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[katodog]

Here are some pics from tonight. These are using the Meade 12" LX200R, Fuji S5100 DSLR @10x optical zoom, 32mm Celestron Plossl, with the 640x480 video setting. I took two of the shots and resized them 200%. I like the pics to be bigger. Jupiter looks cockeyed because I had the diag turned to the right and the camera in an upright postion so I could use it better.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Kdog,

These are beautiful shots of Jupiter.

One can clearly view the "missing" band where there once were two. it has been reported that the second band is getting darker while the first is vanishing.

Good job.

[katodog]

I took the opportunity to collimate again. For some reason the scope was way off when I took it out. So, before the viewing session and photos, I collimated using Vega. I was moving out of focus until the image was just a circle with the shadow, and that was always getting me really close, but it still would be the tiniest bit off. I never bothered trying to keep tweaking it since it was working good. Last night using Vega, I just defocused enought to see about two or three rings in the image, and collimated like that. Man, that scope is the absolute cat's nuts now!!!

The views now, last night and tonight, are really perfect! Now if only Jupiter would put up a better display, and the humidity and heat would go away for a while. Tonight, I was only doing visual stuff, since at first it was clouding over. I went out and saw that Jupiter was uncovered so I wheeled the scope out and tinkered around for a while. I checked out Jupiter for a while, and then told the scope to go to Vesta. I figured if it was only mag 5 or 6, I'd be able to see it no problem. But I couldn't. So I checked out M57, then tried looking at the Dumbell. I thought I could make out a roughly circular image that seemed like a ghost. So I don't know for sure if it was the Dumbell or just me hoping it was. I checked out the Double Double, then went back to Jupiter, and then packed it in.

I didn't plan on taking any shots, so I just put everything away. Man, it's so nice just wheeling the scope in and out of the garage, I'm getting spoiled. I'm dreading the winter when the boss will want to park her car in the garage. Then I'll have to put everything back in the cases, and re-assemble it when I want to use it. But, that's no biggie. That's part of the hobby, isn't it? Getting out two hours early to put everything together?

I wish that Saturn was out at night now, so I could get some shots of it through the 12" now that it's collimated good. But, I'll have to wait for Saturn.