Observing trip to Tenerife

[VilleM]

My dream of observing the southern skies finally realized last week as I got an opportunity to go on an observing trip to Mt. Teide, Tenerife. I haven't sketched anything in 3 ... 4 years now due to getting into astrophotography more. Also my past job has made my hands quite easily getting sore and swollen due to a medical condition so this keeps me from doing sketching or writing for extended periods or with accuracy. I did feel it during this trip too but I didn't let it stop me from having fun!
The trip was a huge success for me. In total I had four clear nights in a week to observe the stars from Minas De San Jose - a remarkable desert of pumice banks adorned with massive volcanic rock pillars. It was as though I had set foot on a distant planet; the desolate terrain bore a striking resemblance to the surface of Mars. Here are observations made in 9th and 11th of October and also a photograph of my travel gear and me observing the helix nebula. Notice the 3D printed energy-drink counterweight system to save on baggage weight! 😁

The scope I had with me is 80/560mm APO and Celestron X-Cel LX 12mm & 25mm eyepieces. I used 12mm for every sketch and 25mm to find my targets. I also brought Baader Hyperion 8mm with me but I found out that for my scope the 12mm X-Cel was far superior in edge sharpness and the magnification was more suitable with the small aperture I had available. My favorite deep sky observation was definitely Messier 8 and 11, they looked amazing and I could distinguish both with the naked eye too.

[tico]

Wow!! A good sketching session, how is your mount with the refractor? 

Thanks. 

[Paul M]

Great trip, great report, great sketches, but the best bit, for me, is the photo!

I love Tenerife, but not been there since before that virus cast its dark shadow over us all. I dream about spending a night up in the Caldera, doing nothing but looking up.

That will probably have to wait until we retire, early next decade, hopefully...

[JeremyS]

Super sketches. Please keep going if you can. I’d love to see more

[VilleM]

Thank you for your positive comments everyone!

tico: it was rather shaky if you touched the eyepiece but I have always practiced a habit of placing my eye in a right spot without touching the scope at all. So for me it wasn't an issue, I also positioned my gear behind a rocky outcrop on windy nights and this way I could get away with a small mount.

[josefk]

Super sketches, super targets and i agree with Paul - great photo. What a lovely trip and what a great record of it.