150mm/f8 reflector - "First Light".

Around 19h30m UT last night the clouds parted long enough for me to set up my new 150mm reflector (Thank you Nick).

A quick equatorial setup and straight over to Jupiter. Speed was of the essence as clouds were loitering over towards the south west.

Jupiter stood out really well through the 10mm ep (plus the x2 Barlow).

Both the South Equatorial and North Equatorial Belts were easily seen.

There was a transit of Io in progress, the shadow of Io was inky black and stood out well on the South Equatorial Belt. I didn't see any sign of Io itself. 

Those clouds were getting closer!

Time to have a quick look and La Lune.

The f8 reflector returned beautiful images of the craters near the terminator.

Simple afocal camera photography gave me the picture that you see below.

Crater Bullialdus was half filled with shadow, half filled with sunlight what a wonderful sight.

After a quick look around the remainder of the Sea of Clouds, it was time to pack up. 

The Clouds of Pembrokeshire had totally enveloped the night.

"First Light" views through the new f8 reflector show promise. 

Maybe tonight I'll get a glimpse of Mars.

Today's Solar Image ~ 03/11/22.

 The day started well enough, blue sky and a promise of sunshine. 

By 9.00am the clouds rolled in. 

Between the gaps I managed a couple of photos.

"A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness."

Albert Einstein

Today's Partial Solar Eclipse.

Daybreak this morning the weather looked cold and eclipse miserable, it looked as if I might miss out on today's Sun and Moon waltz. 

My village and the  surrounding area is renowned for more than its fair share of cloud cover and rain. 

Its a pretty good bet that, if its raining in our back garden it will be dry and blue sky nine miles down the road in Cardigan.

So with telescope in suitcase we headed northwards to Cardigan town.

I had packed the telescope, two eyepieces and tripod. The Samsung S6 was to be my imaging device.

Spode's Law was in action, and as we arrived in Cardigan, the clouds rolled in to greet us.

No matter, soon we parked, and set up the telescope.

We were in luck, within five minutes the clouds parted and the eclipse was upon us. 

One thing I hadn't accounted for was the frequent rain showers. 

I could see the Sun above, but had to wait for the showers to stop before I could properly take out the telescope.

Eventually patience paid off and several photos were taken of the eclipse.

Initially I was going to image with a mylar filter on my refractor, but the little Ha telescope did a great job, and it managed to capture a couple of prominences.