Saturday – August 16, 2008 – Jupiter and the Moon
Well the weather did clear up a bit for Saturday night. It was warm and humid with just a few clouds. The nearly full moon did not allow any deep sky looking but I did get a chance to check out the moon and Jupiter.
I am still learning to use the equatorial mount on the C8. It took abit to get it aligned correctly. That is going to take a little more practice to get it right everytime.
I focused in on Jupiter first using a 25mm Celestron Plossol and then my new Astro-Tech Series 6 17mm and 12mm wide field eye pieces. I was able to get some very nice views even with the humidity being so high. Jupiter’s moons Callisto, Ganymede, and Io were very easy to pick out, as were the gas bands on the planet. I was not able to see the red spot.
The moon was bright and nearly full (if not completely full). The detail that I was able to pick up using the moon filter with the 25mm Plossol, and 17 mm wide field was incredible.
I was hoping to get a chance to do a little more deep sky viewing but the moon and the humidity were working against me. Still I had a great time getting to know the new scope.
Next time out with it I will probably start experimenting with the camera some. Looking forward to that.
