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Main
Date: 20 Sep 2007 11:11:20
From: Joe S.
Subject: Three planets just before sunrise
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Neat sight this morning -- 0620, Knoxville, TN -- urban light pollution,
apartment complex with "security light" pollution, after beginning of
morning twilight.
XT-12 Dob with 18mm and 10mm TV Panoptics and 7mm Nagler (83X, 150X, 214X).
Skies were dry and clear, 52 deg F, I'm not experienced at judging seeing
conditions but the only stars I could see were mag 4.
Orion was high in SSE sky, nebula not visible to naked eye but very good
through 7X50 binos.
Mars was directly overhead -- at 214X could barely make out dark spot on
planet, located in lower right-hand quadrant -- at leaat I think that's what
I saw, may have been my imagination.
Venus was SPECTACULAR -- crescent shaper,at both 83X and 150X the curvature
of the planet was clearly visible -- spectacular is the only way to describe
it. Did not try the highest power; tomorrow I'm using my 4mm ortho, 375X.
Saturn had just broken the tree line -- Saturn rose just before 0530; rings
are almost edge-on but at 150X are clearly visible -- bright, sharp.
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Date: 20 Sep 2007 17:05:51
From: Howard Lester
Subject: Re: Three planets just before sunrise
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"Joe S." wrote
> XT-12 Dob with 18mm and 10mm TV Panoptics and 7mm Nagler (83X, 150X,
> 214X).
Just curious what you really were using, as there are no 18's or 10's in the
Panoptic line. Were you using Radians?
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Date: 20 Sep 2007 20:09:02
From: Joe S.
Subject: Re: Three planets just before sunrise
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"Howard Lester" <heylester@dakotacom.net > wrote in message
news:13f62nkd5cjofdc@corp.supernews.com...
> "Joe S." wrote
>
>> XT-12 Dob with 18mm and 10mm TV Panoptics and 7mm Nagler (83X, 150X,
>> 214X).
>
> Just curious what you really were using, as there are no 18's or 10's in
> the Panoptic line. Were you using Radians?
>
Yep, my mistake, Radians. These things all look alike to me.
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Date: 20 Sep 2007 17:52:43
From: Howard Lester
Subject: Re: Three planets just before sunrise
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"Joe S." wrote
>> Just curious what you really were using, as there are no 18's or 10's in
>> the Panoptic line. Were you using Radians?
>>
>
> Yep, my mistake, Radians. These things all look alike to me.
Especially in the dark. ;-)
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Date: 20 Sep 2007 13:44:32
From: Esmail
Subject: Re: Three planets just before sunrise
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Joe S. wrote:
> Neat sight this morning -- 0620, Knoxville, TN -- urban light pollution,
> apartment complex with "security light" pollution, after beginning of
> morning twilight.
<.... >
nice-thanks for sharing the report. I've been stepping outside
around 5am the last few days to just take in the sky w/o any
optics and it's worth getting up early for.
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Date: 20 Sep 2007 16:13:33
From: thew
Subject: Re: Three planets just before sunrise
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"Joe S." <noone@nowhere.net > wrote in news:
> Neat sight this morning -- 0620, Knoxville, TN -- urban light
> pollution, apartment complex with "security light" pollution, after
> beginning of morning twilight.
>
> XT-12 Dob with 18mm and 10mm TV Panoptics and 7mm Nagler (83X, 150X,
> 214X). Skies were dry and clear, 52 deg F, I'm not experienced at
> judging seeing conditions but the only stars I could see were mag 4.
>
> Orion was high in SSE sky, nebula not visible to naked eye but very
> good through 7X50 binos.
>
> Mars was directly overhead -- at 214X could barely make out dark spot
> on planet, located in lower right-hand quadrant -- at leaat I think
> that's what I saw, may have been my imagination.
Don't forget Mars is still three months away from opposition. Could you
see the polar caps? Those are usually the first thing to become visible.
> Venus was SPECTACULAR -- crescent shaper,at both 83X and 150X the
> curvature of the planet was clearly visible -- spectacular is the only
> way to describe it. Did not try the highest power; tomorrow I'm using
> my 4mm ortho, 375X.
I don't think that high magnification matters much with Venus, since you
can't see anything except it's phases.
> Saturn had just broken the tree line -- Saturn rose just before 0530;
> rings are almost edge-on but at 150X are clearly visible -- bright,
> sharp.
Well, yeah. It's just gotten away from the Sun. So now we have a nicely
even balance. We've got Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune in the evening sky
and Venus, Saturn, and Mars in the morning.
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