Great seeing conditions tonight !!!

[John]

I hope others are out enjoying some clear skies. The fragments of cloud have gone away here now and the seeing conditions seem first class. I'm getting the best views of Saturn I've had for a long, long time

My ED120 refractor seems to be hardly breaking into a sweat at 225x and 257x. I've managed to pick up Enceladus which I can't normally do with this scope and the moon is quite close to the ring system as well.

Great stuff

[Naemeth]

Cloudy here .

[faulksy]

Can't believe I'm in work when it's this good outside

Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk 2

[firstscope]

sounds great john still a few clouds round here but to tired to go out

[1hotspur]

Cloudy here too!

[KevUU]

It was miserable here when I last looked, but you must be fairly close by... Have I just missed out?

[foundaplanet]

Yes it is grand here as well. Some good viewing of Saturn I could manage 224x with the Lyra and feel that this is its max mag on a good night.

[JamesF]

Well, I'm not that far from you John and I have exceptionally clear views of an awful lot of cloud

James

[John]

It was miserable here when I last looked, but you must be fairly close by... Have I just missed out?

Fraid so. It's still clear here (Portishead) but I've knocked off for a glass of Merlot before bed

[JamesF]

You got lucky there then. I've just bailed after sitting outside for an hour and a half without getting a clear view of anything

James

[Qualia]

Good night here as well, John although the forecast for seeing was supposed to be average/bad it actually turned out rather well.

Been returning to what I visited this time last year with the Tal and what a difference 6" of aperture makes Spent a lot of time with Cygnus, Lyra, and Sagitta this evening, just getting lost in the star fields, clusters and those spectacular planetaries which is a curious kind of way of looking at our death - if one gets what I mean. Also did some measuring of doubles to see if I made the same kind of estimates as last year with the Tal. Couldn't believe that the distance seen between Albireo and its companion could fit about 60 solar systems.

[Tinker1947]

Its a bit iffy here,,,the wife pointed out the number of double scotches i had drunk and seeing conditions confirm, its all a bit hazy.......but the money raised for a charity by the good people that work for "Norfolk Green" in Wolferton Social club have made it all worth while...

[John]

I wasn't expecting a decent night to be honest. I stuck the refractor out and put a cover over her just in case it cleared. We then went out to the cinema to watch the new Star Trek movie (v. good ) and by the time we got back there were more gaps than clouds and I had a cooled scope.

If we had not been going out I'd have put the 12" dob out but the ED120 did a great job on Saturn so I was happy

[chiltonstar]

Last night was very good indeed here too; the excellent seeing didn't last unfortunately, but for an hour I had some stunning views of Saturn at x190 and x240 which is about the max my little Mak will normally take. Exceptionally sharp cassini with hints every now and then of the inner structure.

Chris

[John]

Last night was very good indeed here too; the excellent seeing didn't last unfortunately, but for an hour I had some stunning views of Saturn at x190 and x240 which is about the max my little Mak will normally take. Exceptionally sharp cassini with hints every now and then of the inner structure.

Chris

Thats what it did here too Chris - went down hill after around 1:30 am and it wasn't because of the Merlot !

Still, nice while it lasted

[scarp15]

Great conditions here to last night. My friends had set up for aligning venus and mercury, whilst I allowed the dob to cool. I was only intent on observing Saturn for a short period, yet as I was able to increase the magnification up to 214X, it was completely engaging and held my attention for a considerable period. The best planetary experience Iv had to date with the 12" dob, brilliant.

[chiltonstar]

Very good again here tonight, although I have unfortunately a fairly narrow window on Saturn before it passes across a neighbour's roof and starts to shimmer.

The Chinese Lantern season seems to have started again......are we allowed to shoot them in June?

Chris

[John]

I've the same problem Chris - with Saturn being so low at the moment I don't get a great deal of time with it clearly on view before it plunges behind some trees.

I found the seeing more variable tonight. Moments of amazing clarity and then completely the opposite where the planet becomes virtually featureless for a minute or so. These past two nights have probably provided me with the best views of Saturn that I've ever had though so I'm not complaining too much

[JamesF]

Seems fairly good here, too, despite a forecast for cloud. I did have to wait until gone 11:30pm for the sky to get really dark though. And unlike last night it is really quite chilly this evening.

James

[Moonshane]

the good seeing must have moved north! it's been excellent here tonight, best view of Saturn this time around. stunning at about 200-240x with the 12" dob. didn't even need the aperture mask it was that good! Cassini obvious and the C ring showing too. I thought for a laugh I'd crank it up to 460x with the Nagler zoom and in the brief periods of sharper images, I could have sworn there were hints of the Encke Division too; not claiming that but it looked like it was there.