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More fun with the Heritage 130P


RobertI

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Had a very enjoyable session on Saturday with the Heritage 130P. This amazing little scope continues to delight, delivering lovely pin sharp views of doubles and clusters and effortlessly seeking out faint fuzzies.  

Sitting atop the Giro-WR the Heritage was sporting a new home made light shroud which really improved the experience, reducing annoying intrusion from stray lights.  Most of the observing was done with the 10mm Hyperion giving x65. The surprise of the evening was Mirach's Ghost.  

Highlights as follows:  

Nebulae (with UHCE filter):

  • Eastern Veil revealed distinct structure, and was easier to see at x65 than x30 due ti the darker sky background. Patches of nebulosity also visible in the area of Pickering's Triangle.
  • M27, the Dumbell Neb, was a lovely sight, with visibility much improved with the UHCE though not much more detail.  

Doubles:

  • Iota Triangulii was a toughish pair about 4" apart, the difference in brightness seemed bigger than than their 5.3 and 6.8.
  • 65 Piscium was a lovely pair of equal magnitude white stars 4" apart, much more easy to split at 65x than the previous double, despite the separation being the same.
  • Gamma Arietes a lovely wide double
  • Almach appeared as a beautiful double with bright yellow primary and dimmer bluey white companion.  

Clusters:

  • NGC752 lovely open cluster
  • Double cluster - truly spectacular after doubles and faint fuzzies
  • Pleiades. I'm pretty sure I could see the nebulosity around some (in fact most) of its members. I need it do a sketch and compare to some photos to check it's not my tired old eyes. 

Galaxies:

  • M31, M32 and M110 were all nicely visible.  
  • M33 was faint but nicely filled the field of view, displaying some structure visible in its oval disc.
  • Mirach's ghost easily visible close to Mirach. A tiny oval smudge which I didn't expect to be able to see.  

Hope you enjoyed reading.  

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7 hours ago, RobertI said:

Hope you enjoyed reading.

Yes I did, Rob :) Your sessions with this little scope are making me steer away from the long pined for WO61 even.

I've never detected m33 or seen the veil as far as I know, lack of skill or my skies I'm not sure? Even when I went out with the 200mm lens and camera on the eq3 the other night I detected zero DSO's after 90 minutes searching. Basically, you're doing better with your eye balls and 130p than me with a camera lol!:grin: 

 As always a great report :) 

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Thanks for the nice comments everyone.

@John, I had read that piece by Neil English and it was one of the things that put me onto the 130P

@Lockie the skies are pretty good as the houses to the back of us are not yet completed and there are no street lights so it's nice and dark.....for now. As far as the Veil goes, the UHCE (which is designed for smaller scopes) makes a huge difference and it is almost invisible without, but I believe the scope is big enough to take an OIII filter, which will really bring out the detail and I could also use withthe 8". Not sure if all the good OIII targets are leaving us until next year? I must admit I have also been thinking about the 130pds as the scope deserves a better focusser (the helical focuser is not very good and makes using a zoom eyepiece a two handed job) but I think it would be a fair amount heavier and not sit as nicely on the Giro WR. Need to see one in the flesh. Also I don't think you can buy the OTA only?

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1 hour ago, RobertI said:

 

.... As far as the Veil goes, the UHCE (which is designed for smaller scopes) makes a huge difference and it is almost invisible without, but I believe the scope is big enough to take an OIII filter, which will really bring out the detail and I could also use withthe 8". ...

I started out viewing the Veil using a Baader UHC-S with a 100mm ED refractor - that was the 1st combination that showed me that object and I was thrilled. Later I got an O-III (an Astronomik) and found that it worked even better than the UHC's on targets such as the Veil and Owl nebulae with even my 4" scopes. For quite a while the Astronomik O-III was the only deep sky filter in my kit and all I needed :icon_biggrin:

The O-III's that might not work so well in smaller apertures would be the ones that have a very narrow band pass width. I found the Baader O-III and the Celestron O-III fell into this category despite being nicely made products - they darkened the background stars too much in the smaller scopes for my tastes wheras the Astronomik O-III did not do this to the same extent. 

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14 hours ago, John said:

For quite a while the Astronomik O-III was the only deep sky filter in my kit and all I needed :icon_biggrin:

Well that's good enough for me John! These filters are a bit of a minefield so it's good to have a recommendation from someone with personal experience. 

7 hours ago, jetstream said:

Great report!

I can say that the Heritage 130 works great with either the Lumicon OIII or the Astronomik OIII giving great views of the Veil, Pickerings Wisp and much more. The screw focuser provides a robust solution to scopes such as these IMHO.

Well I think that's sealed the deal for the Astronomik! Next thing on my list. :) 

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15 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

Rob a great read. I agree the Heritage 130P is a brilliant scope. I took mine to my Astro Society outreach event last Thursday and had some brilliant views at this dark site.

Thanks Mark, there seem to be a lot of happy owners out there!

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Excellent report. I don’t know why but I’ve never thought to try increasing magnification on the Veil. Really must give that a go. When I do view it, I also use an Astronomik OIII so I can happily recommend that too. Mirach’s ghost is a great spot too :) 

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Thank you so much for starting this thread, I'm a convert!

I've been wanting a portable upgrade for my WO66 for a while now and have been looking at some very expensive triplets. But reading the reviews and looking at pics taken online, I'm blown away with the capabilities of this scope - and for £130....Wow.

I'm going to order the extendable version and look forward to submitting my own version of your report.

Clear skies

Jeremy 

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On 17/10/2017 at 01:03, John said:

Great report :icon_biggrin:

I've read such a lot of positive reports on these scopes. Even Neil English, a former refractor proponant, seems to be very impressed by his Heritage 130:

https://neilenglish.net/a-newtonian-travel-scope/

Hi John,

Thanks so much for posting this link, see my comment above and count me a soon to be member of the 130p club!

Jeremy

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Just a quick plug for the Astronomik OIII. I also have the Baader OIII, and the Astronomik OIII gives a more detailed and brighter view through every telescope I have. I'm planning to keep the Baader for some imaging at a later date - but the Astronomik OIII is my designated OIII for the time being.

If you're planning to use these for imaging, you'd be advised to get the CCD-version of this filter (they offer both a visual and CCD model). The CCD version is also for visual use, so if are offered the CCD as wherever only has these available and you only plan for visual use, it is fine for visual too. You can also convert the visual OIII for imaging by also adding UV-blocking filter to your optical-pathway.

Have fun out there -

Dave

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10 hours ago, RobertI said:

You're welcome! What sort of mount do you have to put it on? Or will you be using the dob mount that comes with it?

I'm currently thinking of picking up a Sky-watcher AZ5 https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe-alt-azimuth-mount.html to go with it. I'm a photographer so have a number of heavy duty tripods on which to mount it all. 

What do you use and any thoughts on the above?

Cheers

Jeremy

ps I will probably use the mount it comes with from time to time for group gatherings etc.

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17 hours ago, Dave In Vermont said:

Just a quick plug for the Astronomik OIII. I also have the Baader OIII, and the Astronomik OIII gives a more detailed and brighter view through every telescope I have. I'm planning to keep the Baader for some imaging at a later date - but the Astronomik OIII is my designated OIII for the time being.

If you're planning to use these for imaging, you'd be advised to get the CCD-version of this filter (they offer both a visual and CCD model). The CCD version is also for visual use, so if are offered the CCD as wherever only has these available and you only plan for visual use, it is fine for visual too. You can also convert the visual OIII for imaging by also adding UV-blocking filter to your optical-pathway.

Have fun out there -

Dave

That's really useful Dave, thanks. I wanted to use the OIII with my larger 8" scope and if I can potentially use it for my EAA to them all the better, so the imaging filter sounds perfect. :icon_salut:

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14 hours ago, Sky-J said:

I'm currently thinking of picking up a Sky-watcher AZ5 https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe-alt-azimuth-mount.html to go with it. I'm a photographer so have a number of heavy duty tripods on which to mount it all. 

What do you use and any thoughts on the above?

Cheers

Jeremy

ps I will probably use the mount it comes with from time to time for group gatherings etc.

From what I have read and seen the AZ5 should be perfect, the 130P is not a heavy scope. I use a Giro-WR on a heavy duty photo tripod, the whole thing is easy lift with one hand and works really well. 

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9 hours ago, RobertI said:

From what I have read and seen the AZ5 should be perfect, the 130P is not a heavy scope. I use a Giro-WR on a heavy duty photo tripod, the whole thing is easy lift with one hand and works really well. 

Thanks Rob, I meant to ask you what mount you used, that little Giro looks great, but I do like the slow motion for sky scanning. How do you find making small adjustments with the Giro?

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1 hour ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

I looked at the AZ5 at the recent IAS event. Whilst viewing and playing with the slow motion cables I thought this mount would be ideal for my Heritage 130P.

Hi Mark, thanks for this info, it's really helpful. I currently use a manfrotto 410 geared mount with my WO66 (reversed for looking up), but it should really stay in the studio...However I really like the geared mechanism for searching. I think I'll go for AZ5 when I order the 130p.

Clear skies all

Jeremy

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3 minutes ago, Sky-J said:

Hi Mark, thanks for this info, it's really helpful. I currently use a manfrotto 410 geared mount with my WO66 (reversed for looking up), but it should really stay in the studio...However I really like the geared mechanism for searching. I think I'll go for AZ5 when I order the 130p.

Clear skies all

Jeremy

Jeremy before you order just check with Steve or James at FLO that the AZ5 and Heritage 130P will work ok looking at the zenith. I am sure that it will be alright but just in case. Once you have the scope and mount perhaps you could undertake a review?

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