Vixen Sphinx and ED100 First Light

[Zeffer]

Started off clear as a bell so pounced on the opportunity to get out there!

Starting with the Sphinx. Set up was easy - it is a very well made mount and positioning onto the half pillar was a doddle. A few twists of the chunky bolt and it was steady as a rock. The tripod was also straightforward to get level with good sized bolts to grip onto in the cold. I have never polar aligned before (GPS is so easy) so at this point I was worried! I managed to get a rough alignment by sight but couldn't for the life of me see Polaris through the polar scope. I gave up and connected the starbook etc. which is rather a large thing but I discovered this was a real bonus as I started to get cold. There is plenty of room between the buttons to avoid any 'fat fingers' issues and the screen is superb - so clear. At this point I took another look through the polar scope and with the illuminated reticule I could suddenly see Polaris! Odd but I think I was expecting a more magnified view and the actual one is of a tiny dot. However, I didn't know what to line it up with in the reticule so just headed to the top of an arrow that looked fairly central! (I will read the instructions, honest!)

Back to the starbook I chose Vega and off it went. Miles out - not like the NS8! However, the finderscope is a good 8x50 so I was soon sorted and after Deneb the mount was aligned and the accuracy! Everything bang on in the 11mm EP.

Using the Starbook is a lot of fun as you navigate in chart mode and then hit goto. At this point it goes into scope mode and you can adjust manually using the buttons like a Gameboy or something. Very easy and the zoom function allows you to fine tune once you are nearby your target. Very nice. However, I was disappointed with the lists - there were very few named objects compared to the Celestron handset. It could be I just can't find them so I'll have a hunt round on the web at some point for some more guidance.

It is noisier than the NS8 and can be heard whilst tracking with slewing easily audible but nothing that would upset neighbours. Apparently it is noisier than the HEQ5 and EQ6 but I haven't heard those in action myself.

Onto the scope. A joy to use. The focuser is chunky and smooth and I enjoyed the lack of image shift in the refractor. Stars were sharp and the contrast was excellent - no grey here. The sky at this point was filling with clouds so I took a quick look at some of the clusters I have been missing: M34, the double, M92 and M13. The globulars were faint smudges and I found them harder to resolve than the C8 - an aperture thing I am sure. However, I was surpised that despite the poor skies and the neighbour's light in my face that I could actually resolve the edges into stars using averted vision. I look forward to a really good night. The open clusters were beautiful. I was able to get the Nagler on them and what a view! Stunning, although my eyes were far from adapted and I couldn't resolve the colour that I am used to seeing.

I never got to see mars or any doubles and Holmes was also shrouded by the clouds. That was disappointing so my second light should be more exciting! I did get a glimpse of Andromeda and could easily see the core despite my neighbour's blast furnace of a light.

I packed away once the cloud was really thick when at the last moment as I was shutting the door I just saw mars pop through the cloud and I raced for the bins to catch my first glimpse of comet Holmes! Mr Murphy strikes again!

All in all a very positive first light but I can't wait for the second.

[GazOC]

Sounds very trouble free Justin. Nice one...