Observation Report for Jan. 5, 2009

Tonight, I finally got some clear skies to try out my new variable polarizer! I had done without one for so long, I haven't been able to observe the Moon unless it was a sliver. The Zhumell 10" dob gathers enough light that viewing the Moon without a variable polarizer can be quite uncomfortable! I took the image below with a point-and-shoot camera via eyepiece projection (basically holding the camera up to the eyepiece).

An eyepiece-projection image of the Moon, Jan. 5, 2008.

I bought my variable polarizer from Orion Telescopes. It does a pretty good job, and can block as much as 99% of incoming light. This makes it great for viewing the bright moon in large aperture telescopes. I can now comfortably view even tonight's gibbous Moon in comfort. The only problem I had with this polarizer was that at full blocking, it has that funky green coloration typical of many Moon filters. At lighter settings, however, this coloration doesn't seem to be present. Overall, I'd say it was a great buy!



It's very cold tonight! Pictured above is the frost on my dob. That stuff is thick! Last I checked it was 15* F (-9* C) and falling. As I write this, I'm waiting (inside where it's warm) for Saturn to get to a higher altitude so I can see its nearly closed rings. Hopefully my optics don't frost over before then!

Clear skies!