Two First Timers

[Refractordude]

Started at 2:40am this morning with my 150mm f/8 achromatic.

The moon was climbing high, so I started with it first. Sharp craters at 200 magnification.

Then on to Mars. To my delight there was no flare distractions. The planet was a pale orange, but I could see surface detail at 160/200 magnifications. Two thirds of the right side of the planet was kind of grey orange, with a white dot at the lower end. Using a barlow I got edge to edge sharpness. So I would just let the planet drift across my view. A really great observation.

Orion was now high enough to enjoy. Using 150mm and 100mm apertures I was able to see the Trapezium Star Cluster's E star for the first time. Did not notice any other stars other then the four main stars.

Rigel was as usual a beautiful blue. This observation I was able to see it's partner star for the first time with a 100mm aperture mask at 120 magnification.

Ended the session with a scan of the sky with my 11x70 LW Oberwerk binoculars.

[Juno16]

Cool!

Congratulations on the nice views and the Rigel split! I remember how tough that one was for me.

If I remember right, isn’t there an about a 500:1 difference in brightness between the two?

Thanks for the nice report!

[John Baars]

These were very satisfying observations.
Congrats on the first-timers!
Thanks for your nice report!

[drock]

Sounds like a nice session.

[Ylem]

Sounds like an awesome night, Rigel can be a tough but to crack

[Refractordude]

There was also a third first time. It is called crater dome illusion. At first I was thinking those are some nice mountains. Mountains I have never seen before. I changed eyepieces and noticed that the mountains were now craters, then turned back to mountains. Tripped me out a little bit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater_illusion

[terrynak]

Congrats on getting the Trapezium "E" Star and the Rigel companion. I've yet to see either.

I've not seen the crater dome illusion yet as well...

[Kanadalainen]

WOW, what a nice report. Many thanks!
I

[Bigzmey]

Congrats RD! Those are nice splits. Some great views of Mars as well.

[helicon]

Great report. Thank you.

[mikemarotta]

Rigel was as usual a beautiful blue. This observation I was able to see it's partner star for the first time with a 100mm aperture mask at 120 magnification.

Thanks for the report. I had no idea that Rigel is a double. I will try it as soon as the skies clear. In fact, I looked up Rigel in Burnham's for more information. I think that it is important to understand what you are looking at.

[Makuser]

Hi Refractordude. Sorry to come in late here. I too had no idea that Rigel was a double star. Thanks for your great report on this and the Mars observation and the Orion view, which shows what can be done with a 150mm refractor. Thanks for your nice and great read report Refractordude, and the best of regards.

[Peter802]

Many thanks for an interesting report.

[helicon]

Congrats R-dude, your report from 10/8/20 has been selected as the TSS Visual Report of the Day, I hope some folks will be able to replicate your observations now that Orion is becoming more prominent in the sky if one stays up late. Getting the Rigel split and the "E" star in the Trapezium are both notable accomplishments...

[messier 111]

thx for the nice report .

[John Baars]

Congratulations on the VROD!