Great Night

[Astro Imp]

Clear skies at last, set my scope about 5.30pm

Had some grub and a cuppa and went out as soon as it was dark, about 7.00pm

Had a great evening viewing.

As the moon was so bright spent the first part of the evening getting my new new Telrad properly aligned with the scope.

Then looked at a couple of double stars, started with some thing easy, Mizar/Alcor then went over to Cor Caroli, found it easily with the Telrad. I could never find anything with the supplied finder scope. Following the guidance in TLAO then split Struve 1702.

I was really waiting to view Saturn for the first time as it rises behind my neighbours house and had to wait to just after nine. Was it worth the wait? WOW I tshould say so couldn't stop myself running in and dragging my wife out to have a look. Then spent the next 3/4 hour just looking. The more I loooked the more I saw, at first just a plain circle with the rings. I pushed the mag up to 150X with the Barlow and although the supplied eps are not the greatest, quite a bit of false colour fringing, I got some good views as the atmosphere steadied for a few seconds. Saw a bit of banding a definite gap between the rings and the disc. Couldn't make out the Cassini division. Managed to pick out Titan and certainly one moon on the oposite side, possibly two, but not sure which ones.

Can't wait to get out there to-morrow for another look.

Hope all you guys and girls had a good night.

[stick]

just had my first nights veiwing

only had my first scope 3 days

was amazed by the moon

was trying to find saturn but not sure if i found it (looked like a very bright star without any detail)

had a good time though !

[chiltonstar]

Why is a clear night always coincident with the full Moon?

But the seeing is stunning - amazing as it's so cold. Spent an hour marvelling at Saturn at x250 in a 127 Mak. Absolutely pin sharp, with very clear Cassini division. I don't think I've had such good seeing before with the Mak - I really felt I could have gone higher in mag.

Chris

[MrsR]

Saturn is amazing isn't it.

[Pug]

Had my scope a couple of months now, the moon and saturn are the things I tend to look at the longest. I can feel a refractor coming on...!

[davidlf]

Also viewed saturn tonite...very clear. My two young sons had their first ever look at saturn for real...flipping brilliant was my 6 year old comment..!!

Been using my old Tasco 302012 with upgraded EPs but cant wait to take delivery of a SW 200p in April, the views will be so much better.

[The Sailor]

Great night, only stopped because frost covered the equipment, no AP as the moon was to bright. Tested transmitting the view on the net, worked well, looking forward to more clear skies

Jim

[Alkaid]

Yeah, it was a good night. I was out at the front of the house looking at Saturn. Sharp image, some banding on the globe as you described, it was great.

Some neighbours wandered over for a look and were impressed at the sight. One of them looked as though he'd been bitten by the bug ha ha - he was truly amazed.

[Doc]

Why is a clear night always coincident with the full Moon?

Chris

I made this assumption a long time ago and it's true there is alot of clear skies around the full moon.

Great report as well and I really enjoyed reading it.

[malc-c]

cant wait to take delivery of a SW 200p in April, the views will be so much better.

Last night was the 1st time I turned a telescope on Saturn for over 20 years... It still gave me that wow factor I got when I 1st saw Saturn through on old Tasco 11T reflector... only this time the image was very sharp through a Celestron X-cell 8mm eyepiece and Revelation 2x Barlow. I could make out the Cassini division, and around three or four moons.. manged to grab some images via the NexImage web cam, best of which is attached. Images are stacked in Registak and then contrast and sharpness tweaked in PS

David, the 200P is a fantastic scope. The one thing I would suggest is that you invest in a collimator, as having the optics perfectly aligned makes all the difference.

[stardad]

Glad you all had a good night out.

[twotter]

Glad you all had a good night out.

Same here. I'm currently recovering from an operation so can't get out to observe but it's nice to read that others can

[GazA]

i also had my first view of Saturn last night and it was an amazing experience, i brought a mate out with me to a new found dark spot found on google earth, my only problem was keeping up with it as it drifted across my fow very quickly, might need a motor drive after all!

[davidlf]

Last night was the 1st time I turned a telescope on Saturn for over 20 years... It still gave me that wow factor I got when I 1st saw Saturn through on old Tasco 11T reflector... only this time the image was very sharp through a Celestron X-cell 8mm eyepiece and Revelation 2x Barlow. I could make out the Cassini division, and around three or four moons.. manged to grab some images via the NexImage web cam, best of which is attached. Images are stacked in Registak and then contrast and sharpness tweaked in PS

David, the 200P is a fantastic scope. The one thing I would suggest is that you invest in a collimator, as having the optics perfectly aligned makes all the difference.

I bought a collimator to do my Tasco , images have been good since I spent the time learning how to do it correctly. Glad you think SW 200p its a good scope , I guess alot of others do as they seem to have flown off the shelves just of late. Thanks for the advice

[MaxLux]

It seems funny to think that there are actually an awful lot of people shuffling round their gardens in the dead of night whenever we get clear skies:) Our local urban fox got the fright of his life last night when he rounded the corner into my garden to be greeted by this one red eyed monster oggling at the moon:D I too got my first look at Saturn last night and I can see why that Wow factor stays with you forever;)

[JamesF]

I startled a badger that wandered past about ten yards away minding its own business around 1:30 this morning. They've got a remarkable turn of speed when they set their minds to it...

Think I'm going to have to sort out the motor drives for my mount. I watched Saturn for some time in the Mak last night, but couldn't make out the Cassini Division, probably on account of having to move the scope every ten seconds or so to keep it in view.

James