Last night I brought the SCT out for the first time in over a month. I was in Vegas w/o a telescope for a number of weeks and needed to get my observing fix.
I first started out with the scorn of Deep Sky observers and our nearest neighbor, the Moon. Being nearly full, I needed my filter to cut down on some of the glare. Here is a quick review of some of the features I observed (attempts to verified features using Virtual Moon Atlas)
8" SCT w/9.4 PL, 12.5 PL, and 26MM PL
Using the 26mm which gives 73x, it frames the Moon perfectly in the eyepiece. I use this mag just to scan the whole surface, the mare, larger craters etc. Soon saw some interesting area's that I wanted to check out further near the limb.
Using the 12.5mm which gives 163x, I came across a crater near the limb that had a distinct "V" shaped "valley" on the crater wall. I think I have it identified it as Euctemon, if you are an avid Lunar observing please let me know if this sounds correct. I referenced Virtual Moon Atlas, but unfortunately I should have noted its position on paper at the scope and tried to find it later at the computer.
If my estimate above is correct, I observed Meton, and there was a prominent crater, perhaps Archytas.
Now to the really cool event of the evening. I had to wait till after 2am untill Jupiter was clear of my tree's to the south, but there was the mighty Jupiter. I'm always disappointed in the lack of cloud detail I can perceive (powers ranged from 325x to 163x, keeping most observing with the 163x 12.5mm). I noticed the two prominant clound bands, with the southern main belt having a hind of a mid-level separation. There was a hint of a band on the northern latitude as well. I really need to hook up with some folks and compare their views to mine, I just have never seen any decernable detail on the bands, and I read all kinds of blogs about festoons, ovals, etc.
Anyway the main event of this evening was the transit of Io across Jupiter. As I watched in my eyepiece, trying to tease any surface details out from this challenging planet, I began to notice a bright object beginning to become more pronounced on Jupiter's limb, about the 11 o'clock position of the Io shadow. I immediately recognized this as Io itself. I watch for the next 45 mins or so as the moon grew more distinct as it approached the darker limb, until it separated completely from Jupiter's disk itself.
So I logged some new craters on the Moon, and saw Io transit out from in front of Jupiter for the first time. I would be interested in hearing back from others with SCT's regarding what you can decern on Jupiters belts. Please post any comments!
I first started out with the scorn of Deep Sky observers and our nearest neighbor, the Moon. Being nearly full, I needed my filter to cut down on some of the glare. Here is a quick review of some of the features I observed (attempts to verified features using Virtual Moon Atlas)
8" SCT w/9.4 PL, 12.5 PL, and 26MM PL
Using the 26mm which gives 73x, it frames the Moon perfectly in the eyepiece. I use this mag just to scan the whole surface, the mare, larger craters etc. Soon saw some interesting area's that I wanted to check out further near the limb.
Using the 12.5mm which gives 163x, I came across a crater near the limb that had a distinct "V" shaped "valley" on the crater wall. I think I have it identified it as Euctemon, if you are an avid Lunar observing please let me know if this sounds correct. I referenced Virtual Moon Atlas, but unfortunately I should have noted its position on paper at the scope and tried to find it later at the computer.
If my estimate above is correct, I observed Meton, and there was a prominent crater, perhaps Archytas.
Now to the really cool event of the evening. I had to wait till after 2am untill Jupiter was clear of my tree's to the south, but there was the mighty Jupiter. I'm always disappointed in the lack of cloud detail I can perceive (powers ranged from 325x to 163x, keeping most observing with the 163x 12.5mm). I noticed the two prominant clound bands, with the southern main belt having a hind of a mid-level separation. There was a hint of a band on the northern latitude as well. I really need to hook up with some folks and compare their views to mine, I just have never seen any decernable detail on the bands, and I read all kinds of blogs about festoons, ovals, etc.
Anyway the main event of this evening was the transit of Io across Jupiter. As I watched in my eyepiece, trying to tease any surface details out from this challenging planet, I began to notice a bright object beginning to become more pronounced on Jupiter's limb, about the 11 o'clock position of the Io shadow. I immediately recognized this as Io itself. I watch for the next 45 mins or so as the moon grew more distinct as it approached the darker limb, until it separated completely from Jupiter's disk itself.
So I logged some new craters on the Moon, and saw Io transit out from in front of Jupiter for the first time. I would be interested in hearing back from others with SCT's regarding what you can decern on Jupiters belts. Please post any comments!
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