Jupiter

0600 UTC: Returning from Linda's belated birthday dinner, noticed Jupiter rising in Virgo as we entered the lake. Grab n' go! TV-85 + 8mm LVW, fair seeing, 25°F, 87% humidity at 0145 EST. With advice from the S&T.com article on observing Jupiter I added a Light Blue #82A to enhance the dark bands, and this did offer some improvement. Vibration pads help but even they cannot fully compensate for a shaky wood deck and a shivering amateur astronomer. But moments of stillness, both deck and atmospheric, delivered clear details of equatorial bands. Io rapidly approaches transit (at around 0415 UTC according to Starry Night Pro). Other 3 Galilean moons crisp in the refractor. Saturn was in the trees to the southwest; didn't even bother. Packed it up a little before 0800 UTC (3am),

Jupiter and moons, 06 Feb 2005, 0700 UTC
TV-85 view (West at left)
Approximate view with Vixen 8mm LVW

Etc.: This is why I got the TV-85 - setup and breakdown in 5 min, quick cool down. And I finally found the Starbeam pointer to be of some use once properly aligned - it's flip mirror a big asset, at least on a bright object like Jupiter. All in all, I like the Telrad better as a pointer but it is such a kludge of a device.