First Light

I put the scope out to cool around 8:45 and went out an hour later.  The clouds were moving in but I was anxious to test the mirror.  It is really humid and not a very good night for viewing.  This is the closest clear sky chart to me.

From my balcony I get views from the Northeast to the Southeast.  The garage lights in the complex are pretty bright so I use tarps to block them the best I can.  I could see Vega so my first stop was the M57 the Ring Nebula.  I could see it right away with the 28mm!  I had to use averted vision but there it was!  With the 11mm and 6.7mm I could make out the star next to the Ring.  Next was the globular M56.  I only saw it briefly with the 11mm before the clouds moved in.  I could resolve some of the stars in the cluster. 

 I did a quick star test on Vega with the 6.7mm just to see what it would look like.  The defocused star was boiling.   Again not a very good night I know the sky has to be perfect and I'm not even sure how to do it right but I was curious. 

I could see Saturn in Libra just above the roof line so I turned the scope and put in the 28mm.  With the warbly sky and the heat from the roof the planet was going in and out of focus but when it was in focus it was sharp and crispy.  I went through all the eyepieces and was very impressed.  I could easily see the Cassini Division with the 11 and 6.7.  And I could also see some bands on the planet itself.  The moons were easily visible.  So far so good with the newly refigured mirror and I can't wait to take it out to my dark site!

Saturn and the position of the moons