can be a problem, too many hubble photos can lead to
disappointment when viewing through any amateur scope.

Personally, the idea that I am actually looking at some light that may have
travelled millions of years just to get to my mirror is pretty exciting to me
than some glossy magazine photo.

Jon