Pulled out the 130St last night for a quick round of the south western sky right after dusk. Was able to zero in on Venus, Mars, the Orion Nebula, and the moon of course.
Observations:
Venus is currently a crescent. still boring. but not so much as a slightly non-full Venus.
The seeing was too bad, and Mars was too low to get a real good look at it. More than a star, less than expected. but that’s been my dance with mars now for over a year. 🙂
Once again I zeroed in on the Orion nebula, and once again I missed the main body (the trapezium). I don’t know if I need a wider FOV lens, or if it’s just an experience thing. what I appear to have found was the upper part of the nebula, which is more dim. I thought it was the whole thing just zoomed way out, but in hindsight I think my FOV was too narrow and I just didn’t see the brighter portion further south. I will try again and specifically look for this anomaly.
Equipment:
Worked great considering I haven’t pulled it out since late fall of last year. I used the 130ST F/5 scope with the CG-4 mount. Very stable, very nice. Remarkably my laser sight is still only slightly off so finding things was pretty easy with a 25mm lens.
Seeing:
Very large wildfires in northwestern Oklahoma have left an easily view-able haze on the horizon. it’s not too bad 20-30 degree’s above the the horizon, but still pretty wonky. using a 6mm EP on the moon you could see the wavy atmosphere. Otherwise the weather was good, low winds, clear skies above.