Knight on the 8" scope

[astroron]

I have just come in from 5 hours sitting in the observatory using the 8" SCT for the first time in a little while :rolleyes:
The moon was quite crisp even though there was high thin cloud :(
Using a 9mm eyepiece I was able to see the GRS in moments of fair seeing
North eq band was quite well defined but little or none was seen of the Seb.
I even found NGC 253 in bright moonlight:eyepop: not much to see but it was there a faint gray elongated smudge:rofl:
I was hoping to stay up to see the Supernova in Leo but clouds eventually beat me :( but it was still a pleasant knight under the cloudy sky:lol:

PS
Other objects seen, where 47 Tuc,the Orion Nebula and not much else:rolleyes::lol:
But it got me out of the house:P:lol:
The clouds eventually closed in at around 00:30 and never went away:(

[mozzie]

great stuff ron.. least your doing some seeing the rains in here again hasnt it been a wet few months

[astroron]

Bump:P

[pgc hunter]

Good job mate, a nice example of getting out whenever possible! The GRS is more like Great Nearly-invisible Pale Salmon Spot these days, was very pale and quite difficult to see compared to recent years last time I saw it.

[Suzy]

:lol::lol::lol: Impatience ..! :rolleyes: Good one tho :lol:

Glad you had a great night. I haven't let the weather get me down either, so after waving the white flag to to the sky regarding scoping, I've been out there lots with the binos. Still just as much fun and out there enjoying gaps of sky nevertheless.

Sab, I was wondering about the Red Spot. It's interesting the comments you made on it. This Jupiter season is my first good view on it with the 10", as I had a 6" before towards the end of last Jupiter season, so I don't really have a good understanding of what it should be like normally. I read recently, the lack of SEB gives the spot better contrast. I hadn't realised it was so pale compared to normal. We can see more detail on it without the band though can't we? What do you think?

[pgc hunter]

It seemed to be darker a decade ago, I remember it being quite easily visible in my 4.5" reflector. The couple of times I saw it this year, it just seemed pale in comparison and even without the SEB it just doesn't "hit" you.

[astroron]

Suzy, when I first got the 8" SCT twenty years ago,the GRS was very prominent:) but today even with reasonable magnification in the "16 it can be a very elusive target:rolleyes:
Last night I only caught it for a little while in between the clouds and sometime reasonable seeing it was not an easy target:shrug:
The lack of the SEB did make it easier but not that much:D
Not much chance of any observing tonight by the look of this cloudy sky:cloudy::cloudy::mad2::tasdevil: :tasdevil:
Cheers

[Suzy]

Thanks Sab & Ron. :)

Poor Ron, I think he needs another hobby :question: :lol:

[astroron]

:hi:Suzy, any suggestions:question:;);):lol::lol: :lol:

[M54]

Sounds like a good night Ron!

I got the scope out last night too for the first time in a while, to show my four year old granddaughter the moon.
She was ecstatic. She also saw Jupiter and the four moons.
She loves looking through the telescope.:D

I've got a suggestion for another hobby.
Nocturnal bird watching with a red spotlight, while you're waiting for the clouds to clear.:lol:

[pgc hunter]

elusive is the word! In my 12" at 256x it is not prominent at all, while a decade ago in my 4.5" newt at 100x it was more obvious. It has certainly faded.

Clear here for the second night in a row and clear weather forecast for the next several days but I'm going to the hospital tomorrow so no obs :(

[ZeroID]

Thought it was just me or bad timing but I have yet to see ( confirm ) the GRS since I got the 10" going. LP not helping so I'll have to plan a night at a darker site. Didn't realised it waxed and waned so much.
We got a week of cloud 'planned' so no viewing for a bit. Have yet to spot Andromeda from a volcano top but we'll get it ...

[glenc]

Is knight the UK spelling of night :) Well done Ron!

[astroron]

Thanks Molly It was an enjoyable night even though I did not observe many objects:)
The night sky can be a very soothing place to be under even though it is cloudy:)

[astroron]

Thanks Glen:thumbsup: at public Star nights I get asked by the kids, how is it that your name is Knight and your an Astronomer:question::lol:

[that_guy]

youll always be known as k-ni-get... haha :lol: