My observing 12-04-2013

[pw]

Last night I had little hope for being able to use the telescope, it had been cloudy and hazy all day. At around 10:00 PM I went outside to check and found the sky to the North and East relatively clear and I was able to find Saturn in my binoculars. So I took the telescope out for a better look (8" Dobsonian). I spent about 30 minutes using my two higher power eyepieces and was at times able to see reasonably clearly. I saw for the first time the brighter moons.

[Joshua Bunn]

Fantastic Peter, thats more than i can say about the weather over here ATM. Those first few views are exciting hey.

[pw]

Yes, it was very pleasing to be able to find the moons and see them for myself. Saturn is pretty nifty. When I first got the scope a couple of months ago Jupiter was nicely accessible in the evening sky and I did quite a bit of looking at it and could see the moons and some larger details. I'm looking forward to the cooler months and hopefully better seeing and clear night skies.

[Tennelle]

Its a very pleasing feeling!!!!!!!!

[Suzy]

Oh Saturn is just so amazing- especially our first times and they're memories we never forget.

It's particularly great viewing at the moment too. Saturn's north pole is now tilted towards Earth, giving us the best view of the rings since 2006.

The rings are tilted 18 degrees now and will be 22 degrees open by the end of the year. And because its pole is now tilted towards us, through a telescope we will be able to get great views of the swirling storm taking place at the north pole.