A little observing run in the Alps

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I took my 80mm F/6 apo along on the skiing trip to Austria, along with the full set of EPs and the Vixen GP mount (which tucks away neatly in the station wagon we have). One night was just crystal clear so I set the scope up outside in the farmyard of the hostel we were staying at. I first tried to add two Caldwells to my list: C1 (NGC 188) and C3 (NGC 4236). I tried these before from the Netherlands with my C8 on a moonlight night, but no luck. This time round the scope seemed too small to capture them. I now for sure I was in the right area of the sky, but try as I might, no luck.

I then decided just to check out some golden oldies:

- the double cluster: awesome in the 3.3 deg FOV with my 22mm Nagler (22x mag)!

- M45, the Pleiades: showed hints of the reflection nebula. Even more stunning with the 14mm UWA (34x).

- M42/M43: Much more detail in the outlying regions than from a light polluted area back home. Wonderful sight at 34x magnification.

I then invited the farmer and his wife to have a look, and they were amazed. We finished off the evening discussing astronomy and sipping their home-made obst-schnapps. A real treat.

I have only had a few evenings with this little scope, but it is a real treat. The quality is just great. I also had a go at some bird-watching with it: every tiniest feather stands out in detail, and 3.3 deg is fine to aim the thing (and I can revert to 5.6 deg FOV at 12x with the 40mm Paragon).

I am thinking of getting the WO 2" erecting diagonal (40mm free aperture), certainly for bird-watching, but probably also for stargazing, as I did make some initial mistakes when trying to find NGC 188, when comparing what I was seeing to the star atlas.

[Nexus 6]

Hi Michael, well if you are going to Grab and Go you might as well do it in style

Looks like you had a great time with the frac up there!

Bad luck in not finding the Caldwell's, the scope looks like a handy one for other objects though as you said.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

It's not really grab and go, what with setting up the EQ mount, but I can take this set on holidays with me easily. I am thinking of getting a Giro Mini 2DX mount on a photo tripod for airplane travel.

[ollypenrice]

Small scopes are great fun at dark sites. I often use a small one. It is just a different take on things. Can't beat the Alpine air!

Olly