New telescope mount makes big difference

Up til now I've been using a very shaky alt-az mount and tripod that came with the 90mm Meade telescope. Now I've got a really solid setup. Just after sunset and until about 8:30 PM I viewed the Moon using various eyepieces, ND filter, with the telescope on the new Orion SkyView Pro mount and tripod. How wonderful to have a sturdy, steady mount that shows little vibration, dampens quickly, and has a RA motor! All worked well but now I have to learn to use the setting circles and sidereal time to locate objects. I've wanted a setup like this since boyhood and it is certainly a joy to work with. The heavy-duty mount also makes my highest-power eyepiece usable -- and I had thought I had reached the telescope's limits! Seeing was mediocre with light pollution from town and Moon and high-altitude haze so I tore down at about 9:30 PM. Second-floor deck is within about 20 degrees of east-west so it works well for blindly orienting the EQ mount -- the view is to the south with all northern sky blocked by the house. That's Chaunticlair Observatory for you!

Burrell Observatory

Went to the Baldwin-Wallace College open house at Burrell Observatory in Berea. The sky had just cleared after a full day of overcast. I arrived there before anyone else (skipped the pre-observing lecture) and talked with the student operators about the telescope -- a grand 12-inch refractor -- in the fading daylight from about 9:15 to 9:30 PM. Sky conditions were marginal or fair. Still, very nice views of the 3/4 Moon. Good detail, low contrast, through the big scope. Looking at Jupiter, though, no detail at all. At home viewed the same with the 90mm and got high-contrast, brilliant (dazzling) views of the Moon. Jupiter was still disappointing, however, apparently due to the Earth's atmosphere. Galilean moons were all on one side: O * * * * Shut down my scope at about 11:15. Nicest experience of the evening was the beautiful views of the lunar Apennies and Carpathian Mountains ringing Mare Imbrium -- especially lovely through the B-W scope. The Meade excelled in showing details on the surface of the Mare.

Comet and Jupiter

Observed comet NEAT (a fuzzy ball) at about 10:45 PM at the north end of Cancer. Found it easily with the binoculars but had to fish to find it with the 90mm telescope at about 85X. A murky sky tonight thanks to the atmosphere and nearby Strongsville, Ohio. Did get a nice view of Jupiter with the scope. I could see the two cloud bands well and the Galilean moons were arranged: * * * O * Well that's pretty much what my handwritten note showed! Sky got worse and time progressed and shut down at only 11 PM.

Discovering Venus

Observed from about 7:50 to 8:20 PM from Chaunticlair Observatory under clear skies, medium transparency, temperature of 43F with a light breeze. Using the 90mm Meade I viewed Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter in this happy occasion when they are all close together in the sky. Also saw one slow, eastbound meteor, near Orion. The Orion Nebula looked beautiful as did Saturn. I could see hints of banding in the planetary disk and the rings looked sharp. Jupiter's banding was also well defined. The moon is a thin crescent, Mars a small red dot now shrunken significantly from last year's historic opposition when I could see its polar cap even with this small scope. Venus was brilliant but through the glare I could see, for the first time in my life, the disk was incomplete. I'll want to look again as the month progresses to see the disk become a crescent.

Chaunticlair Observatory

About 8:15 in from the balcony ("Chaunticlair Observatory") with clear sky, clouds on the western horizon ahead of a large rainy weather system. With the 90mm Meade and 12.5mm eyepiece looked at Jupiter. View was sometimes clear and I could just make out the two major cloud bands. The Orion Nebula, however, looked great ... the best I've seen, and a beautiful veil filling the field of view. The Trapezium region was clearly visible with its young central stars. Quick looks at Betelgeuse and Sirius. Saturn was at the zenith and not observable. It's cold, 32F, with light pollution seeming to increase; perhaps thin cloud layer moving in. Quit at about 8:30 PM. Photo: The twin-level "Chaunticlair Observatory." It may not be much of an observing facility, but it's convenient! That's the 90mm Meade waiting for nightfall.