The little frac is back in my good books

[RobertI]

Being so short of time at the moment, I have been storing a my ultra-portable visual setup in the office (the additional step of going into the garage seems a bit too much for G&G!), ready to carry outside for a quick session before bedtime. This comprises a mini-giro on a horizon tripod carrying either a Heritage 130P or a Zenithstar 66SD.

They are both great setups, but I had always given the Heritage the edge for G&G due to its greater aperture and the fact that its easier to observe standing up (reducing an additional step of finding a chair).

But when storing inside I was amazed to find that the Heritage needs at least an hour to cool properly on a cold night - after 45 minutes I was still seeing slow heat plumes over a defocused star - really surprising. The Zenithstar on the other hand seems to cool almost instantly. 

The other thing is I am always surprised by the joy a small refractor can bring. Exploring the pin-sharp moon at 50x was great fun and the star colours really seem to pop in a small frac. I stumbled upon a beautiful asterism in Auriga with orange, blue and yellow stars. Sweeping the milky way is a joy.

So the little Zenithstar is back in my good books.

Edited January 22, 2022 by RobertI