SuburbanMak

Thank you! The Mak 127 is a great compromise for grab and go - enough aperture to at least pick out faint objects, resolves doubles down to around 1 sec (Tegmine on one exceptional night is my record close split). Is a superb lunar instrument and gave me lots of detail & pleasure on the gas giants in the summer. As, I suspect, with anything, performance is dramatically improved under a dark sky. It is also built like a tank, collimation free, short enough not to flap about in a light breeze and light enough to ride on an AZGTi whilst still of a size that cooling is a minor issue (I leave mine in a backpack next to our draughtiest door or in the boot of the car and it’s 80% acclimatised by the time I get the eyepiece in). There is a slight compromise on field of view - just over a degree is the max so the Pleiades for example goes over the lines, M31 you have to pan across and as above M33 filled so much of the view I ended up looking, as @Stu puts it, through rather than at the object at first. Mine has a 9x50 RACI finder and a Telrad on board which made a massive difference to finding my way around. I am hankering after a 10inch Dob as my interest in faint things grows but, quite apart from the fact it was a 50th birthday family present, the Mak 127 is a keeper for sure.

The weatherman said I’d get a clear window 8-11pm in Hampshire so as I was out and about in the Dad-taxi anyway I saddled up and drove out to my site. Looked quite nice when I arrived, seeing wobbly low down but clear overhead and transparency looking OK - although nothing like earlier in the week. Duly set up Mak & ST80 - aligned on Procyon (piled on some magnification for curiosity but unsurprisingly no sign of a split) and Rigel (nice split at 63x although slightly wobbly). Pottered around Orion with the ST80 and the 31mm BHA’s massive views. Looked at M78. Enjoyed M42 for a few moments before hopping across to the Pleiades and on in search of M76 the Little Dumbell Nebula. Nothing where the GoTo wanted it to be so I began my usual search pattern only to realise I could see nothing at all. Stepping back I saw that the cloud had built from the West. Gave up on my target list and went back to M42/3 until cloud overwhelmed that too so I looked at a wobbly moon shining through cloud for a bit then packed up the gear. There were a few remaining clear holes before the lid really slammed shut so I broke out the 10x50s and enjoyed the Auriga clusters, M35, Orion starfields, Pleiades, Hyades and one of my favourite binocular views the Alpha Persei cluster. Even though I got clouded out there was still beauty to be had in the situation, wide sweep of partly obscured constellations and the lights twinkling down on the Solent coast.

Gulp!

A great read @Nicola Fletcher - always love reading observations of the same objects on the same night that I’ve seen them, gives some good peer-reassurance on one's own notes! Seeing the nebulosity around the Pleiades is a great observation - I will have to look harder for that on future transparent nights. Glad you had a good night for new targets too!

Thanks @John - this is exactly the view I was seeing from around 150-188x with the flare from Sirius A overwhelming the dot much of the time.

Thank you. And stop it, stop it at once

Thank you - Sirius is an odd one, when I've split most doubles there's been a definite "Aha!" moment, this is much more intermittent & uncertain. I have looked at it for hours and am starting to see some consistency in the "hints" of a pale dot, last night at around the 3 o'clock point, relative to the line of 9th/10th mag stars to the immediate W (which last night were certainly the crispest I've seen them). The Mak is great for doubles on the whole but has a slight messiness to the diffraction rings compared to my Towa 339 f15 which is why I'm not "claiming" this as a definite. May well be that this is as good as it gets on this one

Thanks @Stu - was a great night and all the better as there's been slim pickings over December. Duly noted on M87/97 & edited thank you! On the gear buying front I completely agree on getting out and using what I've already bought - determined to finish the Messier list with the set-up I have now.

Having been too tired to go out on the clear night of January 4th after a long day in the car driving my son back to Uni, I was keen to make the most of last night and loaded the Mak to cool in the boot early, ready to drive out to a darker spot. I arrived at my South Downs site about 8.30 pm to find seeing fairly steady and transparency good in clear bands, moderate in between. As I set up and got dark adapted I could count 7 stars in Ursa Minor and 30+ naked eye within the boundaries of Orion. M31, the double cluster and the Auriga clusters all immediately apparent to the eye and the constellations from Orion through Taurus, Perseus and Cassiopeia appeared connected on a glittering band. Magic night. I set up a Mak 127 on AZGTi used mostly with a 24mm Baader Hyperion fixed 68 degree giving 63x mag., & occasionally dropping in an 8-24mm Hyperion Zoom to give up to 188x. Alongside I had an ST80 with a 2inch focusser and Hyperion 31mm Aspheric giving a AFOV of over 6 degrees for widefield views. Started with a sweep around the Pleiades, Hyades and the belt & sworrd of Orion in a single field with the ST80. Set up the Mak and aligned on Sirius & Procyon then looked at M42 which was stunning, lots of texture & a greenish glow filling the 1 degree field. Moved over to Taurus to hunt for M1 - The Crab Nebula & sure enough there it was! Bigger in the eyepiece than I think I'd expected and very faint but undoubtedly there as a misty grey oval. I have looked here so many times from the garden and park without success even though I must have been staring straight at it - the additional contrast available with a darker sky (SQM 21.04) made it just visible in the Mak 127 - no sign of it in the finderscope but once located I was able to move away and reliably re-acquire. Next up another of those "well it should be here somewhere" objects - M33. I oriented on M31 (which was looking great, especially in the ST80's wider view. In the Mak I could see M110 beautifully alongside but couldn't really discern M32) and tracked across the same distance the other side of Mirach toward Triangulum & nothing... Going back to the 9x50 finder I could see a fuzzy patch which sure enough I could find well with the ST80 & locate in the 10x50s - faintest of ovals. Back to the Mak again and realised that it was actually filling much more of the view than I'd expected, just really, really faintly, a denser core with the slightest hint of gradation within its wider oval. I would say this was as faint as the dimmest of the Virgo galaxies I tracked down in the spring. Took a quick break from hunting ghostly shapes to marvel at the Perseus Double Cluster and environs viewed in the ST80s 6 degree field - just a superb star field. Jumped up and down a bit to warm up then directed the Mak over to the Plough to hunt for the Owl Nebula M97. Picked this up pretty much straight away - again very, very faint but an unmistakable circular shape and in the Mak at 63x very reminiscent of the Ring Nebula, M57, in size - only less bright and without the hole... no sign of the owl's eyes though. I then went on to fail to find the UM Messier galaxies but I think the cold was getting to my extremities by this time, gear coated in frost and patience maybe not what it had been earlier in the evening. Took a long look a Sirius, flashing slowly to the East and with the usual "did I, didn't I?" experience with the Pup (I am fairly sure I am seeing this now on a couple of occasions). Finished as I started, drinking in the view of M42 which after hunting down the faintest of fuzzy things seemed even more dramatic than before & a great way to end a memorable session. As I packed up and headed home for warmth & a hot chocolate I reflected on a great night but that these faint Messiers are at the very limit of the Mak 127's performance, its a bit early to break my "no new telescopes" resolution yet but there may have to be more aperture in my future...

I use a Mak 127 and find it great for doubles. Rigel is very unequal - tiny pale white full-stop at about "8 o'clock" (Mak view) next to a very bright source. Assuming everything was cooled down properly, its more than likely you just haven't had that "Oh so that's what I'm looking for! " moments with unequal doubles. In the Mak 127 I was splitting Rigel from 67x up the night before last with the nicest views around 100x. A really good one to start with in the Mak is Castor - the "upper" or more Northerly of the two brightest stars in Gemini (somewhere to the upper East of Orion's left shoulder), this is close-ish at around 3 arc seconds (I think) but each component is more equal, like two bright headlights looking back at you. Another good one to get going on is Mizar in the handle of the plough, you'll easily spot Alcor a little way off but closer examniation shows Mizar itself to be a fairly close double, there's also a lovely star field around this system. To get into the groove with unequal doubles, its worth checking out Polaris which has a bit wider separation than Rigel. I stared at this one a few times before the secondary "popped out" at me, its weird with unequal doubles once you see them they are hard to un-see (apart from Theta Aurigae for me but that's another story...) Saw that @Orange Smartie had recommended a couple of multi-coloured crackers too! Clear skies again tonight I think, have fun!

Driving back down the unlit section of the M3 from a family theatre trip to London last night and my wife commented on Orion, this is a rare occurrence on several levels so I was pleased to get back to Winchester and find it still clear. Popped the Mak 127 out to cool while I had a cuppa and then a nice hour in & around Orion. Seeing was remarkably steady & Rigel split beautifully from 67x on up. Trapezium too looking crisp with 5 stars consistently visible and the 6th blinking in and out. The fishes mouth and environs were spectacular with lots of filaments and texture. Great view. Also the nebulous regions further up the sword more in evidence. Could see nebulosity around Alnitak I haven’t noticed before. Enjoyed doubles in NGC 1980/1981 and a great view of Sigma Orionis as a triple and it’s Struve neighbour. Looking forward to spending time with the charts today working out what I found here. Sirius was looking uncharacteristically steady with nice rings &, as has been the case on a couple of occasions this season, I may have glimpsed something only for it to dematerialise into the glare as I try to confirm. One day it will give me the view I need to be sure… Great to get out and even briefly enjoy a such rich constellation on a dark, steady night!

Great thread & a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year all! Like most my plans are to observe as much as weather & commitments permit. I have also acquired quite a bit of kit in a short space of time so want to ensure it all gets use so am assigning loose observing projects to each ‘scope: Mak 127 - finish the Messier list, currently 75/110 and have a combination of very faint things still to see and low-down summer objects I didn’t quite get this time (mainly globs). This will be the main goal of any darker site outings. I’ve a couple of decent (SQM 21.04) within 15 minutes that I should get out to more this year. The excellent Philip Pugh’s “Observing the Messier Objects With Small Telescopes” is my guide & O’Meara’s “The Messier Objects” my inspiration. Towa 339 80mm f15 - this is a beauty on doubles and I recently acquired the Cambridge Anthology of Double Stars (pristine thank you @F15Rules!) not all of which are within the grasp of the Towa but I want to explore how many I can get with this crisp refractor. Clarkson 3 inch f15 - see how many of the lunar 100 I can track down with this 120 year old refractor. & not buy any more telescopes until the above projects are complete

Thank you - that launch was a great present !

Yes!! & on my birthday too

With the 127 Mak: Baader Hyperion MkIV 8-24mm zoom, Baader Hyperion 24mm fixed (68 degree) Baader Classic Ortho 6mm. With the old f15s - Baader Classic Ortho 18mm, 10mm TeleVue 15mm Plossl

Upgrade ST80 to Tak 76 DCU. Buy something bigger to look at faint things (C9.25/C8, CC8 or else a 10 inch Dob. Then I'll stop buying them, honest...

I am just coming up on a year with a Skywatcher Skymax 127 Mak which the family clubbed together to buy for my, ahem, "significant" birthday last year. In the research I did leading up to that decision the Mak very definitely became my "dream scope" - where I live is plagued by civic and security lighting so I really needed a compromise between budget, decent optics, enough aperture to see a wide range of objects and portability. I can't speak for the larger Maks but the 127 cools in 15-20 minutes, mine lives in a backpack in a particularly draughty corner of the house so is permanently part-cooled. I've had a great first year as a telescopic observer with mine & been able to track down 75/110 Messier objects, develop a passion for double stars, watch shadow transits on Jupiter and been blown away by the views of Saturn and the incredible detail on the moon. On a couple of occasions in the spring I got out to a good dark site (that portability again) and the effect was transformational on the Mak's performance on DSOs revealing for example a degree of form in the dim M61 and M99 galaxies. The brighter globular clusters, planetary nebulae and all but the biggest open clusters give really rewarding views. The FoV is just over a degree and initially I struggled a bit with finding objects but ditching the supplied RDF and replacing with both a Telrad and a 9X50 RACI finder plus, for the more obscure targets, rehearsing star-hops in Stellarium largely solved this problem. Along the way I've picked up an ST80 which I've converted to 2inch focuser for really wide views and developed a serious eBay long focus refractor habit, dream scopes for me are to upgrade the ST80 to a Tak 76 DCU and to get something "big" for inter-galactic travel (weighing up pros and cons of a C8/9.25, CC8 or just a basic 10inch Dob for the few occasions when I get the combination of dark, clear moonless nights and the time flexibility to schlep out to a dark site, realistically based on this year that's only going to get a handful of outings each year). But the 127 Mak is certainly delivering on the telescopic dream I had as a boyhood observer back in the 80s and is cemented in my arsenal as the 4-5inch choice.

A very quick peek with a Prinz 330 60mm f11.8 at a low crescent Venus, tiny Saturn & Jupiter +3 moons & main equatorial bands showing - all at 71x with a 10mm BCO. Seeing was OK considering the low angles Enjoyed the full moon in a TV 15mm Plossl at 48x hunting for detail around the edges until clouded out after about half an hour in total, still, nice to get out!

Small thing but I think you mean "mm" where you have "cm" above. 150cm, now that would be quite a starter 'scope

I have the Prinz 330 60 x710 on an identical tripod with an Alt Az head. Short answer is if you’re buying this do it for the OTA - tripod is pretty as a display item but wobbly as all jelly. I used mine as a permanent solar white light set up over the summer and quite soon switched out the tripod for a set of cheapo eBay Chinese guide rings and my Manfrotto 55 & found it an infinitely better experience. The optics on my 330 (circle K) are great however, perfect star test and presents stars as little balls on a black background - very sharp performer. Can carry outside on the photo tripod in seconds & basically zero cool down time, was great for quick peeks at the planets over the summer & is good on the moon & doubles within its grasp look great. Yours here is a “circle T “ so should be of similar quality. If the price stays low it’s a fun nostalgia item & you might be lucky enough to pick up an optical gem.

@AstroNebulee thank you for setting up the thread, great idea. Here’s mine in ancient & modern mode carrying a c1900 Clarkson 3inch f15.

I spent a long time on M42 late Friday night and from the South (Winchester) seeing was poor at first rising to average as the night wore on (until that bank of cloud arrived...) around 100x was the maximum magnification the air would support. With a 127 Mak & Baader Mk IV zoom I was getting the A, B, C & D stars consistently with direct vision. At times I'd catch a glimpse of the E star for a second only for it to "swim" out of view as I tried to focus my eye on it. In those moments of clearer seeing I could pick up some elongation in the bright C-F pair but definitely not a clean split or even really resolved. Come to think of it I am not sure I have seen this pair really clearly demarcated with a black line between, although on decent nights I would routinely expect to see 5 stars in the Trap' with the nearly-five inch Mak.

My planned Messier hunt plainly wasn’t on tonight - I am chasing some of the nitty-gritty fainter things now and getting them in the 127 Mak will require a special night. Have hunted the Crab so many times to no avail I took the opportunity tonight to do a recce around Zeta Tauri in the same way I did to find signposts for the Virgo galaxies. Noted a prominent “bow” of 4 stars just NW of ZT & have confirmed them in Stellarium relative to M1 - useful data filed away for some dark, clear night… Watched Sirius flash for a while - noted a chain of 9th & 10th mag stars just to the W. Then spent a long time enjoying Orion without a plan. Drank in the nebula, tried OIII & UHC filters but didn’t improve - best view with the subtler Baader Neodymium paired with the 24mm Hyperion 68 degree. Gorgeous sight. Was getting 4 stars in the trap with direct vision but no more than rare hints of E&F. (Anyone else sometimes find the encroaching dark bat-wings of M42 a bit sinister? ) Put the Hyperion 8-24mm zoom in and toured some Orion doubles. Looked at Alnitak & was able to pick out the more distant C component but didn’t split the closer pair. Enjoyed the rich cluster at the hunter’s “head” & a nice split of Meisa. Found an as-yet-unidentified, fainter white pair with the secondary a pale dot, part way along the line from Rigel to Saiph. Rigel’s brightness made for a messy picture tonight but the ghostly secondary was visible. Sigma Orionis & it’s surrounding field were as superb as ever. A bank of high cloud moved in around midnight leaving only the brightest stars visible naked eye & besides I was getting chilly, so I packed up after a very enjoyable Friday night session.

Seeing in Winchester was poor earlier along with not-great transparency. Both Improved later for a time, steadying somewhat and taking up to 100x - much beyond that was just compounding the wobble. Binned my list of target Messiers early & had an enjoyable evening nevertheless, mostly bimbling around Orion.

Not making any claims for the photo but the alignment of first quarter moon, Jupiter, Saturn & Venus is stunning tonight.