Maximum viewing pleasure

[Flame Nebula]

Hi everyone, 

I would like to know which scope has given you the most pleasurable experience, when you looked through it for the first time, and why? For me, it was seeing saturn through a large sct (I think it was a C11) when I went to an astronomy evening in Ayers Rock many years ago. Fantastic view, but whether I'd ever see anything like that in our UK seeing, is doubtful. Looking forward to your experiences. 

 

Thanks 

 

Mark

[Ags]

When I first look through a scope I am doubtful and sceptical, so it takes a while to enjoy a scope. I'd say the one that most consistently exceeds my expectations is my Zenithstar 66, so I enjoy that the most.

[Mr Spock]

I was lucky enough to have excellent seeing the first time I used my 12" on the moon. To have the surface razor sharp at over x450 was something I never expected and will never forget.

[Roy Challen]

First time looking at the sun in hydrogen alpha with my Daystar solarscout.

[Vash]

2 hours ago, Ags said:

When I first look through a scope I am doubtful and sceptical, so it takes a while to enjoy a scope. I'd say the one that most consistently exceeds my expectations is my Zenithstar 66, so I enjoy that the most.

+1 for the zenithstar 66. Mine lives by the back door mounted and ready to go. I can be out looking at the moon or open clusters in 10 seconds. Ideal for those days when I am too tired after work to commit ot to a long session with the dob. 

The first night out with the askar 103apo will stick with me for a long time. The first target I viewed was the double cluster and it was spectacular. 

[niallk]

I went from a 250px to a 15" Obsession Classic, and the beautifully smooth movements in alt & az really made the experience at the eyepiece so much more pleasurable: being able to adjust position by a fraction of the fov when manually tracking without backlash and flexing causing the target to shoot out of view is wonderful.

But discovering the night sky with the 250px - my first scope - was special!

Even without a scope just naked eye in a bortle 2 site in late August is spectacular.

[Flame Nebula]

2 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

I was lucky enough to have excellent seeing the first time I used my 12" on the moon. To have the surface razor sharp at over x450 was something I never expected and will never forget.

Hi Mr Spock, is that a 12" dobsonian? 

 

[Mr Spock]

25 minutes ago, Flame Nebula said:

Hi Mr Spock, is that a 12" dobsonian? 

Yes - StellaLyra 

[mikeDnight]

For me, my favourite scope of all time and the one that's shown my more than any other, is the Takahashi FC100DC.  I've observed with pretty much every major scope type and aperture upto 30" aperture, but because that little 4" F7.4 apo was so light and easy to use, and was all but unaffected by atmospheric seeing as larger apertures can be, it demanded I use it on every clear night. I suppose a smaller scope that you use a lot will always show you more than a big monster that's rarely used. The FC100DC gave some of the finest, most detailed views of Mars I've ever seen, despite the planet being extremely low in UK skies in 2016. Saturn and Jupiter have been equally beautiful and detailed, but it's the Moon that never fails to leave me in awe. With a binocular viewer the mountains appear to tower in 3D and although resolution is not affected, the use of both eyes certainly boosts definition giving the impression you're using a larger aperture, and hence fine detail becomes easier to see. Even on deep sky the 100mm refractor delivered some impressive views of star clusters and nebulae, as well as some brighter galaxies. 

Below is the FC100DC and a few sketches of Mars from 2016.

Edited January 27 by mikeDnight

[Flame Nebula]

16 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

For me, my favourite scope of all time and the one that's shown my more than any other, is the Takahashi FC100DC.  I've observed with pretty much every major scope type and aperture upto 30" aperture, but because that little 4" F7.4 apo was so light and easy to use, and was all but unaffected by atmospheric seeing as larger apertures can be, it demanded I use it on every clear night. I suppose a smaller scope that you use a lot will always show you more than a big monster that's rarely used. The FC100DC gave some of the finest, most detailed views of Mars I've ever seen, despite the planet being extremely low in UK skies in 2016. Saturn and Jupiter have been equally beautiful and detailed, but it's the Moon that never fails to leave me in awe. With a binocular viewer the mountains appear to tower in 3D and although resolution is not affected, the use of both eyes certainly boosts definition giving the impression you're using a larger aperture, and hence fine detail becomes easier to see. Even on deep sky the 100mm refractor delivered some impressive views of star clusters and nebulae, as well as some brighter galaxies. 

Below is the FC100DC and a few sketches of Mars from 2016.

Hi Mike, thank you. I'm interested in what your maximum magnification can be, before blurring occurs? 

[mikeDnight]

57 minutes ago, Flame Nebula said:

Hi Mike, thank you. I'm interested in what your maximum magnification can be, before blurring occurs? 

That would depend on what the scope is looking at. With Jupiter I've found 180X is a generally good power that reveals lots of detail. With Saturn it can be 200X to 250X generally. With the Moon anything can go if the seeing allows it, but again 180X to 250X is generally good, but I've used much higher powers. With Mars I've used as high as 300X plus,  but again 200X would be a usual power. Venus at 474X is a real party trick that's left some of my observing buddies in awe. When it comes to the stars, ive used as high as 1000X while observing double stars and the stars still remained sharp enough to present a perfect Airy disc and first diffraction ring. The seeing conditions are the real limiter, as it needs a good transparent and steady atmosphere to allow a scope to give of its best. With the FC100DC and its siblings, their ease of use means they are used often, and the more often they are under the stars the greater the chance of catching great seeing. My own view is that most nights have great seeing, but great seeing is often fleeting and you need to be at the eyepiece to witness and benefit from such moments.

[dweller25]

I am another user of many scope types over the last 40 years.

The scope that gave me the best views was a 10” Skywatcher Newtonian.

The scope I enjoy using the most is a 5” refractor because the views have good detail and are so sharp.

Hope that helps

Edited January 27 by dweller25

[Nicola Fletcher]

I think my favourite ‘wow’ moments so far have been:

The moon through my 12” Dob - a completely amazing experience.

Watching the GRS on Jupiter last year at a star party through a Celestron C9.25 - the detail that evening was magical.

At the same star party, the ring nebula through a C11.

M42 through my 3” refractor from Monument Valley in Arizona a couple of weeks ago.

Saturn through a 32” Dob at the Lowell Observatory.

All of these had in common wonderful clear nights and/or very dark skies. In all cases, it was impossible to sleep afterwards, thinking about what I had seen that evening!

 

[Steve Ward]

14 hours ago, mikeDnight said:

That would depend on what the scope is looking at. 

When it comes to the stars, ive used as high as 1000X while observing double stars and the stars still remained sharp enough to present a perfect Airy disc and first diffraction ring.

And exactly what EP is employed in a 100mm 'scope to give perfect views at 1000x magnification ... ?

A magic  0.74mm TV of some description ... ?

[RT65CB-SWL]

For me it is my TeleVue Ranger.

Simply because it was my first ‘true’ telescope not purchased from the major high street/discount retail outlets.

Plus it is small enough to be classed as ‘carry-on’ baggage with 99.9% of airlines in an appropriate travel case.

Edited January 29 by RT65CB-SWL

[Ags]

2 hours ago, Steve Ward said:

And exactly what EP is employed in a 100mm 'scope to give perfect views at 1000x magnification ... ?

A magic  0.74mm TV of some description ... ?

It's not hard to achieve, e.g. 3x Barlow + 2.4 mm eyepiece.

[Steve Ward]

41 minutes ago, Ags said:

It's not hard to achieve, e.g. 3x Barlow + 2.4 mm eyepiece.

So why restrict the 1000x potential to such limited use , surely it'd be used on everything especially planets , a little far-fetched would be my continuing belief.

Anyone else using 1000x mag out there , I'm intrigued now.

[dweller25]

4 hours ago, Steve Ward said:

And exactly what EP is employed in a 100mm 'scope to give perfect views at 1000x magnification ... ?

A magic  0.74mm TV of some description ... ?

I think you may have taken that out of context,  @mikeDnight did not say he got perfect views at 1000x he said he got a perfect airy disk at 1000x which is dependant on good seeing and collimation.

That is easy to achieve by stacking Barlows, I have done it by stacking two x2.2 Celestron Ultimas and a 5mm eyepiece giving x1000 in my FS128.

Obviously the views are VERY dim and there is a lot of vibration so it’s not a useful power for normal general observation, I did it once simply because I was curious.

But, lets not hijack the OP’s thread 👍

 

Edited January 28 by dweller25

[mikeDnight]

7 hours ago, Steve Ward said:

And exactly what EP is employed in a 100mm 'scope to give perfect views at 1000x magnification ... ?

A magic  0.74mm TV of some description ... ?

With my FC100DZ with an 800mm FL, I used a 1.6mm Vixen High Resolution eyepiece and a 2X Ultima SV barlow gives 1000X. The stars that were examined were Zeta Hercules showing a perfect little sun riding the first diffraction ring. 84 Virginis was widely separated but had beautifully contrasting colours, which became even more vivid at 400X. Izar was another stunning binary showing to my eye as a orange/red primary and a chalk blue secondary. Using a power of 1000X is not a normal practice for me, but it really was a wonderful thing to witness. The star images were so perfect that i repeatedly had to check i hadnt made some mistake with the magnification, as I would have expected the image to have broken down long before reaching such a power, but it didn't!

[Beardy30]

The Startravel 102 superb scope for the price 

I’ve owned a 130p reflector, an 8” SCT which is a close second and a Mak 127 

if I had to keep one which I have it’s the 102 refractor, light , easy to store set up and use and great for wide views 

Highly recommend for visual use 

 

[mikeDnight]

24 minutes ago, Beardy30 said:

The Startravel 102 superb scope for the price 

I’ve owned a 130p reflector, an 8” SCT which is a close second and a Mak 127 

if I had to keep one which I have it’s the 102 refractor, light , easy to store set up and use and great for wide views 

Highly recommend for visual use 

 

Back in 2001 my friends wife had arranged a Mars Party for her hubby and also invited a number of astronomers. She'd put on a mini banquet and even hung little Martians from the lights and picture frames to set the mood. As it happened we also had some clear skies, and several scopes were available to use. One chap called Ben, had brought a goto 4.5" SCT, while my friend Derek had his faithful Altaz StarTravel 102. As usual, I chose the wrong Que and impatiently waited behind Ben to get my first look through a computerised Tasco SCT. Meanwhile across the other end of the garden Derek was sweeping up one Messier object after another, and giving all around him a chance to look through the eyepiece. I on the other hand saw nothing at all, as after Ben finally got his junk pile to work, clouds started to roll in and ended the session. That was a great lesson that I never forgot! The StarTravel was the easy winner, with emphasis on "easy". 

[John]

My 12 inch Orion Optics based dobsonian gave me the most overall observing pleasure during the decade or so that I owned it. 

I had more firsts and "wow's" with that scope than any other that I have owned over the 40 or so years that I've been observing.

 

[Ags]

For the sake of balance, I will add that my minimum viewing pleasure was with a 150PDS. No fault of the scope, it was just undermounted.