My parents came down for a visit this weekend, from up at Bellingen near Coffs Harbour.
My dad is a master at DIY stuff, so amongst other handy work (like installing a new 4-port powerpoint behind my computer, to get rid of extension chords), he helped me build the mounting plate for the mirror-cooling fan. Will post pics of that soon.
Anyway, after dinner I took my wife Kate and my parents out to the yard for some observing.
From where my scope was sitting on the platform, the moon was behind some trees and Jupiter was still too low and was also behind a tree. So the beauty of the dob, I just lifted it off the platform and plonked it onto a different part of the yard where both Jupiter and the moon could be seen.
We started with the 14mm Meade UWA for a widefield low mag view of the Moon and Jupiter. The seeing was surprisingly good for so early in the evening (about 7:30pm). The view of both was very clear and sharp. My mum commented on how it's the first time she's seen the moon look like it really had mountains and valleys.
I turned the scope to Alpha-Centauri, then Omega Centauri, Eta Carinae and the Jewelbox.
All objects received the right amount of "ooh nice".
I then put in the 7mm Pentax XW for a higher power view of the moon and Jupiter, and also Saturn which by now had cleared the branch of a tree and we could get a short view of it before it went behind another branch
The higher power view was well received, with the seeing holding up very well to the 178x magnification. The straight-wall on the moon was very prominent. I could make out the GRS on Jupiter quite easily, though to my wife and parents, it was virtually invisible. Just goes to show how observing is a skill, and the more you practise, the better you get at it. It also helps to know what you're looking for and what you're looking at.
When I turned the view to Saturn, that was the winner of the night for my Mum. She loved it, and drew a few "wow"'s from her. I'll never get tired of hearing the reactions from a first-timers view of Saturn. The banding was clear and sharp and the lengthening shadow on the rings looked great. Unfortunately it was all too short lived, as it quickly started passing through another branch and it got very fuzzy.
So all in all, a nice short observing session out in the yard, showing my wife and parents a few of the favourites under a moon-lit sky with the partying neighbours over the back shining a spotlight straight into our yard!
I think my Dad will be a start at Lostock next year, which will be great.
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I'm glad that your mum and dad enjoyed the views
