Bad seeing and inexpensive gear

[mag10]

I've discovered an old truth about astronomy:

When the seeing is bad, it does'nt matter all that much if you have inexpensive gear.

And I rediscovered the the reason I like astronomy so much.

We've been having bad weather for astronomy for months now, and having bought quite a bit of astrophotography gear recently, I was understandably frustrated at having very few chances do to some imaging.

But along the way I seem to have forgotten the thrill I had when I started, with just with my 5" Dob on a camera tripod.

Well tonight it all came back to me.

The seeing was quite bad, but the Moon was visible for a short while and Saturn was also out. So I got out my new SW BK1025 102mm refractor (130£) brand-new-second-hand EQ3-2 Dec+RA motorized (160£), my Celestron 2x barlow (30£) and out of the box new Celestron 8-24 zoom lens (50£).

Now I realize that for many people 370£ is a fair amount, but in the world of astronomy, it's possible to spend that on a single lens.

I did not get to see the Moon long before it went down. Just long enough to be impressed by the tracking ability of my "new" mount, even though Polaris is impossible to see from my balcony. It was a rough alignment, but it was close enough that it necessitated only minor adjustments once in a while. (I was'nt imaging, so who caresl).

Then I moved to Saturn.

And here I had a blast putting the 8-24 zoom through it's paces, (doubled-up on the barlow). It is then that I finally understood

that thing about "bad seeing and inexpensive equipment":

I could have been observing with 2,000£ worth of gear or more, but on an night like tonight, it would have made little difference.

The difference was that I was out again with my eye to the eyepiece (that I did'nt have to change every 5 minutes-Zoom!), and Saturn danced in the high altitude winds, and my neighbour came out and we had a long talk about Jupiter and Venus and the asteroid belt and the creation of the Moon...and I thouroughly enjoyed myself.

I was simply thrilled to own such gear that permitted me to punch through a bit of the light pollution, and to see Saturn's magnificent rings again.

After tonight, I'm not waiting for "picture perfect" conditions anymore. After all, I have the perfect gear for lousy weather!

[astro_al]

I understand where you are coming from. A couple of years ago I was always waiting for perfect conditions for astrophotography before setting up. So much gear, so little time (and so few results). I am now strictly a visual observer and do most of my observations with a 60mm refractor. I have also tried to change my mindset to enjoy what I can see with a small telescope rather than wondering what I may be missing or what the view would be like if I had a large telescope.

For me the enjoyment is back in my hobby as I observe as often as the clouds permit and I don't feel guilty if it is only for half an hour.

Al

[anthony]

Observing rarely fails to bring pleasure even if you only spend 10 minutes at it.

[Nexus 6]

The weather has been terrible over here too! Got to get out there when we can, which has not been that often, but when you are it sure makes up for all those lousy missed nights.

What ever the kit being used it can only enhance the feeling of awe and majesty of the night sky

Clear Skies