Getting ready for some observing on Nantucket

Tonight I got the 8" dob carefully collimated just to see how Saturn looked in it since the clouds have finally cleared out. It was beautiful as usual. At 180X I could easily see the gap between the rings and the planet even thought the ring tilt is only a few degrees. I put in a 9mm UO with 2X barlow which gave 266X and the view was spectacular, including cloud belts and at least four pinpoint moons. The Hyperions are great, but when you look at the moons, the Orthoscopic EP is clearly the winner, even over the WO Super Planetary.

This weekend is a work weekend in Nantucket, but I have an 8" dob down there and hope to do some observing during the new moon night on Saturday - right after I put in the new tile in Little Pines...

Saturn on the Sidewalk

Tonight I had some books to return to B&N so I set up the 4" refractor on the sidewalk outside the store in Newington. About 30 people came by in 90 minutes to see Saturn and Titan. Naturally I told everyone what I have just learned about Titan and the Huygens probe in 2007. I need to get some pictures of what Huygens saw. People were really happy to see both Saturn and Titan. In fact the manager of the store came out for a look, and then sent all his employees out for a peek.