A bit of a retro F15 evening with the Prinz 550

[Rustysplit]

With a bit of patchy haze and Stargazing live distracting me last night, it seemed a good opportunity to get the old Prinz 550 out on it's original alt/az / eq mount. At only 60mm aperture, this is quite a step down from my usual 360mm/14" dob, but as it turned out, none the less enjoyable for it.

With a 50%+ moon high in the sky and Jupiter not far behind, this was a perfect night for the classic f15 refractor. I flipped the mount over to use it in alt/az mode for simplicity as I knew I would be ducking in and out throughout the evening. My main target was always going to be the Moon, so it was my first port of call. With a bog standard 25mm SW plossl, the view was gorgeous! the Moon just hanging there against the inky black sky, with the main craters along the terminator showing nicely. The amount of contrast surprised me considering the brightness of the surface. Next up the 18mm Radian was popped in and more detail became obvious. The super sharp ep is perfect for this type of observing, faultless across the fov and with excellent contrast. The one Lunar feature that screamed out for a closer look was the Straight wall, it was so clearly defined. I do not recall noticing it quite so well before. I upped the power through the 14mm, 12mm, 10mm and 8mm Radians, each increase revealing more subtle details when the seeing allowed. The 'flowing water' effect of the atmosphere was actually lovely to observe, it seemed to add to the view last night?? I did briefly try the 5mm Radian as well, but it was too much for the trusty Prinz last night.

Next up, Jupiter. The seeing did not seem to be playing ball with the King for me last night. Withe 25mm the view was small, but so crisp. The 4 Galilean moons strung out in a straight line and Jupiter itself showing 4 distinct bands in great clarity. The 18mm and 14mm Radian also gave increasingly good views, but any higher then the 14mm @ a mere 64x seemed to start losing rather than gaining details.

A quick hop around a few stars and a look at the Pleiades,.then a while on the Orion nebula. All in all a very satisfying "retro" night out. Whilst the levels of mag and resolution are not even close to the 14", the sheer ease of use and quality of the views are not to be sniffed at. Out of curiousity, I did a few star tests at the end of the session. These seemed to show slightly tiangular out of focus star images, so I am thinking that perhaps the lens cell is pinching the optics a bit. I will have a bit of a play with it when time allows. Hopefully there is more to come from this little 'scope.

[baggywrinkle]

Nice report.

Good to hear the Prinz is still in use. I had one  in the late 60's and sold it when I joined the RN in 1972. I used it to do an astronomy O level. Had some great fun with it.

[southernman]

Good stuff. 60mm f15 fracs are fun.

[Rustysplit]

They sure are!

We came down to NZ in 2003, and toured both islands in a camper van. Stunning country. My biggest regret is that I had not reignited my asro interest at the time   If I knew then what I know now??!! Oh well, a good reason to come back one day.......

[Stu]

Nice report Rusty, sounds like you had fun. As you know I was viewing it through the Mak at the same time, I've not seen (or perhaps noticed?) it quite so well illuminated before, really nice.

Stu

[estwing]

nice report Alan...nothing wrong with dipping into the 60mm pool once in a while!

[SimonfromSussex]

Nice report Alan, glad to hear you are putting the radians through their paces too!! 

I struggled with Jupiter that night as well on anything higher than x152, very hazy and blurred.

Mars should be coming along soon too which will be interesting at F15??