I had plans to get out and do some viewing this weekend. It is a great time of year for sky watching because we have probably close to 12 hours of of usable darkness. As is usually the case on the weekend it snowed all of Friday night and Saturday. On Sunday the clouds went away and it was perfectly clear a few hours after sunset. An excellent night for viewing, except for on thing. The bitter freaking cold (about -25 Celsius with the wind chill). Not my idea of a good time. Tonight is going to be only -4. If I am going to get any viewing done I may have to sacrifice a little sleep and accept being tired at work this week.
January 21, 2008
January 16, 2008
First Bit of Viewing
I have finally made it out to use my new telescope a bit. The skies cleared and everyone is healthy again. I have had limited success with the “three star alignment” from Celestron. I am getting better at it each time I try but I have yet to have complete success with it yet.
My first target was the moon. I ran through all the eye pieces I have and the 2x barlow also. I was very impressed with the sharpness and the detail I was getting. The 2″ eyepiece upgrade would seem to be well worth it.
Next I tried Mars. I was happy to see the distinctive orange dot in my eyepiece. However I was expecting to see some detail. I am not sure if it is because of my location, eyepiece power or something I need to do better. Or perhaps I was expecting too much. I was using a 26mm eyepiece with a 2x barlow.
I also had a look at the Pleadies. I was absolutely amazed at what I saw. The sheer amount of stars the NexStar was able to see blew my socks off.
I have yet to see a Nebula or a Galaxy but I have been also going with out star charts or any type a plan as of yet. This weekend I think I am going to explore Orion and see what I can find.
No pictures yet. But my camera adapter shipped on Tuesday so I should be getting it soon.
