Copernicus

The bad weather has continued for the last few weeks but I've managed to grab a couple of breaks in the cloud. This included using my Revelation 20x100 binoculars on the Orion Nebula - the nebula filters really brought out the detail even under suburban skies. The Pleiades also looks much better through the wider field of view of the binoculars than through the telescope. I've also managed to set-up a few times just to have thick cloud appear within minutes. Such is the British weather. Looking at my observing logs, my 2 decent sessions from the last 2 months compares with the 19 I racked up in the same period last year.

Anyway, I ventured out with the laptop and webcam last night to what looked like promising skies. The weather forecast predicted clear skies until beyond midnight but I thought it best to crack on with taking videos. I chose the Moon ahead of targetting Orion with the diffraction grating, while hoping that I'll get another chance to have a crack at Orion before the spring.

Since this was almost exactly 2 months since my last lunar observation I was presented with the same collection of prime targets as my previous set of posts. With a thin veil of cloud drawing in I decided to play it safe and target Copernicus with a 2x Barlow. Considering the haze when I finished recording I am quite pleased with the result:


The hazy cloud has washed it out and made it a bit blurry but I feel like I'm getting better at recording with the 2x Barlow. How long it will take me to get to grips with the 5x Barlow is another matter.