Finally, many weeks after I picked up my new scope, I have had an evening's observing. I have tried before, but have been defeated by my availability and the weather. But, last Sunday evening at Snake Valley, I had cloudless skies and I was there to setup before dark! Seeing was OK, but transparency came and went with a very moist atmosphere and fog rising and falling. So very wet (dripping!) and a very light sky with all the residual light (even in Snake Valley and surrrounds) being scattered by the moisture. The humidity gauge on my scope gave up and reported "Hi" and it wasn't just trying to say hello. I turned off the fans 30 min before end of session and the primary dewed up! The photos are from early in the night, before the scope took a real "bath".
However, all went well, with the scope performing just brilliantly. I searched out old favourites and took several Argo Navis tours.
A couple of standout observations:-
Quasar 3C 273 in Virgo:- This has been on my "must locate" list for over a year and I set myself to the task. Thanks to the Argo Navis, I could point to the required RA and Dec, then it was a matter of recognising the star field and identifying which of the faint points of light was a source of the 2.4 billion year old photons that were striking my retina! Got it! Yeah, OK, it just looks like a very faint star, but
Estelle's Star in Crux:- OK, that's my name for this mag 9 star (see other thread). But I got to see it, this time, with my 12" mirror's light collection and resolution. It is easily located and sufficiently distinctive. Defocussed a little and yes, it looks distinctly blue!
A triple delight in Sagittarius:- I was touring around Sagittarius and came upon a most delightful sight. An open cluster (NGC 6520), dark nebula (Barnard 86) and bright orange star (HD164562, mag 6.7) combination. My, that is a pretty sight! It's up in the area of the "spout" of the "teapot". See image here:-
http://www.rc-astro.com/photo/id1110.html
I am looking forward to many pleasant hours/weeks/months/years observing with this telescope.
