Last night of Winter and Spring is on the way-Wahoo!!!!!!!
Okay, got that out of the way. I feel much better.
On to the report:
10:15-11:15pm
I grabbed my Stellarvue 80mm and Heavy Surveyors tripod as one unit and carried them out to the ONE good spot in the yard for observing Jupiter(without snow on the ground). Around my waist was a fanny pack(Orion sells it) with 4 eyepieces and a Baader Fringe Killer filter.
And now i'm ready!
I highly recommend a grab and go setup to anyone that doesn't have one. Tonight was a prime example where I would have stayed in without it. I was simply too lazy to perform multiple set up trips through snow YET AGAIN.
Jupiter:
This is my first look at Jupiter with this Stellarvue 80mm scope. On the moon this scope showed little to no false color and I was curious to see how it would perform on Jupiter.
The result: hardly any false color! It was there, but very little. I had to look for it. Stellarvue says they use an ED lens in this scope(but conservatively call it an achromat) and the results on the moon and Jupiter make it easy to believe.
Callisto stands by itself on one side and the other big three moons are lined up nicely on the other. At 107x I can see both the Northern and Southern equatorial bands. There's a hint of banding in the South, but I cannot confirm.
The Southern band has a certain "bulge" or change in it's shape near the edge of the planet in the direction of it's rotation. I was hoping this was the Great Red Spot but I couldn't be sure.
My Starry Night software would later reveal that I was indeed seeing the GRS as it made it's way around the other side of the planet. Apparently, I made it outside just in time to catch it!
I pop in my UO 5mm for 150x mag. and the image dims but remains nice and sharp. The two main bands show finer detail their differences in coloration(hope that makes sense).
To end the night I backed off a bit to 83x with a wider field eyepiece(9mm 60 degree GSO) and the view was great. I love low power views of Jupiter with a wide field- as it seems to float in the field of view.
That was the end of my night. Humidity was at 93% and it showed. Everything was getting quite wet within 45 minutes.
Thank you "grab and go". I picked everything up in one shot and packed it in.
