It's been 2 1/2 months since I had a good night of seeing. I set up the
TV-102 refractor on the Losmandy GM-8 mount to view some doubles, planets, and the
moon. I was surprised to see the "C" ring on Saturn. I saw a clean split of
the Cassini Division plus detail on the globe at 125X. Instead of reaching for
the 5mm Radian, I grabbed the 4mm Radian. It was an awesome view at 220X. I've
never seen Saturn this good in this telescope. It made we wish I had a 3mm
Radian and a 6" refractor.
I first checked the seeing with Theta Aurigae. It was an easy split at 125X.
I thought Ithis is supposed to be a tough one. Then I went to Epsilon Canis
Majoris. I could see the faint secondary star at about the 4 o'clock position.
It was a clean split tonight. Then I went on to Kappa Puppis. This is a 3.8 and
4.0 mag, 9.9" almost equal matched pair. It was a pretty sight at 125X. I
went north to Eta Puppis, a 5.1 mag, 9.8" equal matched pair. This was also a
pretty double.
My next target was the Tau Canis Majoris cluster, a pretty open cluster
despite the light pollution from the half moon. I just love viewing this cluster. I
viewed it on March 19th with the 15" and it is one of my favorite star
clusters in the Milky Way. Just to the north of this cluster is the "Winter
Albeiro", a pretty 27" wide gold-blue double with a striking color contrast. Nice view
at 40X.
My next target was the triple star Beta Monocerotis. This is a 4.7, 5.2, and
6.2 mag triple with 7.2" and 2.9" separations. I got a clean split at 125X.
All three stars are white. My last double was Gamma Leonis, a striking bright
pair of yellow suns.
I turned my scope to Jupiter and I could see much detail at 125X with the 7mm
Nagler. When I put in the 4mm Radian(220X), Jupiter was larger than life. The
Great Red Spot was readily apparent and I could see a smaller storm to the
left of the Great Red Spot.
After looking at all the bands of Jupiter I thought I'd take a high power
look (220X) at the moon. The craters along the terminator were amazing. I felt
like I was hovering over the moon in a spacecraft. The mountains on the moon
almost looked 3D. I can only imagine how Jim Lovell saw it on his Apollo 8
mission.
Clear Skies,
Debbie
