Great night!! Hello Saturn!!!

[Dave7a]

What a lovely clear night it was here last night!

I went out for a quick look and ended up spending about 3 hrs out in the cold No Josh tonight sadly but I wanted to try out the new xbox cam and iron out the bugs. I didn't wait long for the scope to cool so things were a little blurry to start with but it was good to see how the view changed as things cooled down. I marvelled once again at Jupiter and saw all 4 Galilean Moons tonight! Venus looked sharper than ever. Mars was a clear disc but I couldn't see any detail. The moon, of course. Then I decided to have a search for M51. No luck after an hour of careful scanning and navigating, but I'm confident I know exactly where it is ready for the darker nights.

I thought it was time to call it a day at around 10.30 and brought everything in. I went out for a quick look at the sky on my way to bed about 12.00 and realised I could see Saturn! Back out with all the gear again I knew it wouldn't be the best view with the scope having warmed up again, but I couldn't resist. Wow!!! Absolutley fan-bloomin-gorgeous!!! I couldn't leave it! I decided to try and grab a pic with the Xbox cam so I thought I'd stare for a little longer while the scope cooled. Mesmerizing... I grabbed a couple of passes with the cam and was so happy I'd have something to show the kids, although I don't think they'll need persuading to stop up to see it for real next time they're here with clear skies.

I ran the videos though AviStack and added Saturn and Jupiter to my Sig Pic. Yes that's actual size I know they're tiny images but I think they'll be my favourites for a very long time...

Dave

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Great post Dave, amazing pic as well

[paul schofield]

Congratulations on an amazing night, they don't look small to me, great pics.

[Dave7a]

Cheers chaps, I'm lovin it!

[Memory Bliss]

Nice pics, I'll try and get Saturn this weekend.