Star-gazing

Lifting, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Up, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Jupiter, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Sky, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Well, I went ahead and bought the tripod I mentioned earlier, Berlebach 3042. It isn't lightweight (and definitely not cheap), weighting 4.5 kg with the Manfrotto video head, but it works just as a tripod for star-gazing should. Stable, easy to set up, and relatively easy to adapt to shorter and taller people (such as children and adults). I got mine from the Ursa astronomical association (info in Finnish here), where I got some expert instruction as well.

After moonrise we went out with the children to have a look at the sky. It was -24 °C outside, so we couldn't stay out long. Despite the light pollution and some thin clouds we managed to catch a good look at the Moon, and at Jupiter as well. I think I saw one of the Jupiter moons as well, but maybe I was mistaken. And a wooden tripod really is good when it is so cold, awful to think about operating something made of metal, makes one shudder.