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I did actually get up to observe Mars, instead of smacking the alarm and dozing off like i do 99.999% of the time. I was planning on doing a sketch aswell so I got out my red light torch, only to discover that the damn battery has gone flat. I searched for a new battery but ofcourse, why would there be a spare one lying around just when you need it? Having something on hand just when you need it would be a crime against nature and reality as we know it!
Left the scope to cool for about 45 minutes. Used 121x and to my dismay, the seeing conditions were nothing short of abominable. An astro-catastrophy. Infact these are understatements. The seeing conditions were so horrid that Mars was waving about like a flag. It was like as if there was a campfire under the eyepiece end of the scope. Ofcourse, Mars' position at the lowest possible point along the ecliptic didn't help. A flat 0/10 for seeing. I then checked out M42, it looked great despite moonlight. I then aimed the scope at Rigel and ofcourse it was a blinding mess. The star was jerking around like crazy and one could see comet-like tail to one side which seemed to vary in size as the tube currents and seeing played havoc.
needless to say, I was dissapointed and surprised.
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