An evening with an old friend

[Littleguy80]

I was very much looking forward to some stargazing last night so I was a little disappointed when my sister called needing a last minute babysitter. All was not lost though. When I upgraded to my 10" dob earlier in the year, my sister had bought my SkyWatcher 130M off me. I grabbed my eyepiece case and a DSLR bag that I bought to hold all my various accessories (red torch, cheshire etc). The first job was to check collimation. No adjustment required. I popped the scope outside to cool a little whilst I checked on my niece and nephew.

For a low power eyepiece, I used the SkyWatcher 25mm that came with the scope. This was actually quite good for a bundled eyepiece. For high power work I used my BGOs, most the 12.5mm and 9mm. Light pollution was more of a problem at my sister's place as were the large trees that were hiding the moon and planets. As a result, I went higher for my first target which was M57. Initially I was horrified by the view. It seemed very grainy compared to my big dob which I was now accustomed to. Increasing the mag with one of the BGO's improved things though. The little smoke ring showed up quite well. M13 had the look of a circular nebula at low power. A few stars resolving at higher mags. I moved over to M31, starting to hit my stride with the little scope and the EQ2 mount now. M31 and M32 made a nice pairing. Initially I couldn't see M110 but averted vision slowly revealed hints of the fainter galaxy. A jump across to the double cluster brought a smile to my face. Even under less than ideal conditions, I can just hit these targets using nothing more than Telrad and memory. I thought the colours of the red stars in the double cluster seemed to come through more strongly than in the dob. Not sure why that should be. As it was nearby, I went in search of and found Kemble's Cascade. I followed the pretty line of stars to NGC1502. I stopped to take a closer look at this with the 9mm BGO. NGC457 seemed like an obvious next target. The little stick figure seemed please to see me and the 130mm scope back together again! I've gotten used to making the jump to M81/M82 using the RACI finder on the dob so I did wonder how I'd get on using just the Telrad. I took a best guess and landed right on them! I was so pleased with myself!! The galaxies themselves were quite faint in the 25mm eyepiece. I enjoyed them more when taken in individually at higher power.I decided to challenge the little scope with the double double. I jumped right in at 180x with the 5mm BGO. A successful split. For some eye candy, a quick look at Albireo. I thought I'd take a look at the Garnet next.....FAIL! I'd forgotten how challenging it can be to hit targets around the zenith with the EQ2 mount. I did observe the double star Delta Cephei, which made up for missing the Garnet star. M71 was another target that was fainter than I was expecting but benefitted from a bit of magnification.

As my sister's taxi pulled up, I was enjoying a look at M27. No filters and the 9mm BGO provided a very satisfying view. My sister jumped and my brother-in-law burst into laughter on seeing me in their garden with an eyepatch and observing hood on! On recovering from the shock, my sister went in to grab a coat to join me. She was really keen to see Mars so we carried the scope up the road a bit and took a look at it. We could see lighter blue region of the polar ice cap. A little bit of lunar observing and then we headed back into the garden. We spent another half hour or so revisiting some of the targets I'd observed earlier in the evening. 

Many years ago, a friend once told me "you can never go home". In that case, he was talking about cars and not being able to go back to your old car once you had something nicer. That conversation was going through my mind as I used my old 130mm scope. In many ways he was right, I wouldn't swap the dob for the 130mm scope. However, I really enjoyed my session with my old scope. I decided that you may never be able to go home but it sure is nice to visit.

[scarp15]

Intriguing title and nice circumstance in which to be reacquainted with your old scope / friend Neil. Re-discovering its prowess and capabilities touring the constellations. Great that your sister values the scope and that its kept in the family. I bet there might be a few on here, not least myself, that may like to go back to re encounter a former scope and the joys it had presented.  

[Littleguy80]

5 minutes ago, scarp15 said:

Intriguing title and nice circumstance in which to be reacquainted with your old scope / friend Neil. Re-discovering its prowess and capabilities touring the constellations. Great that your sister values the scope and that its kept in the family. I bet there might be a few on here, not least myself, that may like to go back to re encounter a former scope and the joys it had presented.  

I had quite a few people interested in buying it when I got the dob. Selling it onto my sister was the preferred option for occasions such as this and to hopefully give me something to share with my sister and her family. It's also good to have a reminder of what you've gained from newer scopes and eyepieces. 

[domstar]

Very interesting and surprising that you still could enjoy the old one. How did you enjoy the EQ (apart from the zenith)?  Was it a pain or did you enjoy the slow mo? 

[Littleguy80]

1 hour ago, domstar said:

Very interesting and surprising that you still could enjoy the old one. How did you enjoy the EQ (apart from the zenith)?  Was it a pain or did you enjoy the slow mo? 

It really comes down to what you’re looking for. The 130mm still delivers nice views. It just lacks the detail and scale that the dob gives. The EQ Mount worked well. The slow motion controls make those small tweaks to position much easier than nudging with the dob. 

[Stu]

Nice to go back to something you obviously got very familiar with. Excellent little session, just shows that the scope you have available to use is the best one!

[Littleguy80]

10 minutes ago, Stu said:

Nice to go back to something you obviously got very familiar with. Excellent little session, just shows that the scope you have available to use is the best one!

Absolutely. You can have just as much fun. The challenge and thrill of success is the same no matter what scope you use!

[Stu]

9 minutes ago, Littleguy80 said:

Absolutely. You can have just as much fun. The challenge and thrill of success is the same no matter what scope you use!

Agreed about the challenge. There is no particular reason to ever use my TAL Alkor, it is not much easier to use than my other smaller scopes, but the challenge of spotting things in a 65mm Newt always means it is an enjoyable experience.

[Eastman]

Great report Neil, nice that your old scope still is arround to enjoy. 130mm can bring a lot of nice views.

[PaulM]

Nice report - end of the day you are looking at the sky and doing something you enjoy 

I've been toying with the idea of an eyepatch - is this something other do? as I'm finding keeping my non-observing eye open but covered over with my hand the most comfortable way to observe

[Littleguy80]

10 minutes ago, PaulM said:

Nice report - end of the day you are looking at the sky and doing something you enjoy 

I've been toying with the idea of an eyepatch - is this something other do? as I'm finding keeping my non-observing eye open but covered over with my hand the most comfortable way to observe

Thank you, Paul. I saw quite a few people on here were using eyepatches. I find it really helps. More comfortable when observing which is a definite factor in how much you’re able to see. You can also move it across to your observing eye if you come inside to preserve your dark adaption whilst you make a cuppa etc.