I have just returned from the caravan in Dorset. Many thanks for the information in the "whats on " notes. Last month we were able to observe the occultation of Saturn and last week we observed the occultation of Venus. On Monday 18th we were in Wimborne, 10~10 cloud for the first stage of the occultation, however at c1600 BST the sky cleared to a cloudless blue and we were able to see the "re-emergence" at 1612+30sec, Venus was "fully exposed" at c1613.

An interesting factor was that the planet appeared so bright when it emerged - almost like the diamond ring effect at an eclipse. I presume it must have been a contrast effect, as some time later when Venus was a degree or so away from the Moon it appeared much less bright. I carefully set up my birding scope in the central car park; I thought that it was quite safe as the Sun was quite some way off.

I recently bought a new zoom eyepiece for the telescope - it is very useful for locating and then examining objects - it gives 20x to 60x magnification, but with an 80mm objective lens 45x seems about the best.
Whilst down in Dorset, I was also able to observe Saturn and Jupiter+moons. I have recently also bought a Celestron "Sky Scout" as a beginner I find it very useful - I can now translate the apparent position as on the planisphere to an actual position in the sky.

 

Regards

Bert