Neptune for the 1st Time

[Ralphf 31]

Have only been in the hobby for about 3 years off and on, so this was somewhat satisfying:

11/29/18 8 pm JST (Japan Standard Time)

Confirmed sighting of Neptune for first time. Did it by star-hopping from Mars to Lambda Aquarii then west over to  h Aquarii which had star HD 218081 adjacent to it in an 8 o’clock position. Back to the right (east) to 81 Aquarii, a little above Neptune and then patiently waiting for my eyes to adjust to the only average seeing conditions. Finally, little blueish speck below 81 Aquarii appeared off and on, improved with averted vision. Did the above routine 3 times with same result. Maybe not the biggest astronomical news but a small, personal triumph in seeing the most distant planet in our neighborhood.

[Owmuchonomy 2,126]

Nice one.  I'm surprised you can see anything from Osaka.  I think my eyes are still damaged from all the lights in Umeda (Dotonbori)!

[Alan White 2,521]

Nice one,
I hope to do similar here in the UK, but clouded out for many days at present.

 

[domstar 1,033]

That's great. I got a real buzz from seeing Neptune for the first time especially as its discovery was predicted by mathematics.

[PaulM 248]

Always nice to view the two outer planets, especially when having to star hopping to them as they are hard to discern among the background stars

[Ralphf 31]

Chris, 

i’m not In Osaka city, fortunately, but further south in Osaka Prefecture, near Wakayama. 

[niallk 1,989]

Nice one! it's very cool to see these things with your own eyes 

[Geoff Barnes 303]

I had a go at seeing Neptune last night but I'm still not convinced I was looking at it. Started with Mars and did a bit of manual star hopping across to where SkySafari indicated Neptune  was, but I still don't know, the 12 inch Dob reveals sooo many stars in the viewfinder I was just getting confused which one I should be looking at.

I'm going to try again tonight with the aid of the GO-TO Synscan and see if I have more luck. Will report back once I've succeeded.

At least it should get easier over the next couple of nights as the two planets get cosy together.

[PaulM 248]

9 minutes ago, Geoff Barnes said:

I had a go at seeing Neptune last night but I'm still not convinced I was looking at it. Started with Mars and did a bit of manual star hopping across to where SkySafari indicated Neptune  was, but I still don't know, the 12 inch Dob reveals sooo many stars in the viewfinder I was just getting confused which one I should be looking at.

I'm going to try again tonight with the aid of the GO-TO Synscan and see if I have more luck. Will report back once I've succeeded.

At least it should get easier over the next couple of nights as the two planets get cosy together.

I have a 12" dob and this is what I noted when I last viewed Neptune in October:

in the 24mm EP gave off a small blur\green disc, was hard to tell if it was Neptune at first or a star so to make sure I star hopped from the star Hydor in Aquarious. Moving to the 8mm EP the disc became a little more apparent and the blue\green colour became stronger.

[KP82 4]

I know the feeling. Both Uranus and Neptune might not give bright beautiful views like their bigger brothers Jupiter and Saturn in small telescopes, but just being able to find them in your eyepiece gives a strong feeling of achievement.

Edited Wednesday at 11:55 by KP82

[Geoff Barnes 303]

Success, at last!

This is precisely why I decided to opt for the Go-To Dob, after aligning on Sirius and Mars I sent it off to find Neptune and there it was, slap bang in the middle of the viewfinder. 

Hardly a blue ball, just a bluish speck really, even with the 6.5mm Morpheus, but distinctly larger than a star. 

As has been said,  an unspectacular sight, but a definite thrill to finally track down such a remote object.

Conditions tonight we're as good as I've had here for months, really calm and clear and shirtsleeve warm, a really pleasurable session which included many other "firsts" for me including the Sculptor Galaxy (very impressive) and the Skull Nebula.

Good stuff!