Sun Spots

On the blog Webcam page there are a couple of photos of sun spots taken through a Baader Solar cap with a webcam........hopefully will get some video soon of the Moon and Saturn

Messier Sketches

New messier sketches have been added: M5 and M53 Globular clusters.

Baader Solar Filter

Just received my Baader Solar Filter in time for the Transit of Venus in June. Had a trial run of the filter today and saw the below sun spots very clearly at 32x magnification (image courtesy of NASA).

Messier Sketches

New messier sketches have been added: M6 and M7 Open Clusters.

M41 via Setting Circles

Tonight I've setup and successfully used the setting circles on my EQ5 mount.

Firstly I ensured my mount was aligned to the SCP, and then located Sirius (RA 06 45, DEC -16 43). Once I had Sirius centered I set the RA circle and tweaked the DEC circle for the coordinates of Sirius.

My target was M41. M41 has the co-ords of RA 06 46 and DEC -20 46, so I knew that I only really needed to move the telescope in DEC by 4 degrees to be in the ball park. And in the ball park I was - M41 popped in to the eyepiece for some prime cluster viewing.

Saturn

Using the new  EPs and barlow, I've successfully seen Saturn.

The rings and planet stripes are clearly visible using the barlow and 9mm EP (200x mag).

I also took a look at M42 Orion nebula which fit perfectly in the 9mm EP (with barlow)......beautiful sights.