Venus and the ISS

The weather is finally turning nice again and the evenings are gorgeous. It's been a while since I took the telescope out so I'm trying some old targets. Venus and the ISS.

First Venus was mainly an attempt to dial in my focus and pointing for the ISS pass. I don't recall the image settings, but Venus is always elusive. After my best attempt at focus, exposure, and stacking the planet still feels slightly out of reach. Damn you thick cloud layer!

For the ISS I wanted to try my 5x barlow. Usually I use my 3x Barlow with good results, but I wanted to see how far I could push it. Last time I tried the image was too dim so I had to increase from 0.5ms to 1.0ms exposure. The result is still good, but probably past optimal. I think the best I'll get from my telescope is the 3x Barlow lens and perfect weather.

The structure is all there, but it's not as sharp as I want it to be.

No matter the results, a quiet and cool evening alone with my telescope is a truly meditative experience.