Second half light with a Mewlon 180

[MalcolmM]

After a couple of fruitless months I finally got a couple of sessions with my Mewlon 180 under reasonable skies (well, as dark as I'm going to get this time of the year without getting in a car). I had hoped to do a side by side with my 100DC but I have not managed that yet.

First up was Saturn and for the first time ever I was definitely seeing the Cassini division. Not all the way round but constantly there. A bit of a wow moment for me. I have sensed it in the 100DC but never properly confirmed it. Now I know the 100DC is easily capable of seeing it but whether it was my inexperience, poor seeing or very low altitude I don't know but no issues with the Mewlon. Banding on the surface was also very obvious. I think I counted 4 dim points of light in the vicinity. Stars or moons, I'm afraid I've no idea! I was alternating between a Tak abbe 12.5 and 18. The 12.5 being marginal in the conditions.

Next up Jupiter and another first. The GRS was very obvious. Again I've 'sorta' seen it with the DC but with the Mewlon it jumped out at me! Again I really want to do a side by side comparison between the two scopes. I spent quite some time looking at Jupiter (12.5 and 18 Abbes again), letting my eyes relax into it on the advice of someone on this forum, and you really do start to see some incredible detail in the belts. The belts become lumpy, almost textured and I'm sure I could see what I would describe as whisps. I may have been deceiving myself but I was sure I could see detail in the GRS. It looked darker round the outside than in the central region.

Now for some DSOs. I was hoping the extra aperture would really show here. Wow after wow moment followed!

M57, couldn't believe how bright it was. A very obvious donut. I could even use the 12.5mm on it and it was bright AND big!

M13 is always stunning but with the Mewlon it was stunning on steroids! Lots of resolved stars, too many to count! Bright and surprisingly extensive. A hint of radial lines coming out of it. Only a hint, possibly an optical illusion?

M31. I put in a Stella Lyra 2" 45mm eyepiece. AFOV ~60°. A bright core but more interestingly M110 and M32 jumped out at me. OK jumped is maybe an exaggeration but I couldn't miss 'em! So far with the DC I've had to look really hard to see them but without a side by side comparison it would be unfair to write the DC off as being much poorer 

Perseus Double Cluster. Gorgeous as always and I was really pleased (and surprised) it fitted into the FOV of the 45mm Stella Lyra. The Pleiades, disappointingly, don't quite fit into the FOV despite some FOV tools suggesting they should ... just. However I think the Pleiades really need a decent bit of black sky around them for the nicest view so really, not a good target for the Mewlon.

The Whirlpool Galaxy was a little disappointing. Two grey smudges as you'd expect but I have seen another thin smudge connecting them with the 100DC on a very dark night. The headphone nebula as @RobertI suggested

Finally the Starfish cluster M38. Pretty sure it was M38, looked like a starfish; by this time I was getting tired and I was randomly looking for any of the Auriga clusters; I'd got fed up sitting on the damp grass - see later. Lots of stars, in your face, and what a difference from the first time I saw it through a telescope (not the DC!) where it just appeared as a feint smudge! A lovely sight.

Visually this scope has given me lots of wow moments in the past week. It's also really easy to use. All the above observations were on a Giro Ercole on an Innorel carbon fibre tripod which is quite shaky with the 100DC, especially with Binoviewers attached. Because all the weight of the Mewlon is at one end (at the pivot point or attachment point) it's really stable and virtually vibration free. It's easy to follow planets at x170 and easy to navigate while looking for feinter stuff. It's also light enough (now my back's better) to lift the whole setup in one go and move about the garden. I know I'm highly biased if something has Takahashi written on it but I really have enjoyed using the Mewlon.

Problems? Well I really wish Takahashi would supply right angled finders, but even then ... they wouldn't look as nice and streamlined Last night I would be sitting on my ass on the grass looking through the finder, then hopping on to a chair to look through the scope, then nudging the scope by accident, back to the grass ... The joys, but as I've said before, I love the challenge of a good star hop

The narrow field of view makes star hopping more difficult but that's a generic problem. Alternating between targets at 20° and at the zenith is difficult with respect to the observing position; really you want to extend the tripod legs for the low stuff, but that's a dodgy manoeuvre with an expensive scope on top. Again that's a generic problem. 

I'm not experienced enough to  recommend the Mewlon over any of the other Cassegrain offerings, but it's certainly given me much pleasure in my short time owning it!

Malcolm 

[Sunshine]

Thanks for that writeup! I have always been curious about the Mewlon 180, many times I struggled with the curser over the "buy" tab 😅. It sounds like you were happy with what you saw

despite the whirlpool being MEH which I must say has never impressed me, either. Regarding the "ass on the grass" issue, I too suffer from this illness when I use my refractor on my Vixen 

mount. Now you have rekindled my curiosity about this scope once again, is there no end to my telescopic ambitions? I suspect not. 

 

Enjoy the Mewlon!

[MalcolmM]

7 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Thanks for that writeup! I have always been curious about the Mewlon 180, many times I struggled with the curser over the "buy" tab 😅. It sounds like you were happy with what you saw

despite the whirlpool being MEH which I must say has never impressed me, either. Regarding the "ass on the grass" issue, I too suffer from this illness when I use my refractor on my Vixen 

mount. Now you have rekindled my curiosity about this scope once again, is there no end to my telescopic ambitions? I suspect not. 

 

Enjoy the Mewlon!

Thanks @Sunshine. I really was not sure what to expect when I bought it but so far it has not disappointed. I originally thought I'd only be using it occasionally due to size and weight but this has proven to be a wrong assumption! It's a joy to use and arguably easier to handle than the DC.

Malcolm 

[JeremyS]

Cracking report Malcolm

Sounds like that Mewlon is a winner 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

 

[HollyHound]

Lovely report and great to see what the Mewlon is really capable off. I have mostly used it so far on the moon, but not that the busy last months are (almost) behind me, I'm hoping to get out with it more and attack the planets and DSOs... you're post is great inspiration 😀

[MalcolmM]

2 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Lovely report and great to see what the Mewlon is really capable off. I have mostly used it so far on the moon, but not that the busy last months are (almost) behind me, I'm hoping to get out with it more and attack the planets and DSOs... you're post is great inspiration 😀

I'm sure you'll love it for DSOs. I've seen it billed often as a lunar/planetry scope but for me, it's a cracking DSO scope too, as long as the target isn't huge!

Malcolm 

[JeremyS]

2 hours ago, HollyHound said:

Lovely report and great to see what the Mewlon is really capable off. I have mostly used it so far on the moon, but not that the busy last months are (almost) behind me, I'm hoping to get out with it more and attack the planets and DSOs... you're post is great inspiration 😀

Yup it was certainly inspirational 

Hope you get some good opportunities with your Mewlon too, Gary

[HollyHound]

24 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

I'm sure you'll love it for DSOs. I've seen it billed often as a lunar/planetry scope but for me, it's a cracking DSO scope too, as long as the target isn't huge!

Malcolm 

I've seen a few of the "usual" suspects... M42 was about as memorable as through anything, except (just) the 10" Dob... looking forward to some dark clear nights and some time to enjoy them 🤞😀

[JeremyS]

Just now, HollyHound said:

I've seen a few of the "usual" suspects... M42 was about as memorable as through anything, except (just) the 10" Dob... looking forward to some dark clear nights and some time to enjoy them 🤞😀

I hear small galaxies and especially globulars are excellent in a Mewlon 

A chum of mine let me look through his Mewlon 180 at M22 years ago and it was staggering 

[MalcolmM]

20 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

M22 years ago and it was staggering 

That'll be a new one for me to try my star hopping skills on

Malcolm 

[JeremyS]

36 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

That'll be a new one for me to try my star hopping skills on

Malcolm 

Bit far south from here, though 

[MalcolmM]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Bit far south from here, though 

Ack, you tease

[wookie1965]

Sounds like a great session well done.