Oops, I did it again... accidentally hit buy on another classic refractor - Hilkin 60mm

[John]

8 hours ago, SuburbanMak said:

Thanks John - I am still pretty near the beginning of my astronomy journey but immediately started to get real satisfaction from doubles.  The main scope I’ve been using is a 127 Mak which is no slouch in this department but I’ve noticed that for some pairs the 60mm performs brilliantly. Polaris in particular just pops in the smaller aperture & colour contrast is superb. I’ve split tighter pairs in the Mak, right down to its optical limit (Tegmine for example) but Polaris sits much better on the 60mm optics, I reckon just as a function of where the diffraction patterns fall at focus. 
I’ll be very keen to point the Hilkin at Rigel & then Sirius come the winter. 
 

According to this article a 60mm scope can resolve equal brightness pairs down to either 2.2 or 2.3 arc seconds (Dawes Limit vs Rayleigh Limit). Unequal brightness pairs get more difficult to split as the brightness difference between the component stars increases with Sirius being one of the most extreme examples. There are some good test double suggestions in the article:

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/pushing-limits-a-spring-sky-double-star-romp/

Gamma Virginis, Izar, Iota Cassiopeia and Delta Cygni are ones that I frequently visit at this time of year. Usually though 100mm is my smallest aperture.

 

[SuburbanMak]

On 06/05/2021 at 19:09, Chris said:

Nice buy! Did you get a tripod with it? I can't see from the photo's?

 Also consider getting a 0.96 to 1.25" diagonal or adaptor so you can use modern 1.25" eyepieces (if not included) 

The SR eyepiece stands for Symmetrical Ramsden, and they were fine for their time, but eyepieces tech as moved on in leaps and bounds since, so the SR might leave you wanting more cheese Gromit 😀 

Update on the Wallace & Gromit 5mm SR EP. Tried it on some doubles - horrible.  Last night on the moon though it was surprisingly good - a bit of milkiness to the view but good detail and given that it delivers 160x I was over-rating the scope's theoretical max a bit it was pretty impressive. Still waiting on that Vixen converter, have a Baader Classic Ortho 6mm that I reckon might be a good match & if so might pick up the other focal lengths + a high quality 30 odd mm (maybe the Televue) for a minimum glass approach. 

[Chris]

I had a similar experience with regards to stars when testing the stock SR eyepiece in the Celestron First Scope recently. Stars were not great, not even when bang on axis. I think the BCO 6mm will work really well though. They're not the most comfortable eyepiece I've tried, but optically hard to beat for the money  

The 18mm BCO was my favourite because it had the comfort and eye relief. 

 

  

Edited May 20, 2021 by Chris

[SuburbanMak]

7 hours ago, John said:

According to this article a 60mm scope can resolve equal brightness pairs down to either 2.2 or 2.3 arc seconds (Dawes Limit vs Rayleigh Limit). Unequal brightness pairs get more difficult to split as the brightness difference between the component stars increases with Sirius being one of the most extreme examples. There are some good test double suggestions in the article:

https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/pushing-limits-a-spring-sky-double-star-romp/

Gamma Virginis, Izar, Iota Cassiopeia and Delta Cygni are ones that I frequently visit at this time of year. Usually though 100mm is my smallest aperture.

 

Thanks John, super article - I’ll do some testing & pop the results on here. 
When it came up on eBay I could find very little information anywhere on the Hilkin 60mm save the thread on CN that got shared on here. 
It’s a quality scope and I am loving bringing it back into service - the clarity on the moon last night was outstanding. Hopefully documenting its performance will someday nudge someone else to recommission a dusty old gem. 
Would love to get my hands on the 76mm f15