Awesome seeing,Awesome Jupiter

[jetstream]

Tonight with the grand kids nicely playing inside I set the VX10 out to cool.The forecast is for a dead clear,moonlit evening.Early on the clouds rolled in and out,but this did not hamper the 6mmDelos @ 200x,many familiar sights seen.The Fuji orthos gave a greater showing at this point as well, but...in a hour or so the 5mmFuji @ 240x really came into its own.Unreal detail,clarity-this the first time I saw a couple of round white spots next to the GRS,not the white oval on the other side of it(seen too),great detail within the bands and watched the transit for awhile.I am still amazed at how much we can see out of our little instruments pointed at the sky...Great session

[Sandraj]

Thats wonderful, I went out last night with my new 150p, first time for mr ever and I saw jupiter at 11 30 could just make out the bands (just learning) but I was thrilled with my view, went back out at 4 30 and could see saturn, wow that was even better, managed 2 badly taken mobile pictures just to prove it to my husband when he wakes up 

[cotterless45]

Neat, I saw loads of cloud details , no stars, no Moon,

Nick.

[Saganite]

Hi Gerry,

I had a similar experience two nights back, with my 200p on 250x, and it was the first time

I have been able to see such detail in the 12 months that I have owned this scope. The GRS was

clearly visible, and just for good measure, the tiny white disc of Europa appeared on the limb.

What a wow moment when everything comes together.

Last night was cloudy, and having enjoyed a lot of Jupiter time in the last two weeks, I stayed in.

The Lacerta micro- focusser that I have just ordered as a much needed upgrade, should arrive today

and will be ready for tonight if the sky clears.

Clear skies!

[AlexB67]

Ditto Gerry. I had some great views with the 5mm BGO on Jupiter also on Thursday I think it was. Conditions were not that good for it to often show what it can, but when it did, it was awesome, I saw some excellent details around the red spot with it at times. Took the scope a good hour and a half though  to be settled enough to show its worth. I think I really need to get a fan on there because the longer I use it, the better it gets it seems, and that seems to be the pattern the more I have used it on planets. 

As a point of interest in Jupiter. I somehow preferred the 6mm TV radian with it slightly deeper colour saturation and the less bright rendition of the planet and moons, in part Mag differences will play a role too, but it is not just that I feel, ignoring FOV differences, comfort and all that aside. Yet the out and out sharpness on moments of good seeing in the BGO is something to behold.  I am beginning to find they excel in different ways but it is nice to have the option of both.

Have you tried that ortho on the moon yet ?  Interestingly on the same night on the moon I found a bit of role reversal, that ultra crisp view for small features and colour neutrality make it excellent on the moon, Suffice it to say they both do an excellent job either way, but found myself preferring the Ortho in that case.

[Doley68]

I also observed Jupiter on Thursday night in very still and misty conditions.

It was one of the best views of the planet I've ever seen. At 225x with my 12mm Radian it looked like a photo stuck on the end of the telescope! GRS and Io in transit were very clear.

After a winter of mainly terrible seeing conditions, I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with my scope. After that short session I'm happy it's okay.

Chris.

[jetstream]

Hi Alex,the fan is a great idea-I use mine all the time.But....there are times that shutting it off works better...not most of the time though.Very good option to have.My 5mm gave about 1/2 hour of good performance all told which was really good for here.The orthos do provide excellent lunar view thats for sure.Eyepieces with a warmer tone have a big role on planetary too,seems to bring out colours better sometimes,I like having the selections to try.Glad to hear you are getting some good seeing conditions,tonight I'm going after Mars again if the sky holds.

[Qualia]

Lovely report, Gerry and it must have been a night of great seeing. It's also nice to hear the orthos living up to a great reputation and putting on a brave fight, especially in light of some of those more exoctic and tasty EPs in your collection   

I agree that it'll be really handy to have a fan, Alex. In principle it should increase the rate of heat loss from the primary mirror, scramble the boundary layer and help prevent dew forming on the primary.

It's interesting to note that both of you (Gerry & Alex) have mentioned warmer tones on certain eyepieces. I've found the same thing with the 8mm TV Plossl. It's such a little gem that although it 'only' gives about 150x in the f5, it's a great eyepiece on Jupiter. I imagine the Radian's are doing the same kind of thing, augmentng colour, and if this is so, they really ought to be keepers.

[Northern Soul man]

Just finished stacking this image from the 3rd I think, the seeing has been amazing this time around, just with very basic equipment - an old Philips Toucam web cam a x2 barlow (the shorty from Meade) and the CPC 1100, the file was around 5 minutes long and about 350Mb, stacked using registax 6 with very little processing, just goes to show that the height of Jupiter and the really steady seeing - you wouldn't think it though - the raw image was very soft and blurred.  I dare not post it in the imaging section  -the detail "pulled" out of the stacked image makes for a very nice view, but, visually I have not seen Jupiter this good for a very long time, the GRS is just stunning !!!!! the white oval "storms" are just breathtaking when you realise that they are the size of the Earth, but what really "floats my boat" is the amount of detail in the zones/belts in the more temperate latitudes towards the poles with several ovals visible at both the North and South polar regions when conditions allow and the atmosphere plays ball - just though I would post here as you guys and girls know - really fantastic "seeing" and well worth a look, on a couple of nights I was even aligned in daylight - you would think that the atmosphere was very unstable just before sunset - on the contrary - very stable and a pleasure to just sit there with the binoviewers in and away I go !!!!!.    Paul.

[cotterless45]

There have been some superb nights when observing gave planetarium like views of transits and surface. It's been amazing to see the white spot as well as festoons out of the belt. What has been striking is the pit in which the GRS clearly resides in, a really beautiful sight.

Hoping Mars can give a real treat next month, hurrah !

Nick.

[Northern Soul man]

Nice 1 , your never going to match the resolution that a cam/camera can give you, the raw cam images I have taken have just about resolved the GRS and a little irregularities in the belts, but just spending time at the EP, this detail will show, together with the steady seeing gives you an overhaul fantastic time at the EP, when you can just sit and relax and forget about the limiting magnitude of your sky and the amount of light pollution you have to put up with and "is the galaxy really in the field of view or am I in the totally wrong place", the planets really stand well in light polluted skies and don't even get me started on the Moon !!!!!.    Paul

[Daniel-K]

For me when I need that astro fix the planets do the job and hour or ao from the garden rather than taking a trip to the forest. My best views where with 250px and a 8mm delos with a blue filter