New scope for young eyes

[Twiggles]

Eldest daughter has been dropping hints for her own telescope for some time now. After a kind offer to borrow a refractor from a member of our astronomy club on an AZ3 mount, she decided this was exactly what she wanted. Previously she had her heart set on a celestron 130, but the quick setup of the AZ3 mount and its use, coupled with a refractor putting the eyepiece right at her eye level without requiring steps (or dad lifting her up..) sold it to her. So after much deliberating and searching FLO came to the rescue with their most recent sale, and an order placed for a Mercury 705.

On the 16th August she celebrated her 12th birthday and received said scope (cue large smiles and can I stay up late questions...), which coincidentally is taking place with our annual visit to the in laws who now live in rural France. The skies are incredible, though unfortunately the weather had not been playing ball since I had also brought my own Skywatcher 130m reflector. Luckily there seems to be a reversal of the UK's astronomy kit and cloud package, since once it was open the skies cleared. As dusk approached Saturn and Mars could be seen low in the south west and permission from she who must be obeyed was given to have an impromptu star party. The refractor was setup but not the reflector, this was after all daughters turn to have everyone crowding round her telescope. To be fair, not great views of the planets though this was to be expected on Mars. Saturn could be seen to have its unique ring system in place but the standard 10mm gave barely any greater impact.

Dusk gave way to twilight and then to darkness. The ribbon of the milky way stretched out above us with unbelieveable clarity. Every year I forget how much better the skies are from here compared to our urban views back in the UK. FLO had informed me the 705 would be a good starter scope and competent for clusters. While we waited to decide on a target we thought we'd see just how competent it was by looking at Mizar. With the 25mm eyepiece it was clear there was a companion but hard to seperate the two, the 10mm should a clear seperation. We then tried to locate the Great Cluster in Hercules (M13), this would be the first DSO target for the little telescope, my daughters first attempt at locating it on her own and my first view of this target! She found it! A round grey blob with no seperation of any stars, but still it was definitely there. Next up, the Andromeda galaxy just visible to the naked eye. Through the telescope it stretched from one side of the 25mm eyepiece to the other, while m110 could be seen slightly to the north.

Now, some might say this was a pretty good haul, 3 messiers in one night, but she wasn't satisfied. Seeing the milky way overhead she decided she wanted to peer at a random patch of this rich starfield and see what was there. Luck must have been on her side as a grey nebulous patch was bang in the center. After checking direction and stellarium she had managed to stumble on the lagoon nebula (M8). Her fourth messier in one night. Unfortunately 2330 was now a little too late and so parental responsibility meant we had to tell her it was time to stop for the night.

On the 18th August we had another clear night and setup again once Saturn and Mars were visible, this time we brought out the reflector as well to see how the two performed. Once it was dark enough to move away from the planets we decided to hunt out some more messier targets. We decided to start with the Whirpool galaxy (M51). Both of us managed to locate it after a little searching and it proved visible in both telescopes, although the reflector certainly seemed to have a better view so to speak. As a fan of clusters she also wanted to see the double cluster in perseus (NGC 869 and 884). This was almost visible naked eye as a slightly lighter patch in that area of the milky way just below cassiopeia. Again we both found the target but I must confess that here the little 705 seemed to have the edge. Perhaps the reflector needs collimating, or the refractor just outperformed it, but I felt that between the two it had slightly sharper stars and brought them to life so to speak. We were also joined by the in laws, eldest son and she who must be obeyed and so must of the night was spent teaching them about the stars, showing them how to locate objects for identification using phone apps and watching for satelites and any shooting stars. One of the highlights was tracking the ISS with the little mercury telescope on one of its passes!

Still another five days before we leave France, so I may be back with more reports. One thing is for sure, this little refractor has surpassed my expectations and I'd definitely recomend it as a first scope for kids/teens or those with limited storage space.

[Lowjiber]

Nice report.  Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like she's a natural.

Clear Skies

[dick_dangerous]

This takes me back to my 14th birthday when I unwrapped an enormous box in the living room to find my first telescope, a Tal, in a huge wooden box. I even got to use it that very night and M13 ended up being my first DSO (Although as my birthday is in April I begin to wonder if that memory is right!).

Hope your daughter has many happy evenings with the new 'scope.

DD

[cotterless45]

lovely report. Don't forget, all those clusters will be on view at home. A refractor just blasts through light pollution. Sounds like time for some double stars !

Nick.

[FenlandPaul]

Fantastic stuff to read. Well done mum and dad!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[happy-kat]

Excellent. Lovely report

[happy-kat]

I found only removing the middle cap on the end cap helped bright objects look better less CA.

To help with zenith viewing I have made a sinple counter weight for the AZ3.

[szymon]

Superb report!  My almost-twelve year old son is showing a similar interest :-)