Two memorable sessions..

[F15Rules]

I've been lucky enough this week to enjoy two of the best sessions I've had since moving from the Midlands to the Lincolnshire Wolds almost 5 years ago.

The first one was Tuesday night..flat calm, with very good seeing and transparency. I used Trinity, my FS128 refractor, on a driven eq mount and an assortment of good quality eyepieces. I alternated between Astro Tech Dielectric and TS Optics Quartz 2" diagonals.

I also used an Astro Physics 2" Barlow which I've recently acquired, and am still getting to know.

Key highlights of the session were:

M42 Orion. E and F both readily seen with direct vision. As my dark adaptation improved, the amount of detail visible, swirls, eddies and so on was startling..the longer I looked, the more I saw.

I think the most pleasing views were with the Axiom LX 23mm (45x) and Morpheus 9mm (115x)..at the lower power the view was like an etching, so sharp and steady, while at the higher power I could clearly see a single tiny diffraction ring around the Trap brightest 3 stars, with E and F being visible with direct vision, against the ghostly contrasting blackness of the surrounding nebula.

Next was Sigma the Triple, just below M42, and easily visible in the same field as M42 in the 23mm Axiom. Above M42, towards the belt, Iota, the quadruple was superbly sharp, and the faintest companion easily and sharply visibly with direct vision.

Finally in Orion, Alnitak (Zeta Orionis in the belt) was well split (2.4"), with the faint Zeta C being clearly visible some distance (over 50" I think) away from the main components.

I then moved up to Auriga to another "not easy" double, Theta, and was instantly able to see the pair (4" apart, but nevertheless quite difficult if conditions aren't great, also the unequal brightness doesn't help (the fainter companion is mag 7.2, so can be drowned out by the main component). The photo below that I found on the net shows a nice depiction of the view I had of Theta.

I lingered for a good while on these objects. I'm finding more and more these days that viewing fewer objects in a 90 min to 2 hour session is much more rewarding on good nights than scanning everything in sight.

I then finished the evening looking at the 3 main clusters within the main "Kite" asterism of Auriga, all well resolved in the Tak with the Axiom 23mm.

All in all a great session under ideal conditions😊.

Dave

Edited February 25, 2022 by F15Rules
Typos

[mikeDnight]

A loveley report Dave, and quite an adventure with your Tak. I'm sure it will appreciate the chance to play under the stars just like you have. 

I managed a couple of clear nights over this last week with Tuesday being the first, but on that occasion I was more concerned with how my, new to me, Edmund's 6" achromat was performing after I changed the lens round. It turned out its front surface was facing backwards. Anyhow, all's well now and I'm still extremely pleased about it's excellent colour correction. 

 The clusters in Auriga were among the targets examined by the 6", as was M1, M45,  M97, and of course M42, where the Trapezium along with E & F looked like tiny bright needle points in the backdrop of nebulosity. The bright and dark nebula itself was wonderfully complex and I spent ages just soaking up the view. I'm now hoping to find a Fullerscopes mark lV EQ mount or similar to set this gorgeous refractor on. 

[F15Rules]

That's great Mike, and your new "Big Gun" is a beauty!

I look forward to following            it's,/his/her exploits to come!😊

Dave

[wookie1965]

Great report had a couple of clear nights here just for a few hours but the wind was too bad get a scope out. Saturday night is looking good just Hope the wind calms down. 

So pleased you got the E and F stars I've caught them once in my 5" just not had really clear skies as you had. 

Thank you for posting really helps when I can't get out. 

[F15Rules]

Part 2.

The second session was on Wednesday evening..the wind had really picked up this time, although the seeing, strangely, was even better than the previous night..Sirius hardly twinkling at all, and the transparency was very good, about the same.

Thus time, I wheeled out my trusty old Vixen SP102, on SP mount and in Altazimuth configuration (I just love that this mount can do both EQ and Altaz so well..why don't more modern mounts do this???).

I used the same focuser grwar as the night before, diagonals, eps etc.

I found an adapter with a thread on the scope end that threads straight into the chromed end tube of the scope (not 1.25", it's wider than that), and a T2 thread on the other end which connects straight into the body of the Zeiss T2 prism.

This is great, as the free aperture of the Zeiss T2 is 34mm - the exact same as the field stop on my Axiom 23mm LX 2" eyepiece..so, by using a 2" Clicklock on the eyepiece side, I can use the Axiom with no vignetting, allowing the full 82 deg fov of the Axiom to be used. The result is superb, low power, widefield views through the SP 102m..I'll detail these in Part 3..

Dave

Edited February 25, 2022 by F15Rules

[F15Rules]

Part 3. 

It was a nice change to use the old Vixen achromat in Altaz Mode on my SP mount..the motions on both axes are very smooth indeed, with zero shudder or backlash.

I observed pretty much the targets I looked at the previous night in the Tak, and the results were very interesting..

M42 - Batwings and Fishmouth were well seen and the main 4 Trap stars were cleanly resolved. Initially I could see no sign of E or F. However, after a while and as my dark adaptation improved, I could see the E star intermittently with the 9mm Morpheus at 115x. No F star could be seen. 

Iota Orionis - I was pleased to see all 4 components including the faint 4th star (c 11th magnitude) which although faint, was very clearly visible with direct vision.

Sigma Orionis - Triple, nice and clear view of each component

Alnitak (Zeta Ori) was split at 266x, I was very pleased with this as it's often not an easy one!

I mentioned the great, unvignetted views through the Vixen, using the Axiom LX 82 deg 23mm 2" UWA..

Well, moving to Perseus, the view of the Double Cluster with the Axiom LX 23mm was just lovely, with the Circlet Asterism very clear at just 45x, and both clusters contained in the same fov. Everywhere I looked across the field there were stars, a real panorama. I've also used this eyepiece on M42, and the Auriga open clusters and Pleiades..I bought this, based on good reviews, and the desire to replace my much missed Vixen LVW 22mm, one if the best eyepieces I've ever used (but now just not available used at all!). I'm glad to say that this Axiom 23 is a worthy replacement..it's a big, heavy eyepiece, to be sure, but lovely build and, at 82 degrees fov, much wider than the 65 degree Vixen.

After Perseus it was off to Theta Aurigae, another tough double at times, even though the distance is 4", due to the inequality in magnitudes..a very clean split at 166x with the BGO 6mm.

Finally, to Sirius..here was the highlight of the session..

I was using  a 6mm BGO with 1.6x Barlow and moon filter (x266) .. I could clearly see two Fresnel rings around Sirius.. and there was the Pup blinking in and out between 12 noon and 1pm (refractor view with diagonal prism in place)!

This observation was so pleasing..it took me several years from when we moved here to split the Pup with the FS128, and now not long afterwards, I have been able to get the split with the humble Vixen achro! The moon filter definitely helped to reduce scatter (and CA in the case of the Vixen).

In summary, the Vixen is clearly not an apo or a Tak, but is a fine scope, well able to deliver wonderful views when used with decent eyepieces, and (in case anyone is tempted, they do come up for sale every now and then at very reasonable prices) 👍😊.

Thanks for reading and clear skies to all..not looking too bad in the next few nights forecast.

Dave

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by F15Rules
Additional text info

[F15Rules]

[cajen2]

Gorgeous scope.....and mount too, by the sound of it!

[RobertI]

Lovely report Dave. Getting the pup in the 102 achro was quite an achievement, well done. I agree with you about observing less during my sessions. Slowing down, relaxing and spending more time on each object is very rewarding. 

[huddo]

Great to read about your observations Dave, it’s almost like I’m there peering through the eyepiece. Keep it up. Clear skies .

[F15Rules]

Thanks Huddo..and welcome to SGL!😊👍

Dave

[Saganite]

All three reports make good reading Dave and it is pleasing that at last you have had the chance to see how excellent is Trinity , under a very good sky, as excellent as an FS128 should be to warrant its reputation...👍

Of course the eyepiece is very much a key part of the optical train, and the ones that you now use, particularly the Axioms are proving to be as good as you hoped for, along with your Morpheus ( Morphei..? ) eyepieces of course.

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by Saganite

[F15Rules]

Thanks Steve😊.

It's been a great week for astro here this week.. the seeing has been the best I can recall since we moved here, and we've had 4 consecutive night of such skies, with another forecast for this evening.

I'm hoping to get out tonight, and will try hard to ignore Orion and look elsewhere...it's difficult though!!😂😂

Dave

[Saganite]

It is Dave, I agree , and  I make no apology for looking at Orion and all it has to offer every  time I am out, it is a short enough season with the THE most glorious constellation...

Good luck for tonight !

Steve

[wookie1965]

All set up for a good night, my right leg gave way I put my hand out to stop myself falling jarred my left shoulder. Cannot hardly move it now may be a trip to the hospital in the morning for me. 😢