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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. |
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Three planets just before sunrise
"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. |
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Three planets just before sunrise
"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? |
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Three planets just before sunrise
"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. |
#5
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Three planets just before sunrise
"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. ;-) |
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