AstroTerrace

Regular news about alignment of planets, their form in the sky, their closest approach to Earth and related other news that I used to read in the newspapers every year made me think about knowing more about them. They inspired me to see them with my eyes. After building my own house, I had that opportunity to look at the sky unhindered from its terrace. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t need a telescope to see the planets Venus, Mars and Jupiter. Even Saturn could be seen, though like a speck. I was very eager to see bands of Jupiter and rings of Saturn. Hence, I bought Meade DS2114-S reflector telescope, sometime around 2005.  Even though it is a 5.5” telescope, I could barely see the bands or rings. I was disappointed. I didn’t use it for many years. Surely, I didn’t know how to observe planets properly with a telescope at that time. The situation didn’t change even now because I’m more interested in deep sky objects than planets. Aren’t planets very close by?! When...