Popular Post Smithysteve Posted March 20, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted March 20, 2016 There have been few opportunities of late... But I managed 2 short sessions in the home dome over thie last week, concentrating mainly on the moon and Jupiter... Monday night - 19.30 - 21.00 pm. Cloud was building and there was a light covering over both Jupiter and the moon. But I was determined to give the moon and Jupiter a shot. Jupiter showed a waning GRS and quite a few other features in the equatorial bands, in fact, more detail than I can usually glean, the Galilean moons were all to one side, no transits were due. Moments of good seeing were few and far between, but better than expected... I moved over to the 'half' moon for the last half hour. It was swathed in cloud that got worse, in fact, towards the end of the session you could barely make the moon out with the naked eye for cloud... But through the LX200, the moon still looked great! You could see cloud swirling past but the detail was all there... I had the same experience a week ago when I was looking at M42, you could not see much of Orion (and none of M42), naked eye for cloud, but amazingly, you could see M42 and the trapezium quite clearly. So I guess it's worth having a look if cloud is not too thick. A Short fix, but most enjoyable! Thursday night, 22.00 a 24.00pm. It was clear of cloud, but still a bit hazy. The gibbous moon was quite haloed and washing out the sky, but Jupiter was in prime position, AND Callisto's shadow was transiting Jupiter at this time, so with fingers crossed, started here! Compared to Monday's session the seeing was much improved. Ok, Jupiter was higher, but the solid black dot of Callisto's shadow was awesome to behold, and there was more detail to be found in the bands than I can remember seeing in a long time. I swapped from the 20mm Nagler (x127) to the 16mm Uwan (x158), to the 12mm Delos (x211). This maybe proved a bridge too far, the image was a tad blurry so retreated back to the Uwan and Nag. My night vision is improving by now, there are no lights on in my dome, the scope is pretty solidly mounted, the image is tracking, but still from any vibration, I stand not touching the eyepiece, holding my breath and wait for the seeing to improve... When it all comes together... It's worth all the effort to see stuff like this! I went to M65 and M66 Leo triplet galaxies, but they were quite poor, and washed out, so lastly, I moved on to the moon (It was soooo bright ?). I concentrated on the Mare Nubium area. There were many striking features, but I was drawn to Rupes Recta, it stood out, looking odd and unnatural as a fairly straight line amongst the curves of craters and other irregular features... Again Rima Hesiodus, another straight feature near the terminator drew my eye. (See screen dump below) All in all, the moon has a wealth of fine details... Most enjoyable ? thanks for reading! cheers +Bino-viewer, Tweedledee, Johnnyaardvark and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Is Rupes Recta also known as 'the straight wall' Steve ? Nice report. I've not seen Callisto's shadow yet......need to bag that one. Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 The straight wall is really a misnomer it is in fact a gentle slope. It's one of my favourite objects to view. I love the moon there is so many strange and wonderful objects to view. Smithysteve and Johnnyaardvark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 59 minutes ago, Bino-viewer said: Is Rupes Recta also known as 'the straight wall' Steve ? Nice report. I've not seen Callisto's shadow yet......need to bag that one. Thanks Rob ? apparently it is so... so, but I had to look this up ?, Rupes Recta is Latin for 'straight fault', but as per Mick, it is a rille. Its also the first time I have seen Callisto's shadow, but it was so obvious and discernable as a black dot! It's weird really that a shadow can Evoke such a wow factor! 51 minutes ago, Doc said: The straight wall is really a misnomer it is in fact a gentle slope. It's one of my favourite objects to view. I love the moon there is so many strange and wonderful objects to view. I will be honest again Mick, I profess that this is the first time I have spotted it! But it was a delight to find it. I have a lot to learn about the moon! But I can see why you love to study it. The light was just right to showcase it ? Cheers! Johnnyaardvark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweedledee Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Very enjoyable report Steve and you did a lot in a short space of time Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Nice report Steve, sounds like a good night. Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyaardvark Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Great report. Thanks for sharing? Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 A good read there Steve, thanks for posting. I am hoping that we might get a bit of clear sky over Easter, but it's not looking promising. Smithysteve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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