back in the game ...

[rory]

ok well my first use of a telescope for a long while ( about may last year) so tried out the little 130p heritage tonight with standard 25mm ,10mm e/p's

and a 15mm tv plossl.

 apart from the focuser which is papp !  ( i know i can use some plumbers tape to stiffener it up but all the same ,its not nice to use)

the 130p heritage is a very good little performer. the pointer works well and got me in the area within seconds. collimation seems to hold very well and the alt /az movements are smooth. plus the dovetail makes balancing a doddle.

 i scouted around and looked at  m42 ,m35,jupiter,m44,m67,m81,m82.

 m44 was really to big for my current focal lengths , but every thing else  come up trumps in this scope.

 the big thrill was m82 and seeing the s/n . very easily seen even with the 25mm standard issue.

 looking forward to using it again now.

GOOD TO BACK IN THE GAME.

clear skies...

[AlexB67]

Glad you got something to get going again Rory, it will serve you well and is a capable little beast.  I also love looking at the moon with it, It may not have the resolution of my 10 inch but it is lovely to surf over the lunar surface with a lovely wide FOV in a 10 - 5mm eyepiece.  It will easily bag some very small lunar features too. Get it under dark site and clusters look amazing through it. I'll never forget my trip to  darker site once when the skies were very good some time last year. The double cluster looked ever so impressive.  The beauty is you don't need 100 degree expensive eyepieces in this scope  to get those lovely 2 - 3 degrees views.

[Double Kick Drum]

Happy days!

Congrats on the supernova. I have not managed that myself but with the little man, Astronomy has taken a bit of a back seat. Hopefully by the beginning of next season, I will be back in the hunt as well.

[Mike73]

Good to see you back in the seat Rory, I'm sure you'll get the scopes little niggles sorted out but I bet it was good to be out again though eh?

So whats the future plans for observing? Messier list or was it the Sue French book you were following??

[rory]

Good to see you back in the seat Rory, I'm sure you'll get the scopes little niggles sorted out but I bet it was good to be out again though eh?

So whats the future plans for observing? Messier list or was it the Sue French book you were following??

Felt a bit ring rusty to be honest mike, but yeah was nice to be outside looking up.

As for plans , well I'm going to stick with my promise that I made in that thread from the start of the year . I want to get back to basics and just chill out . I want to pick out one or two constellations that are best placed and see what I can manage within, weather it's messiers, caldwells , ngc's whatever.

I think I was missing out before by sticking with one list . Obviously I'll be limited with this smaller set up , but should be fun all the same.

[rory]

Happy days!

Congrats on the supernova. I have not managed that myself but with the little man, Astronomy has taken a bit of a back seat. Hopefully by the beginning of next season, I will be back in the hunt as well.

Martin , miss your reports sir . You got a ceiling planetarium for the little ones room yet , start em early that's what say. Hope your well .

[Double Kick Drum]

Oh yes, he will have a ceiling planetarium at the first given opportunity.

He has great concentration for just five months or so. I think he will be great Astronomer in the making.

Best wishes!

[KevUU]

Nice to hear from you rory, and DKD

Now if only I could get back out there myself...