St. Patrick's Day with the Telescope

I decided to take advantage of the clear night to test out the new gear.  In addition to the new Antares finder scope (#1 in the picture) and 2" diagonal (#2), I had also picked up a slightly used Hyperion click-stop zoom eyepiece (8mm-24mm, #3) a JMI "wing thing" holder for my hand controller (#5) and some Earthshine port plugs to keep dust and grime out of my unused AUX ports (#4).

The hand controller holder worked perfectly - easy to install/remove and the height is adjustable.  It holds the controller exactly where you want it, freeing up your hands to focus, change a magnification, hold a flashlight, etc.  A very good investment!

The plugs are also perfect, and I've never seen them anywhere else.  They are just plastic covers for RJ11 phone jacks, but they are well made and easy to use.  Worth every cent :)

The new diagonal performed well, even if it was rotated slightly off center.  I'll see what I can do about that for the next session.  It is very well made, and the compression rings do a great job of holding eyepieces without marring them.

Once I got the Antares finder aligned, it too performed well.  Very nice optics - and at 50mm, it can almost be used as a wide-field scope.  Almost :)  The Pleiades fit nicely inside the field of view, as did the sword of Orion.  Made finding those objects (and others, like M44, the "Beehive") a cake walk.  SO much better than a red dot finder.

The only issue that I had that night was with the new Hyperion eyepiece.  It just didn't provide pin-point stars, regardless of the magnification.  Sure, the conditions weren't perfect, so I'll blame that for part of it.  And I guarantee that my scope is not perfectly collimated (but it's close - I tested it on Sirius and got a pretty good set of concentric circles when defocused).  I compared the views in the Hyperion to my 25mm plossl, and the plossl was better.  I need to have a better look at the EP in the light - maybe it's dirty...

I decided to take a few quick views of Orion, looking at Rigel and M42.  The Hyperion could not split the stars of the Trapezium at all, while I know that I've done it with my plossls.  Hmmm.

I hovered around Canis Major, Gemini and Monoceros as well, finding some nice Messier objects in their midst.  I love me some star clusters :)

I called it a night when the combination of cold air and the neighbor's driveway lights (never usually a problem) made observing too difficult.  I hope to get another shot when I get back from my business trip to Tennessee and Georgia next week.

Clear Skies,

Todd

Mars!

I was able to observe for about 25 minutes tonight. Problems with my finder scope and the odd patch of clouds hindered my session quite a bit, but I did get some time to view M42, the Pleiades, and Mars. At the clearest parts of the session, I had Mars near 200x, and was starting to detect some "seas" of darker color to the right of my view. Still, clouds came and ruined everything, and I packed it in after no further clearings looked likely.

New Year's Resolution: more aperture and GoTo. Passed on a few LX90s already this year, as I knew the weather wouldn't cooperate much in Dec/Jan, and I'd hate lugging an 8" SCT out for a 10 minute session.

I'm thinking of getting one of those inexpensive iOptron "Cube" alt/az mounts and a used 4" achromat just to have a grab-n-go scope for the winter. If it doesn't work well, I'm only out a few hundred :)

Clear (winter) skies,
Todd

More Orion

Took another early morning peak at M42, this time with the reflector. Hard to resist a calm, clear morning when it's so easily spotted in the sky. Since the moon was out and it was nearing dawn, there wasn't a lot of detail (oh, and my scope has a tiny mirror...lol...). I decided to spend a few minutes looking at the moon's terminator instead, since it was much more detailed. I'm dying for a larger scope!

Orion Surprise

I left for work early today, around 6:30AM. The sun hadn't come up yet, but most of the sky was covered in a thin layer of clouds. As I went to my car, I happened to glance up at the southern sky. There was Orion, perfectly placed in my view. Orion is my favorite constellation - easy to find, bright stars of various colors, and nebulas visible to the naked eye. I happened to have my 10x50s handy in the car, so I picked them up for a quick look at the sword and M42. Great stuff!

As I drove into Pittsburgh, the sun started to rise, and the colors of the sky were amazing. I love fall in PA.

Can't wait for winter, when the hunter is more visible and skies are more dry and calm (I hope!)

Clear skies,
Todd

Betelgeuse = Beetlejuice, so says I

Yeah, I know I'm not supposed to pronounce it "Beetle juice". I've read all of the origin stories, I've read the correct pronunciation(s), the "proper" way to refer to it, etc. But I've been using the "Beetle juice" pronunciation since childhood, and I can't shake it (nor do I really want to). Hopefully no one will mock me horrifically while out observing. I just can't bring myself to call it "Bait-al-jows-za". Maybe I'll go half way, to another known pronunciation: Bet-el-jooze. What do YOU call it?

Either way, I miss Orion. Seeing that constellation in the sky always makes me feel like a kid again. It's my favorite spot in the night sky, and full of SO many things to see. See you in the winter, pal!