Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

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Bigzmey United States of America
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Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#1

Post by Bigzmey »


For a few weeks I was tracking with naked eye Jupiter and Saturn getting closer night after night. Yesterday they got close enough to take a look with scope.

12/18/2020

17:30

I did not feel like full session, so I brought out my grab and go: Onyx 80mm ED frac on a photo tripod with UA Microstar mount. It took under 3 min to set up.

Initial plan was to use Mark IV zoom, but the view felt too narrow for the target. Another quick trip to the house to grab my EP case – much better! Pentax XW 70deg 5mm EP has framed nicely Jupiter and Saturn. They were separated by 20’. At 100x Saturn ring was sharp (no Cassini division though) and 4 belts were resolved on Jupiter.

I also looked at the Moon crescent and Mars using TV Delite 3mm (167x). Mars was smallish, but gibbous phase was resolved as well as a couple of dark mares.

12/19/20

Same time, same setup. Jupiter and Saturn were closer this evening (12.5’ separation). They have fit into TV Delite 60deg 3mm FOV. However, the view was soft due to poor seeing and I preferred smaller but shaper view of Pentax XW 5mm. This night all 4 moons of Jupiter have lined up on one side. Titan was visible next to Saturn.

My family joined me. We have enjoyed Jupiter/Saturn at different powers; looked at the Moon, Mars and Pleiades.

I would like to follow the conjunction for another few nights if whether permits.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

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Post by messier 111 »


thx
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#3

Post by ARock »


Great report Andrey !
The next 3 days are going to be interesting.

Both are already within the FOV with the highest magnification I will try, about 194x. Seeing is a bit iffy early in the evening, but I can live with that.
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#4

Post by John Baars »


Good you having seen this conjunction. Let's hope it stays clear!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#5

Post by Juno16 »


That is just great Bigz! I really enjoyed your report!

Unfortunately, the two are way into the trees at my observatory (backyard) just after dark. I have made arrangements to set up the 5" newt in my daughter's backyard on Monday evening if it is clear (I sure hope so!).

Thanks for the "Marathon" report!
Jim

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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#6

Post by Pikaia »


I have just been watching them, very low down and 9' apart, in my 6" at x95. The difference in surface brightness is very notable.
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

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Post by helicon »


I looked for them last night but they are relatively low in the sky and so obscured by a Redwood tree in the SW direction. I'm planning on taking my frac and Dob down to the Lawrence Hall of Science, which has a panoramic view and an unobstructed horizon on the eve of the 21st. Will be doing some outreach if anybody shows up! (Practicing social distancing, of course) Nice report Andrey.

:telescopewink:
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

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Post by Bigzmey »


Thanks everyone! Good luck on Monday. I hope the skies stay clear for you guys.

Here Jupiter and Saturn set around 19:00. By the time sky gets dark enough after sunset they are pretty low. The seeing is not good, but the view at lower power is still nice.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#9

Post by mikemarotta »


So far, it looked like this to me.
LEFT: 13 December 2020. Scale in millimeters calibrated to field of view: 2.42 degrees.
RIGHT: 17 December 2020. Scale in inches decimal calibrated to field of view: 2.42 degrees.
13 and 17 December 2020.jpg
Below: 19 December 2020 scale in millimeters calibrated to view of view 0.59 arc minutes.
19 December 2020 (b) .jpg
---------------------------------------
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#10

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Tomorrow, around sunset here (4.04pm GMT) the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction should appear as one bright object in our skies.

The weather forecast is for strong winds and rain, so I don't know what the visibility is going to be like.

We'll be looking around sunset to try and catch sight of it though.
Vanessa

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Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#11

Post by gregl »


Had a great preview tonight, Sunday, 12/20, of tomorrow’s big party. I was nervous as the sun set as we have classic ground fog out here; two days ago the a.m. visibility was down to 200 feet. As the sun set I could see the nasty aerosols rising out of the field behind us but in spite of the NWS dense fog advisory they held back at my request. They’ll be out in force before the night is over, however.

I set up the 8-inch SCT on the ES Twilight mount, which is way under rated for that weight (makes me wish for a good refractor), but I didn’t want to haul out the heavy tripod and mount, battery, cables, etc. for what was going to be a short lookie. Dropped in my favorite eyepiece, the ES 18/82 for 112x. Patience after focusing was required and all the wiggles subsided as long as I didn’t press my eye against the eyecup.

As advertised, Saturn was looking down on Jupiter, with Titan keeping social distance off to the side, and visible only with averted vision over the sky glow from the city. The rings popped out and knowing where the Cassini Division is supposed to be, I’m reasonably sure it landed on my retina.

Surface detail on Jupiter added to the spectacle; the GRS was allegedly available for a few minutes before the evening news but I wasn’t able to pick it up. The Galilean moons were dancing in a beautifully choreographed minuet, with Callisto and Ganymede over the top of their parent; Io and Europa holding up the bottom end. Adding to the scene was a background star just under Ganymede, HD 191250. All of this was in a straight line, a perfect example of stellar symmetry.

Tomorrow’s forecast is “partly cloudy” but the Weather Service around here is often pessimistic. We’ll leave the scope and its parts on the bed in the spare bedroom and hope for a good shot at the Big One tomorrow.
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#12

Post by Bigzmey »


mikemarotta wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:46 pm So far, it looked like this to me.
LEFT: 13 December 2020. Scale in millimeters calibrated to field of view: 2.42 degrees.
RIGHT: 17 December 2020. Scale in inches decimal calibrated to field of view: 2.42 degrees.
Image

Below: 19 December 2020 scale in millimeters calibrated to view of view 0.59 arc minutes.
Image
Nice sketches Michael! One from December 19 resembles what I saw, but was to lazy to draw. :)
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#13

Post by Bigzmey »


gregl wrote: Mon Dec 21, 2020 2:58 am Had a great preview tonight, Sunday, 12/20, of tomorrow’s big party. I was nervous as the sun set as we have classic ground fog out here; two days ago the a.m. visibility was down to 200 feet. As the sun set I could see the nasty aerosols rising out of the field behind us but in spite of the NWS dense fog advisory they held back at my request. They’ll be out in force before the night is over, however.

I set up the 8-inch SCT on the ES Twilight mount, which is way under rated for that weight (makes me wish for a good refractor), but I didn’t want to haul out the heavy tripod and mount, battery, cables, etc. for what was going to be a short lookie. Dropped in my favorite eyepiece, the ES 18/82 for 112x. Patience after focusing was required and all the wiggles subsided as long as I didn’t press my eye against the eyecup.

As advertised, Saturn was looking down on Jupiter, with Titan keeping social distance off to the side, and visible only with averted vision over the sky glow from the city. The rings popped out and knowing where the Cassini Division is supposed to be, I’m reasonably sure it landed on my retina.

Surface detail on Jupiter added to the spectacle; the GRS was allegedly available for a few minutes before the evening news but I wasn’t able to pick it up. The Galilean moons were dancing in a beautifully choreographed minuet, with Callisto and Ganymede over the top of their parent; Io and Europa holding up the bottom end. Adding to the scene was a background star just under Ganymede, HD 191250. All of this was in a straight line, a perfect example of stellar symmetry.

Tomorrow’s forecast is “partly cloudy” but the Weather Service around here is often pessimistic. We’ll leave the scope and its parts on the bed in the spare bedroom and hope for a good shot at the Big One tomorrow.
Nice session and report Gregl! I saw the similar arrangement today, just came back from the session. Saturn will inch a bit closer to Jupiter tomorrow but not by much. With my naked eyes I could not resolve Saturn and Jupiter today, I would say conjunction has already started.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#14

Post by Bigzmey »


Butterfly Maiden wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:58 pm Tomorrow, around sunset here (4.04pm GMT) the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction should appear as one bright object in our skies.

The weather forecast is for strong winds and rain, so I don't know what the visibility is going to be like.

We'll be looking around sunset to try and catch sight of it though.
Good luck Vanessa!
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#15

Post by Bigzmey »


12/20/20

Again, same time ~17:30 and same setup. Tonight was the first time I could not resolve Jupiter and Saturn naked eye (7’20” separation). It was neat to see in Pentax XW 20mm (25x), tiny Saturn ring barely resolved; Saturn about the same distance from Jupiter as Callisto. Stepping up to Pentax XW 5mm (100x) has increased planets size but did not add much details. The seeing was bad.

Nova Perseus 2020

I planned to catch it since November. Was not sure if 80mm scope is large enough, but it was relatively easy to find, even with bright Moon. With Pentax XW 20mm (25x, 2.8 deg TFV) it was in the same FOV with the open cluster NGC 1582. The Nova was next to 9.7 mag star HD 276383 and about the same magnitude. The two looked like an equal double.

My wife came out to check on Jupiter and Saturn. We also looked at Pleiades, Orion Nebula and Mars. Seeing was bad and no details on Mars resolved.

Overall, it was a nice session.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#16

Post by John Baars »


I am afraid the big party is not going on here. Thick cloud cover.
Yesterday I was so lucky to find a 10 minutes hole in the clouds. At 16.10 UTC. I used my Maksutov at 100X.
I have made an impression of it. Compilation of two Stellarium images and Paint. Saturn is a bit to bright to my taste. Never thought that digital composing was that difficult. Next time I'll sketch again.
Here it is:
Jup-Sat Near Conjunction 20 Dec 2020 Time 1710 MET.png
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#17

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Same weather here John.

Low thick cloud cover, with strong wind and rain :(

Can't see a thing up there.
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#18

Post by algol1964 »


I too have watched the ever-narrowing gap between these two giants over the last couple of months. Now, on the cusp of the conjunction, we have been plagued with overcast skies here in SW lower Michigan! Does anyone here think it wise to drive as far as 250 miles (south of Bloomington, IN) just to catch it? Also, does anyone have any suggestions for imaging it with a Nikon Z50, DX 50-250/4.5-6.3 lens, and tripod only (no tracking device)? Is this possible? I am new to this so I have a high level of ignorance on the topic! Any help for a novice would be massively appreciated.
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#19

Post by helicon »


algol1964 wrote: Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:51 pm I too have watched the ever-narrowing gap between these two giants over the last couple of months. Now, on the cusp of the conjunction, we have been plagued with overcast skies here in SW lower Michigan! Does anyone here think it wise to drive as far as 250 miles (south of Bloomington, IN) just to catch it? Also, does anyone have any suggestions for imaging it with a Nikon Z50, DX 50-250/4.5-6.3 lens, and tripod only (no tracking device)? Is this possible? I am new to this so I have a high level of ignorance on the topic! Any help for a novice would be massively appreciated.
I posted this this morning. If you want to see the conjunction (skies are supposed to be clear here) tune in.

viewtopic.php?f=9&p=129799#p129799
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
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Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Jupiter – Saturn conjunction marathon

#20

Post by pakarinen »


It cleared yesterday afternoon and stayed clear long enough to get a decent look. The view to my southwest is obstructed by houses and trees, so I took my 10x50s down to the side of the pond where there's a better view. I could just pick out Saturn above Jupiter by naked eye as dusk was falling. Nice view in the binos.

Unfortunately, the banks of my pond are too steep and rocky to set up a scope, so I took a look out a bedroom window with my 80mm frac and 90mm Mak. Rather distorted since I was looking through double windows and right over a rooftop, but I was able to fleetingly see the gap between rings and planet and all four of Jupiter's moons with a glimpse of cloud bands on J.

Partly cloudy now. We'll see how things look later this afternoon.
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I drink tea, I read books, I look at stars when I'm not cursing clouds. It's what I do.
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AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
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