I had a late finish at work today which meant that dinner was soon after I got home as were the clearing up chores. As I was leaving work I could see that Venus was high and bright again.
This got me to thinking. Last night whilst at my adopted away site, I wanted to try for Mars. Starlight showed it in close proximity to Venus and well above the horizon. I knew this was wrong as I had already identified the iPad was having a hissy fit so, I decided that I would give Mars another go tonight.
I set my rig up when I got home then did the eating and clearing up stuff after which I went out to play. Venus was first to check alignment and I spent a few minutes swapping the optics around enjoying the view. I then switched over to Mars and got it straight away. With the 25mm I could just make out that there was substance to the target. Upping to the 10mm then adding in the X2 Barlow and the disc resolved itself- small but discernible.
The iPad was behaving itself tonight and I saw that Neptune (I think it was) was also on the same arc as Venus and Mars but closer to the horizon. I tried to hunt it down but a tree got in the way. Not the end of the world as I can save this target for another session.
After Mars I decided to try again for M31. I could identify Cassiopeia and, with the help of Starlight was able then to identify Andromeda. Again, I didn't know where in the area to look for M31 so decided to quarter the area to see if I struck lucky. I tried for what felt like about 15 minutes but, suddenly a voice Identifiable as Mrs Swoop called to say that the pot of tea I had made an hour earlier was getting a bit cold! Had to pack up and go and pour what turned out to be a nice, warm mug of builders tea.
There is always another night.....
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