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OK, I desperately tried to get out about midnight last night and have a quick peek through the clouds.. Firstly I was amazed by how clear the finderscope was, very well defined light points.
In the beginning I had a bit of trouble working out where the scope was pointing through the right angle 8x50 finderscope but thanks to the good resolution I got the hang of it pretty quickly.
Then I managed to point it to NGC104 near Hydrus, though light/cloud polluted surroundings though my 2" 26mm eypiece and was amazed by the amount of distinct light points I could resolve over such a condensed area. Then I tried looking away and yes I started seeing more and more individual stars piled so closely together. Amazing
Then Jupiter made a brief appearance through the clouds. Quickly swang it around and easily pointed to it. MAGIC!!! I could actually clearly see equatorial belts (I can't remember how many I was too exited) and was very happy at the amount of detail being able to resolve through the 9mm eyepiece despite the clouds actually obstructing the planet at times.
Today I went to bintel and bought a 2xBarlow. I am thinking x160 x200 on Jupiter should be ideal for me if conditions allow.
At that point i had to pack up since the cloud ceiling closed in.
I am hooked!
Costa
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