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small portable and cute

WaveSoarer

By WaveSoarer
in Observing - Reports

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WaveSoarer

WaveSoarer

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My little Heritge-100p scope hasn't had much of a chance to get out after Mrs WaveSoarer bought it for me as a garb-and-go scope at Christmas. I've been reluctant to go anywhere with my 200p and EQ5 as it's fine in the back garden - though adjacent houses and trees limit some regions of the sky - and taking it to the dark sky places we go on holiday would be out of the question. The 100p, cute that it is, will be perfect to pack an take with us, Anyway, it was beautifully clear last night and, while the 200p was busy imaging, I set up the Heritage-100p on a stool (a 1 minute job) and started to have a very rewarding observing session.

NGC 2244, Rosette nebula

I used my 20 mm EP with an OIII filter, more in hope than expectation, and I lined up in the right general location with the red dot finder. A quick nudge and I was centred up on the statellite cluster and, much to my delight, there was the unmistakable milky glow of the nebula. The edge of the hole in the centre was very clear with the rectangle of the satellite cluster sitting slightly off centre. The wide view offered by the 100p, at F4, allowed the entire circle of the Rosette to be seen as it faded off towards the edges. I was really delighted to see this as the FOV with the 200p is a little too tight even when I use my 32 mm plossl and its all too easy to see straight through the Rosette as it's so large.

M31, Andromeda galaxy

This is an easy spot in binoculars and I can even see it naked eye from my garden. In the 100p, with the 20 mm EP, the extent of the galaxy can be appreciated though it wasn't going to yield much in the way of detail.

M33, Triangulum galaxy

Rather than use the red dot finder, I just nudged the scope in the right direction and the galaxy popped into view fairly readily. There wasn't much to see, other than the diffuse patch of glow, but again the extent of the galaxy was fairly evident.

M81, Bode's nebula, and M82, The cigar galaxy

This is one of my favourite pairs of galaxies. It's a fairly easy star hop to them and they sat easily within the field of view with my 20 mm EP. The shapes of the galaxies were also easy to make out.

M42, The Orion nebula

One of the wonderful things I'm finding with the dob mount is that it's easy to go to completely different places in the sky without the awkward need to twist the scope round in the rings of the EQ mount to keep the eyepiece at a comfortable position. This is something that I've never really rsolved with the 200p as I need to loosen the tension on the rings to twist the scope round and try to prevent it slipping. Anyway, the move from M81 and M82 to M42 only took a few seconds and I was then looking at a magnificient and completely different object. The whole complex was safely in the FOV and even the faint glow of the running man was visible.

M78, nebula

This was an easy nudge from Alnitak. There wasn't a whole bunch to see but the glow was very obvious and it has been occasionally tricky with the 200p under less than ideal conditions,

Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina)

Before I packed up, I realised that the comet was above the horizon and should have been just about visible from the garden. I needed to move the scope to a different location as the garage was in the way, which would have required setting up the 200p all over again, but I could scoop up the 100p and stool in one go and within seconds I was hunting down the comet. The star hop was a little tricky, due to the LP in the direction of Oxford, but sure enough, and as as predicted by Stellarium, the comet appeared as a fuzzy point next to the star HIP 69118. I was very pleased to see this as I was expecting that I might miss it completely given the limited number of clear nights we've had over the past few months. After Mrs WaveSoarer had come out into the cold to have a look for herself, it took all of a two minutes to get the scope (and stool) back in the house.

The Heritage-100p is proving to be a great little scope and will be ideal for those nights when the weather is a bit iffy and there is no point in taking twenty minutes to get the 200p, setup and polar aligned. The dobs mount is very easy and the red dot finder is good for getting you in just about the right place. I think that I still prefer the 200p's finder scope for aligning on the location of really faint objects. I've found that it's good to have the finder scope to accurately align the main scope so that I can concentrate like a crazy thing to see the object on the main scope. Anyway, I'm looking forward to some more impromptu obseving sessions and the 100p will be coming with us along with my binoculars, to the Scilly Isles this summer.

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John

John

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What a great report :icon_biggrin:

I observed the Rosette Nebula last night with my 12" dob and could see parts of it but I was thinking at the time that my 4" F/6.5 refractor would have probably been a more appropriate instrument on that target.

You've also demonstrated why it's worth using O-III filters with smaller apertures. They work very well. Your 100mm F/4 will be great with the O-III filter on the Veil Nebula later this year.

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chiltonstar

chiltonstar

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Lot to be said for a grab 'n go with UK weather, poor LP etc etc. My 127 Mak has become my first choice GaG (since buying its big brother) with a Vixen Porta 2 mount, or if I'm in a frac mood, I use my Orion ED80 on the same mount. I don't have a yorkie, but my cat has been known to see off red kites and a fox or two.....

Chris

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WaveSoarer

WaveSoarer

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I noticed the grab and go possibilities last night Chris. A few clouds skudding across with some sizeable gaps. The little 100p was ideal for this as I could nip out when it looked half reasonable and then makse the most of the gaps. The sky was reasonably transparent in the gaps and I had a look at the Jellyfish nebula with my 20 mm EP and the OIII filter. Not a huge amount to see but a slight hazey cure could be seen at the position where the nebula should be brightest. This vanished when the filter wasn't there. This little scope has quite a reach. The M35 open cluster is in the same patch of the sky and this is absolutely magnificent to view.

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