455mm diameter 1838mm focal length Hilux coating This is not a first light report. I’ve had a couple of those while building the telescope earlier this year. I’ll post those in a separate post below. But I said I owed a mirror of this quality a true test, when all the problems I was sorting on my home built scope were sorted. The review below takes several observations over about a month and collects them into a general overview of the mirror. I wanted to make sure I did objects justice and not a quick 5 minute and move on job. All observations were done from my back garden, which is shielded from streetlights but LP is still a problem. Note: I am not an expert viewer, reviewer, nor a great wordsmith. I’m just trying to help people out if they are considering a mirror maker. Ordering process I found the process really simple. Asked a few questions via email then told John what I wanted. He kept me informed all the way throughout what was going on. Pay the balance on completion of the work via a bank transfer. Nice and easy. Why F/4? I wanted a large scope but I didn’t want a ladder or step. I was worried that F/4 being fast would produce mediocre views of stars. I was wrong on that front. F/4.5 seemed a bit too big for my needs, but with the amount I seem to be on my knees in the dirt, or sitting down in a chair to view most objects, I probably could have ordered longer. Been really happy with the views. Yes, coma is present but it doesn’t bother me. I’m probably not going to be buying a coma corrector for this mirror. I intend to use the scope to find DSOs such as galaxies. Therefore, stars are only pointers for me ;-) Eyepieces are generally sharp to the edge of the FOV. Coupled with a Nagler T5 20mm, views are breath taking. Andromeda This telescope has given me views of Andromeda I have been hoping for. Before I just saw the bright core and in my 12” on a good night I saw a dust lane appearing. But with this mirror I could see the galaxy at least out in line with HIP 3923. The inner dust lane curved in shape was easy to detect. Moving up to 8mm (230x) showed it very clearly. As Andromeda rose higher a second outer dust lane started to appear. Part of me also wanted to declare the presence of NGC 206. The core appeared as a star light point, bordered by a bright diffuse patch spreading out into the faint fuzzy shape of the Andromeda galaxy. I’m sure many have seen the intro to Star Trek: TNG where a comet races towards the sun and a disc of gases. Well going up in power on Andromeda was like that. As it drifted across the field of view, you could almost imagine being on a space ship viewing out the window. The galaxy really was well defined and like looking at a photo. M110 is also a lovely sight. An elongated streak of fuzziness that is easy to spot and started showing definition in the central regions. While in the vicinity of Andromeda, moving down to Mirach and the ghost of Mirach was easy to spot. The star wasn’t over powering and the galaxy appeared as an easy to spot fuzzy blob. Pinwheel Galaxy This is really easy to find. It stood out as a bright patch in the sky. A few minutes of observing and the core started to gain a shape around it. Using an 8mm eyepiece, I counted over a dozen faint stars in the diffuse patch. Moving right, I noticed what looked like a small galaxy next to a star. Stellarium doesn’t list one in this location but still shows the Pinwheel galaxy, so I guess it was a part of the galaxy I was seeing. The 8mm eyepiece also started to show the shape of the galaxy a lot better. But with clouds rolling in I needed to view other objects. Nebulae I had no problem seeing a whisp of nebulosity around 52 Cyg. I needed a filter to see the other part of the Veil Nebula. A UHC or OIII filter still enhances the views. However, it did less on the Dumbbell Nebula, which appeared really bright in a 24mm (75x) eyepiece, showing its shape clearly. That scary looking bug eyed alien was staring back at me. The Ring Nebula was also a lovely sight, appearing as a bright defined ring, which seemed more bluish than either I remember or have seen it before in my previous scopes. The Orion Nebula, though it was low down, appeared as a well defined shape. It was a dark green colour and appeared almost 3D near the trapezium of stars. No filter was required to see its shape and enjoy the view. Clusters I have never noticed that one of the clusters contains a couple of orange stars. But they were prominent in the eyepiece. The clusters were sharp across the FOV and space between the closest of stars was present. Faint stars and brighter stars stood side by side in high definition giving a breath taking view. The Pleiades were also fantastic. Bright points of light interspersed with fainter stars. Not much you can say about clusters really. Just enjoy the view! The Moon I felt like an Apollo astronaut in orbit when viewing the Moon at high power. Mountains near the terminator seemed 3D. Craters were full of detail and variations in tone were seen. Viewing the entire Moon at low power, new objects and features I had never seen before were on show. Rays, spots and variations in colour grabbed my eye. At low power, I saw variations in colour across the seas and new features I had never seen before. Little white points of light, which were tiny craters, shone out all across the Moon’s surface. Streaks of white and grey across the seas I had never seen before captured my attention. The rays from Tycho were a stunning white, spreading out across the face of the Moon. The definition, contrast and clarity were excellent. Suspect I’ll actually be wanting to get out and view the Moon now, rather than cursing it stopping me finding DSOs! General views Every view is like looking at a star cluster. There are so many stars on display, especially around the area of the North American Nebula and the Milky Way running through Cygnus. It can be hard to find your bearings sometimes. If you like galaxies, a mirror like this is for you. You’ll be moving across the sky picking up all kinds of faint fuzzy patches. Benefits This mirror is showing me more detail sooner. It also makes finding objects quicker. It really is perfect for a grab-and-go scope. That may seem silly to say about such a large scope, but I can roll it out and set it up in 5 minutes. If I only have an hour or two to view, I know that I will be making the best possible use of it viewing objects and studying detail, rather than hunting and waiting for detail to catch my averted vision. The mirror is also coping well in a light polluted area. Haven’t really noticed orange glow around the FOV. If you are thinking of a large scope but are put off by living near streetlights or worried it will take ages to set up, don’t be. The rewards are worth it. Negatives Starting to think I should have ordered a bigger mirror! Conclusion This is but a small overview of what I have been seeing thanks to this mirror. I know if you order you won’t be disappointed and your money will be in safe hands. I am not knocking companies that mass produce scopes but the cost of buying a quality mirror is very little over a lifetime of viewing. I only had one chance to build my dream scope and I believe I have chosen the best possible optics money can buy. I recommend that for your home built scope project you seriously consider Nichol Optical for your mirrors - just look at how many big dob owners have one of John's mirrors! The detail, contrast and light gathering power are astonishing. Averted vision becomes less of a factor in seeing detail and objects start to look like they do in the photos and less like ‘oh great, another fuzzy patch’ *tick off the list*. After using an 18” I wonder how I could ever describe my deep sky viewing as actually seeing the objects. It really is like having an entire new universe to observe. I now want to get out as much as possible and view objects for long periods of time. If you read my other reports below, you’ll see that it is also very capable on planets. This means I have a great all-rounder, being able to see planets, the Moon and DSO in high definition. I’d like to thank John Nichol for his help and for building the mirror, those who helped me through out the build, and finally my grandma and grandad, who through leaving a gift in their will made this dream scope possible. John