Paraskevidekatriaphobia ... No Way!

[Nightspore]

I’ve never really been particularly paraskevidekatriaphobic, so when I discovered there was a chance of some clear skies I was definitely up for it on Friday the 13th. Although I was a bit fatigued so decided on the lovely little Titchy Sixty, as it is lightweight … and titchy. Although, of late, I’ve kind of ditched it for my 72ED Evostar. 

 

 

I was set-up by about 21:00. My first target was Saturn. The 4mm Takahashi Abbe orthoscopic gave a decent 90x. I could see some surface detail and even Titan. Conditions were quite good considering it had rained all day. My next target was the very nice white double of Zeta 1 Aquarii situated at the top of the Water Bearer’s ‘jar/urn’.

 

 

Interestingly this double of 28.2 parsecs distant (I observed them as they would have looked in 1931) virtually now rides the Celestial Equator.

 

 

I observed this and i Cass at 144x with a Barlow element threaded into the 4mm Tak’. 

 

 

At 90x I could just see Europa transiting Jupiter’s surface, plus a ‘strung out’ Io, Ganymede and Callisto.

 

 

Caroline’s Rose (Cassiopeia) and the Double Cluster (Perseus) looked great at 10.1x with the Baader Eudiascopic, although the Double Cluster was spellbinding at 18.9x with the 19mm Panoptic.

 

 

The Alpha Persei Cluster was equally intriguing with the Panoptic, even with the small aperture of the ‘Titchy’ I really felt ‘up close and in there’ with the 19mm Tele Vue compared to the more aloof view of the Baader.

 

 

All in all, although my Friday session was inevitably cut short by clouds, I rekindled my love for the Titchy Sixty.

 

 

[GazAstro]

Gotta love the Cure on Friday the 13th 🙂