Neptune confirmed (Mew Lake)

Neptune is not easy. But I definitely confirmed it. With the help of a park visitor and Stellarium.

A lot of other volunteers were aimed at Jupiter. I suggested we go for Neptune. The guest near me sounded intrigued. But I said that I had to cheat. I wanted to be certain that I was on target. I dug out the netbook and red cel. As the machine booted up, I put it on the adjustable chair near the eyepiece. I was starting to attract some kids, with the computer and red keyboard light. I searched for the 8th planet in the software, zoomed in, and rotated the field to match the finder scope view. I could easily see the 4th largest planet between μ (mu) and 42 Capricorni, 1/3rd the way from μ. Then I mimicked the baader planetarium eyepiece wide field of view and orientation.

With my guest, we confirmed the location of two bright stars (HIP 107407 and 107422) above the planet. My captivated guest noted the small arc of three stars to the left. I nudged the view to the right and we both agreed on the location of a faint double star. I put Neptune dead centre. And zoomed in.

I think part of the reason that it is so challenging is the angular size. It is less than 2.5 arcseconds! That's the same dimensions as a tight double star. That and using a high power eyepiece means the field is general void of other objects. The last planet in the solar system, at approx. 30 AUs, is not very exotic. Certainly the colour is attractive. But it's almost better to view at low power. At magnitude 7 or 8, it stands out against the background faint stars.

Showed Tony, Phil, Katrina, and others.

That was satisfying.