Three Gas Giants .....

[John]

Just a quick report after a great couple of hours observing with my Vixen 4" ED refractor.

Not a perfect night by any means - quite a lot of translucent cloud around and a half moon rising in the east. I started intending to look out for meteors but the rising moon started to spoil that game so I popped my refractor out and had a peek a Jupiter with it's 4 brightest moons spread out in a splendid chain.

Checking Cartes du Ciel to identify which moon was which, I noticed that Neptune was not far from Jupiter and set against some stars which should make star hopping to it possible. I used a combination of 10x50 binoculars, my Vixen's red dot finder and a 22mm Nagler eyepiece to single out my suspect "star". The I used my 3.5mm Nagler (189x) to examine in more detail and, voila, a tiny, tiny disk (2.5 arc seconds in diameter approx) rather than a point of light - Neptune !! . Double checked it's location online to confirm and then allowed myself a very big grin - the 1st time I've ever seen this distant world in 25+ years at the hobby .

To round the session off I thought I'd have a shot at Uranus as it's in the same general part of the sky - more star chart checking, more star hopping and I zoom in on another supect object. No doubt about this one - a pale blue distinct planetary disk - not even slightly star-like with the application of higher powers. My 3rd gas giant of the night .

Then a trip back to Jupiter to check out it's atmospheric belts - definately a case of "the more you look, the more you see" with this giant world - no GRS but 4 belts, north and south polar darkened zones and some texture and contrast variations starting to show in the equatorial belts during pockets of good seeing - amazing what a good 4" will show if you stick at it !.

Well that's re-charged my enthusiam for quite some time I think - what a great hobby this is

John

[crovax]

Wow, well done! I remember my struggle with Neptune. I did find it in 25mm EP where it looked like a small star but had no luck with more power. Now I think that I probably lost it and was looking at some faint star. Your post encouraged me to try again

[mike.brightmore]

Well done - the planets are special. you could even have given it another couple of hours and bagged Mars and Venus as well.

[John]

Well done - the planets are special. you could even have given it another couple of hours and bagged Mars and Venus as well.

Yep - I was a bit of a wimp last night - gave up and crawled into bed at 3:00 am

Luckily I'm working from home today ...... zzzzzzzz

John

[ashenlight]

Wow! I can't believe that was with a 4" John! well, I can.. but I am really impressed. I really need to try and spot some more stuff with my 5". Congrats on getting all 3, I would have loved to have seen your face when you got Neptune

[weareborg]

Well done John. Bet you felt like a little kid in a sweet shop after bagging all 3. lol

I can't wait till I get my scope rebuilt so I can get back out there and enjoy the night sky's beauty.

Andy

[Jarndyce]

Nice report, John.

I must admit, I was tempted to have a look for Neptune the other night, as it was so close to Jupiter. Didn't get around to it, as friends and family were too preoccupied looking at Jupiter for the first time...

But now, I must really have a go. It'll require a bit of chimney-pot-dodging, as Jupiter likes to hide behind the nearby houses, but I'll give it a go.

[Talitha]

Well done, John... i bet your smile was as big as the Milky Way.

[John]

Thanks for the comments folks !.

Funny hobby this isn't it ? - a 49 year old bloke getting all excited about seeing a tiny, faint speck of light in the early hours of the morning when most sane folk are sound asleep

I'm really glad I've got other maniacs like you lot to share it with

John

[Jarndyce]

Funny hobby this isn't it ? - a 49 year old bloke getting all excited about seeing a tiny, faint speck of light in the early hours of the morning when most sane folk are sound asleep

I'm really glad I've got other maniacs like you lot to share it with

John

Yup! :D

See you at Salisbury.

Richard

[geoff_k]

I think there is something special about seeing Uranus and Neptune through a scope.

I know the actual view is nothing special but just seeing theese distant worlds at all is an achievement as unlike you, I cheated and used go-to on several occasions!

Well done to you sir.

[yeti monster]

Good work john, this sort of stuff is really getting the old juices flowing. Can't wait to get home and see what condition my scope is in after all this time laid up. I hope it is usable, although it never was too brilliant, but I'm sure it will do untill funds allow a shiney new (huge) one.