Just packed up, Stu. Pretty ordinary here, ... been dodging clouds. But I got to try out my new EPs in the Dob, on Mars, the Moon, Orion Neb (and clouds). I think I will be very happy with them! That 21mm Stratus is not that far off from 19mm Panoptic as far as my untrained eyes can see (although it's easy to tell which one's the premium EP)... But I gotta get the new EPs out under some dark skies to check them out properly...
Tonight was fairly clear for me. Clouds around but the stars were out to play, and Mars wasn't falling in and out of cloud as it did Thursday night. However, and it could have been the lightwash of the moon, but for me it was a white ball with some dark areas on it. It wasn't a star because it was big and distinct when focused, just not red or brown like Mars should be. I'm thinking tomorrow I'll put it through a red or orange filter to see if I can make more out. First time I looked at it I thought "oh, hang on, it's white", then when I went back to it later, discovered I'd been looking at a star and found a small brownish and brighter ball. That was at about somewhere between 84x and 140x (either the 15mm or 9mm GSO Plossl). Tonight I used an 8mm radian at 156x and then a 5mm and 4mm eyepiece. It looks more like a planet, just white.
