After several months of El Nina inspired high atmospheric turbulence, I finally got one night's worth of decent seeing in front of my own home. The clock predicted good seeing on Friday evening for Templin Highway and it was spot-on. And much better than either Lockwood Valley or Mt Pinos.
Since I'm within the 10 mile radius of the Templin Highway site, I rolled out the 16" dob and waited for cool-down and Mars.
First, even with Jupiter lower in the horizon, the seeing was decent and enough to view it comfortably with a 10mm ethos eyepiece. Then, the obligatory views of m42 and the E and F stars in the trapezium appearing as tiny needle-points. I also caught a nice view of Hubble's variable nebula and a washed-out view of Thor's Helmut with an 0111 filter. M82 and M81 weren't bad, considering the moderate suburban light pollution.
Finally, Mars! You could clearly see the maria and the polar cap. I used an old 0111 filter that leaks red like a sieve and it makes one heck of a Mars filter. I barlowed the 10mm Ethos with a 2X GSO 2", and compared it to my 5mm Zhumell eyepiece. Verdict: the 10mm Ethos and the GSO 2X barlow won with a bit better contrast. The Zhumell wasn't bad but it was outgunned by the Ethos/barlow combo. Next up: I barlowed my 9mm Baader ortho with the GSO 2X unit and it gave me the best overall views of Mars. A bit more mag from the latter helped a bit more!
Nice to finally get a decent night of good seeing...
Since I'm within the 10 mile radius of the Templin Highway site, I rolled out the 16" dob and waited for cool-down and Mars.
First, even with Jupiter lower in the horizon, the seeing was decent and enough to view it comfortably with a 10mm ethos eyepiece. Then, the obligatory views of m42 and the E and F stars in the trapezium appearing as tiny needle-points. I also caught a nice view of Hubble's variable nebula and a washed-out view of Thor's Helmut with an 0111 filter. M82 and M81 weren't bad, considering the moderate suburban light pollution.
Finally, Mars! You could clearly see the maria and the polar cap. I used an old 0111 filter that leaks red like a sieve and it makes one heck of a Mars filter. I barlowed the 10mm Ethos with a 2X GSO 2", and compared it to my 5mm Zhumell eyepiece. Verdict: the 10mm Ethos and the GSO 2X barlow won with a bit better contrast. The Zhumell wasn't bad but it was outgunned by the Ethos/barlow combo. Next up: I barlowed my 9mm Baader ortho with the GSO 2X unit and it gave me the best overall views of Mars. A bit more mag from the latter helped a bit more!
Nice to finally get a decent night of good seeing...
