Sunday 28th August
2100hrs.
ED72.
GSO Supervise 68° 30, 20, 15 mm.
Orion Edge on Planetary 55°, 5mm.
Saturn Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, Andromeda Galaxy
No clouds, no wind, let's go.
Bino 10x50, found Octans easy.
ED72 @ 30mm, 14x mag, cannot recognise Octans, upside down, back to front however, oh well, very close to polar aligned due to very minimal drift. Achieved by tripod placement on preset marks.
2129hrs - Saturn @ 15mm, 28 mag clear and very bright, cannot make out Cassini division but the rings are pretty.
Fuzzy bright surrounds through the EP, not sure if that is atmosphere or light train. One moon visible at 190°
Jupiter is now up but we'll stay with Saturn nearing zenith.
2140hrs Orion 5mm, 84x mag, much bigger but still cannot see Cassini div, one moon, no filter.
2159hrs + Saxon #8 yellow filter, slight detail in Saturn.
Someone is shining a light beam at Jupiter from close by, pencil beam of white light.
2203hrs, still no clouds so l got out the Barlow.
So much easier with a short OTA when using high magnification. For one thing l can actually reach the RA control while viewing, kind of helps, A LOT.
Have ordered parts to make RA drive.
Lots of dew on the grass and working its way up, have brand new dew strap but no power source, doh!
Got out my enclosed camp oven/fire and threw in the last of some Jarrah. Kept my hands warm, did shed a bit of light through its door but nothing compared to the two streetlights nearby.
Stopped viewing at Zenith to avoid dew.
Got out the 127mm achro to compare with ED72.
Way too much CA, can't reach the RA control and view to the north at the same time. Put it away, stuck with the ED72. Very good views for the money.
0019hrs, Saturn, Jupiter, small fuzzy in the south either SMC or 47Tuc.
Have laptop with Stellarium running, looking for next target.
It was about now there were grumbles and mutterings spoken, something about getting a goto mount regardless of SWMBO. She's been shopping for a week in Osaka, crikey!
Andromeda Galaxy. Can be located from my backyard. It appears from behind the neighbours roof, right beside the street light then disappears behind the tree.
0214hrs Mars.Just in focus, meh!
17Tau, very pretty @14x mag, @ 21x mag the background is very black, nice view. Stopped making detailed log, think from memory there was nebulosity around 17Tau, unless it was a cloud whisp.
It's these star clusters l want to search out, so many beautiful things to look at but I'd like to know what they are called, hence the goto.
Uranus - I tried star hopping up from Mars but just couldn't quite manage it. Not what the ED72 was made for.
0252hrs Jupiter, more detail, four moons, nice view.
No more fire wood, feet are freezing.
0338hrs Are you Sirius? Yes that's Sirius at 168x mag.
Bedtime.
Off to pick up the Mrs. from the airport soon, will see how much she spent in Osaka, l did ask for the new Vixen 80, doubt whether I'm that lucky, better to spend that $ on a goto mount for a bortle 1 or 2 site in Victoria I'm visiting at the end of Oct, a farm in the hills north east of Yea.
Clear skies.
