Last night (Sat 18th Feb), was the best night that I have had under the stars to date. I could not make it to Kilcoy, so ended up near Ormeau with my Brother. The conditions allowed us to get some great views through the eyepiece. We looked at a large range of objects but managed to score a few firsts as well.
It was the first time that I have been able to see some surface detail on Mars. We could see the Polar Ice Cap and a lighter patch, which I now know was Elysium Mons. The darker areas of the planet's surface were visible around the ice cap and near the hidden pole.
I had hoped that this might be the first time that I could see the Cassini Division with my own eyes. With Mars giving up some of its details, things were looking promising. When Saturn got a little higher we turned the scope onto this gem and there it was along with a couple of its Moons (Rhea and Dione). The Cassini Division was easy to see. To say that I was happy would be an understatement.
We then had a go at the Eight Burst Planetary Nebula and got some nice detail under high magification. The OIII filter stepped this up a notch when using averted vision. If I did not know that this was a PN, I could be fooled into thinking that I was looking at a galaxy.
After so much poor weather, it is a relief to get some time at the scope and binoculars. Hope you all got clear skies as well.
![[1ponders]'s Avatar](../vbiis/customavatars/avatar45_9.gif){kind=avatar}
