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My Sister was visiting from Dayton, Ohio this week and I took the opportunity on Thursday night to give her and my brother-in-law (Chuck) some nice views of Saturn and Jupiter...and a few other objects. My Sister recalls getting out with me in the 1960's when I had only my Unitron Model 114 (60mm, f/15 refractor). She reminded me how nerdy I was in those days (and nothing has really changed). My brother-in-law had never looked through a scope, so this proved to be quite an experience for him.
They were heading back to Dayton early Friday morning (this morning), so to capture Jupiter at a decent time I moved my Brandon 94 (94mm, f/7 refractor) on a Universal Astronomics alt-az mount to the front of the house. Saturn was reasonably high up and presented a very nice view. Chuck was pretty impressed, asked all sorts of questions about Saturn and the hobby, and suggested this might be his new hobby! Jupiter was next with three of its moons present. We also took some quick views of Mizar-Alcor and Albireo...as well as the "North Star" as requested by my Sister. We were also treated to an ISS pass at 8:46 pm.
Break, Break...
Last evening sky conditions were reasonable again, so I took advantage to observe with the Stellarvue SVX127D (127mm, f/8 refractor) on the Losmandy G-11 mount. I planned to check out Saturn and Jupiter again, but also had a prepared list of open and globular clusters in parts of my available sky. These included: NGC 6709, 6755 (Aql); M2 (Aqr); NGC 7160 (Cep); NGC 7092, 6871, 6913, 6811 (Cyg); NGC 7243, 7209 (Lac); IC 4665, NGC 6633, NGC 6402 (Oph); M15, M31/32/110 (Peg). And I could not, not check out a few doubles: Albireo, 52 and 61 Cyg; Epsilon and Struve 2470/2474 in Lyra; and the beautiful triple in Cas, Iota.
Saturn and Jupiter were pretty impressive...with Jupiter massive at 49.72 sec diameter! Io was very close to the edge and the GRS was presenting sharply throughout the session.
Hi Dave. I am glad that you had a great time with your sister and brother-in-law and that Chuck was really impressed with the views of Saturn and Jupiter. And later with the SVX127D scope you grabbed some great DSO targets for yourself. Thanks for another interesting observing report Dave and the best of wishes for many clear skies.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
Makuser wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 6:47 pm
Hi Dave. I am glad that you had a great time with your sister and brother-in-law and that Chuck was really impressed with the views of Saturn and Jupiter. And later with the SVX127D scope you grabbed some great DSO targets for yourself. Thanks for another interesting observing report Dave and the best of wishes for many clear skies.
Thanks, Marshall. As we've gotten older, times together become more precious...and past memories more distant. It's great when we have these opportunities!!
Bigzmey wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 8:33 pm
Nice twofer Dave! It is hard not to be impressed by the Saturn. Let us know if Chuck will get a scope.
Thanks, Andrey! Yes, Saturn AND Jupiter are really putting on their very best right now.
As far as scopes go, I'm planning to give Chuck and my Sister one of my scopes when we visit them next year. That way I can show him how to make best use of it!!
Very nice session with your sister and brother-in law Dave! Now that I look back, my siblings were never interested in my nights out with a telescope and as I recall, never got to see the Moon or planets through my Tasco 66TE (50/600mm). It looks like my nephew might be interested though.
Your second session reminded me that I need to get out my NexStar GT Mount that hasn't been used in over 2 yrs. and is collecting dust in my living room (fortunately I recently recharged my power pack a month ago, so I just saved it from going dead like I did with my previous battery, which was left uncharged for 5 yrs.). I'll need that mount if I want to see 10+ DSOs on a single night.
Saw some double stars last night, but neglected to see Jupiter or Saturn...
Scopes: Reflectors, refractors, and 1 catadioptric. Ranging in aperture from 50mm to 150mm.
And a third session...back to back! My son hosted a campout on his property and requested I provide some astronomy time. I took out the SV110ED on alt-az mount and provided viewing of Saturn and Jupiter...and a lesson on the constellations! The kids loved it...the adults not so much!!
Great report on the sessions Dave and congrats on winning the TSSVROD for the day!
-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 Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs Latitude: 48.7229° N
Unitron48 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 11:23 am
And a third session...back to back! My son hosted a campout on his property and requested I provide some astronomy time. I took out the SV110ED on alt-az mount and provided viewing of Saturn and Jupiter...and a lesson on the constellations! The kids loved it...the adults not so much!!
Outstanding adventures Dave! Sharing your passion with family is a great way to spend some time, plus you got that second opportunity for some cluster fun the next evening. Well done and hearty congratulations on the well deserved VROD my friend.
Alan
Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
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"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
“Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
kt4hx wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:32 pm
Outstanding adventures Dave! Sharing your passion with family is a great way to spend some time, plus you got that second opportunity for some cluster fun the next evening. Well done and hearty congratulations on the well deserved VROD my friend.
Thanks, Alan! Not sure you noticed, but had third session last night as part of my Son's camp out (check earlier post on this thread)!
kt4hx wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:32 pm
Outstanding adventures Dave! Sharing your passion with family is a great way to spend some time, plus you got that second opportunity for some cluster fun the next evening. Well done and hearty congratulations on the well deserved VROD my friend.
Thanks, Alan! Not sure you noticed, but had third session last night as part of my Son's camp out (check earlier post on this thread)!
Dave
Indeed I did pass over that for some reason. So an extra well done indeed! Your title should be "Back to back to back sessions!"
I think that is a great thing that you plan to give one of your scopes to your sister and brother-in-law. Passing along your passion is great indeed!
Alan
Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
“Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
Sound like that was a great couple of sessions, Dave! Always great to share our hobby with family and friends alike when possible. Jupiter is looking spectacular at the moment as it's nearing opposition - it's a decent size disc even in a "lowly" 80mm f/7.5 refractor. I'm really hoping we get some excellent seeing conditions over the few weeks to really take advantage.
Three great session on a row!
It is always nice to have an enthusiastic audience, I agree. Bur every now and then a nice session of your own on objects the audience won't see the beauty of, is also very pleasurable.
Thanks for you nice reports and congratulations on the VROD!
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.
John Baars wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 7:56 am
Three great session on a row!
It is always nice to have an enthusiastic audience, I agree. Bur every now and then a nice session of your own on objects the audience won't see the beauty of, is also very pleasurable.
Thanks for you nice reports and congratulations on the VROD!
Thanks, John! It's rare that I have the time and sky conditions to get out three nights in row! Like most of us I do treasure the solo opportunities the most :smile: