Three planets just before sunrise

Neat sight this morning -- 0620, Knoxville, TN -- urban light pollution,
apartment complex with "security light" pollution, after beginning of
morning twilight.

XT-12 Dob with 18mm and 10mm TV Panoptics and 7mm Nagler (83X, 150X, 214X).
Skies were dry and clear, 52 deg F, I'm not experienced at judging seeing
conditions but the only stars I could see were mag 4.

Orion was high in SSE sky, nebula not visible to naked eye but very good
through 7X50 binos.

Mars was directly overhead -- at 214X could barely make out dark spot on
planet, located in lower right-hand quadrant -- at leaat I think that's what
I saw, may have been my imagination.

Venus was SPECTACULAR -- crescent shaper,at both 83X and 150X the curvature
of the planet was clearly visible -- spectacular is the only way to describe
it. Did not try the highest power; tomorrow I'm using my 4mm ortho, 375X.

Saturn had just broken the tree line -- Saturn rose just before 0530; rings
are almost edge-on but at 150X are clearly visible -- bright, sharp.

"Joe S." wrote in news:

Neat sight this morning -- 0620, Knoxville, TN -- urban light
pollution, apartment complex with "security light" pollution, after
beginning of morning twilight.

XT-12 Dob with 18mm and 10mm TV Panoptics and 7mm Nagler (83X, 150X,
214X). Skies were dry and clear, 52 deg F, I'm not experienced at
judging seeing conditions but the only stars I could see were mag 4.

Orion was high in SSE sky, nebula not visible to naked eye but very
good through 7X50 binos.

Mars was directly overhead -- at 214X could barely make out dark spot
on planet, located in lower right-hand quadrant -- at leaat I think
that's what I saw, may have been my imagination.

Don't forget Mars is still three months away from opposition. Could you
see the polar caps? Those are usually the first thing to become visible.

Venus was SPECTACULAR -- crescent shaper,at both 83X and 150X the
curvature of the planet was clearly visible -- spectacular is the only
way to describe it. Did not try the highest power; tomorrow I'm using
my 4mm ortho, 375X.

I don't think that high magnification matters much with Venus, since you
can't see anything except it's phases.

Saturn had just broken the tree line -- Saturn rose just before 0530;
rings are almost edge-on but at 150X are clearly visible -- bright,
sharp.

Well, yeah. It's just gotten away from the Sun. So now we have a nicely
even balance. We've got Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune in the evening sky
and Venus, Saturn, and Mars in the morning.

"Joe S." wrote

XT-12 Dob with 18mm and 10mm TV Panoptics and 7mm Nagler (83X, 150X,
214X).

Just curious what you really were using, as there are no 18's or 10's in the
Panoptic line. Were you using Radians?

"Howard Lester" wrote in message
...
"Joe S." wrote

XT-12 Dob with 18mm and 10mm TV Panoptics and 7mm Nagler (83X, 150X,
214X).

Just curious what you really were using, as there are no 18's or 10's in
the Panoptic line. Were you using Radians?


Yep, my mistake, Radians. These things all look alike to me.

"Joe S." wrote

Just curious what you really were using, as there are no 18's or 10's in
the Panoptic line. Were you using Radians?


Yep, my mistake, Radians. These things all look alike to me.

Especially in the dark. ;-)