12025 replies to this topic

[DMala]

First light yestarday for my new-used Takahashi FS102 on a SkyWatcher mount in altaz configuration. I was at my North NJ location with far than ideal seeing conditions, and on top of that unfortunately clouds rolled in shortly after I started. I barely had the time to split Epsilon Lyrae as a familiar reference object, and then to get a brief glimpse of the Ring Nebula.
My first impressions with the FS102: I liked the 7x50 illuminated finder and the focuser. I was suprised to completely split both components of the double double only with a Unitron OR 6mm, while a Baader 10mm OR at 82X could fully split only the NW component. This is a bit less resolving power than I would have expected. Maybe it's because Lyrae was getting closer to the light glow above the horizon, or because IMO the 10mm OR by Baader is an OK but not excellent eyepiece. To be confirmed in better conditions then. The Ring nebula seemed a gray blotch comparable to my 125mm JSO SCT, maybe with a hair more contrast. As mentioned above after that I had to pack everything and get inside due to rain bearing clouds rolling in.

[deepwoods1]

As clouds we’re rolling in, your seeing may have effected by scattering the light? How was the seeing? I’m sure it will perform if we ever get a nice night.

[DMala]

When I was observing Epsilon Lyrae with the 10mm ep I do not think that clouds were an issue, in fact just seconds later the split with the 6mm OR was picture-perfect. But overall due to Manhattan's vicinity and high humidity I would define the seeing conditions as rather poor.

[Steve Allison]

The FS102 should split both components of the DD with ease at 82X. My 3 inch achros have no problem using similar magnifications.

 

I seem to recall that the little 50mm Unitron I used to own could do it at 78 power.

 

I would try again when conditions are better.

 

Steve

 

Do you have an eyepiece of a different brand to try?

Edited by Steve Allison, 08 October 2018 - 01:46 PM.

[DMala]

The FS102 should split both components of the DD with ease at 82X. My 3 inch achros have no problem using similar magnifications.

 

I seem to recall that the little 50mm Unitron I used to own could do it at 78 power.

 

I would try again when conditions are better.

 

Steve

 

Do you have an eyepiece of a different brand to try?

That's what I would have expected too, even if I refer to a full split with black line in-between the components. No other  1.25" 10mm OR in North NJ, have two 9mm ORs in South NJ that I can bring up at the first opportunity and I am looking for an alternative to the Baader 10mm.

Edited by DMala, 08 October 2018 - 02:39 PM.

[jcruse64]

Anyone catching the Draconids tonight??? Thanks to Dave M for the October Night Sky posting; I knew there had to be something going on, but did not know what till I just came back in. No scope work, just some naked eye observing while enjoying a stogie on the front porch. Saw 2 pass over, so I went out and laid down on the driveway, and got up to 20 count within about 50 minutes, including a couple of nice ones.

[Terra Nova]

Anyone catching the Draconids tonight??? Thanks to Dave M for the October Night Sky posting; I knew there had to be something going on, but did not know what till I just came back in. No scope work, just some naked eye observing while enjoying a stogie on the front porch. Saw 2 pass over, so I went out and laid down on the driveway, and got up to 20 count within about 50 minutes, including a couple of nice ones.

 

I saw one through the light clouds from our balcony a while ago. It was heading due south. I was on the balcony watching the surf whipping up from Hurricane Michael offshore here at Panama City Beach, FL. We evac at 6AM tomorrow morning.

[smithrrlyr]

Anyone catching the Draconids tonight??? Thanks to Dave M for the October Night Sky posting; I knew there had to be something going on, but did not know what till I just came back in. No scope work, just some naked eye observing while enjoying a stogie on the front porch. Saw 2 pass over, so I went out and laid down on the driveway, and got up to 20 count within about 50 minutes, including a couple of nice ones.

It certainly was a good evening for Draconids, especially early on.  I started doing visual observations of variable stars, but I caught enough meteors from the corner of my eye to pull me away from the telescope.  Despite somewhat hazy skies in mid-Michigan, I saw Draconids at a rate of about 1 every 1.5 minutes around 8:50pm EDT.  The rate seemed to diminish after 9:20pm.  Most were faint but a couple got up to mag 0.  So the telescope viewing turned out not to be the hit of this night.

[shredder1656]

Yeah, we stumbled across the shower just after dusk last night.  I am glad to find out the name of it.  Had no clue.  Thanks! 

 

"The Draconid"  

 

Our foster son had THE sectional soccer game, and they had just finished the game.  During the game, as much as I enjoyed him getting some playing time and them winning, I kept catching Mars out of the corner of my eye.  lol  As soon as we returned home, I pulled out my C102F and was going to give it a few minutes to cool down and hopefully get some peeks at Mars and Saturn.  Too many trees to our south and west to see Jupiter   While I was setting the scope outside, I caught a glimpse of two or three meteors.  I stood outside for a minute or two, and saw another.  Being the rapid comprehender that I am NOT reputed to be, I realized there was something fun going on.  

 

I went inside and told my oldest daughter, who is a few weeks from moving into her first "all hers" apartment.  Happily, she came outside to check it out too.  We saw several in the first few minutes.  I dragged out a couple of chaise lawn chairs, and we kicked back.  Very nice display, and our first meteor shower together.  Since we were the only two home, my wife and I had driven separately, we also had the pleasure of shocking the rest of the family when they pulled into the driveway and saw two horizontal lumps sprawled in the driveway.  LOL.

 

My wife and youngest daughter hung out with us for a few minutes, but the boys headed inside for showers and homework.  My wife then went inside too.  Our youngest daughter crawled into the chair with me, and we spent another 10 or 15 minutes watching the shower.  I lost count, but one of the three of us would catch a meteor every minute or less.  Nice conversation with the girls, and a great view of the show.  

 

We then spent a few minutes looking at Saturn.  While my oldest daughter has seen Saturn before, she is around far less than my youngest.  She was treated to the first, between the two.  It might be the first time she has seen Saturn through the C102F, I'm not sure.  Regardless, she gasped, and said "Whooooa!!!  That's CRAZY!!!".  Made me grin.  Then my littlest one took a peek.  She followed suite with exclamations, and loved the view.  I did not realize it at the time, but it might have been the first time for her through this scope too.  She excitedly compared the view to our family's first view of Saturn through our VERY first scope...a Tasco Luminova, which we still have a year and a half later.  lol  They both took a few more turns at the ep, and we foolishly cranked up the power to 300x.  

 

We were using a 6mm Orion Expanse plossl, just because it was convenient.  I coupled that with my Ultima 2x Barlow to get to the 300.  I think it would have looked better through an ortho(?), although the Expanse is easier to look through.  Even though it was not a good night for that, it was fun to crank it up a little.  Still a treat, but had a silver cloud around the planet.  I think a high-quality diagonal would help with that (I really hope), but it was still nice.  The girls enjoyed it.  

 

We looped over to Mars and spent a few minutes there.  I assume that it is due to being so low, but I never have a jaw-dropping look at Mars.  Once or twice we had some distinct views of the cap(s) and albedo features in the past, but last night it was pretty plain.  We had dropped back down to the 6mm alone, but it was still a little underwhelming.  A filter might have helped(?), but we were pressed for time.  My sophomore son had already called from the front door to ask for Math help a few minutes earlier.  

 

My Math help consisted of coming inside, staring at the page, asking for a book, none was provided, and as a result I ultimately offered my most profound contribution..."Colton, I think I will take you to school a few minutes early, so you can talk to your teacher."   

 

The girls and I then chatted about our observing session, congratulated our foster son on his game, reviewed some of the video we recorded of his last regular high school soccer game (he's a senior and that game clinched the sectionals), and then, being the "old man", I headed off to bed.  Nothing better than a meteor shower, and some planetary gendering with my family to give a good night's rest.   

 

(clouds this morning, or I would have finished hunting down Andromeda)  Next time.

[TSSClay]

Yes!  I did see the Draconids.  I was out putzing with my latest scope build (not a classic) and kept noticing little zippy shooting stars.  When I started seeing two and three at a time I looked up what meteor shower was happening on my phone.  Then I settled back with the Mk1 Eyeballs and enjoyed the show.

 

Clay

[DMala]

(...) 

Do you have an eyepiece of a different brand to try?

Correction, I forgot that I have a Zeiss .965 10-O on its way that comes with a nice 1.25" adapter, that should be a good positive control. But it does not matter because here it will continue to rain every day until it is too cold to be out stargazing....

 

(...)

 

We looped over to Mars and spent a few minutes there.  I assume that it is due to being so low, but I never have a jaw-dropping look at Mars.  Once or twice we had some distinct views of the cap(s) and albedo features in the past, but last night it was pretty plain.  We had dropped back down to the 6mm alone, but it was still a little underwhelming.  A filter might have helped(?), (...)

 

Yes, I found a yellow-orange filter to be very helpful on Mars.

[DreamWeaver]

Thought I would try observing Orion through an Asahi last night.  It didn't work.  Not sure if it's because it wasn't a Pentax or a Jupiter...or maybe I need to sample some more Asahi's and Orion's!  

 

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[rcwolpert]

Never had an Orion, but an Asahi is a great beer!

[DreamWeaver]

Just finished the Orion (night time here  ).  Definitely not as good as the Asahi.  Tasted more like a Miller.

[shredder1656]

I never had either one. LoL. I looked at Orion this morning, though. LoL

Using my C102F this morning at 0315 (Since I apparently have an aversion to sleep... What the heck is wrong with me, LoL?), I enjoyed about 90 minutes of dodging some faint clouds to take in some gorgeous stars.

I used a silver top 26mm plossl on Orion, just because I've not used that ep much at all. Not sure if my timing was perfect or what, but the view was incredible. Everything seemed brighter, crisper, and more detailed than I've seen it. Not saying much, since I don't have a lifetime of experience, but it was gorgeous nonetheless. I could have sworn I saw individual pinpoints in the cloud. The fish mouth (is that correct?) looked cavernous. Very pretty.

I switched eps and used some Televue and Ultima plossls, but the silver top was the best. Later it didn't seem as awesome, so it might have just been a perfectly clear hole between the clouds, but I'll take it.

I successfully "discovered" Andromeda! I found it last year with some Steiner binos I have for hunting, but haven't found it since. I know it's obvious to the naked eye for many, and it will be for me now (I think), but it has been elusive. So, I felt like I accomplished something this morning before 0430! .

It was very cool, although not as powerful to me as seeing Jupiter or the other planets for the first time, but regarding in it's own right. Thanks to the hunting advice given by members here, I was able to find it with those same binos and then follow suit with the scope.

M31 done!

[BKSo]

 

Have others had equally wonderful views through their Meade 2045 telescopes?

 

Steve

 

I took my 2045 and 5.2x34 CZJ to a dark site last Thursday, traveling 100km by train. Both telescopes can be fitted with nebula filters. I also took a homemade 80mm Dollond eyepiece for field test.

 

The weather was clear at the evening, with NELM 6, but transparency decreased throughout the night.

 

Began the night with NGC7000. With the CZJ and filter this was an easy, direct vision object. Then I turned to the 2045. I observed brightening at part of the field. 80D + uhc-e is somewhat easier (brighter) but still too small true field to tell its shape.

 

The double cluster was easily visible naked eye. Great view with 40PL! Pinpoint stars and no scattering. Noted a few orange stars between the two clusters.

 

Turned back to Cygnus, NGC6992 the eastern veil nebula. Under the CZJ it was a somewhat faint band of light. Got the best view with 80D + filter. Bright and arc shaped.

 

M15 very bright. I only used the 15 EWA clone. Did not try to resolved this.

 

NGC281 Much easier than NGC7000 and NGC6992. Best with 40PL + uhc-e. Recognizable shape.

 

M31 Very elongated disc with well defined edge on the short sides. Dust lanes? Through the 80D the galaxy looked brighter but too small to see details. Forgot to look for M32 and M110...

 

M33 Remarkably easy with 80D. Bright. Still no detail seen.

 

NGC185 Another companion of M31. Difficult to find because there are several similar star fields nearby. Felt there is something small and faint at the reported position using 40PL.

 

M1 Small oval with 40PL. Not too difficult.

 

M45 Spent a long time watching this. The stars through the 80D looked fainter.

 

M42 Just tested the 80D eyepiece. Very small. Green tint.

 

NGC2244 Only faint open cluster seen. Again stars through the D80 looked fainter.

 

M36, M37 Observed these when the Moon was rising and transparency decreasing. M37 larger with fainter stars than M36.

[Terra Nova]

I observed Hurricane Michael still out at see yesterday morning before leaving Panama City Beach. Got home late last night.

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[davidc135]

BKSo That's a good tip to use long or very long focus eps with the little 2045. Even if the fov is still small. I'll try it with my B&L4000 and 8'' sct. How was the Dollond 80 made?   David

[BKSo]

BKSo That's a good tip to use long or very long focus eps with the little 2045. Even if the fov is still small. I'll try it with my B&L4000 and 8'' sct. How was the Dollond 80 made?   David

I took an old 40mm PL and used one of its doublets and the body. For a Dollond eyepiece the convex crown side faces the eye. As a place holder for the missing lens I added another spacer (made of paper). I also added a very long eye guard to help maintaining proper eye position.

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[davidc135]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.  David

[Augustus]

Proper shakedown for the 10" Starfinder. It took a while to get the stupid thing collimated... then tune the Paracorr... then keep rotating the tube to put the eyepiece in the right spot.

 

Seeing is terrible, so the Moon, Mars, and Saturn didn't look good. Could not see a single detail on Mars.

 

M31 - Decent, faint hint of a dust lane.

 

Mirach's Ghost - Only modestly apparent. Not nearly as obvious as in the 16".

 

M13 - Good.

 

NGC 7814 - Very dim, hard to see at all due to the low surface brightness.

 

Clouds/haze rolled in before I could go for NGC 6229.

 

Just need to make some Wilcox rings and it should be a lot better.

 

The drive isn't working.. need to solve that problem as well. Light comes on but nothing happens.

 

I did a star test and the mirror has a little SA.... maybe 1/6 or 1/8 wave? Plenty good.

 

With the lockable dolly I can get the scope in and out in two minutes. Pretty awesome.

Edited by Augustus, 13 October 2018 - 08:55 AM.

[Bomber Bob]

54-71-74 -- Unitron 142 / RV-6 / JaegerMeister 4 -- Great DSO Seeing / Iffy Planetary

 

Just finished 3+ hours.  Waxing Crescent Moon, Saturn, & Mars in the 142 to start the night.  Clear unstable air limited those observations.  Mars near the meridian did best -- got the old Uni up to 200x.  Dry air meant I could compare zenith views between the two fracs as soon as the Moon dropped below the buildings, and it just got better from there...

 

Kept the JM4 at 16x all night with a 2" UO ER30.  Used the Baader prism + RKEs @ 40x/60x/150x in the 142.  From Sadr & M29, I zig-zagged in Cynus NE quadrant to M39.  Lots of star patterns that in the JM look like distant Associations of similar magnitude blue/blue-white stars, and optical doubles, too.  In the JM4, M39 is a compact triangle, while the 142 breaks that pattern.  Slid east from there to NGC 7243 in Lacerta.  Cinch to find in the 4" F5, but much prettier in the 3" F15, where it looked like a cluster rather than a jagged line of a dozen stars.  There's an interesting double star in Cepheus that's easy to find:  straight line north from Sadr to Deneb, but doublish their separation.  Two cold white stars, one slightly brighter than the other, in a relatively sparse field.  Wide & easy for the 142, but tight for the JM4 at just 16x.  I got so hung up waiting for M31 to clear the trees that I let M15 get past the meridian a bit.  But I did remember I had the RV-6 waiting.  With the Nagler 7 @ 171x, the globular broke into 4 "layers" -- wide hazy halo, much smaller & brighter tattered ring, a tighter inner ring, and tiny brilliant core.  The JM4 displays the Andromeda Family as islands in the sky (thank you, Arthur C. Clarke!), but the RV-6 makes M32 distinct.

 

Man!  There's nothing like cruising along with a Unitron.  Once balanced, it stays balanced, and the mount is SMOOTH.  Seated eyepiece height was perfect for high DEC exploring.

[DMala]

Last night I checked the sky from my backyard and it was all clear. About 1/2 h later I was all done with the setup of the telescope and I looked up to start the mount alignment. All cloudy. This season is cursed.

[Bomber Bob]

This season is cursed.

 

Yes.  It.  Is.

 

NWS forecast yesterday morning Sat & Sun as CLEAR.  This morning:  Partly to mostly cloudy.  Yep, the predictive capabilities are mind-boggling...

[Terra Nova]

Last night I checked the sky from my backyard and it was all clear. About 1/2 h later I was all done with the setup of the telescope and I looked up to start the mount alignment. All cloudy. This season is cursed.

 

I agree. We went from summer to winter in a week. Thick clouds last night, damp and clammy, with steady showers and even spitting a few fine snowflakes! Still totally overcast, then a few hours of afternoon sun giving way to more clouds and rain tonight and tomorrow! Just yucky nasty! Even scattered frost in the forecast by midweek! We even have the heat on for the first time since spring! What happened to beautiful, clear dry Fall days and open windows at night? Oh yeah, I forgot! That was a few days ago for a few day’s only, right after our Borneo/Panama summer! I’m sooooo pi...ssed!

Edited by terraclarke, 13 October 2018 - 06:28 PM.