May 23, 2013: Three old friends

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I set up the scope yesterday at 22:15, and by 23:15 Saturn had cleared the trees. I had planned to do some imaging, but as Spica was twinkling like mad, I first checked out the seeing. Before I could do that properly, a band of cloud decided to mess the view up thoroughly, so I waited a bit longer. Finally it did clear again, and Saturn showed nicely in the XW10, but the seeing was clearly not good. Apart from occasional moments of stability, the image of the planet was swimming around merrily. During these moments of stability, the Cassini division could be glimpsed, and surface detail like the dark polar region, and the bright equatorial zone could be seen clearly. Titan and two other moons were visible. I decided that imaging through this atmosphere would be tantamount to masochism. Instead, I popped the 22T4 Nagler in the diagonal and had a look at two summer targets (in near frosty conditions, it is a weird (alleged) spring): M57 had just cleared a tall tree eastwards. Due to moonlight, the view was best with the UHC filter (normally I do not use a filter on the Ring Nebula). M13 came next. Always splendid.

After that, I packed the gear in and went to bed. Not a great session, but the visit to these three old friends was fun.

[faulksy]

looking foward to these targets as well with my new ep, hercules will be lovely as well roll on those clear moonless nights

[scarp15]

After that, I packed the gear in and went to bed. Not a great session, but the visit to these three old friends was fun.

That's great, sometimes its just about making the effort in less than favourable conditions, yet still being rewarded with a memory.