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Old 15-07-2020, 12:39 PM
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Atmos (Colin)
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Failed search of Encke

Last night in Melbourne I didn't bother setting up for imaging as the forecast was for cloud to start coming in from around midnight; perfect night for some visual.

I thought I might try and chase down the Encke Division but after checking back periodically over the course of a few hours and looking at the Cassini Division I thought think there was a hope in hell of spotting the Encke.

Not to worry, I started looking at some of the moons and noticed a few fainter points of light so started taking note of what I was seeing and checked it against a catalog.

There is the main offenders that were the most visible and never disappearing; Titan, Rhea, Dione and what I later found out was just a bog standard boring star. I did at first think this star was Enceladus but it wasn't quite in the right spot and after more careful observation I did eventually have multiple fleeting moments where Enceladus and Tethys popped into view.

I did go on the search of Mimas and as much as there was a couple of occasions where I thought I may have seen something I'm pretty sure the conditions weren't up to it last night. Enceladus was too sporadic for Mimas to be detected.

Observations were done with the Mewlon 250 @ F/10
Baader MkV
Pair of TV 20mm Plossls
Baader Zeiss Prism
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Old 18-07-2020, 06:15 PM
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Thursday night promised no jet stream and a cold clear still night under high pressure. So I headed out with my 8" for my first look at Jupiter and Saturn of the season.

Saturn was razor sharp at 400x. The striations of the cloud bands on the globe were photographic., colours and all. The C-ring... silhouetted against the globe, like a photo. I didn't make an attempt at Encke, but that view could be cut with a knife. I am fairly certain my aperture is too small for Encke, and I was not very comfortably situated, i.e. the eyepiece was too high for sitting down, and too low for standing so I had to stoop. Those plastic deck chairs just do not cut it anymore. I need a proper adjustable seat. But, I am fairly certain I've never seen Jupiter and Saturn sharper in my life. Had to see it to believe it.

I couldn't wait for Mars as I had to turn in for a 5:40am wake up. And if the moon was up, damn it would've been memorable. Would've been an absolutely mental night of solar system observing if only I had the foresight to call in sick the next day. lol.

Damn. If I was DSO observing, this would've been a 600x plus night on Planetary nebulae.

And the scope that accompanied me on this night. I dunno, but I am suddenly half-tempted to hit up Zambuto or Lockwood for a 10-11" F/7...
The scope was only outside cooling for 90 mins before observing, and the temp was falling quite fast. There are no fans or anything. I was truly surprised at what I was seeing.
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Last edited by pgc hunter; 18-07-2020 at 07:00 PM.
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Old 18-07-2020, 07:03 PM
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Atmos (Colin)
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I’m totally jealous!
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