At Chaunticlair this afternoon I experimented with my AstroZap Baader solar filter and coupling of my Canon Digital Rebel XT to the Meade 390 telescope. I had cobbled together pieces of at least two different camera adapters to come up with a short one that would fit the Canon to the 1.25-inch eyepiece holder of the telescope. The combination focussed easily but the images were a bit disappointing. I had hoped and expected (based on the Cooley Telescope experience) that I would see sunspot and granulation but didn't see any granulation at all! Visually the sunspot showed good detail --today Sunspot 961 was nearly dead-center on the Sun-- but didn't image well (1/1,000th second @ ISO 400). I'll keep trying! Tonight I used the 390 and took a look at the pairing of planets Venus and Saturn in the twilight sky. With the 32mm (about 31X) eyepiece I was just able to fit both planets in the same field of view and got a very nice look at Venus in crescent phase -- the best I've seen it-- with Saturn tiny but distinct. The twilight actually helped by controlling the contrast of brilliant Venus. Swung the telescope around and got a nice look at Jupiter, as well, viewed through openings between the trees here at home. At the end of the brief evening clouds began moving in as I attempted photographs of the Meade 390 pointing towards Venus and Saturn in the fading twilight. The image didn't turn out as well as one I had seen and was imitating but it isn't bad, either.
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