Grab & Go

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Late this evening the skies unexpectedly cleared. It's been either solid cloud/rain or very thin high haze for the last three weeks or so and my focussing fingers have been getting twitchy.

Grabbed the wee 80 Achro with a 15 mm GSO Superview and went out on the deck about 9:30. Managed to track down 47 Tuc, not much cop in an 80mm but then Jupiter came up over the trees in my NE so I swung round for that.

For saying it was over the CBD the seeing was quite good so went in and pulled out the TMB 6mm Planetary, something I hadn't had much chance to use since I got it. Lined Jupiter up in the finder and waited till the scope settled on the old camera tripod and now that my eyes ahd gotten some dark adaptation actually got some good views of Jupiter and the moons.

Callisto and Europa on one side, Europa just visible outside the edge of the planet. Io and Ganymede out on the other side. Jupiter I could quite distinctly make out the two bands above and below the equator quite clearly with some shading on the polar regions. May have seen the GRS coming around on one limb but not sure. Hint of a darker smudge sometimes during the viewing.

Yes there was some CA, yes the seeing kept coming and going but the 6mm and the 80 Achro did an amazing job considering. Wide enough field to view long enough to discern some detail and good contrast. All in all spent a very good 45 minutes with Jupiter and it's moons and the grab & go proved it's worth once again.

But now there is rain and showers predicted for tomorrow and the weekend.

[Suzy]

Enjoyed your report, Brent - many thanks!
I really liked hearing a report from a small telescope's perspective.
I was wondering... that dark smudge that you saw, was it the new storm Jupiter? Every time I've viewed it, it's been on the other side of the GRS and is quite dark and apparent. I'm sure the guys in the imaging section will have pics showing the storm.

I've just ordered a Stellarview 9x50 finder (yes, I do feel rather posh and sophisticated now and I plan on that being my grab'n'go as I can put higher mag eyepieces on it. Even tho it's a bit small in size, I did want to justify the price by multi tasking it as it was a bit expensive. It's my Xmas present. Hope it gets here before Xmas. Otherwise Santa will have a black shoe stamp on his backside.

While I'm here (haven't been around much last week)...
Ron has found a screw for my barlow, so no need to bother. I really do appreciate all the help you were throwing my way.
I've still got something coming out your way (haven't forgotten)- have much stuff to post this week so will do it all in the one hit.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Cheers Suzy, Storm ? don't know. The 80 mm was doing alright but it was a bit of a struggle. I'd confirm it with the bigger scopes but we've had clouds and rain ever since.
You using a 9 x 50 finder as a Grab & Go ? My RA 8 X 50 is a fixed device, can't change the EP or anything. The 80 F5 is my G&G. I have added a counterweight to it on the camera tripod. Makes it much easy to use as it doesn't over balance as it comes back.
Still trying to finalise my polar alignment with the pier, weather has NOT been very cooperative at all.

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Does this help? I took it Friday night and it's showing the non red-spot side. Which is the storm you're referring to?
cheers,
Andrew

tech details: 8:30pm 19thNov.
25" Obsession with servo cat.
Camera DBK-41 and 2.5x televue powermate.
1 minute worth of video stacked in Registax6 and some moderate wavelet sharpening.

[Suzy]

Oooh some nice banding there Andrew. Thanks for posting the pic.
But alas, doesn't show up exactly what I had in mind so I went looking.
See here. Thru my 10" this storm is a definite eyecatcher.

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Right - now I know what you meant. There's actually two of those on the same belt, you can see one of them right near the top of Jupiter my image. Last month they made a nice 'face' as they were more or less the same distance either side of the red spot. I believe they're called 'barges' - can anyone shed some light on this term?
cheers,
Andrew.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Woah! nice image Andrew, now you've whet my appetite for more. I'll have to appease the cloud gods somehow and get the big scope up.
Barges, I've read the term recently in an eBook, The Planet Saturn by Alexander. He covers the history of Saturns discovery and the many astronomers who added to the knowledge. Can't remember who used it in the book though. I'll have a search.

Suzy, I forgot about the vids you mentioned previously. No worry, no hurry, they'll always be handy for a rainy day.

I dropped my 8 x 50 finder the other night, broke the adjuster screws. They are only plastic ! Replaced them both with a pair of the knobs from my collection. I reckon finder bases are designed the wrong way round, the stop tag cut out should be on the upper side, not the bottom.
Read your thread on the 9 x 50 Finder, I see what you mean. Mine is just the Bintel finder, works ok for me for the purpose, haven't really investigated it's pure optical properties.