On the previous two nights, the marine layer moved in shortly after dusk, squashing any chances of getting a session in.
But on this night, the skies cleared by early morning – the Meade 127NT was put to work on the planets again:
Used 162x and 171x.
- Jupiter – all four moons in a row on the top left-side of the planet (upside-down view), with a star next to Europa. Finally recognized the
GRS on the southern equatorial belt.
- Saturn – Titan and Rhea visible on opposite sides; a star which could be mistaken for another planet is just below Titan.
- Mars – the southern ice cap prominent, with hints of brown shading near the center of the disk.
Some clouds around dusk but by 10PM, the skies were completely clear. For deep-sky observing, got out the Meade 50 AZ-T, a 50mm
Unlike the Galileoscope, this 50mm 'frac mounted on the NexStar has a star diagonal, so targets at or near the zenith can be viewed comfortably. Initially had problems with alignment accuracy, but after using Deneb and Arcturus as alignment stars, got the
- M10 (Oph,
GC , 6.6) – not difficult with direct vision using 20x.
- M12 (Oph,
GC , 6.1) – same as above.
- M62 (Oph,
GC , 6.4) – same as above.
- M71 (Sge,
GC , 8.4) - FAIL; thought I was looking at it but after consulting Stellarium once back inside found out I wasn’t. Should have confirmed with a star chart at the time of observation.
- M92 (Her,
GC , 6.5) – easy with direct vision; being near the zenith helped.
NGC 6210 or The Turtle Nebula (Her,PN , 8.8) – easily visible with direct vision; again overhead location helped.
- M14 (Oph,
GC , 7.6) – caught it at 39x using averted vision; took a while.
- M19 (Oph,
GC , 6.8) – same as above.
- M9 (Oph,
GC , 7.8) – same as above; popped into view after a long gaze.
After this session, cooled off the C90 Mak for about 30 minutes before putting it to work on the planets:
Using 198x and 208x, looked at Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars, as well as Neptune. The latter was a tiny bluish dot, unable to show a disc even at the magnifications used. The views on the other planets were a bit soft - might have pushed the magnification too high - but surface features still visible.
Planetary sessions went well, but especially pleased with the deep sky session. Will be hunting more Messiers and other bright
