A little sprinkle here and a galaxy there

[AlexB67]

Just after midnight thought to have a quick grab and go.  I wanted to split some doubles earlier on and do the double double but clouds preveneted that, but later it was very clear.  Seeing it was quite late I took out the small scope, the Heritage 130p.  I had not used it I a while and after a couple of sessions wanted to see what it would be like after using the 10 inch as a comparison for backyard observing.

First up was NGC 7789, a lovely subtle sprinkle, while pronounced in the 10 inch it was still a lovely to see in the smaller scope.  After that  the sail boat cluster at higher mag.  I am still trying to discern which bit of it is supposed to be the boat and sail, but I think can imagine why .  A quick peek at the double cluster, whatever the scope, this is always a sight to behold. A new target I wanted to add to the list, a lovely sprinkle was NGC 1528, first time seen. At this point I was literally finding most targets in seconds. The RDF and the 2.3 degrees FOV are an absolutely joy to work with, perhaps having honed my sensitivity skills a little working with a finder and no Telrad as yet for the 10 inch, it was immediately clear I was spending a lot more time observing and not searching.   Next was M35, a lovely cluster I looked at quite a while at with the 15mm, the more I looked, the more it came alive .. adorable.

Next up Andromeda, a nice fuzzy patch as you may expect form a backyard,  with M32 and even a subtle hint of M110, near zenith, so about as optimal as it was going to get. Compared to a few days ago the less noticeable brightness compared to the 10 inch however was immediately obvious .  Next up were M81/M82.  First with the 25mm but then with the 15mm BST, the Heritage frames them beautifully, the slightly higher mag actually helped supress the sky background glow and clear them up that little bit more, about as good as I have seen them in this scope while not that high in the sky.

Ahum, was this not supposed to be quick grab and go ??  After 2AM  now when I stated shortly after midnight. Nice dry air, at least relatively so, no dewing, perfect.  So onto the Jupiter for a bit but not for too long.  Next, first time in the heritage but seen a few days ago in the 10 inch was the lovely the Orion nebula. With the 25mm in the scope this is also a lovely view, some nice streaks of structure surrounding the brighter stars. 10 inch or not, this was such a pleasing sight in a scope with a 2.3 degree FOV.  A quick attempt at M78, this was more in hope and not expecting to see it in the 5 inch form my backyard, but since I am a madman one has to try these things. I've not seen it yet full stop, the first time with the 10 inch I forgot about it, but she will be bagged.

Finish up time 2.30 AM or so.  Thoughts. Can't beat a good bit of grab and go with the heritage 130, so easy to handle and point around find targets,  walk around the garden and put it anywhere without thinking about it in all the dark spots in my garden, where a 10 inch would be that little bit too cumbersome to move that often.

On reflection I think I'll get a UHC 1.25 inch to add a filter I can use in this scope and the 10 inch. The more expensive 2 inch for the bigger scope can be added later, for example the OIII  I would get in a 2 inch version as I don't think I would use it in a smaller aperture as much.

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

[Qualia]

Lovely report, Alex and glad you got a session in. Sounds like a lovely site your garden, away from suspicious eyes and sufficiently dark enough to catch the faint fuzzies, even with the 5". Good stuff

[Special K]

Great report: funny how these sessions turn into a long haul!

"Dark spots in the garden"?!! You are fortunate indeed! I am dreading the leaves falling off the two trees which give me cover from the worst light so will have take a drive and get in a proper dark sky.

[Schorhr]

Nice report... sounds like you'll need a wide angle 30/32mm 2" Eyepiece for the 10"

[AlexB67]

Nice report... sounds like you'll need a wide angle 30/32mm 2" Eyepiece for the 10"

You bet, It is high on the list of most wanted things ( after the telrad ) 

[Schorhr]

It's on my list as well but other things keep piling up :-D

[KevUU]

Thanks for the report, sounds like a good session

Funny how a quick peek, with no pressure and no expectation, can runaway with itself and turn into a proper long session

I see I'm not the only one mulling over the options for a 2" widefield ep In my case I came to a 8" dob after a year with a 3" frac (ST80), so I had 3.75 degree views at x13 in that! Perhaps I should follow your lead and get it out again, it really was a quick and easy grab and go scope.

(I have a thread going in eyepiece discussions on 2" widefield eps if you're interested. I haven't reached a conclusion yet!)

K

[AlexB67]

I can't recall the exact day, I think it was Monday night more like Tuesday  morning and waited till the moon had gone behind one of the houses, it had almost set completely, so I got up , so I managed to bag M78 from my backyard with the 10 inch for the first time that the 5 inch failed to show. I needed to confirm from sketches and my notes that it was indeed what it was, as I could only make out a very small part of it surrounding the brighter stars , but indeed it was, so some of the trickier DSO bagging is possible with a few hours and little moon around now in the unholy hours. It looked somewhat less pronounced here in my 10 inch from a backyard, but very much like this sketch with a little less to see around the two brighter stars.

http://www.asod.info/?p=4761

Interesting object . I'd love to see it under a better sky soon, since it is one of the ones were filters don't help much from what I recall anyway.