In the Lions den: Kappa Leonis and Omega Leonis

[Nik271]

I wanted to give a proper test to my Skymax 180 because I recently removed the corrector plate to flock the baffle. Collimation star test seemed OK but I'm never entirely sure because the in- and out- of focus patters in Maks are so different. The only test that matters is actually using the scope on difficult targets and last night the seeing seemed rasonable so here we go.

I had made a short list of just four doubles in ascending order of difficulty, so at 9pm kicked off with Epsilon Hydrae. The secondary (component C) is 2.7'' away and 3 magnitudes dimmer. There were still some tube currents in the Mak and initually it looked very wobbly at x220. Half an hour later though the view steadied up and the secondary showed up nice and clear. Tick.

38 Lynx was a breeze (separation 2.6'' and 2 magnitudes difference). I was suprised how easy it seemed (perhaps since it was much higher in the sky).

I was getting confident so next was Kappa Leonis (1 Leo). This is one of Burham's finds: 2'' separation and 5 magnitudes difference! Initially it was a no-show at x220. I inserted 8mm BST for a crazy x340 and voila: with averted vision I could see a dim spec just south of the primary. Thrilling! 

Finally - Omega Leonis (2 Leo). Separation is 0.9' and 1.5 magnitude difference. I'm not sure I got this one, it looked kind of elongated but the seeing was worse at the lower elevation , it was very wobbly at x340. At x220 there was no hint of separation whatsoever. As a consolation I looked at the nearby 6 Leo: widely separated unequal orange and blue.

So there you have it - 3 and a half out of four. I think my Mak is in good shape 🙂

Clear skies!

Nik

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Nik271

[Paz]

Great report. I most often use high altitude doubles when I want to test things out. Most recently I was comparing some diagonals and used Mizar and the nearby Struve 1770 and 1695.

[SuburbanMak]

Great report and a couple of new targets to look for. Glad to hear flocking operations have gone well! 

[Nik271]

On 22/04/2022 at 00:24, SuburbanMak said:

Great report and a couple of new targets to look for. Glad to hear flocking operations have gone well! 

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised how robust the collimation of these Maks is. I never touched the primary, just removed the corrector plate, inserted the flocking paper in baffle and then put the corrector back. This also answered my worry how to clean the mirror if ever dust goes in. But I don't think I will need it clean it for years: seems pretty well sealed.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Nik271