Short, but very sweet!

[F15Rules]

Well, we moan a lot about cloudy skies, but the last 4 or so have been pretty good here and I've not been able to take advantage of them!

But last night I managed to get out for about 80 minutes with the Lomo 6" Maksutov. The wind was incredibly strong though, and then clouds started rolling in and I almost gave up. But suddenly the wind just dropped by about 80%, the sky cleared again, and it was SO clear, even allowing for the Moon being bright now.

I concentrated on 4 objects:

M13: always a big favourite and reminds me that summer is on the way again, as does Vega rising hard on Hercules heels;).

I put in my Meade Japan 32mm plossl and could see it ok, but the sky background was rather bright, especially with the Moon. So I put in my trusty 10mm Tal plossl. In the F14.4 Mak (FL= 2160mm), this gives 216x. The increased mag made the background sky much darker, and I could begin to resolve sprinklings of faint stars at the edges and "in front" of the cluster. I decided to be silly and put in my old Pentax 6mm Ortho, a 0.965" classic ep sitting in a takahashi adapter to fit my 1.25" diagonal (it's the only piece of Tak gear I own:p). I also (don't laugh) put a dark fleece over my head to block out the Moon from behind me and next door's conservatory light

().

This ep gave me 360x and the image was just stunning. Everywhere there were tiny pinpoint stars. The globular took up almost half the field of view with averted vision (the old ep's do have small FOV), and it just looked so BIG!

The hardest part was to keep the slo mos going as it raced out of the fov within about 35-40 seconds. Worth it though!

Next up was Saturn. Again I was able to pump it up to x360 with the Pentax and could clearly see one major belt, Cassini, and 3 Moons. A lovely creamy off white colour, rather like some of the images on this site. I find Saturn can take high magnifications quite well. I think if I had an RA drive on my scope I could definitely see more.

Thirdly I moved to Mizar, one of my all time favourites. This time my superwide 70 degree WO clone at 15mm gave a great view at x144, and the Meade 32mm at about 67x was excellent too, so bright. Lots of fainter stars in the background field, even allowing for the moon.

So lastly, feeling very happy with this short but sweet session, I couldn't put the scope away without checking out Luna. I've said it before, but it is true, this scope is totally at it's best on the Moon and Planets, and the sheer amount of minute detail visible last night, once the wind had died down, was amazing. Steady, even at x360, would have taken more power but I don't currently have a barlow or any shorter fl eyepieces: I honestly believe on a good night like last night that I could take the power up to x500..but first I need to get a new RA drive!

With that, I decided to call it a night, and went in for a hot drink and a hot water bottle warm up before freezing my dear wife to death as I slumped into bed:D.

More nights like this one, please!

hope you guys have had some good views these past few nights as well.

cheers

Dave

[beamish]

Sweet indeed Dave aye more please

[Nexus 6]

Nice review Dave, looks as if the conditions were almost perfect for you even with the Moon up, thinking of using x500 is something but even at x360! thats some going

glad you enjoyed

[F15Rules]

Cheers guys..is clear again here in West Leicestershire but daren't go out two nights on the trot:eek:..

When I'm retired it will be different!

cheers

Dave

[Moonshane]

superb Dave, I had a similar Lunar experience with my 6" f11. Just stunning. http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-discussion/138225-ive-changed-my-mind-best-lunar-scope.html

are you getting into reflectors then?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. Good to make use of even a short break in the clouds/wind.

I must say I myself never push beyond 288x with my C8, as I clearly start to see the airy or seeing discs (depending on conditions) if I do. I once pushed Mars to 430x in excellent seeing, but this did not help. This may be due to the fact that I have a visual acuity of 1.6 (60% sharper than average), so I see more at lower magnification than most. I had the same experience with the 6" F/8 I used to have: pushing to more than 250x was never a success, even under outstanding conditions.

[F15Rules]

Hi Shane, good to hear from you!

Well, yes and no...I am and will always be first and foremost a refractor nut (will have my Pentax J80 buried with me:D). But ever since I owned an OMC 140Mak for a while, I was very impressed. The ease of use (short tube), apo optics and micro focussing appealed to me a lot. But the long cool down did not.

I'd read that some Russian Maks used special glass which cooled down much quicker, and specifically I'd seen some great reviews of Lomo scopes (they also make fabulous lenses for high end apo scopes like TMB). So when the chance to buy this Mak, little used, and 7 years old, came up, I had to go for it.

It was undermounted on an Eq3, so I sold the mount on and put it on my CG-5 with heavy duty wooden tripod and it is rock solid.

I came close to selling it recently, but tbh, after the other night's session, I just thought why??? If I'd sold it I'd probably go for a 5-6" refractor but couldn't afford an apo, so what would I gain?

So I am definitely a fan of Maks, less so of other reflectors. But I fully understand your "conversion" to them...you have some big eyes there now which will show far more faint fuzzies etc than I will ever see.

And an F11 Newonian???:):eek: the images in that thing must be unbelievable. And don't even start me off on the price!!

Hope you get some more good nights soon Shane.

best wishes

Dave

[philj]

Hi Dave

Glad you managed a night out with the scope, I managed the last but one clear night and was on lunar and saturn for ages.

I thought I saw an ad for the Lomo on ABS, I think you may have regretted selling that scope.

Philj

[Moonshane]

Hi Shane, good to hear from you!

Well, yes and no...I am and will always be first and foremost a refractor nut (will have my Pentax J80 buried with me:D). But ever since I owned an OMC 140Mak for a while, I was very impressed. The ease of use (short tube), apo optics and micro focussing appealed to me a lot. But the long cool down did not.

I'd read that some Russian Maks used special glass which cooled down much quicker, and specifically I'd seen some great reviews of Lomo scopes (they also make fabulous lenses for high end apo scopes like TMB). So when the chance to buy this Mak, little used, and 7 years old, came up, I had to go for it.

It was undermounted on an Eq3, so I sold the mount on and put it on my CG-5 with heavy duty wooden tripod and it is rock solid.

I came close to selling it recently, but tbh, after the other night's session, I just thought why??? If I'd sold it I'd probably go for a 5-6" refractor but couldn't afford an apo, so what would I gain?

So I am definitely a fan of Maks, less so of other reflectors. But I fully understand your "conversion" to them...you have some big eyes there now which will show far more faint fuzzies etc than I will ever see.

And an F11 Newonian???:):eek: the images in that thing must be unbelievable. And don't even start me off on the price!!

Hope you get some more good nights soon Shane.

best wishes

Dave

cheers Dave,

I have certainly heard good things myself about the Lomos.

I think it's good to have a range of gear if you can but I am the other way round. I keep thinking why not get a 80-100mm f10 achro but then I think to myself why? would it really be any better than the 6" f11? I think I'd need to get a 102mm slow Vixen fluorite to better it (more money than I can afford currently) and even then it would possibly only be 'better' on double stars?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

cheers Dave,

I have certainly heard good things myself about the Lomos.

I think it's good to have a range of gear if you can but I am the other way round. I keep thinking why not get a 80-100mm f10 achro but then I think to myself why? would it really be any better than the 6" f11? I think I'd need to get a 102mm slow Vixen fluorite to better it (more money than I can afford currently) and even then it would possibly only be 'better' on double stars?

I think a well-collimated 6" F/11 Newtonian will beat even a good 4" APO, if my experience with a 6" F/8 are anything to go by. The effect of the central obstruction is minimal.

[Moonshane]

I think a well-collimated 6" F/11 Newtonian will beat even a good 4" APO, if my experience with a 6" F/8 are anything to go by. The effect of the central obstruction is minimal.

cheers Michael good to hear and I'd have to re-buy a diagonal and a mount too

[mdstuart]

A great report, I could almost imaging being their.

I was observing Saturn with my small 76mm dob. With the 6mm TMB I get x50 but even at that level I could clearly see the rings and just pick up Titan...of course after watching the programme on TV about the Cassini mission!

I also split Mizar with the little scope along with Cor Corroli. Super doubles.

M3 was a fuzzy blob in the little dob and almost starting to resolve.

I really must get a 4mm for my big dob again for those globulars!

Thanks for sharing!

Mark

[F15Rules]

Cheers Mark:).

Shane, I'd agree with Michael, it would be hard to beat an F11 Newtonian for image quality.

It's a shame that one single scope can't meet all needs but I do think that two or 3 well chosen scopes can cover most needs (for visual anyway).

I now mainly use the Lomo 6", and the Pentax 80mm F12 (unbelievable on double stars) for most of my viewing. If I could afford two more, they'd probably be a good wide angle refractor, say Williams 110mm and for faint fuzzies a big 10-12" Dob..don't want much, do I??

Phil, I got the Lomo out the night after I "tested the water" on UKABS, and regretted putting it up for offers, so I withdrew it. For once I let me head rule my heart, and am glad I did.

[m_j_lyons]

When all you see is clouds for days upon days these "short and sweet" sessions rare even the more satisfying.