Buttercup views Saturn: 16 March 2009

Saturn and Titan were sketched last night while observing with Buttercup, a 60mm refractor. The planet was tiny at 28x and still rather small at 70x -- the magnification used for the above observation. North is approximately up. Preceding (west) is to the left. A subtle, slightly darker band was just visible (or suspected) north of and running parallel to the ring plane. The point of light to the left of Saturn is Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

Sun & Venus 15-16 March 2009 U.T.

The above sketch shows Venus at 0:55 16 March 2009 U.T. as it appeared in "Buttercup", a 60mm refractor, at 70x. The observation was made around sunset under fair seeing conditions through thin clouds. The planet's apparent diameter was quite large. Even at 28x the planet seemed large! North is up. Preceding (west) is to the left. Though a complete disk appears in the sketch, only the bright, thin crescent was visible.

The sun appears in the above sketch with clouds sihlouetted against the bright solar disk. The observation was made through thin clouds at 28x with a full-aperture, objective solar filter at 23:10 on 15 March 2009 U.T. The densest clouds were even visible against the background sky. Unfortunately they don't show up in the scanned image of the sketch. No sunspots were noticed. Limb darkening and clouds were all that was noticed on (or in front of ) the sun's disk. The solar filter was home-made using Baader Solar Filter material. Never look at the sun without proper eye protection!

"Buttercup"

Shown above is the same old, banged-up 60mm refractor that appeared earlier in this blog. The telescope has been improved here and there. After adding some weight inside the rear of the OTA the scope balances better in its fork. The altitude trunnions have been attached more solidly than before. The tube assemblies have been painted yellow with black trim. The wood tripod legs have had their dark paint removed and replaced with a somewhat lighter stain and varnish.

In the tradition of my other telescopes, this one also has acquired a name. Today marks the birth and first-light of "Buttercup".

Venus was Buttercup's first target. Shown above is the rough, at-the-telescope sketch of Venus made at 1:00 on 04 March 2009 U.T. at 70x. Unfortunately the sky had clouded over by the time I went back outside in the hope of observing the moon.