Neptune and Triton, 24.08.2019
This is my very first real observation of Neptune and Triton with my 20" f/3.2 Dobsonian. Although I have been observing with this telescope for more than two years, it never
occurred to me to take a look at the two icy planets at the edge of our solar system. But now I was finally able to do so.
The seeing was very good this evening and Neptune was already high enough above the horizon. So it was possible to increase the magnification to 370x without any problems
and still get a very quiet and absolutely sharp image. Neptune is of course very small with an apparent diameter of 2.3" (arcseconds) and a high magnification doesn't really
change that much. Except for the slightly bluish color and the impression of a rim darkening I could not see any structures on the planet's surface. But I did not expect that.
Of course Triton was very easy to detect - an apparent brightness of 13.4mag is not a big hurdle for a 50cm Dobson.
It is a great thing to see the outermost of our 8 planets at a distance of more than 4 billion kilometers with your own eyes and to get an impression of how it looks like at the edge
of our solar system.
