First First Light - The Anniversary

A few entries back, I wrote about my first first light with my old Tasco 50mm. The date I included was wrong; it was actually the 14th, not the 18th. It was a Sunday night.

Anyway, to commemorate the event, on the night of the 14th, I decided to recreate that moment with my Tasco 50mm, same model I had back then. I used two of its original eyepieces, a 20 and 12.5mm, both Huygens, as well as a new 20mm MA. All three eyepieces are, of course, .965".As with that night, I chose to observe Saturn, as well as the Moon.

What a difference thirty years makes.

The Moon that night was near full. I knew back then from using my binoculars that the Moon isn't much fun to observe near full. For the 32nd anniversary session, it was waxing crescent, and glorious. In 1981, Saturn and Jupiter were near one another. in 2013, Saturn lies just east of Spica.

The sky over Jacksonville the night of the 14th June, 1981.
(Courtesy YourSky at Fourmilab)

The night sky over Jacksonville, 14 June, 2013.

And like then, the sense of wonder I felt, even with such a small instrument, was the same.

I simply love the heavens.

Such a fine little instrument. The tripod isn't original, but everything else is. I seldom use small telescopes with finder scopes, by the way.