I got a telescope for Christmas! Unusually for us I’ve started using it already in the hopes of maybe seeing comet ISON which may break up at the end of this month. Telescope is a Sky-Watcher Heritage 130p and its pretty portable and apparently a good starter scope.
Tonight was the first clear night, although most planets were visiting the Southern Hemisphere. Using the highly technical method of holding my iPad against the eyepiece I took my first ever astrophotos 😀
First attempt – a little mis-focused on the part of the iPad (autofocus and also auto adjust contrast/brightness etc. so it’s pot luck) but look! The moon!
The moon isn’t actually great for viewing through a telescope at the moment – very bright, almost full, it’s almost too bright to look at, and the best details are seen at the transition from light to shadow, and with a nearly full moon that’s not so appreciable. But here is a shot showing how the craters etc. can look.
Random thing you don’t appreciate until looking at the moon through a telescope – it moves really fast relative to the position of the telescope! I was lining it up and it was moving before I could get the camera lined up too.
This however is my favourite bit – this is Jupiter and some of its moons (I think I could see about 4-5 though the camera doesn’t give the same clarity). Jupiter is just a bright disc but I did get a sense of bands. Can’t wait for Saturn to come up to see the rings 😀
So next thing is I need a mount for a camera lol. And maybe better clothes as it was FREEZING. I only came inside because I was at risk of dropping something important with numb hands…
