Rings

by Chuck May 11, 2012

Astronomy Observation Record

 

Date: 5-10-2012 Time: 9:00 p.m. Location: Brambly Hill
Instrument: Northstar Aperture: 76mm Focal length: 700mm
Eyepiece/Magnification: 32/22 17/41 13/ 8/
Transparency: Seeing:
Conditions: Cold

 

Object Notes

Venus

Venus is usually visible when I set the scope up, so tonight I indulge myself with a glance as I set up. The crescent is getting smaller, but is quite easy to resolve. There was some blur to the air tonight.

Saturn

The main reason for heading out tonight. The rings stood out clear and bright though there is little tilt to them right now. After half an hour of looking I started to see a suggestion of banding at high power. I wasn't able to keep the planet in the field of view long enough to take a good look.

Katie came out and joined me for a while. She agreed that the view was worth the time.

After Katie went in I tried some experiments with the Northstar system. I was never able to get the system to align, but I did find that using the hand controller I was able to keep objects centered with better accuracy. Unfortunately, by the time I figured this out Saturn was behind a tree.

I headed in at 11:00, really about the time viewing was getting good. But I was cold and out of the things that I could find in the sky.

Tags:

Backyard Astronomy

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