My folks were in town and spent the night so they could grab some grandbaby time. With the move back to EST, this meant my Pop woke around 4 AM. I was already up tending the baby (and giving Kate a break), so I took the scope out back and gave the ol' man a quick tour of the morning PA skies. On the menu: A quick view of the Orion neb before it slipped below the trees to the West; Mars (distinct but without noticeable surface features); the Moon (spectacular at waxing crescent); and best of all, Saturn.
Even though the dawn was breaking and the Moon was just next door, the ringed gas giant did not disappoint. This was the first I'd seen the rings since I was a kid, and my first view of Saturn through my new telescope, and it really was a thrill. The gap between rings and planet was clearly visible in the 25mm lens, and with the 12.5 and the Barlow banding in the clouds and the ring shadow on the planet were clearly visible (as were two Saturn moons, Titan and Rhea). It the lower-power lens it looked a bit like this (from my Equinox software):
All told, it was a great morning.
