First light Meade Lightbridge 16"

[Islander]

I bought this dobsonian second hand last week and have been itching for a chance to see what it can do. The first thing that strikes you is the sheer size of the instrument - with the tube pointing to the zenith I have to stand on tiptoe to see through the eyepiece (I'm 5' 10"). The second thing that strikes you is the weight. It's 128lbs in total when fully assembled with the OTA weighing in at 74lbs and the base weighing in at 54lbs. Fortunately, one of the previous owners has modified the base by fitting a pair of large pneumatic trolley wheels and slide in handles retained by bolts making a wheelbarrow out of the whole thing. Clever stuff.

It's been a cold night with wispy high level cloud drifting over periodically not the greatest seeing conditions but beggars can't be choosers. I'd already assembled the OTA and roughly collimated it. I stuck my 25mm BST in, pointed it at Aldebaran and gave the collimation a final tweak to get it spot on. Nice crisp star image with no obvious distortion.

Next I pointed it at M45. The reflection nebulosity surrounding Merope was clearly visible as a bluish tinge surrounding the star - I've always struggled to see this in the past but it was relatively effortless with the Lightbridge. The next test was M31 and this was a revelation. I must have viewed this galaxy hundreds of times over the years but I've never seen it like this. The dust lanes were clearly visible, again with no effort and the extent of the arms was also apparent. M32 and M110 were both very easy objects to see. I tried M57 and could see some structure in the ring using an 8mm BST. No central star but I wasn't really expecting to see it anyway.

I finished with a look at Jupiter using the 25mm again and was amazed at the level of detail and just how bright it was.

I'm a very happy bunny indeed.

Now I'm sitting here with a cup of hot chocolate wondering about tracking platforms...

[John]

Congratulations - nothing like aperture and a dark sky to put a grin on your face

[Carbon]

Nice report!

With a tracking platform you're gonna need a small stepping stool.

[Brian Nordstrom]

Nice , nothing like Apateure ,, I will never forget the views thru a friends 16 inch Meade in NZ at our dark sky night just west of Whangarei city in the north island , of the "Eta Carina Nebular" ,, WOAW!! Some things are hard to beat and stick with you for a LONG! time this view is one of them , like 16 inches of light gathering , Condurlations on a scope of a lifetime ,,

Brian.

[estwing]

well done congrats on the scope...