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Skywatcher Skymax 127 - first light


OK Apricot

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Yesterday evening the clouds were clearing, and the satellite images along with the forecast gave me enough excuse to get the new scope out that I'd picked up not a few hours before. The only Maksutov I've ever had was a Meade ETX105PE years ago when I was a young lad, so it's refreshing to have one of these scopes again, even more so with the extra 22mm aperture and slightly faster focal ratio. I knew what to expect, but I didn't know what to expect - I knew I'd have a higher mag, narrower field, but it's been so long I forgot what things would look like at the eyepiece.

Initially I got the scope out in the garden, to let it acclimatise, to find a comfortable height to set the tripod so i can mostly sit during observing and to carry out a finder alignment. I went for Betelgeuse, but even with my lowest power 1.25" EP, it was still a little fiddle to get it in the FOV. Eventually I got it set nicely, swapped to the highest power 9mm XCel-LX for a fine tune and I was away. From what I've read, Maks like to take their time to cool properly, and this was made apparent when, even after half an hour, Betelgeuse was still this flowing, undulating orb when put out of focus (at least, I think this is a symptom of tube currents?). I figured it'd need another 15 minutes or so, and with the clear sky holding and looking promising for a couple hours, I decided I'd make my first venture out. There is a good sized hill half a mile up the road which gets right above the town and offers decent horizons so I broke the 127 down to the OTA and tripod, grabbed a few eyepieces and a chair and got set up at the other end. After setup and a few more minutes cooling, I was getting a much more stable out-of-focus image of Betelgeuse, where I confirmed good collimation of the scope, showing concentric rings (quite pleased with that after the nightmare I had recently with my 200P). It was time to pick off a few targets.

Orion stood prominently above the horizon, sunken into some good looking black sky. I could make out a number of stars within the "main outline", which is a good sign of decent skies. I couldn't help but put M42 into the finder. I was pretty sure of the alignment, so went straight for the SL 15mm superview EP and was absolutely blown away! I had never seen this great nebula in such detail before! The green-blue ghostly haze filled the entire FOV, with unmistakably contrasting dusty features, the "wings" of the cloud stretching out to the field edge giving me the sense of a warm embrace. Absolutely blown away. It felt like I was looking at a full on black/white astrophoto in real time. The brightness and contrast was just stunning. I am NEVER going to forget that view, it really was a wow-out-loud moment, like the time when I first saw Saturn as a young lad. Description aside, objects quickly crossed the FOV, but I found the AZ5's adjustment knobs suitably smooth and accurate to make little adjustments as required. I did try the 25mm EP, but nothing more of note here, other than having fun manually tracking an aircraft as it was crossing Orion, looked like a 737. Amazed at the view the 127 showed, giving even the 200P a run for its money. I put that more down to seeing conditions though, as I've only really seen this same object under a substantially moon-lit, light polluted sky. Time will tell of course, but that image will stay in my memories for a long time.

It was then off to explore a few open clusters. The Double Cluster was no longer a double due to the FOV even with 25mm. Thinking I may as well focus on one and zoom in a bit, I dropped in the SL 15mm to reveal two gorgeous, close proximity scatters of pin sharp dots of blue and orange, this time with no diffraction pattern. It was hugely satisfying slewing between each cluster. I didn't bother with the Pleiades as I knew it wouldn't fit the FOV, and made the slightly longer hop to M35 in Gemini. Again, the entire FOV sprinkled with glitter. Another short hop to the Beehive and the same again. I might add that I'm spending a good 10 solid minutes at the eyepiece on each of these targets - I love taking it all in. The more of the universe I take in, the more the modern day worries get taken out.

I was absolutely buzzing from what I'd seen already, really enthusiastic indeed, which probably got the better of me a little as I tried determinedly to find M81/M82. An f/12 Mak is probably not the best scope to be using while still learning to star hop, identify the right stars etc. I did manage to eke out M31 from the more light polluted side of the sky, overlooking the town, but not a lot more to note here than "yep, it's a blob". I still haven't seen this through my 200P yet but I really can't wait! 

With cloud layers building on the horizon WNW, i tried to split a few double stars. A lot of the knowledge I had when I was younger has definitely vanished, as I'd not remembered that there was more to Mizar/Alcor. Pointing the scope here revealed one pin sharp Alcor, but one elongated Mizar... hmmm... So I upped the magnification with the 9mm and saw a companion, which I later learned to be Mizar B. Another jaw-dropping moment, to really undoubtedly split a double that I didn't even know was there! I took a picture with my phone to capture this awesome moment. Knowing the scope was capable, I turned to Sirius - I knew this one had a small tight companion. I couldn't manage it though - I think it was more atmospheric conditions, but upping magnification just turned Sirius from a brilliant point, to an equally brilliant "orb", so I backed off and just appreciated its twinkling colours and prominance. 

Clouds were drawing in now and the Moon still hadn't risen, so was slightly disappointed I wouldn't get to see it through my new scope, but it gives me something to look forward to later on, I suppose. Overall one very memorable first light indeed, I was absolutely blown away. I get the feeling I'm going to have a lot of fun with this scope! It really is a lovely piece of kit. I mean, there are a lot of less impressive packages out there for the same if not more money. The AZ5 head and tripod were pleasantly sturdy, even with a bit of a breeze. Despite the high magnification, the mount remained solid and would only quiver during my tracking or focus adjustments. The focus feels silky smooth and precise and of decent quality. 

Chuffed to bits with it, I really am! Can't wait for more! Thanks for reading and letting me share.

J.

20220220_115941.thumb.jpg.9fbeeb2c332281fe681ca027708c43db.jpg

 

Edited by OK Apricot
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Nice report.  The achievements of my 127 continue to surprise me, as I'm sure will yours for you. It's not right for everything, no scope is, but £ for £ it does a great job.  

I've attempted the Sirius "pup" a few times without success. The challenge isn't so much the separation - I've split down to 1" with the 127 when the skies are excellent - it's more down to the faintness of the companion, combined with the brightness of the primary. There's so much glare that it's swamped. I don't know if it's intrinsically beyond the 127, because there's also an aspect of prior experience involved - once you have seen the pup, it improves your chances in seeing it again.

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2 hours ago, Zermelo said:

Nice report.  The achievements of my 127 continue to surprise me, as I'm sure will yours for you. It's not right for everything, no scope is, but £ for £ it does a great job.  

I've attempted the Sirius "pup" a few times without success. The challenge isn't so much the separation - I've split down to 1" with the 127 when the skies are excellent - it's more down to the faintness of the companion, combined with the brightness of the primary. There's so much glare that it's swamped. I don't know if it's intrinsically beyond the 127, because there's also an aspect of prior experience involved - once you have seen the pup, it improves your chances in seeing it again.

Of course, brings back a bit I used to know. Well, I'll keep trying, hopefully have some better seeing to come 🙂

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44 minutes ago, OK Apricot said:

Of course, brings back a bit I used to know. Well, I'll keep trying, hopefully have some better seeing to come 🙂

I have been trying to split Sirius with my Skymax 127 recently with no luck as well. Rigel is quite possible, if you haven't tried that? 

Have you taken a look at ngc 2169? It looks great through my mak. 

I've only just got back into astronomy and I'm like a kid in a sweet shop at the moment. I enjoyed reading your report. 

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1 minute ago, cajen2 said:

As said, try Rigel or Alnitak for close but possible doubles in Orion, though you're spoilt for choice in that constellation!

And running out of time ☹️

 

I haven't tried NGC2169, so it's now on the list for the next session 👍

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1 minute ago, OK Apricot said:

And running out of time ☹️

 

I haven't tried NGC2169, so it's now on the list for the next session 👍

Indeed....if these storms ever stop, I want to get out there with my new scope before it's too late.

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10 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

Indeed....if these storms ever stop, I want to get out there with my new scope before it's too late.

As one door closes... 

Virgo is just around the corner - our 8" Dobs will see some amazing DSOs soon, don't you worry! 

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One way of reducing the thermals when settling up is to insulate the scope.

 

It sounds counterintuitive, but it's the rate of temperature change that causes the thermals,  so wrapping the scope in a couple of layers of radiator foil can slow this down and make the scope usable almost straight away when setting up.  

Edited by Gfamily
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 20/02/2022 at 19:16, banjaxed said:

I enjoyed reading your report then got to thinking how many of us have a 200P Dob and a 127 Mak, we can’t all be wrong can we ?

Exactly, I bought my 127 Maksutov first, shortly followed by a 200mm Dobsonian. To top it off I added a 120mm refractor.

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10 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Exactly, I bought my 127 Maksutov first, shortly followed by a 200mm Dobsonian. To top it off I added a 120mm refractor.

Wow another coincidence, those are the exact same scopes I have. 😀

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