Night 2 . . . clouds win!

Saturdays are normally fast-paced days ending in the question: "Where the hell did the day go?" I thought civil twilight would never get here! I checked myself out on the digital camera that adapts to the telescope optics, tinkered around with it most of the afternoon. The mission . . . get a shot of Venus to proudly post here! It was not to be.

It was overcast most of the afternoon and I was surprized as hell when I went outside around 2030 hrs to see that Venus was the only object occassionally penetrating the cloud cover. Well, I wasn't going to lug the scope outdoors, so I opted to lower several windows in out three season room and swing the tube on the planet like a "hip shoot" in my field artillery days.

That worked great . . . I was able to get it centered in the main eyepiece using a lower power 32mm lens. My wife got her first look through the scope and I was hopeful to increase the magnification enough with other lenses to really show it off. Not to be . . . since I hadn't taken the time to align the mount and set the RA motors to slew with the planet, it quickly drifted from view. Making fine adjustments with the keypad is an art I haven't mastered yet. So, it was back to low power - yielding a much larger filed of view.

Next, I began setting up the computer and camera for a photo session . . . not to be . . . the cloud cover increased and the planet was totally obscured from sight. Just my stinking luck!

I do like the possibilities the three season room affords . . . a bright prospect in an otherwise 2nd night with the telescope.