Finally some darkness and first light with Skytee 2

[mytola]

Finally got some semi darkness here in Norway, not real dark skies yet, but quite a few stars come out in the darkest hour. Last night I was finally able to test my C8 and 81mm frac visually on the Skytee 2.

Started with an object I know how to locate easily, m57. Popped the 21 mm in my C8, and located the approximate area in the finder. There it was, a nice donut shape, but the hole not 100% clear without averted vision. A little more contrast with the 14 mm, but decided to revisit a little later in the night. The next time I saw the clear donut also with direct vision.

I had compiled an observing list in SkySafari on my Galaxi tab, and some open clusters in the Cygnus area were next on the list. M39 was very nice, and filled a lot of the fov with sparkling diamonds. Didn't try it in the frac, maybe tonight if the weather permits.

Moving on to M29, a nice little cluster, but I rarely stay with this one for very long. Next on my list was the dumbell. I've seen it before, but last night it turned out to be impossible to find. I really need an angle finder! My neck told me to give up and move along...

M13 was one of the best this night, and in the 14 mm, there was a mushy cloud with a lot of single stars standing out. I've found that when I relax my eye and just take in what's there without trying to hard to see things, the real zen moments come, and a lot more stars appear as clearly resolved sparkles. It was a real treat!

Next was M31, which really is in a less ideal location right now. Only saw the core, but saw M32 at least. The other satelite eluded me this time.

But the supprising absolute highlight of the night was the Garnet star. What a beauty! I was unaware of this gem before reading of it while lurking these forums. Never thought a single star could be that compelling! It was fantastic both in my C8 and the short refractor.

In the end I have to say something about the views in a sct vs a short refractor. The SCT allways wins on the fuzzy stuff, but when I plug in the 100deg eyepieces in the 81 mm afterwards, it's allways a WOW moment in sharpness and rich field. The C8 seems really soft in comparisson. Of course, the mag is very different with the same eyepiece. I feel the scopes give different but equal enjoyment when observing.

Clouds seem to be parting now, so maybe new opportunities will come this way tonight. Can't wait for autumn/winter (why do I allways get weird looks when I say that??! )!

Clear skies,

[Scooot]

Thanks Andreas, the garnet star's a real beauty.

[Pingster]

Good to see you enjoying duel viewing. I love it too. The skytee is a great sturdy mount and the slow mo controls are so useful for planets and the moon. For daytime use the slow mo are excellent for nature watching of slow animals. The only shame anout the skytee is the paint finish and general finish... Lets the product down as functionally its ace . Happy observing.

[Pingster]

Good to see you enjoying duel viewing. I love it too. The skytee is a great sturdy mount and the slow mo controls are so useful for planets and the moon. For daytime use the slow mo are excellent for nature watching of slow animals. The only shame anout the skytee is the paint finish and general finish... Lets the product down as functionally its ace . Happy observing.

[TractionMan]

Nice report! Thanks for sharing. Just added the Garnet Star as a must see on mu next session.

[mytola]

Pingster,

Agree, it's realy practical. I got mine used, and it had a replacement dovetail clamp on the side, so I'm comfortable mounting my C8 there. Only thing I find a little tricky is to balance the short refractor with a long eyepiece when viewing near zenith, but I guess that's not the fault of the mount.