Sess.#294 8:45-11:10pm lm=5.1 s=7 clear
Jupiter - Wanted to test a simple theory realted to my scope. When I
saw Mars rising, from Equuleus a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a
strong red and blue fringing at opposite edges of the planet. MikeW
said it was probably caused by the atmosphere. Usually, I see no such
fringe on Jupiter, but tonite, with Jupiter getting down to 25 deg.
and lower, I did see the same coloured fringes. As well the seeing at
this altitude was awful. Gone were the crisp sketchable views of the
last few months.
Drift Method Polar Alignment (practice) - Did it in one hour, which is
less than half the time! It helps if you keep notes and use a
stopwatch. Once aligned using this method, you can place a star at a
crosshair in the eyepiece, and it pretty well stays exactly there for
quite a long time. Luxury! I might need this level of accuracy for
satisfying astrophotos this summer.
M3 - 30 second find from backyard. A bit dim but still very
attractive. In some ways more so than in a darker skies due to what I
call the "pixie dust" effect. About 30 or 40 stars are pinpoints on
the outer edges of the cluster, then about 100 others keeps coming in
and out of focus - result - a beautiful scintillation.
"The face in Virgo" - I only could find the two eyes, from this light
polluted back yard - in other words m84 & 86.
Some collimation done with notes for future reference.
Roland
