First light / report SW 60mm Mercury 607 AZ

[Mr niall]

I bought this scope primarily for solar work but as its the only scope I own, and allegations of green squares everywhere over the weekend, I decided to chuck it in the camper for our trip to Anglesey. 

Weather was pleasant all weekend but the only clear night was Sunday (last night) which was almost a bit of a shame as we were all absolutely exhausted and ready for bed by 9 but clear night's being so few and far between I felt obliged to do something. 

Skies were lovely - the milky way easily discernible. Although it is a slightly surreal feeling observing in a campsite surrounded by lots of lights music and beer fuelled conversation while you are trying to observe! Luckily we had a good pitch out of the way and found a nice little dark spot in the corner. 

I was also interested to see what a 60mm scope could achieve. 

First off Jupiter - fine with the 20mm but a challenge with the 10 - struggled to get to focus and the image was smushy and smeared. My gut feeling is the supplied 10mm is the culprit here or possibly the diagonal which is a very very cheap plastic affair. Diffraction rings either side of focus looked fine. Or maybe it's just the limitations of the scope? Either way 2 bands easily visible and the four moons looked great. Box ticked. 

I didn't have any astronomy books with me and no phone signal so, still dubious about the power of a 60mm, played it safe and aimed at bright stuff that I knew I could find. 

M13 was an easy find, no stars but enough grasp to see a transition between an inner and outer level of fuzziness which was very pleasing. Spent 20 mins on it. For the life of me I have no idea why I didn't go straight to M92 it just didn't occur to me but in my defence I was knackered! 

Next stop M27. I always use Saggitta and go up from the end of the "arrow" on the way there I had a go at M71. I've never found this at home but, maybe it was the tiredness, or the beer, or my imagination, but I was sure I could pick it out. Definitely a "suspected". 

M27 surprisingly another very easy find. Even more surprisingly had moments of great definition with a definite square shape jumping out. 

I was intending to have a go at M57 but was already in danger of falling asleep at the eyepiece and the lens was already dewing quite heavily so called it a night. 

All in all very productive, good scope on a good mount. I'll need to replace the 10mm I think but my only real criticism is the 6x24mm finder. It is truly useless, narrow fov and dim and fuzzy. Essentially unusable. Definitely an upgrade required. But for a £48 setup you can only expect so much! 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Mr niall

[John]

Nice report. Amazing what 70mm can pick up when used with a bit of skill and thought

[Mr niall]

6 minutes ago, John said:

Nice report. Amazing what 70mm can pick up when used with a bit of skill and thought

I'll bet, but this is only 60mm. I'll admit to being very impressed 😀

[John]

3 hours ago, Mr niall said:

I'll bet, but this is only 60mm. I'll admit to being very impressed 😀

I've just noticed that - sorry I got that wrong but even more impressive !

 

[Dave1]

Nice report, enjoyed reading it. Its surprising what can be seen with a small refractor.

[DirkSteele]

Nice report.  I have had some great sessions with my 60mm refractor.  I think it actually allows the observer to really refine their observation skills when using such a small aperture, and those skills are then rewarded even more with larger instruments.

[Dave1]

42 minutes ago, DirkSteele said:

Nice report.  I have had some great sessions with my 60mm refractor.  I think it actually allows the observer to really refine their observation skills when using such a small aperture, and those skills are then rewarded even more with larger instruments.

This is a statement I whole heartedly agree with. I have the exact same sentiment.