Winter is Coming - Chilly adventures with an old 60mm

[SuburbanMak]

It was gone eleven o'clock by the time I got out last night so my plan to look at @ScouseSpaceCadet suggested "Urban Delights" was scuppered by most of them being uncomfortably overhead.  Winter favourites Auriga, Orion and Taurus were blazing away and well risen from East round to South however so I took an unplanned tour of some of their highlights instead. I was using an old Prinz 330 60mm f11.8 on an AZ GTi and Berlebach 312 Report and the 18mm, 10mm & 6mm Baader Classic Orthos (BCO) and a TS Optics 32mm Plossl. 

Generally seeing was 4/5 above about 30 degrees and transparency 3 or 4/5 (the occasional waft of mist from the river).   

Rigel - Still quite low and pulsating slightly, was seeing a hint of the secondary at "7 o'clock"  in the 18mm BCO but it was fleeting in the low down seeing & more magnification really didn't help.  

Pleiades - higher up the view was stunning, what looked like hundreds of tiny perfect ball stars on an inky background with the main 7 stars really bright and great colour contrasts.  the 32mm showed the whole asterism best.

Hyades central region - beautiful, lots of colour contrast with Theta and Delta doubles in the same field. 

(I am losing some potential FoV as this little scope can't accept a full width 1.25 adapter so am stuck with the .965 field stop, but comparing with Astronomy tools I estimate the 60mm f11.8 is showing just over 2 degrees making it lovely on these big open clusters). 

M42/3  -   Spent some quality time here.  Surprisingly dramatic view for a 60mm scope in the 32mm & 18mm (22x & 39x) EPs.  The dark clouds of the Fish's Mouth and Wings almost appearing to swirl in averted vision the longer I looked.  Could see 3/4 in the Trapezium all the time with direct vision and the "B" star visible intermittently and present with AV - also seeing elongation in the C star, this didn't change much at 71x (super view) & 118x (dim).  Panned around the de Marian area and up to the clusters NGC1977 & NGC 1981 just above  - could fit this whole region in the 32mm 

M1 - had a good old hunt for the Crab nebula, confirmed Zeta Tauri from the star field but couldn't find anything beyond "averted imagination" 

Sigma Orionis - showed beautifully as a triple system in the 18mm at 39x against a rich field.   Higher mags were not pulling out the 4th star that should theoretically be visible. Swept up from Sigma to Alnitak and on up the belt and across to the Phi Orionis region, lovely cluster above Betelguese and Belatrix.  

Finished with a neck-stretching peek at Almach  and enjoyed the Orange/Green white contrast in the 18mm & 10mm then back to the Pleiades. 

Session ended with very cold feet - winter is coming...

 

 

 

[wibblefish]

Good report, will have to steal some of the targets!

I had a mildly fruitless night with a quick search for NGC 6939, open cluster in Cephus which was pretty high in the zenith and then the clouds closed over on what was supposed to be a completely crystal clear night according to the apps! It was definitely on the cold side I even had to break out the glovsies  

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by wibblefish

[Tiny Clanger]

"couldn't find anything beyond "averted imagination"  "

A perfect description of many of my attempts 🙂

[SuburbanMak]

50 minutes ago, wibblefish said:

Good report, will have to steal some of the targets!

I had a mildly fruitless night with a quick search for NGC 6939, open cluster in Cephus which was pretty high in the zenith and then the clouds closed over on what was supposed to be a completely crystal clear night according to the apps! It was definitely on the cold side I even had to break out the glovsies  

 

Thank you - aside from the Orion Nebula where you can get mesmerised for hours I’d really recommend checking out Sigma Orionis - easy to find just below the Eastern end of the “belt” and a super triple, easy to imagine it as an orbital system. 

[Epick Crom]

Interesting report Suburban Mak. Some nice targets there. I know what you mean about M1, it is a tough first entree on Messier's famous catalogue. Clear skies!

[Captain Scarlet]

Another challenge for a 60mm-class scope: Polaris B. When I was near London, I had my 62mm spotting scope on a SkyTee2 alongside an 8" newt. Polaris B was quite plain to see in the 8", but I just couldn't get it in the Leica. Now I'm in a much darker place, but I don't yet have my 62mm to hand to try the same comparison under the dark skies.

Magnus

[SuburbanMak]

13 hours ago, Captain Magenta said:

Another challenge for a 60mm-class scope: Polaris B. When I was near London, I had my 62mm spotting scope on a SkyTee2 alongside an 8" newt. Polaris B was quite plain to see in the 8", but I just couldn't get it in the Leica. Now I'm in a much darker place, but I don't yet have my 62mm to hand to try the same comparison under the dark skies.

Magnus

I find that this Prinz (circle K lensed) 60mm 710mm fl shows Polaris beautifully - I think its a quirk of the optical ratios but I see the secondary as a pale blue/white ghost sitting on the outside of a single diffraction ring of a yellowish primary with a neat airy disc.  Its a gem of an objective on brighter doubles. 

[Stu]

15 minutes ago, SuburbanMak said:

I find that this Prinz (circle K lensed) 60mm 710mm fl shows Polaris beautifully - I think its a quirk of the optical ratios but I see the secondary as a pale blue/white ghost sitting on the outside of a single diffraction ring of a yellowish primary with a neat airy disc.  Its a gem of an objective on brighter doubles. 

The main thing I’ve found with nice quality small scopes is that they produce larger airy disks which, in turn, give beautiful renditions of double stars within their resolution grasp. Stars like Izar are gorgeous in my Telementor and TAL Alkor (63mm and 65mm respectively).

I think the larger disks hide a lot of the scruffiness which you see in larger scopes (which produce smaller airy disks), so whilst the ultimate resolution is not there, the views these small scope present are really aesthetically pleasing 👍