When it all comes together...

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

I got home late from work, around 11pm, but the sky was nice and clear, not a cloud in sight. I took a minute to assess the twinklies, and they seemed pretty darn steady. Normally i wouldn't bother setting up so late, especially after a hectic night at work, but i have a freshly flocked scope to try out, and the conditions seem great.

The scope has been kept indoors, instead of in the car, so cooling time is required. I chucked it outside but didn't remove the caps, because i don't trust that sneaky mother nature. :x (i also forgot to remove the wooly hat from the primary end)

While it was cooling i had a bath. I tried to take my time but was out in 15 minutes. I figured it'd be best to grab my cooling fan, so i hooked it up and de-capped the scope.

First things first, Saturn. Looking great as always, but a pretty lousy image at 150x. It looked smeared rather than fuzzy, not good at all, so i double checked collimation (wasn't perfect but was about as close as you can be without actually being perfect, 3 clips in view, dot was just about inside the donut etc.). I called out my landlady, who said she'd never seen anything in a scope before. She was drunk, but seemed pretty happy with the view... lol

Once she'd gone in, it was lights out mode. After 5 minutes or so, i took a look at the ring nebula. It was still low, and i think i was clipping the branches of a nearby bush... but it wasn't a great view. It only appeared as a ring with averted vision, but a rather bright smudge directly. From here i jumped up to M13, stunning as always, and despite the trend of poor views, looked surprisingly good, i think the flocking really helped the contrast on this.

*LIGHTS ON*

~sigh~ my roommate, out for a ciggie. I pointed at saturn for him, the view was slightly better, about what i normally see. Saturn looked like normal - a sticker on the mirror, not real at all. He took a quick look and went in. Another 5 minutes or so and i went back to M13, and spent 20 minutes or so on it. I think i could just about make out the propeller, can't be sure though.

The ring was a little higher now, and the view reflected that. It still didn't rival my first view of it though - from turf hill, through a 10-12". I'l save this one for when it's out of the murk before i write it off.

*LIGHTS ON*

Same as before, roommate, ciggie. I went back to saturn for a bit until the lights went out. I checked my fan, to see if the batteries had died yet, they've been going for 4-5 sessions. The fan had stopped. I took the battery pack over to my eyepiece case and went to replace the batteries, only to find they were just dislodged. I put them back, and they're still going strong.

At this point, something happened. I'm not sure if i finally got my eye in for the evening, or whether it was the fan working again, this time with the mirror very close to ambient, or whether it was just the seeing clearing up, but JEEBUS CRIPES. Saturn was like i had never seen before. Crystal clear, with a huge dark band on the southern hemisphere. I could see the rings passing infront of the planet clearly, rather than passing "through" it, which combined with the detailed shading of the planet, gave it a depth and feel i'd never seen before. It was no longer a sticker. To let me know things were special though, the cassini division was there, tack sharp, and i mean REALLY there. Not phasing in and out, not there for a few seconds here and there. There was no fluctuation in the image i was seeing at all. It was like someone just hit the "Hi-Def" switch on my scope.

I have only ever had the odd glimpse of good seeing, a few seconds here and there, where all the time at the eyepiece paid off. This was around 10 MINUTES of crystal clarity like i have never seen before. It was incredibly spirital, for those 10 minutes i felt like it was just me and Saturn, as though it was letting me in on a secret that so few have ever got to know. After i got over the initial shock, i barlowed my 10mm, to give 240x. The image was around the kind of clarity i normally get - hints of cassini, but not definite, but it was nice to get those normal views, but much larger. I soon dropped back to 150x though, to fully appreciate what was going on. Things slowly returned to normal, and patchy clouds rolled in, so i packed up.

I feel different, perhaps even slightly euphoric. I feel like this hobby will never be the same for me now, i have a newfound intimacy with our universe. I honestly had no idea these things happened. I had no idea what my scope was capable of. I just... I don't even know what else to say.

It was just perfect.

[John]

Great report

These things do happen but just not often enough. All of a sudden you see what your scope is really capable of

It also makes you realise that, despite all our talk on here of wonderful expensive eyepieces, filters etc, its the seeing conditions that make all the difference.

When they come right it's a fantastic feeling, even though the "window" might not be open for long.

Let's hope these occasions are not too rare

[Bart]

Lucky you.Perseverence pays off. I know the feeling, its great.You know its not going to get better that night. Theres a sense of contentent, an you're right, probably euphoria.

Nice one.

Bart

[WakeyTiger]

tonight could be the night for me! Clear skies, at last, over Wakefield...

Great tale above, enjoyed reading that!