I struggled to find a decent surface to set the table top telescope on. It had to be just right. You know? The first time. I settle for my kids' cedar picnic table. From the canopy of the neighbor's great oak, I found the perfect viewing angle. Within a few seconds I was seeing this.
First decent photo from my phone pressed up against the eye piece
I am hooked. This wasn't even a particularly good night for viewing. I actually started to become blinded from the brightness. Perhaps there is some credence to the moon filter I've oft read about.
I am amazed by the detail. Simply put, I had really no idea what was up there. I can assure you it is not cheese.
Experimenting with my two eyepieces, I held my Android up to either one and snapped off a few photos like the one above.
I had grand hopes of focusing in on a planet but only one was available, Saturn. Unfortunately the tree line of the backyard doesn't cater to Saturn this time of year. It was also just too bright tonight. Must have been about half the lumens of daytime even at 11 pm.
I did check out a couple of very bright stars. Using Google Sky Map they turned out to be Arcturus and Vega.
Arcturus comparison to our sun - YIKES!!!
While checking out Vega I saw a shooting star. Close-up it seemed to be moving in slow-motion relative to what I could recall.
It was about this time that I decided to start this blog. That was about 30 minutes ago.
We are just getting started. I may need to stray away from the backyard confines tomorrow. Weather dependent of course. Until then.
