Sneaky Saturn

[newbie]

Well after being disappointed last night at not being able to find Saturn, this evening I found her. I was lured outside by an early moon. After it moved behind some trees I moved the scope thinking I would look for Venus. I saw a fairly bright "star" which I thought might be Venus, but when I brought it into focus she had rings around her!:eyepop: What a great surprise!!
My 4 year old daughter and 6 year old son were very impressed. They had also gotten up early this morning with me to look at Jupiter and the moons.
So we're feeling very impressed that within our 3 nights total of viewing we have so far seen Jupiter, Saturn and of course the moon.

BTW last night I saw an orangey ball that moved fairly quickly across the field of view toward the west and slightly north around 8-9pm ish - would that have been Mars?
Cheers, Beth.

[Robert_T]

Glad you got your first view of Saturn - beautiful aint it :) . My first look at Saturn through a friends scope over 25 years ago is what sparked my interest.

Mars would be above the northwest horizon around 8-9pm so it could well be what you saw. The actual disk is very small at the moment. It would appear around 1/4 the size of saturns globe.

cheers,

[jjjnettie]

Hey Beth,
I reckon you should have a go at finding Orions Nebula next. It's pretty easy to find with the maps in the Astronomy magazines. You'll be really impressed with it.
I see you are a Larry Norman fan. I went to a concert of his at Festival Hall in Brisbane about 25 years ago. Good stuff.
Jeanette

[newbie]

thanks Jeanette, I'll have to have a try at that nebulae... sounds good.
Was that Larry's Stop This Flight concert you were at? 'cause I was there too!! Beth

[jjjnettie]

Sorry Beth, but I can't remember the name of the Tour. My boyfriend at the time had the honour of picking him up from the airport and bringing him to Festival Hall. After the performance I got to meet him. I couldn't think of anything intelligent to say so I just stood there next to him dumbstruck.
I don't suppose you went to see Randy Stonehill when he came to Brissie? It might have been a year or two after Larry. That was excellent!! He had the audience spellbound with his guitar. And that was when he was just tuning it up.
Jeanette