The Seven Planet Challenge

[Littleguy80]

Last night the challenge of seeing all seven planet in one night was once again on my mind. I started my session around midnight after spending some time fiddling around with the collimation on my dob. With the Moon lighting up the sky, the largest planet, Jupiter was my first target. Despite some poor seeing, I enjoyed the equatorial bands and the neatly spaced Galilean moons around it. Although not a planet, Comet Neowise was next to be observed. It has dimmed significantly since I last observed it. The core has a lovely green glow to it but the tail is much harder to spot but certainly still there. I felt a slight sense of loss for the bright comet that I've enjoyed observing and photographing so much in recent weeks. The dob was carried around to the front of my house to allow me to continue searching for the planets. Starting from Mars, I slowly star hopped my way into Aquarius, where I found Neptune. With the Nagler zoom, I slowly increased the power to reveal a tiny blue disc. I watch as it passed through the eyepiece, hoping to spot it's moon Triton but it was not to be. Another short star hop through Aires, led me to the other ice giant, Uranus. A slightly larger green disc was the reward this time. From ice giants to gas giants, after another brief look at Jupiter, I set my sights on Saturn. Who doesn't love this planet, even with poor seeing it's a special sight with it's rings. The sharp 10mm Delos showing some of the small moons floating around the planet, as well as brief glimpses of the Cassini Division. One final bright planet was awaiting my attention. Mars seems brighter every time I see it and has already shown some nice features in recent weeks. It was more of a struggle with the poor seeing on this occasion but none the less, the red planet became the fifth to be ticked off the list. I packed up and settled down for a couple hours sleep on the sofa.

Rising at 4am with bleary eyes, it took me a moment to remember why I'd set an alarm. I looked out the window to see a fair amount of cloud kicking around. Not good. I grabbed the binoculars and began to scan the horizon. A break in the cloud allowed Venus to shine through and I quickly ticked this off with my binoculars and then my 80mm  refractor. I began searching with the binoculars again, soon a golden point of light caught my eye in the binoculars...Mercury. I popped the dob out front quickly and enjoyed some quick views of the little planet before it was swallowed by cloud. On the 17th December 2018, I first saw Mercury and proudly reported that I'd now seen all seven planets with my telescope. One response to that report said words to the effect of "now you need to see them all in one night!". It seem far fetched at the time. Now after more than one failed attempt, I can finally report that I've completed the seven planet challenge!

[Stu]

Awesome @Littleguy80! Really glad someone managed it finally 👍👍👍

[DirkSteele]

I assume at somepoint you looked towards the ground, so technically you got the 8 planet challenge! 😁

 

It is certainly a good one to tick off.

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Awesome @Littleguy80! Really glad someone managed it finally 👍👍👍

Thanks Stu and thank you for the heads up that this was a possibility!

[Littleguy80]

26 minutes ago, DirkSteele said:

I assume at somepoint you looked towards the ground, so technically you got the 8 planet challenge! 😁

 

It is certainly a good one to tick off.

Hehe oh no. Now I’ll have to do it all again! Only kidding, I did of course manage to tick off that elusive eighth planet!

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Hehe oh no. Now I’ll have to do it all again! Only kidding, I did of course manage to tick off that elusive eighth planet!

What about Planet X?🤔🤣

 

[Waddensky]

Congratulations! A great accomplishment and lovely report. I once completed the Big 7 within 24 hours spread over two nights, but completing the challenge in one night is still on my list. Might be a good time to make another attempt 😄

[Stu]

Might give this another go on Thursday night when it looks clear most of the night.

[John]

Well done Neil

[Littleguy80]

26 minutes ago, Waddensky said:

Congratulations! A great accomplishment and lovely report. I once completed the Big 7 within 24 hours spread over two nights, but completing the challenge in one night is still on my list. Might be a good time to make another attempt 😄

Thank you. They’re really well placed for it at the moment. Go for it  

[Stardaze]

Super effort - well done!

[scarp15]

Brilliant, that's dedication Neil, congrats, a 4am role call after your first session would have not likely registered with me. What power, eyepiece have / are you using on Mars currently, or does the 10mm Delos yield the most stable image presently?

[Littleguy80]

42 minutes ago, scarp15 said:

Brilliant, that's dedication Neil, congrats, a 4am role call after your first session would have not likely registered with me. What power, eyepiece have / are you using on Mars currently, or does the 10mm Delos yield the most stable image presently?

Thanks Iain. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity but the 4am alarm wasn’t pretty. The 10mm Delos at 120x is a good starting. If seeing is good I go to the 7mm Meade Research Grade Ortho (170x). If it’s excellent, the Nagler zoom or one of my BGO’s for 200x plus. I’ve also been using a Baader Contrast Booster which is proving a good Mars filter.  

[scarp15]

4am it had to be done and was worth while. I recall when I use to do mountain marathons in the autumn. Not quite 4am, a role call by a piper, playing the bagpipes, clad in kilt at approaching 6am, would parade around the wild campsite, crazy thing is everyone - two to a tent applauded him. Interesting applying a filter, I once had the Televue filter, the first addition but more so for Jupiter, with mixed outcomes.

 

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by scarp15
Mixed up filter type

[Dantooine]

On 29/07/2020 at 05:20, Littleguy80 said:

Last night the challenge of seeing all seven planet in one night was once again on my mind. I started my session around midnight after spending some time fiddling around with the collimation on my dob. With the Moon lighting up the sky, the largest planet, Jupiter was my first target. Despite some poor seeing, I enjoyed the equatorial bands and the neatly spaced Galilean moons around it. Although not a planet, Comet Neowise was next to be observed. It has dimmed significantly since I last observed it. The core has a lovely green glow to it but the tail is much harder to spot but certainly still there. I felt a slight sense of loss for the bright comet that I've enjoyed observing and photographing so much in recent weeks. The dob was carried around to the front of my house to allow me to continue searching for the planets. Starting from Mars, I slowly star hopped my way into Aquarius, where I found Neptune. With the Nagler zoom, I slowly increased the power to reveal a tiny blue disc. I watch as it passed through the eyepiece, hoping to spot it's moon Triton but it was not to be. Another short star hop through Aires, led me to the other ice giant, Uranus. A slightly larger green disc was the reward this time. From ice giants to gas giants, after another brief look at Jupiter, I set my sights on Saturn. Who doesn't love this planet, even with poor seeing it's a special sight with it's rings. The sharp 10mm Delos showing some of the small moons floating around the planet, as well as brief glimpses of the Cassini Division. One final bright planet was awaiting my attention. Mars seems brighter every time I see it and has already shown some nice features in recent weeks. It was more of a struggle with the poor seeing on this occasion but none the less, the red planet became the fifth to be ticked off the list. I packed up and settled down for a couple hours sleep on the sofa.

Rising at 4am with bleary eyes, it took me a moment to remember why I'd set an alarm. I looked out the window to see a fair amount of cloud kicking around. Not good. I grabbed the binoculars and began to scan the horizon. A break in the cloud allowed Venus to shine through and I quickly ticked this off with my binoculars and then my 80mm  refractor. I began searching with the binoculars again, soon a golden point of light caught my eye in the binoculars...Mercury. I popped the dob out front quickly and enjoyed some quick views of the little planet before it was swallowed by cloud. On the 17th December 2018, I first saw Mercury and proudly reported that I'd now seen all seven planets with my telescope. One response to that report said words to the effect of "now you need to see them all in one night!". It seem far fetched at the time. Now after more than one failed attempt, I can finally report that I've completed the seven planet challenge!

Very well done 👍 

ive seen Jupiter, Saturn and Mars tonight and I’m happy with that. I reckon I have a while to go until I can even find the others. 🤞

[Stu]

Success!!