Superb moon this evening

[John]

Wonderful views of the moon here this evening

The seeing is really steady. I started out with the 130mm refractor but I've switched to the 12" dob now because things were so good. Even at 450x (silly boy ) the Alpine Valley is showing it's very thin central rille during the best moments and the craterlets on Plato's floor are strongly defined. How many can you see ?

 

[John]

So far tonight I've managed A, B, C, D, E and g so I'm down to 1.5 km

[John]

Just got h (which is a pair)

[Uplooker]

Very well done John. The seeing must be incredible ATM. Unfortunately we are clouded out here.

[John]

Sorry to hear that Ian. I wasn't expecting clear skies here tonight so this is a bonus.

 

[Uplooker]

Hi John, thank you for your commiserations, however it is probably my penance as it was clear last night here but I was too tired. I did look at the moon and considered getting the scope out but decided against it - Doh!!!

Stop posting on here and get back out there and enjoy the clear skies and excellent seeing ?

[barkis]

Top stuff John. You've given the LRO a run for it's money.
Super image, Plato craterlets are a big challenge, and you met it head on.
Another example of why our satellite is an exciting target.

[John]

Thanks Ron

I've spotted W now (not sure it counts because it's on the inside wall of Plato rather than the floor ?) and the unlabelled crater to the right of j in the LRO image. i and j themselves still eluding me.

Some great views of the Rupes Recta area as well.

Just as well that the moon is so good because there is not a lot else showing tonight.

Might catch Jupiter later though.

 

 

[rl]

You've got sharper eyes than me, John. I can only see 4 in an 8" at *260 (ABCD), but they do look like real craters and not just bumps; I can see them as tiny circles with a shadow inside the one edge. I need averted vision just to move the floaters out of the way!

RL

[John]

4 minutes ago, rl said:

You've got sharper eyes than me, John. I can only see 4 in an 8" at *260 (ABCD), but they do look like real craters and not just bumps; I can see them as tiny circles with a shadow inside the one edge. I need averted vision just to move the floaters out of the way!

RL

Yes, I've a few floaters to deal with as well !

g is the smallest that I can see as a definite "pit" and thats with my 12" dob at 318x. The 5mm Pentax XW is a really fine lunar eyepiece

 

[rl]

Yes, i tried swapping eyepieces as well. I swapped my usual favourite (4.7 ethos) for a barlowed 7mm ortho which gave a slightly better view for a fleeting moment, but it might just have been the statistics of seeing that I got lucky at the right instant. One advantage the ortho has is less glare simply because the smaller field admits less light into the eye!

A 3.5 myriad did ok as well, but the contrast was not as good. The sky around the moon was noticeably mid-grey compared to what the ethos and ortho offered ..almost black. They can copy the glass but the coatings are harder!

RL

[Floater]

I can't even join the hunt, John, but I hope that delving around in Plato hasn't prevented you from marvelling at the tops of the Jura Mts arching out like a solar prom.

Captivating sight

[Paz]

It has been a good evening,  I've had the vx14 out looking at the moon firstly in broad daylight earlier on which was great, and later on after dark. The best views I had where at 230x with the aperture stopped down to an unobstructed 137mm.

It was easily good for more with full aperture but I didn't set up the eq platform and so didn't want to be chasing smaller fields of view.

 

 

[Piero]

Indeed! the Moon is also great over here tonight. Reached insane mags! 

[John]

I'm glad others are enjoying the lunar-fest as well

Jupiter has popped above the rooflines now but seems rather dull and lack lustre now the GRS has slipped out of view. Having had a few late ones recently I've called it a night now but I'll remember this as a really great lunar session

[Chris]

Sounds like a really great night! I thought it looked good as I was milling about earlier. The kids went bed late tonight so not much chance with other things that needed doing, but still glad others had a gooden. That's some mag you're pushing tonight, John!  

[Piero]

37 minutes ago, John said:

Jupiter has popped above the rooflines now but seems rather dull and lack lustre now the GRS has slipped out of view. 

I enjoyed observing Jupiter quite a lot tonight. I posted a description in another thread. 

[iPeace]

Both Luna and Jupiter were excellent for us tonight. Truly one of our best sessions ever. Great Jovian details even at 100x. Lovely.

[Paul73]

Woobly as anything here! (the atmosphere, not me).

The moon looked great. It's been a while since I've given her any attention. I couldn't be bothered with hauling out the big Dob, so stuck to the ED120 with a Neodymium filter. A 6mm Vixen SLV gave x150. This was enough to give some great contrast and pleasing mooch up and down the terminator. Nothing as scientific as John. But, very enjoyable all the same.

There are nights when I want to wring every last ounce of detail from the scope and stretch my observing skills. Tonight was relaxing, light and fun.

Paul

[David Levi]

Why isn't there an 'F' or maybe 'f' Plato craterlet?

I think I'm going to answer my own question as I've just checked up on it. It's in the shadow on the left hand photo and visible by the rim to the right of craterlet i in the right hand photo.

[John]

1 hour ago, David Levi said:

Why isn't there an 'F' or maybe 'f' Plato craterlet?

I think I'm going to answer my own question as I've just checked up on it. It's in the shadow on the left hand photo and visible by the rim to the right of craterlet i in the right hand photo.

I've found this useful piece on the Plato craterlets on another forum which does show "f"

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/34841-guide-to-plato-craterlets/

On the basis of this, last night I managed to get "The big four", "The little four", "W" and I got momentary glimpses of a couple of "The tiny nine"

Jupiter was not so good but it was a lot lower down than the Moon plus I was a bit knackered by the time it rose above the rooftops

[Astro Imp]

Well done John, you certainly had a great night.

I too had a great night on the moon, managed to tick off four more of the lunar 100 and went over to Jupiter but it's so low and I was viewing partly across rooftops which doesn't help.

[johnfosteruk]

Great report John, nice to see so many of us were able to spend some time with our old friend

 

[David Levi]

15 hours ago, John said:

I've found this useful piece on the Plato craterlets on another forum which does show "f"

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/34841-guide-to-plato-craterlets/

On the basis of this, last night I managed to get "The big four", "The little four", "W" and I got momentary glimpses of a couple of "The tiny nine"

Jupiter was not so good but it was a lot lower down than the Moon plus I was a bit knackered by the time it rose above the rooftops

That's excellent information on the link - thanks. If nothing crops up (cloud or life) I'm going to have a go at spotting those Plato craterlets tonight. I'm getting excited already thinking about how my 8" will perform and what the seeing will be like. Also looking forward to abusing the magnification!

[David Levi]

I've just spent 2 hours looking for craterlets in the crater Plato. A lot of that time has been spent trying to find the optimum set-up for the telescope. I only have 3 real options for this task 250x, 333x or a scope busting 400x magnification. So what took so long? First of all I could only see craterlets A and W. After a while I could just about make out craterlets B and C with averted vision. All 3 magnifications had something to offer even the 400x. I noticed that the Vixen SLV 6mm gave darker views than the TV Delos 8mm and Pentax XW 5mm eyepieces. Did I mention that I had been using, from the start, a moon filter? In the past when I have observed the moon I've always used a moon filter as it is rather bright. Anyway, I decided to remove the moon filter from the Vixen SLV to get a brighter view and lo and behold craterlets B and C become clear and D pops into view. I then tried the other two eyepieces without the moon filter. At 250x magnification craterlet D was difficult to see but at 400x it was distinguishable from craterlet C. I've spent enough time now on crater Plato so I'm not going to spend anymore time tonight staring at the space where craterlet E is supposed to be - I can't see it at the moment.

That was quite a challenge @John and a welcome one as this is the first time that I have studied the moon. I've obviously looked at it before through my telescope but just general viewing without recourse to any feature names. At this stage of the lunar month before now it's just been a hinderance to viewing stars and DSOs. It was a good lesson learnt about moon filter use as well.

Off now to view Jupiter - again!