Patience rewarded tonight... WOW! but...

[patomlin76]

Hi

My patience with earlier cloudy skies was rewarded about an hour ago with some lovely clear skies.

First proper chance to get the 130P out, basic polar aligned. Fantastic detailed and sharp views of the moon at 25mm, 10mm and then with 3x barlow. Slewed over to Jupiter, fantastic at 25mm, less detailed but still great viewing with the 3x barlow.

However atmospheric seeing conditions were not ideal I don't think... The moon was clearly in focus and sharp but every now and then it would go slightly hazy/shimmery then come sharp again. There were a few clouds about very high up, but I wouldn't have thought on a day like this there would have been much heat up there... Same with Jupiter, especially at higher mags there was definite shimmer.

Is this just luck as to what conditions we'll get, even though it's crisp and cloudless on the ground?

Finally I was pleased to report that my scope seems perfectly collimated out of the box. I went out of focus on Jupiter at 10mm and it formed the most perfect of circles...

Thanks for any advice on the above. Can't wait for the next viewing. DSO viewing especially Orion was not attempted tonight (not far from moon which was v bright).

Cheers, Paul

[cotterless45]

Yo, looked at a crystalclear Moon in the cloud gaps. Veiwing through and around clouds gave the shimmers.Sometimes you'll get this with moisture aswell as warm air bubbles.

Given the forecast of -7 degrees C, I was hoping for some clear sky.

Usually with a cracking forecast from the Beeb you'll get crystal air. Seeing varies so very much especially over the course of an evening.Keep the view away from houses, there's plenty warm air rising.

The 130P is a superb mirror, you'll have gret views and clear skies, Nick.

[patomlin76]

Yep I'm going to try again tonight. Forecast very cold but will alter my viewing position, see what the atmosphere gives me this time!! I'm hoping that the moons phases will mean a slightly darker sky later on tonight.

[Dunkster]

Moon is shining more brightly tonight, but at least it's clear again. Mars and Saturn should make an appearance if you're still up in the early hours.

[ianaiken]

Moon was great at 300x but now thick cloud. It came early wasn't supposed to be here until midnight. Please I set up early.

[jon1000]

That's the problem with the moon, it is just to bright, give it a few days and it will rise later.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I tried for M42 earlier but the moon was too close by to be of any use. Still........cant complain as its been clear as a bell here the last 2 nights with very low atmospherics.

[patomlin76]

Yep same here, luckily I was set up early as well (around 8pm)

Conditions were excellent, clear sky and few twinkling stars.

After alignment, started with Jupiter... and with a little practice under my belt I managed to get decent focus with 10mm + 3x barlow lens. Definitely could make out the cloud belts and what I thought was a little more detail above and below too... Plus two of Jupiter's moons were very close together, I nearly mistook them for one being out of focus...

As Lukeskywatcher said, M42 was far too close to the moon to even bother tonight, plus with the moon's light pollution really affecting the whole sky, I couldn't easily trace other Messier objects.

So finally ended with the moon - really fantastic as I got it crystal clear at my maximum magnification. I also found a nice free iPhone app if you're interested - Moon Globe. You can view all the terrain highlights, flip and mirror it to match your telescope view, zoom in and out, and also control what phase it is in. Fantastic really as I was able to identify Mare Humorum, Gassendi crater and much more, and it made such a difference to know what you're looking at...

Now, at 9pm thick cloud has rolled in, and with snow forecast tomorrow there is no chance of any more viewing, so the scope is now slowly warming up.

Hope others have had a successful night!

[jon1000]

Yep same here, luckily I was set up early as well (around 8pm)

Conditions were excellent, clear sky and few twinkling stars.

After alignment, started with Jupiter... and with a little practice under my belt I managed to get decent focus with 10mm + 3x barlow lens. Definitely could make out the cloud belts and what I thought was a little more detail above and below too... Plus two of Jupiter's moons were very close together, I nearly mistook them for one being out of focus...

As Lukeskywatcher said, M42 was far too close to the moon to even bother tonight, plus with the moon's light pollution really affecting the whole sky, I couldn't easily trace other Messier objects.

So finally ended with the moon - really fantastic as I got it crystal clear at my maximum magnification. I also found a nice free iPhone app if you're interested - Moon Globe. You can view all the terrain highlights, flip and mirror it to match your telescope view, zoom in and out, and also control what phase it is in. Fantastic really as I was able to identify Mare Humorum, Gassendi crater and much more, and it made such a difference to know what you're looking at...

Now, at 9pm thick cloud has rolled in, and with snow forecast tomorrow there is no chance of any more viewing, so the scope is now slowly warming up.

Hope others have had a successful night!

That scope was you using?

[patomlin76]

I was using a Skywatcher 130p...

And unlike other peoples experiences, I found the red dot finder, once correctly aligned, to be quite useful. At least to get the scope within the area you needed with a 25mm EP, then you fine tune the view...