This was my second time out with the scope, but conditions were absolutely perfect: clear, cool, crescent moon setting. We got great views of the moon, Jupiter and four moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto), Saturn and its rings (possibly Titan). Venus was a little hard to see well due to how bright it was. Jupiter and Saturn were high up in the sky which I guess also helped with what we could see.
I could make out a band of colour on Jupiter.
I also realised how easy it was to align the finder and then use that to find planets, so the second attempt at seeing the gas giants was much easier than when I first tried to find them earlier in the evening.
Also starting with the 10mm eyepiece, focus and centering it, then inserting the 20mm eyepiece, repeating the process, and then finally zooming up with the 2x barlow with the 20mm eyepiece. Just amazing.
The equatorial mount was gradually demystified throughout the session, although I am sure I would have committed some cardinal sins with it.
I also spent a lot more time observing than I expected, nearly an hour and a half.
I was really blown away, but then, the conditions were ideal and conditions that good will be rare.
