First Light Report - The Moonshane 10"

[Qualia]

By Way Of Introduction

I received the beautifully crafted and handmade 10" f/5 the 11th February and apart from a very brief use on my city roof top, it wasn't until the 1st March that I could get myself to a dark site. What happened in those empty three weeks was a bit of bad luck with health and abysmal weather.

Anyway, Friday, March 1st was another bad-weather day but the forecast had promised a little pocket of relief that night and I figured this was my chance. If I didn't act that evening I had no idea when I could get again this month. So, as soon as work finished around 7pm, I checked out the skies, raced home, changed and organised what I would be carrying out with me.

The RocknRoller R12 and Gear

For those who need to lug a fair bit of gear by hand I can recommend to you only one cart, the RocknRoller R12. This is typically used by musicians and DJs especially when they need to do festival or outdoor gigs but it is also used by this particular stargazer. And what a phenomenal piece of gear it is!

The R12 is a serious heavy duty workhorse that easily carts all my gear through mud and deep puddles, over sand and scrub lands, ditches and grass, across cities over pot holes and curbs, up and down stairs and obviously through the countryside. It's wheels are large enough to ride over most obstacles and the cart itself can be transformed into 8 different configurations. It is also small, compact and light enough to be wheeled into public buses or folded down to fit in some boot of a car without a problem. Highly recommened.

The gear this evening included EP case and a good number of EPs, blankets, ironing chair, sketching pad, pencils, torches, batteries, tools and nuts and bolts, straps, view finder, Rigel finder, maps, Moon atlas, sandwiches, coffee, water, etc and of course, the Moonshane 10".

Out to the Sticks & Collimation

By the time I finished work, arrived home, changed, packed the gear and on my way it was gone 8pm and I arrived at the dark site around 9pm. The first thing was to get the gear over the muddy farm lands and onto the darker scrub-desert lands, a walk that I knew would give the telescope a good shaking and an opportunity to test and try my hand at the devil's art of collimation.

The Moonshane is not only a delicate and subtle instrument of science and investigation but when boxed and packed away is built like a tank. Mr. Moonshane had really done his homework here and knew exactly what kind of treatment this scope was probably going to receive. Anyway, a 20 / 30 minute walk over ditches and puddles and mud and scrub-land and another 10 minutes setting up, I found that collimation of the primary was only a hint out and set about tweaking the three silver screws. I figured there was no way I was messing with the secondary this evening but with the little sketches I carried with me of how it should look in an idealised state, to my inexperienced eye could really see no problem.

I was well chuffed that I had got this far. I mean, this was the first time I had ever collimated a telescope; the first time I had set it up in the dark, miles away from anywhere and knowing that if anything went wrong the next bus coming through wouldn't arrive until about 3am. The evening could have ended in a disaster but as it turned out it just went good to better.

The Moonshane's Thoughtful Add Ons

Whilst setting up and running over the primary's collimation with the Moonshane's supplied Cheshire, I couldn't help but admire Mr. Moonshane's thoughtful additions to the telescope itself that in all his kindness had done and like a wise teacher was waiting for me to discover and understand and appreciate what exactly were the little add ons he had included.

There's a tasty fan built under the main mirror powered by a few small batteries. There's a nice silver plated plaque with description and our names. The primary mirror's three tweaking screws are of excellent quality, they are large and smooth and easily controlled and the secondary has a set of bob's knobs. The shroud is hand sown and fits like a gloove. There's a shoe to fit my 9x50 RA finder, as there is another to fit the Moonshane's supplied Rigel finder. The optical tube has been flocked and there is this amazing dual speed 1.25" / 2" Crayford finder built into it. The truss rods are light, covered in protective, smooth feeling rubber and kept together when packed by a handmade varnised piece of wood. The bearings are smooth in the superlative.

Everything about the Moonshane is about craftmanship and about careful attention to detail.

First Light

Well, here goes. I was up and running by about 10.15 and knew that a bus would pass through the one-house village with farm - a good half hour walk away - around 3am. So, although that sounds like a good few hours, all I wanted to do tonight with my first light was to sit back and take on the splendor of 3 or 4 galaxies, perhaps a nebula and the Moon. Nothing more.

The sky this evening was exceptionally clear but with quite a large moon and seeing was quite poor. After aligning the telescope, I swung round and took a little peek at Orion. What really amazed me about the Moonshane was its smoothness of control. Balance is absoluetly perfect no matter what EP I put into the focusser and in the literal sense one doesn't nudge the Moonshane when following an object, so much as glide it as you would a frac on an AZ 4 type system, albeit with a different slide and technique.

What really surprised me with Orion was the size and extent of M 42. Sure, I have seen the nebulae in my 4" frac before and on better seeing nights but even with the 25mm X-Cel LX in the 10", it appeared to me that the cloud of cosmic gas couldn't fit into the EP's image. I could have tried a sketch but the galaxies were calling, so around we went and onto Ursa Major.

First up was M51a and M 51b, an extremely subtle and beckoning galaxy pair. After about 30 minutes or so of just sitting and gliding across some 37 million light years away, I took up the pencil and began sketching. With averted vision, little taps on the 12mm EP and a good deal of concentration, I finally put something together.

Next up was a brighter M 63. Although a spiral galaxy no arms were discernable, around midnight I began my sketch. The more I Iooked the more I saw, but sadly, limited by my own artistic technique had no real way of knowing how to record this deatil.

Time was ticking on, so an hour later I was already viewing M 94, another bright galaxy which seemed to me like a bright nebula. In the EP, it gradually took on a faint ring like system, a bright core surrounded by another brightish halo fading into space.

Finally, about 40 minutes later I moved onto M65 and M66, part of the famous triple but I wanted only to concentrate of these two tonight. M 66 was such a beautiful sight, oval and a little eloganted with a clear bright core. It wasn't until about 2am that I finally pulled myself from the scope and realised I hadn't eaten since about 2pm, was running low on energy and had less then an hour to pack up and be back at the village for the bus.

By this time the Moon had gone from a low climbing yellowish orb, to a mid climbing pink gem, to now a bright spectacular, ghost-like beauty in the night sky. I figured that if I didn't try at least a little sketch I would kick myself for the rest of the month. So without a pause, I swung across to the Moon, lined up with Hercules and Atlas and quickly jotted down the main features knowing that I could always finish the terminator shading back on the bus or at home.

And that was it. No time for anything more. An absolutely mind-blowing experience. The Moonshane 10" f/5 surpassed all my expectations. Collimation of the primary was a breeze, the actual movement of the scope was so smooth and nothing can prepare you for the quite astonishing views you see through this beast, especially given the poor seeing. I’ve been using a 4" frac for a lot of time and anything beyond the solar system is mostly a fuzzy grey blob with the odd star around the outside. I could see stars, more stars, and even more stars and the detail, so much detail, so much gut-wrenching detail - even on those distant galaxies.

Packed up in about 11 minutes and raced to the bus stop to be greeted by quite a surprised driver. 3am in the morning, alone on a very lonely stretch of road, I must have looked a right state. Still with my tanga-looking pirate's eye patch over my head, bubbled out in many layers of clothing, half-cacked in mud and a filthy trolley jammed with gear.

¿Por favor...Me llevas a casa? I asked politely.

!Venga tío, subes!

I can't wait until my next session

- - - - -

Here are a few sketches and pics. They've not been scanned or tampered with in any manner and look better in the flesh, but with close inspection you'll get an idea of what I saw that evening:

[nightfisher]

Excellent Qualia, so glad you got a decent first light, sounds like you have the perfect set up for your needs

[Moonshane]

Hi Rob

I'm so glad it all worked out as planned and thank you for all the compliments. That truck looks perfect for the job and will last a lifetime. Don't forget to clean the wheels before you go in the house! There's little doubt that the moon will have 'ruined' the views of galaxies. Wait until you are out there on a darker night

Cheers

Shane

[Mr Flibble]

Estupendo!

[brantuk]

Congrats Rob - very nice scope and great report - very thorough. I would never have a shred of doubt buying anything from Shane - he really does a great job of mods and always keeps kit in pristine condition. He sure knows his dobs and an all round smashing chap too.

[foundaplanet]

Great read..

Good to hear that it's all come together, you have a really good portable set up there. A good aperture really does start to put the gloss on looking at the fuzzy stuff doesn't it.

I hope you get some more clear skies soon and find a place on the trolley for a flask and sandwich box..

[Bill57]

Excellent write up, one of the best 'First Lights' I've read.

[Damo636]

Fabulous write up!! Congrats again on your new scope & I hope you have many clear skies ahead :-)

[John]

What an excellent report - I really enjoyed reading it

Aperture and dark skies are an unbeatable combination for deep sky objects !

I'll look forward to reading your future reports with this scope.

[scarp15]

Good read, great adventures way in which to get to a dark site. Cannot imagine getting a bus in the UK at 3am.

[estwing]

what a good read..glad your happy with your new toy! should serve you well for many years..and well done Shane,your work on this project is nothing short of astounding

[nightfisher]

What an excellent report - I really enjoyed reading it

Aperture and dark skies are an unbeatable combination for deep sky objects !

I'll look forward to reading your future reports with this scope.

Qualia`s reports are always a delight to read, the man was born to be an astronomer

[Qualia]

Thank you so much for your kind comments.

May the force and free cloud nights be with you

[alanjgreen]

Great report. Very enjoyable.

[MadAlbert]

Thanks for this most eloquent write-up! You do rather exemplify the passion we all feel for this hobby/pastime/obsession (whichever).

[twotter]

I would have loved to have seen the bus driver's face!

Excellent first light report & I wish you many more happy nights

[wookie1965]

Im tempted buy a dob now

[wookie1965]

Im tempted buy a dob now

I have just had permission off her indoors that after Christmas once i have got her new suite and flooring i can buy a dob now what size do i get im leaning towards the skywatcher 250px what do you think.

[Moonshane]

hi Paul, I'd probably start a new thread mate as you'll get a better / wider comment I should think.

[wookie1965]

hi Paul, I'd probably start a new thread mate as you'll get a better / wider comment I should think.

I was just asking Qualia really that is why i didnt make a new thread.

[Moonshane]

no sweat mate

[wookie1965]

no sweat mate

Thanks Shane.

[rory]

Great read. Sounds an awesome set up qualia.

[Qualia]

I can buy a dob....what size do i get im leaning towards the skywatcher 250px what do you think.

Dear Wookie,

My main scope at night is the 10" and for me I feel it offers the best of all worlds: portability, sufficient aperture and ease of set up. An 8", I feel, would lack that essential boost and a 12" will really start complicating matters in terms of size and weight. But all this relative to my own circumstances. I live in an area of Spain where there are simply no gardens, so I need to get the scope out to dark sites. I also live in an apartment and need a telescope that isn't a monster to store. As you'll appreciate, every night I'm out with the 10" I mentally thank Shane. 

So a 10" is going to be a really nice upgrade from your 6" and you will see a noticeable difference. The advantage of the extra 4" will be noticeable on DSOs; you will be able to pull out more detail, especially on globulars which are simply outstanding in the 10". That extra aperture is also going to be really handy on galaxies and nebulae; with a little observing patience you start to see significant structure.

With planets it is often said that they start to get interesing with a 6" and the limits of seeing are more often reached with an 8", but even so, I still think a 10" provides outstanding views and for the very little difference in weight and portability increase over the 8", that extra aperture is again worth it in my eyes.

However, it's just a thought, just speaking out loud, but if you are thinking of keeping hold of the 6" as perhaps your everyday scope and you have the cash, and an area with good skies you can get to with ease and you have somewhere not only to store such a thing, but also to carry it in (sufficient car space, for example), and don't mind hauling a much bigger, bulkier, heavier scope out for those special moments, then an even bigger scope might be worth considering

With that said, I've had the 10" now for just under a year and feel absoluely no need to upgrade. I really feel in my heart that a 10" hits a sweet spot for someone in my circumstances. The telescope gathers more information than I can appreciate, and any limits I find are those of my own making, are due to my own inexperience and ignorance and not those of the telescope.

I hope this helps a little

[wookie1965]

Qualia

           Thank you so much for that incisive description you have made my mind up its the 10 inch i can store it in my shed outside and just wheel it in and out i can also take it with me to star party`s i am going to keep my 6 inch as that was my first proper scope (sentimental).

Regards

Paul