Rediscovering astronomy ...

[julianh72 (Julian)]

So tonight we had our first clear sky in Brisbane for what seems to be an age - and the first time since I bought my "new" (second-hand) 90 mm short-tube refractor telescope. Viewing conditions were far from perfect, but at least there were virtually no clouds.

I've just spent a couple of very satisfactory hours looking at Jupiter, Orion, various globular clusters and open clusters, Mars, the Moon ... and then I remembered Saturn had risen ...

Wow!

I've seen Saturn before, many years ago, and I remember being knocked out, but this was my first look for many years. Straight away, I remembered that this is why astronomy can be such an addictive hobby.

Right now, I'm just so happy with my purchase, and so excited to share with my family. I got my two teenage daughters out of bed for their first look at Saturn. Without any prompting from me, both knew exactly what they were looking at, and for both of them, their first utterance was "Wow"!

I have a reputation with my daughters (and their friends) of being some sort of uber-nerd, but both of them actually admitted that it was "pretty cool".(As anyone with teenage daughters can attest, that is high praise indeed!)

Okay, I know this isn't exactly "news", but I just wanted to share the joy of that first "Wow!" moment - even though it wasn't strictly speaking my first "Wow!" moment.

[raymo]

It was lovely reading your post.It took me back to a winter night in
England; freezing, with snow on the ground, 1am, my wife asleep. Saturn was stunning, got her out of bed to have a look. That was 46 yrs ago, and
she hasn't looked through a scope since, and still hasn't forgiven me for
nearly giving her frostbite. Sorry my episode didn't have as happy an
ending as yours; and Saturn is the most visually stunning thing in the
night sky,[inc. the moon], IMO.
raymo

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

Nice one Julian

When I first saw Saturn, with my little 6" SCT, it literally took my breath away... it never gets old

Your scope will show you plenty of wonders...enjoy it

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Glad you're having fun with your "new" scope. Saturn is not always so nice to look at, but luckily the rings are more face on to us at the moment and are giving a good show.

[Suzy]

I showed someone Saturn through my 10" dob once and they were convinced I stuck a photo of it in there. .

Actually, you know what's a really great star cluster if you haven't seen it already? The Wishing Well Cluster (NGC 3532) in Carina is guaranteed to make your jaw drop- zillions of stars fill up the eyepiece .

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Looks line clear skies again tonight - I could be spending quite a bit of time outside tonight!

[Doogs38 (Alex)]

Yes Julian, Saturn = 'wow' :-) I hope you got more telescope time last night ... Jupiter, Mars and Saturn were all superb. In fact, I spent a considerable time looking at Saturn between 11PM & midnight at relatively high power (320x ... the atmosphere was very settled for that hour) and was amazed with the detail and colour I could see.

Originally Posted by julianh72

Looks line clear skies again tonight - I could be spending quite a bit of time outside tonight!

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

I showed someone Saturn through my 10" dob once and they were convinced I stuck a photo of it in there. .

Actually, you know what's a really great star cluster if you haven't seen it already? The Wishing Well Cluster (NGC 3532) in Carina is guaranteed to make your jaw drop- zillions of stars fill up the eyepiece .

One of my favs as well ...