Neptune bagged!!!

[nephilim]

After our success with viewing Uranus last night & the skies been clear we went to our usual dark site with the hope of bagging Neptune. We got set up by 20:45 but due to a slight haze up to about 10* we waited a while as I couldnt even see Aquarius. Had a look at M13, M92  & a general sweep about for an hr & the haze cleared enough for a crack at the Blue Giant. I checked the exact position on Stellarium with the Telrad option on & lined my 200p up as per the screen, checked the 9x50 finder & was shocked to see a blueish 'star', looked through the scope with the Maxvision 24mm & sure enough, still blue. Still not 100% certain (never THAT lucky) I double checked Stellarium & sure enough the surrounding stars on screen corresponded with the view through the scope!!

Next up was the Meade 9mm HD-60 taking it upto x110 & the blue colour was incredibly distinct with a nice blue haze round it (I know this was optical but it gave  a slight dreamy look to it which I liked) then I put in the 2.5x barlow which I thought at nearly x280 (apologies if my maths is wrong) would be far to much, but in for a penny & all that, much to my amazement it held up very well with just a slight shimmering spoiling the view, after about 5mins viewing I'm sure I could see a very tiny pinprick of feint light  just below the blue disk coming in & out of focus (My girlfriend saw the same thing), this could very well have been wishful thinking but upon checking Stellarium Triton @mag 14.02 was where we saw this dot. I'd like to think we did see this distant moon but if not we still saw the most distant planet in our solar system & its something neither of us will ever forget.

PS as with Uranus last night it was Vicky who got me to the right bit of sky as she's far better eyesight than me

Steve

[kerrylewis]

Well done Steve and great that you share it all with your girlfriend - my wife has looked through the eyepiece a couple of times over the years but basically just lets me get on with it.

I love seeing these distant planets. Their rather eerie colour somehow contributes to a feeling of being out there on the distant edge. I always gets sense of distance somehow when I see them

Kerry

[nerointegrale16v]

fantastic steve

i have 200p, but im lightyears behind you hopefully i see more in the future

martin

im thinking of the dual motor upgrade for the eq5

[nephilim]

fantastic steve

i have 200p, but im lightyears behind you hopefully i see more in the future

martin

im thinking of the dual motor upgrade for the eq5

Ive only had the scope a year & not had a great deal of clear nights, its just down to a bit of practise, once u find your first 2/3 Messiers it gets easier. I had the motors on mine but found the hassle of precise polar alignment & getting tangled in wires  time consuming as I spent more time messing with all that than observing. I just use the RA & DEC knobs & find it much less grief. You may get on with them though. Good luck.

Steve 

[nephilim]

Well done Steve and great that you share it all with your girlfriend - my wife has looked through the eyepiece a couple of times over the years but basically just lets me get on with it.

I love seeing these distant planets. Their rather eerie colour somehow contributes to a feeling of being out there on the distant edge. I always gets sense of distance somehow when I see them

Kerry

Thats just how I felt Kerry

[Special K]

Excellent work and congrats! I'm still hoping to get this guy very soon and can't wait to see the color difference to Uranus. I've skipped Mars but plan to bag him soon too to complete all 8.

Looking at Solar Walk, this seems a really ideal time for viewing as both planets are near to as close as we get to them. Sorry if that is stating the obvious! Good luck!

[nephilim]

Excellent work and congrats! I'm still hoping to get this guy very soon and can't wait to see the color difference to Uranus. I've skipped Mars but plan to bag him soon too to complete all 8.

Looking at Solar Walk, this seems a really ideal time for viewing as both planets are near to as close as we get to them. Sorry if that is stating the obvious! Good luck!

Hi mate,

Neptune was a really vivid blue with a lovely haze around it (much more pronounced than Uranus which to me only hinted at green) its also a lot easier to find going off Aquarius, its very worthwhile viewing. I saw Mars for the first time a couple of weeks ago but as its so low down at the moment (wont be any better until next year) the muck & haze from the atmosphere made it very difficult to get any sort of 'clean' view although the red shone through well.

Good luck with them both but I think Neptune will blow you away & as Kerry above mentioned, it has an eerie quality which makes it seen quite unreal, very different to the feeling I got from Jupiter & Saturn the first time.

Steve