One of the things that surprised me most last night was that it was obvious even just with 7x binoculars that Saturn wasn’t the same shape as Jupiter. Going back to the binoculars after viewing with the telescope, you could see vaguely where the protrusions of the rings were.
Something else that I knew, but hadn’t experienced was that hanging the rucksack with the telescope in it made a big difference to how stable the tripod was- because the scope weighs more than the binoculars I was able to improve it for the binoculars more than the telescope. There weren’t any heavy rocks immediately to hand. Need to bring a canvas bag or something next time and gather rocks on the way up the hill.
I’m having to resist going out and spending money on a ‘better’ telescope (I’m including a better mount in that)
That said, my bodged set up did the job despite being light enough that it was barely noticeable when lugging the scope and binoculars up a pretty steep hill.
The slow motion adapter was necessary to be able to view the planets at higher magnification with the camera tripod. I’d like to try it out in low wind, because it was pretty damn windy and exposed last night and it was still (just) useable. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orion-7033-Precision-Slow-Motion-Adapter/dp/B0000XMV86
So…this year I’ll just play more with getting the most out of my cheap portable frankenscope before splashing more cash on something that I would probably have to transport in a car to use somewhere suitable.
Anyway, that’s a bit of a tangent for the thread back on topic, I’ll certainly be trying to get another look at Neowise if it’s clear again in the next week or so. We’re going up north where it won’t get quite as dark, but there will be much less light pollution and according to Night Sky Map & Planets Visible Tonight it seems like it should still be visible by midnight’ish. Hopefully the view is not obstructed from the garden and I get to show the kids.
I was awake at 1 AM and very keen to spot Neowise - I had the comet showing on the stellarium app but it was too cloudy again , additionally as I live on the wrong side of a hill I will need to drive a few miles miles or so.
Annoyingly earlier this week I sold my 300mm lens and all my cameras except my phone.
( I am buying a new one a sony A7R i ii or iii plus a large lens for birds)
I do have a decent spotting scope so I am planning a night out when the sky looks clear.
I will get some practice in of using my phone camera to record an image -Its possible to get a good shot but very very tricky
I walked up Wittenham Clumps yesterday afternoon and the view from there looks as if it could be good. But we have had cloud since the weekend and look like having it until next weekend. There have been occasional patchy breaks, but they’re not much help for low-angle stuff as they really only allow viewing through the cloud’s thin direction (vertically upwards) not its thick (horizontal) one.
I remember sitting outside with the neighbours in the time of Hale-Bopp. Neighbour said that she hadn’t seen it, and was a bit annoyed at all the coverage it was getting. I pointed to the sky and said “there it is” and she was amazed. That was a great comet!
Jumped in the car with binoculars at 10.45 heading for a clear spot on the edge of the Chilterns. Got half a mile and could see plenty of cloud on the horizon so turned back.
Took the dog out and went a little further to a field at the bottom of the lane. There it was. Higher in the sky than I’d imagined.
Got back and could see it through a gap in the trees from the garden. Kids can stay up tomorrow if it’s clear
Supposed to be clear here - and it was, everywhere except the northern horizon. Finally found my tripod, too - so had a chance of a slightly better pic… Hey-ho…
Neowise was clearly visible from West Devon at around midnight. First clear night it seems we’ve had here for a couple of weeks. If there’s another, I’ll jump in the car and get up onto the moor where it’ll be a bit darker still.
We may think that we can still see in colour, but by the time we’re ‘old’ we’re mostly seeing different shades of brown. People who’ve had their lenses replaced in cataract surgery quite often find, when their bandages are taken off, that they’re in what feels like a children’s cartoon landscape, with everything in primary colours. The visibility of white objects is quite badly affected by this.
(I’m including a better mount in that)
