I feel like that I am entering a new phase with the 510... using it. As the old saying goes, the best scope is the one that you use, and the 510 is becoming that scope. The 510 isn't nearly the largest aperture scope that I have, but it checks a _lot_ of boxes. It's relatively easy to set up, easy to use, very comfortable to use, and produces the finest image of all of my scope and nearly every scope that I have used. About the only telescopes that I can recall producing a better image were unobstructed reflectors made by The Masters; Richard Wessling's Tri-Schiefspiegler, and Ed Jones' Chief (Corrected Herschelian). (I have the parts to assemble a Chief using a classic Edmund 8" f/8 mirror. That's gonna be fun!)
Anywho... I have been having a blast over the heat and humidity of summer using my Seestars (3 of them) to observe remotely and to take photometric images of several variable stars including T-CrB. However, we are now getting into the back side of summer with the temperatures starting to moderate and dusk starting to sneak in a bit earlier, and I started getting an itch to get in some serious eyepiece time and my thoughts turned to the 510. The view of double stars in particular have been stuck in my brain and I wanted to spend some time visiting a few old friends and making new ones. So, last night as dusk approached, I started assembling the 510 getting everything aligned (the setting circles) and balanced (a tad nose-heavy with my heaviest eyepiece, a 2" 56mm Super Plossl). A few drops of oil in the oil taps on the drive motor, a lithium-ion battery to drive it, a Thermacell, Starbound chair, and a small table and I was ready to start.
I started with Arcturus just to warm things up and to spend some time with its wonderful color. I'm planning on taking the 510 to some outreach events in urban areas where the targets may be limited, and I want to see what some of the brighter stars look like through this scope. (Beautiful BTW.) I then started a long star-hop across Bootes following a broad sweep to the southwest ending with Antares. This was my first time ever clearly splitting Antares, and it looked fantastic! The split was clear despite Antares being well past the meridian and the color contrast between the primary and the secondary. In fact, I'm noticing a lot of subtle and not so subtle color contrast in double stars with the 510. It has been my experience that something magic happens when all of the light goes to where it is supposed to go. The 510 gives a sharp, clear Airy disk and usually a single sharp, narrow diffraction ring. I only see higher order rings around bright stars. After Antares I swept back to the northeast stopping at a few globular clusters along the way including M4, M80, and ending with M3 in Canes Venatici. I was particularly interested in stopping and spending some time with each field. I found previously while observing rich, faint open clusters like NGC 188 that if I relaxed, took my time, and soaked up all that there was to see that after a few minutes my eye would catch a glimpse of the fainter cluster members and that the view would then blossom. At each step along the way I experienced a similar effect with the 510. Globulars first appeared as a soft gray puff, but in a few minutes, I could begin to see a sprinkling of tiny sparks, and the globular would slowly resolve into a granular patch of stardust. M4 was relative sparse, M80 was condensed with a bright core, while M3 was just amazing. I'm hoping to get the 510 out under a really dark sky rather than my Bortle 8 backyard later this year. Now _that_ should be fun.
On-deck, we have a couple of outreach events to help with and we have the procedure for transporting the 510 all worked out. Saturn should be back in a few weeks, and even with a slender ring it should be a welcome sight.
Enjoy!