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WOW! Aperture really is king!!!

Grant

By Grant
in Observing - Deep Sky

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Grant

Grant

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Had a fantasic night last night, probably my best every. Had a few hiccups to start with (pier decided to mess up a bit so had to unbolt everything and do a bit of diy quick fixing). My dad was out with me so we decided to try out his 6" Helios Refractor, his only used it a couple of times on an eq 3-2 mount that came with it so his definitely not put it through his paces....

The EQ6 took its considerable weight no problem, goto was absolutely spot on and it was a joy to use, we whizzed through so many targets it was incredible!

The first one was M13, in the refractor this was breathtaking, I could resolve stars all the way across the cluster, the best I have ever seen it visually! I took it right down to a barlowed 18mm ep and this cluster was huge! Both me and my dad were blown away by the detail.

We also took a look at M27, again this was huge! The shape was very distinct and once again we were suprised by the sheer amount of detail. M57 was a similar story, it was harder to see than the others, a bit of averted vision and it would just pop into view as a very distinct ring shape, superb!

I popped in a 2" 28mm ep to take a look at the double cluster, our jaws dropped at this, so much detail and with the 2" it was absolutely awesome, it reminded me how much nicer 2" ep's are to look through!

We also took a look at M45, really nice in the 2" as it could fit quite alot of it in. We also took a look at the Wild Duck Cluster, again absolutely superb, it really was a treat.

We finished up on the moon, something we could show my younger sister, after forgetting to put in a moon filter and nearly blinding myself we were treated to a fantastic view of the moon, lovely contrast and with the fringe killer in, not to much false colour around the edges, in fact none at all at low magnicifcations.

All in all an awesome nights observing, once everyone else went to bed I put on my imaging hat, just processing that now so will put it up later :(

I really can't wait to get my 10" reflector on the mount now! But I have to say, I'm sorely tempted by a larger refractor!

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Grant

Grant

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The 10" might turn into an 8" soon... I'm not convinced that the 10" is safetly manageable, especially now on my pier which is really high! Unfortunately, the way the observatory is I can't leave a scope on the mount, the mount only just fits!

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russ

russ

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Superb report Grant. As said earlier in the thread, so well written i was almost there with you. Although it probably helps I had a similiar night Saturday with the 8" Celestron and just pictured myself back there.

I've had that 6" frac and it is indeed a terrific scope for DSO hunting. Not sure how it compares to an 8" newt but probably not too much different. But the frac is more manageable and requires no maintenance. But the Newt is more of an all rounder.

Russ

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GazOC

GazOC

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Great report Grant, you sound made up mate!! :(

There is (IMHO) a reasonably big difference inbetween a 6" frac and a 8" Newt on DSOs and as Russ said its probably a better alrounder if the eyepeice position wouldn't be a problem in you observatory. If you can afford it, an SCT is a good observatory telescope, its compact and the eyepiece position is comfortable.

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Grant

Grant

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Great report Grant, you sound made up mate!! :(

There is (IMHO) a reasonably big difference inbetween a 6" frac and a 8" Newt on DSOs and as Russ said its probably a better alrounder if the eyepeice position wouldn't be a problem in you observatory. If you can afford it, an SCT is a good observatory telescope, its compact and the eyepiece position is comfortable.

I think the ep position is going to be a problem with a newt, the pier is very tall and pretty much geared towards refractors, I'm not so worried though because I probably wouldn't use it for visual, mainly imaging....

Is there such a thing as an 8" refractor?

I think I prefer refractors, at the moment I have 2 refractors, 1 sct and 1 newt but the refractors get so much more use, I find them very comfortable and easy to use and they don't need any messing around with collimation....

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Grant

Grant

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So the 6" startravel my dad has is about tops as far as affordable refractors go? Hmmm... the good thing is, I can use his one whenever I want so don't need to buy one! :(

I'm still toying with keeping the 10" dobsonian and mounting it on the eq6 or trading it in for an 8", any thoughts/advice anybody?

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GazOC

GazOC

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Pretty much Grant, you can get 'better' 6" and smaller refractors than the StarTravel (I'm not knocking them, I've got one! :() for varying amounts of money but as soon as you step up to 8" refractors the prices go mad, the Chinese don't do them (yet!) so they are still largely custom jobs with all that entails.

You'll never beat a big Newt visually, if I were you I'd keep the 10" Newt on the Dob and use the 6" refractor/ SCT in your observatory....

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Whippy

Whippy

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There is a bloke selling a 178mm Meade 'frac in Buy & Sell. I've seen pics of it and it's HUGE!!! You think your 10" is bulky...

Having gone from a 10" to an 8", I must say I don't regret it. The ease of use and setting up of the 8" outweighs the extra light gathering of the 10".

I should have the rest of my bits so I can use my new toy today, so my 8" tube isn't going to see much action for a couple of weeks. Grant do you want to borrow my OTA for a couple of weeks and see what you think of it?

Tony..

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PeterW

PeterW

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Not to pop your bubble but a 16", even under full London light pollution and Full Moon produces images of the Ring Nebula that even the most unskilled member of the public couldn't misidentify. Aperture always wills, never can you have too much.

Cheers and keep saving the pennies.....

PEterW

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Whippy

Whippy

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No bubbles being popped here mate, only a fool would argue that aperture isn't king.... However, ease of use, setting up and handling are all factors which should be taken into account and IMO an 8" wins over a 10" overall for those issues. I found a 10" a lot more effort to set up and use (using a step ladder to get at the EP for example) and if was to get a bigger scope again, I'd want it permanently mounted in my own obs.

Tony..

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barkis

barkis

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That report was so good Grant, it was making my mouth water, especially the Glob. description followed by h & x.

I would like to hear your Scutum Starcloud report when you make that journey, it has got to be a feast for those optics to devour.

All good stuff.

Ron. :(

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