saturn

I have finally seen the rings of Saturn live and in-person. They really are there. It's as fascinating as it was when I was about six, and recited my short story "Ice Skating on the Rings of Saturn" before the entire school. (Back in the 70s it was okay for young people to believe that the rings were solid, you see.)

No photos because my little manuveur of sticking the camera in front of the eyepiece didn't work for an object this small. And it is small, make no mistake. Even with the 6mm it was positively wee. I'll be honest: I was a teense disappointed, but I think that's a normal reaction. It's what leads people to going crazy building Dobsonians and whatnot, right? But the brow-furrowing didn't last long. That was Saturn! Saturn! And that speck - it's Titan! See? All better.

I tried adding the Barlow but then I lost the planet. I'm doing better with the alignment process, now that I have the red dot on my side, but it's still coming up down-and-to-the-left in the eyepiece. I think I need to do some Alt/Az twirling on the star finder. I dunno. Will think about it whenever my mozzie bites heal. I have a few hundred, all bloody messes. Not exaggerating. Sigh. I bought some bug spray, in case there's any skin left to latch onto next time. 21% Deet because I'm an optimist.
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