Bah! First view of Jupiter through the 12"

Fuzzy.

Well, the seeing was disgusting. Transparency, the best. Weather went
south on me. When I put the scope out to start cooling (around 3ish),
air was still. Must have been a fluke thing because when I went back
out, about an hour later, it was very windy. Wasn't too cold,
somewhere in the neighborhood of 35F.

Disappointing to say the least.

Errol
pasnola.org

"Starboard" wrote in message
oups.com...
Fuzzy.

Well, the seeing was disgusting. Transparency, the best. Weather went
south on me. When I put the scope out to start cooling (around 3ish),
air was still. Must have been a fluke thing because when I went back
out, about an hour later, it was very windy. Wasn't too cold,
somewhere in the neighborhood of 35F.

Disappointing to say the least.

Errol
pasnola.org


I've been checking out Jupiter with my 12-inch Dob early each morning and,
so far, the views have been less than striking. Last year, the views were
striking -- I suspect the rising sun is the problem for now and later on
this year Jupiter will be as spectacular as ever.

Usually I roll out around 0445, leave for a 5-mile walk at 0500, am back
around 0600, then, I roll out the scope.

By this time -- 0615 - 0630 -- Jupiter is around 20-25 degrees above the
horizon. HOWEVER -- Jupiter is above and to the right of the rising sun and
it appears that the rising sun -- though it's still below the horizon to
me -- is wiping out most of the detail on Jupiter. Jupiter's bands are
barely visible, regardless of seeing conditions or magnification, and
there's no hope of seeing the GRS or any other detail -- my scope and
eyepieces live outside so cool-down is not an issue. The Galilean moons, of
course, are clearly visible but details on Jupiter are washed out.

Later on, as Jupiter rises early in the evening and is not in competition
with the sun, I'm sure views will be back to normal. Last year, with the
12-inch, I readily observed the GRS, loops, whorls, bands, and shadow
transits from my light-polluted apartment complex.