Went away chasing Rally cars over the weekend, down to a little east coastal town called Whitianga. We wanted to extend our stay an extra night Sunday but our apartment was prior booked so they upgraded us from our 2nd floor apartment to the 3rd floor penthouse at the same price.
Walked and spotted a cheap 60700 refractor setup near a front window, looking eastwards out over the bay. Classic nameless chinese white OTA and some .965 EPs in the tray. Had a wee play with it later and was not impressed, dirty EPs and wobbly mount.
But ...!!
Next morning was a stunner sunrise, bit misty, orangey pink skies, dark silhouetted headlands and shiny water. I was taking a few pix to capture all the colours when my wife said she was sure she could see Venus just above the headland.
Better check this out, where's the wee 60700 scope. Pointed it up at the bright object in the sky and Wow !! I was rewarded with the sharpest view of a thin Venus crescent I have ever seen. H12.5mm EP was excellent despite the bits of dirt so I tried the SR4mm and it was still a great view, absolutely brilliant.
At home back in Auckland all my Venus viewing has always been jiggly, blurred, indistinct blob but in the clear still air ( through a window glass as well !! ) it was just stunning. Even Liz said it looked just like a crescent moon.
I guess the moral of the story is under the right circumstances even the smallest scope can be a revelation.
. Not my preference (the frac would have been better) but worked very well, partly because it wasn't a particularly close conjunction this time. Views were crisp.
a most unexpected view !!
