kerrylewis

Hello As Mick says it would help to have details of your telescope. It’s worth pointing out that Mars is not best placed for observing at present for two reasons; 1. It is low in the sky so you are looking through lots of disruptive atmosphere 2. It is not at its closest and is therefore small Both of these conditions will improve later in the year

I also have the S&T app JupiterMoons which does the same thing. Very useful The GRS was on the edge of the disc for me this morning. I could just make out the shadow during fleeting moments of better seeing and I did see Io approaching the planet but that was it

Hello Garry. I’m well thanks and I trust that you are too. I did get up this morning around 3.00 but found that the seeing was pretty poor and certainly nowhere near as good as my two previous sessions. I hung around for a while hoping for an improvement but gave up in the end and went back to bed! Good to hear from you

Very wise Mark. I can be a bit careless with things but NEVER with the sun. I always physically block it, behind the house for example, before attempting any observation that is close.

According to my notes, on January 11th 2014 I actually observed Venus at inferior conjunction. It was 5 degrees north of the sun and according to Sky Safari only 0.4% illuminated!

I had the scope set up and aligned from this morning's session with Jupiter and Saturn - so I cheated a bit 😀

I used goto Stu. Focussing was the 'finding' bit!

I just waited for the sun to be safely behind the house and found Venus through the Tak What a beautiful sight! The ultra slim and fragile crescent hanging against a lovely blue sky. Perhaps the last look at what has been a great showing

Back out this morning at 3.30. Seeing was very good. Not quite as good as the last time (see first post) but very good nevertheless. Quick look at Mars; a crisp orange disc but it was behind the neighbour’s roof before I could see if I could tease out any detail. Jupiter was great with lots of detail. No GRS or transits but plenty to see in the belts. Two moons (Io and Europa) were close together looking like a nicely matching double star. I watched to see if they were converging or diverging but they seemed to stay about the same. Then one disappeared and for a moment I thought they had converged but then realised that one had gone into eclipse. Saturn was sharp and steady. The Cassini division clear and detail visible on the planet. It looks like the planet’s disc is now just beginning to poke beyond the rings as they gradually close up. Titan visible until the sky got too light. Well worth getting up for.

Me too John . It’s thinking about where these objects sit in space that brings a thrill.

Love these reports and pics. I have to be content with binocular views of this event. I can get telescope views of that part of the sky but it either involves setting the mount up in the middle of the road or on a fairly small area of flat roof - both of which involve a certain amount of risk! I have previously manhandled the scope and mount up to the flat roof. This involves negotiating a loft ladder and a rather small window. Understandably I tend to reserve this for really special events - a comet perhaps. Even then the sleeping members of the household complain about my ‘hobnail boots’ and even claim to hear the whirring of the mount. I refute this but I am half deaf. So, keep your telescopic reports coming chaps 😀

Yes Mark, I forgot to mention the moons. They looked good all grouped to one side I’m glad someone else enjoyed the view

Got up around 3.30 to catch the gas giants. I had to wait for them to clear the garage roof but then was treated to a wonderful hour or so of observing. Unlike the last time I tried I could tell immediately that the seeing was good - and it got better. There was a transit of Callisto’s shadow which I followed across the disc as it got sharper into a perfect black bullet hole. By 4.15 the seeing was rock solid with no atmospherics at all. As the sky got lighter I tried the contrast booster filter and the view was simply stunning. Detail of the belts was clear with all the subtle shading on the rest of the disc. It took some magnification too with the Nagler 3-6 mm Zoom at times on 3mm setting (300x in the Tak!) although 4 or 5mm was best. I even tried the Vixen 2.4mm! Now Saturn. Wow! Being less bright it was better without the filter. A beautiful 3D view. The Cassini division sharp with subtle shading on the globe. Again it took high magnification - a wonderful sight. Solid seeing gave an almost photographic view. I dragged myself away as the sky got a bit too bright after the best planetary observing I’ve had for quite a while. Fingers crossed for tomorrow when there is a GRS and a shadow transit!

I hope you manage it Barry. Mercury is always easier to spot when Venus points the way. The west is not a good direction for me either - I have to clamber out onto an area of flat roof!

Just got it too Stu. The sky just needed to be a little darker

Beautiful slender crescent through the Canon bins at the moment. There is something magical about a crescent Venus . It always seems to be a surprise somehow to see planet with that shape, but it nicely illustrates the layout of the solar system with some planets within our orbit and some without. I never tire of looking at it.

The common advice can be summed up in one word - don't. But I tend to ignore this and give mine a clean every 12 months or so. I don't know what your scope is but mine is a Skywatcher Flextube 350 and the mirror is easy to remove in its cradle and I dunk the whole thing in the bath, There is lots of advice on this forum and some good videos on Youtube regarding the detail of the operation. Basically I clean with a weak solution of Fairy liquid and rinse off with distilled water. I lightly skim over with a cotton wool pad to remove any residue. It's nothing to be afraid of basically Kerry

Observed this tonight courtesy of Sky Safari controlling my mount. Just a fuzzy blob in the Tak and a bit fainter than Panstarrs T2 but I carefully checked against the surrounding stars and confirmed it. Always good to bag another comet and it's now added to the list to monitor. Will it get brighter or go the way of the other current ATLAS I wonder?

I probably won't try again which means that someone is sure to post that seeing was superb!

I set the mount up in the front garden last night hoping for a first telescopic view of the dawn trio. This is the only place that I can view the low south east I got up just after 4.00 and fixed the Tak - I wasn’t going to leave that out overnight! Unfortunately , as I half expected, seeing was pretty awful due to the miles of atmosphere in the way. Jupiter was a featureless blob at first though it improved as it climbed a little higher and the scope cooled. The best I could manage though was glimpses of the belts. Low magnification was best with a beautiful view of the moons evenly spaced either side. Low magnification was also best for Saturn - jewel like as usual with a pronounced orange cast due to the altitude. Then Mars - just a small reddish disk of course but good to see it again ahead of better things later in the year. So, not a morning for planetary detail but pleasant enough; very quiet with just the dawn chorus. Great to meet these old friends again and looking forward to more in the months to come.

Hello Paul. I meant to refer to your experience in my post. I never satisfactorily explained to myself how I made that mistake - for all know I might have been looking at the wrong star! 😀

I’ve finally split my nemesis! After a cracking evening chasing doubles through Virgo, the Ursas, Draco etc , I realised that seeing was very good having split a few close ones that have been a challenge before. So I decided to wait for Hercules to clear my unfavourite tree and give old Zeta a go. I ramped up the magnification using the Vixen HR 2.4mm (with the 100mm Tak) and after letting things settle down the star image was very steady with clear Airey disc rings. I was guided by John’s excellent sketch and there on the first ring was the elongated grey blob in the right position! I have tried before without success. I also erroneously thought I’d got it once in the past and even described it as ‘easy’ on this forum attracting scorn and derision! So - a great feeling having cracked it at last but also some disappointment because it doesn’t actually look like a double does it?! Having viewed some crackers earlier on ranging from close matched bright pairs to those with faint companions, old Zeta just doesn’t compare as a spectacle. But I did it - and a special thinks to @John without whom this may have not been possible 😀

That’s a lovely pic which nicely captures the view

What a glorious sight! Lucky here with the clouds parting before Venus dipped below the roof. A lovely almost half phase of bright Venus against a spangle of stars. 30mm eyepiece in the Tak gave the best widefield view. Stunning. Binoculars view not bad either with the familiar Pleiades shape plus their new arrival. Lovely

Hello Mike i saw the comet last night but I was ‘cheating’ using Sky Safari linked to the mount. I can’t make your sketch fit the Sky Safari picture. There was a distinct L shaped group of stars close by which Pete Presland also noted and these are not in your sketch. So ‘unproven’ I think! Kerry