102mm Reflectors

Below are observations made using 102mm refractors. The observing reports below will give you an idea of what can be seen with this type of instrument.

Observer: Kyle Kennard

E-mail address: pinsir00@aol.com

Date and time of Observation: Sunday, September 15, 2002 at 10:15 P.M.

Observing Location: Near Atlanta GA USA

Object Observed: M27, Moon

Viewing conditions: Light Polluted, But above 4.5 mag stars visible tonight.

Telescope 114mm Celestron Reflector

Eyepiece 25mm SMA

Observing notes:
Seeing was excellent today, except for the moon in its nearly half phase. But, the moon didn't seem to bright. Viewed the moon, the moon is always fun to look at, but the moon was not my target tonight. I visited M27, the Dumbell Nebula, my next planetary! This was a big bright nebula, and it was circular in shape in the eyepiece, it gave a nice view with many stars around it! I liked this nebula more than M57, I guess because of its size. It wasn't too hard to find but, hard to point the scope at it as like M57 its almost directly overhead. I tried for M33, but with no luck... I guess I will have to wait a month or so when its higher up to catch a view of it!
Clear Skys!

Observer: Kyle Kennard

E-mail address: pinsir00@aol.com

Date and time of Observation: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 at 10:30 PM

Observing Location: Near Atlanta GA USA

Object Observed: M57

Viewing conditions: Light Polluted, Clear Skys

Telescope 114mm Celestron Reflector

Eyepiece 25mm SMA and 10mm SMA

Observing notes:
OK this was my first Nebula! YAY! I first spotted it in the 25mm eyepiece, WOW this thing is fairly bright! Easily visible it appeared as small circle, I tried to find the empty center and I may have picked up hints of it, but im not sure. In the 10mm eyepiece it was bigger and a little dimmer but I still couldn't make out the hole real easily. I don't have a filter so I wasn't using one, maybe a filter will help out. It was easy to find. Just locate Vega and hop to Sheliak and it is fairly close it. (In the Lyra Constellation next to Cygnus) Easily seen but I would have probably passed it by, if I didn't know it was there.
Clear Skys!

Observer: jeff barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: astro.geekjoy.com

Date and time of Observation: Monday Evening, September 9, 2002 10:45 - 11:30 PDST

Observing Location: Backyard, Boulder Creek, CA, USA

Object Observed: Veil Complex, North American Nebula, Crescent Nebula

Viewing conditions: 5.5 ZULM, 7/10 Stability

Telescope 102mm F9.8 C102-HD Vixen Sourced Achromatic Refractor

Eyepiece 24.5mm Meade SWF

Observing notes:
Greetings All,
Got a late start observing last night. Finished my Monday, "Mr. Domestik" chores after sunset. Settled in with a pint of B&J's finest - Chocolate Fudge Browny. And viewed a rented video - "K-PAX" - starring Kevin Spacey as "Prot".
Loved the movie, but unlike "Sixth Sense", ending a tad predictable. It's science was also slightly off. For you see our hero and "visitor from another world" had ventured forth from a 200 year orbital period eclipsing binary star system "in the direction of Lyra". That system of two suns - "Agape and Satori" - lay some 1K lightyears distant. In a meeting with astronomers, HST data was used to confirm Prot's claim of a planetary system based on unaccounted for orbital perturbations. Hey, I might believe a system at 100 LY's but not ten times that distance. I suspect we'd be hard-pressed to detect such distant planets using current means. And I doubt the Hubble has gotten around to that sort of non-cosmological research anyway. And finally, I might add, most eclipsing binaries have very short period orbits.
But enough "reality therapy". Good movie. Filled with what I like most - people transcending their problems and advancing the cause of human evolution. Something that has actually been known to occur on the Blue Planet - from what I can tell...
Started the movie round 8:30 and ended about 10:45. (Ice cream didn't last near that long). So I grabbed Ms. Vicki (she is not at all adverse to such actions on my part) and setup in ol' Backyard BC. There, with borrowed Meade 24.5mm SWF in place, made a few of the usual checks - Vega, Double Double, M57, M13, M71, M27 & M56.
Strangely, although the sky looked very dark this evening (both unaided and in the 40x field of view), most things appeared exceedingly dim - especially the three globulars. A check of the Challice of the Ring did not quite hold the 12.3 star direct at 120x. At 40x, the 11.6'er was pretty easy though.
Meanwhile, the Double Double showed four airy disks but no diffraction rings - 7/10 stability tops. Things weren't quite as good as they might have been.
Except. Except, d**n if the little 4 incher didn't reveal the entire Veil Complex plus Crescent and North American Nebulae. Sure, I was using the Ultrablock filter for most views. But what the hey, I could actually make out the northern part of the Western Veil, plus the Crescent as well as define the "Gulf of Mexico" from Florida to the Yucatan of the NA Nebula without the filter.
OK so in a nutshell, what did I see. Beginning with the Western Veil (NGC6960), not only could I clearly delineate the northern shall - but could also make out that more difficult diaphanous fan tail region south of 52 Cygni. Quite delicate and beautiful - though lacking any true sense of frontier.
Centering on the limits of the northern extension, swept back and forth due east and west. Vaguely discerned that triangular shaped Northern Veil (AKA Pickering's Wedge - NGC6979). This is a tough catch for any scope and speaks well of the transparency of the sky and contrast possible using the refractor's optics and the Meade SWF.
Continuing east had no trouble locating the Batlief shaped Eastern Veil (NGC6992) - complete with voids, brightenings, and those southern finger-like projections to the west. Yes structure, ladies and gentlemen. Plenty of structure. And at 40x through a 65 degree AFOV eyepiece - everything in a single sweeping panorama. From cleanly defined northern expanse to subtle southern projections.
Spent considerable time enjoying the view, then moved north and east to the spine of the cross. There turned up NGC6888 - the Crescent Nebula. Last year spent a good deal of time trying to definitively locate this low surface brightness, star haze hampered, nebula through 6 inch Argo. But tonight - no problemo. And not only the brighter "C" which traces the outline of the keystone asterism but also the more extended nebulosity to west-southwest. (An expanse that practically quadruples the apparent size of this subtle collection of gas and dust.) A check without the filter, by the way, revealed the brighter portion but not the extended nebulosity to the south - so this baby is definitely enhanced through filter use.)
It was then off for a tour of North America (NGC7000). But the scope's vertiginous angle introduced difficulties in orientation. For you see, one of Ms Vicki's focus knobs kept fouling the mount head of the equatorial mount. Luckily, could just catch nebulosity in the upper (eastern) field of view. So I allowed the Earth's rotation to drift it to center. Very intriguing. Kind of like a slow, seductive dance. Constant but almost imperceptible 45x motion. Patience, jeff, patience...
What presented itself turned out to be the region of greatest frontier delineation in the entire almost two degree nebular realm - the Gulf Coast, straightforward and totally engrossing. No guesswork whatsoever. Imagination played no role whatsoever. Really!
And thus began a half-hour exploration of the entire nebulae. From Florida to Arctic circle, it was all there - but not without varying degrees of contrast and delineation. To my eye, the Pacific Coast was pretty straightforward. It was only Canada that offered some difficulty. (But you know them Canadians have yet to decide what language even to speak yet!) But not because nebulosity wasn't there, but because that particular expanse blends more imperceptibly into the black of space.
Having completed my continent-ranging tour, removed the filter. Behold! Nebula present but suppressed - with only the Gulf Coast revealing its frontier with real certainty.
Interestingly, it was only after removing the filter that I was able to actually see the two dozen stars that make up the line of sight open cluster involved with the nebula (NGC6997). Experience shows that the Ultrablock knocks about 2 magnitudes off a scope's reach. Certainly the brightest members of the cluster are 10th magnitude or dimmer.
So OK, had a fabulous view of many of the finest faint nebulae in the heavens. From supernova remnant to expansive hydrogen gas clouds. And all from the backyard. A rare occurrence. All the more delightful for that reason. But I still haven't quite worked out how this was possible. There remains the issue of those globulars. How could they be so faint, and those nebulae so bright?
Hmmmm... love a mystery. Meanwhile, can someone tell me if Prot ever got back to K-PAX???
Comment: Hi Alistair & Co, these four inch refractors are great!

Observer: Ron B[ee]

E-mail address: ronby@cox.net

Date and time of Observation: 11/17/01 12:00am PDT

Observing Location: Near San Diego (2000 ft. elev.)

Object Observed: TV-102 met Eskimo (NGC 2393), spooked by ghost (M78)

Viewing conditions: LM=6

Telescope 102mm TV-102 f/8.6 APO refractor

Eyepiece 30mm Ultima, 8mm,6mm,4mm,3mm Radian, 5mm Tak LE, 2X Ultima Barlow

Observing notes:
If there were any doubt left about the satisfying view through the TV-102; it was completely washed away tonight! Seeing was fair/good with LM=6 at my eastern sky. This morning around midnight, I observed NGC 2393, the Eskimo Nebula. Easily found at 22x (40mm Pentax XL). Immediately, I notice his "wife", the yellowish 8.2 magnitude star SAO 79428 "standing besides him". The nebula and the star looked like a double star. Even at 22x, the Eskimo was obviously non-stellar and slight larger than the star. 30x (30mm Ultima) gave a similar view. Bluish green at 60x; direct vision caused the nebula to blink and disappear totally. The 10.6 mag central star was easily seen. Got very interesting at 110x (8mm TV Radian) with a round shape nebulosity and bright. Direct vision does not make it go away. Central star very easily seen. *Brighter* nebulosity at 146x (6mm Radian). 176x (5mm Tak LE), 220x (4mm Radian), and 293x (3mm Radian) were all intoxicating! The Eskimo retained his brightness and the nebulosity simply kept getting larger and larger. So I went for broke with my Ultima 2X Barlow. The Eskimo retains his brightness at 352x and graniness in the nebulosity can now be detected! But lost color after 293x. Dim slightly at 440x but graininess is still apparent. Took a while to get focus right at 586x; the Eskimo got a dimmed further, but still plenty bright with graininess! I've never used this igloo size magnification on any PN so far. Wow, what a view! The Eskimo and wife are truly worth hospital to the TV-102. BTW, I can't say I saw any "clown face", the other name for NGC 2392.
Before I called it for the night, the TV-102 went looking for M78. I had a note from observing M78 last year from my old C102-HD achromat as "disappointing". Most certainly not with the TV-102! Small nebulosity was seen at 22x with bright center. A hint of a double star in the middle of the nebula at 30x. 60x definitely revealed a presence of what looked like a "double star" lodged right in the middle of a fairly bright nebulosity. I was struck by horror at 110x 'cause M78 revealed itself as an eerie ghost with two eyes. 146x made the nebula brighter. But the eerie feeling turned into panic at 220x when all of the surrounding stars were no longer seen and the ghost simply was staring at me with two bright eyes. At this point, I got the feeling someone was looking at me behind my back. I hurriedly packed up, called it the night. I christened M78 with a new name in my Bee catalog as the "Ghost and Mr. Chicken Nebula" ;-).
A really, really fun night with the TV-102 with many other objects observed (but too tired to write it up ;-)!

Observer: Ron B[ee]

E-mail address: ronby@cox.net

Date and time of Observation: 01/13/01 11:00pm PST

Observing Location: Near San Diego (2000 ft. elev.)

Object Observed: TV-102 exorcised Jupiter's Ghost (NGC 3242)

Viewing conditions: LM=4.5

Telescope 102mm TV-102 f/8.6 APO refractor

Eyepiece 30mm Ultima, 8mm,6mm,4mm,3mm Radian, 5mm Tak LE, 2X Ultima Barlow

Observing notes:
The sky LM near the Ghost was 4.5 and the steady seeing has started to erode an hour or so later. The TV-102 decided to exorcise the Ghost of Jupiter (NGC 3242), a mag 8 PN. It was quite low on the eastern horizon. At 22x (40mm Pentax XL), I immediately noticed that it looked a lot smaller than Jupiter! More like an unfocused green star. Round green shape and clearly a PN at 30x. Very bright greenish at 60x and the PN is enclosed by 3 stars: mag 9.8 GSC 6065:589, mag 11.1 GSC 6065:765, and mag 12.3 GSC 6065:706. One more star, a mag 12.5 GSC 6065:720, a near GSC 6065:706 showed up at 110x (8mm TV Radian PN killer). There appears to be a very faint nebulosity surrounding the PN. Still smaller than Jupiter. 6mm Radian (146x) revealed uneven brightness with the PN, hint of oval shape detected. More of the same at 176x, still green. 220x still showed the 4 stars enclosing the PN and the size of the PN seemed to match the size of Jupiter at 110x. Graininess can now be seen within the PN. Why I may even imagine two bands - just kidding! Very green and a definite, slightly oval shape. At 293x (3mm Radian), the 4 stars just about fit in the FOV. Shockingly, I glimpsed an annulus. Still very bright, grainy and green. 356x gave similar view. Now I got you folks out there with 45deg AFOV orthos converted to try wide-field viewing (such as the Radian), right ;-)? The only disappointment was that the TV-102 failed to capture the 12.3 magnitude central star :-(. Later, I did some research and was very satisfied that my view looked a heck of a lot like this excellent sketch with a 10" Newt I found on the web, only a wee less bright! Note the graininess. I may add that the TV-102 did not use any filter. http://www.jwebdale.btinternet.co.uk/ngc3242.htm
Anyone care to guess why NGC 3242 is called the Ghost of Jupiter? I couldn't figure out! But then, it hit me in the belly like the comet that hit Jupiter! The TV-102/Radian was hinting all night! Most of us can see the 4 moons of Jupiter, right? Well, 4 moons vs 4 stars surrounding NCG 3242 ;-). Yeah, right (sounding sarcastic)!
Tonight, the TV-102 managed to reassure me that it is not only a capable little planetary preacher, but it's also a capable little DSO exorcist ;-).

Observer: Ron B.

Date and time of Observation: 07/19/01 10:00pm - 12:30am PDT

Observing Location: semi-rural Alpine, CA (near San Diego, CA)

Object Observed: Various

Viewing conditions: Seeing: fair Temp: "chilly"

Telescope 4" (102mm) Tele Vue 102 APO refractor

Eyepiece 3mm Radian (293x), 4mm Radian (220x), 5mm Tak LE (176x), 8mm Radian (110x), 30mm + Barlow (60x), 30mm Ultima (30x)

Observing notes:
I went out to observe Mars first (as usual), but seeing and the dust storm was not encouraging. I also observed M27 and M71. The highlight tonight was NGC 6826, the Blinking Nebula). As far as I can tell from searching the Web, no one has logged its observation with a 4" refractor! The smallest instrument that I could find an observation log was with a 4.5" reflector. This has now become my *favorite* planetary nebula because of its brightness and its central star is so easily seen!
NGC 6286, Cygnus, Mag 8.8 (magnitude 11 central star) Ideally positioned at the zenith. First PN that I can see central star so clearly. At 30x, hint of unfocus star near the set of stars to the north that forms an arc. Looks green. A nearby bright double star to the west is used for focusing. At 60x, definitely a PN, pin- point central star can be seen with averted vision, still a tiny disc. Round shape at 110x, pin-point central star with averted vision. See why it's named "blinking" because it disappears (though not completely) with direct vision (but this is true of any dim object I thought). Still bright at 175x but harder now to see the central star. At 220x, PN now looks oval with central star now looking like a "nucleus". Unbelievably, 293x was the *best view* (making the PN looked almost like the picture, only the PN is more blurred. Central star is now clearly seen (more nucleus looking). Still bright. 352x proved too much and too hard to focus. Here's the link to the picture.
NGC 6781, Aquila, Mag 12.0 Not sure why I picked this PN, some web page said that it is reminiscent of the Owl Nebula. Well, not to me (and I have seen the Owl through my TV-102)! I couldn't even see it at 30x and 60x! Bagged it at 110x best view, very dim but large with averted vision. Couldn't have seen it without very detailed chart tonight. Went back to 60x and 30x and I could see it the 2nd time around. Note how the TV-102 was still able to bag this PN at the 4" 12th magnitude threshold. Really looked like irregular oval smoke. Can see stars within the nebula by using the Ron B's "close-then-open-eye" trick, which indicate that the nebula is not opaque. Too dim at 176x but can still be seen. This object is too dim to be fun for TV-102. Here's a picture of how it should look like.
I also attempted the Bernard's Galaxy (NGC 6822), but failed to locate it (I got so confused) because I did not print out a good enough starhopping chart tonight :-(.
Ron B[ee]

Observer: Kazumi Funakoshi

E-mail address: ccr61210@syd.odn.ne.jp

Web site: www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccr61210/www2.odn.ne.jp

Date and time of Observation: June 15,2000

Observing Location: Hitachi-city Ibaraki,Japan

Object Observed: Antares (Double Star)

Viewing conditions: good

Telescope Zeiss APQ100/640(4inch Fluorite Triplet Apo)

Eyepiece A-4mm+Barlow lens

Observing notes:
The Moon is near Antares. I can clearly see the Antares companion because the atmospheric condition is good. It looks a little green color.
I examine Antares with several combinations of eyepiece and Barlow lens, as follows;
(case1):
X2 Barlow lens+ 5 Barlow lens+ A-25mm telescope power is X250
(case2):
X2 Barlow lens+ 5 Barlow lens+ Panoptic 19mm telescope power is X340
(case3):
X2 Barlow lens+ A-4mm telescope power is X320 I can see the Antares companion each cases. I understand it is necessary for good atmospheric condition to see the Antares companion.
Comment: very steady atmospheric condition is necessary to resolve the Antares companion , but it depends on the quality of the telescope. Please refer to my HP (English Version)

Observer: Ian Betts

E-mail address: ian.betts@virgin.net

Date and time of Observation: Sunday 12th November 2000, 23:00 UT

Observing Location: Sussex, England - near the south coast.

Object Observed: Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon

Viewing conditions: Better than average

Telescope TeleVue 102 on Vixen GP-DX mount

Eyepiece 12mm Nagler, 8mm & 6mm Radian plus x2 Big Barlow

Observing notes:
Took my new baby out to watch the planets last night. The near full Moon was almost right between Jupiter and Saturn, so these seemed like good enough targets!
I used a variety of eps - 40mm Pentax, 22mm, 17mm & 12mm Naglers, 10mm, 8mm & 6mm Radians plus Big Barlow all through an Everbright diagonal. Thought I would need the wide view of the 40mm ep but once I got the Starbeam aligned all my wide field eps were not needed. That Starbeam sure is accurate, and easy to use. I found that, in the end, I could look down the tube from about 3 feet away from the finder, slew the telescope to, say, Saturn, place the planet in the middle of the red dot, and there it was almost in the centre of the 6mm ep field when using the Big Barlow! That's centre of field with x290 magnification!! Talk about easy or what!
Anyway, to the views. Seeing was OK. I'm not too experienced at rating it but looking at the Lunar limb with about x200, there was obvious image movement but glimpses of clarity were possible. The Moon and planets were really bright. The views were excellent - no false colour, took magnification up to about x220 and was only limited by the seeing.
The view of Jupiter was enthralling. I watched the Red Spot being chased round to the limb by the transit of Europa and its shadow and the other 3 moons were all resolved to disks. Best views were with the 8mm Radian with Barlow (approx x220). Saturn was also great. Same magnification showed bands of clouds and a few small moons. The Cassini division of Saturn's rings was really dark and wide (this was even more impressive when you realise how close Saturn was to a nearly full Moon!
The 102 was riding on a Vixen GP-DX and balanced very well on this mount, only one 5kg weight just a short way down the shaft. Vibrations died away almost the instant I let go of the focuser, which I might add performed brilliantly. Targets snapped into focus with no ambiguity. The objective of the 102 is very well protected from dew. It was really damp. The Starbeam misted up a couple of times (a 12 volt hair drier solved that), and after 2.5 hours the tube was dripping wet, but the objective stayed dry!
All in all - two and a half hours of pure heaven!
When I get the chance during moonless nights I'll do a comparison between the TeleVue 102 and the Intes Micro MN86 (8" Maksutov Newtonian). I'll report it back to this group. Both scopes are of excellent optical quality so I'm sure that the MN86 will beat the 102 but by how much?
Clear skies all 'till next time.
Ian.

Observer: Paul Davenne

E-mail address: pdavenne@kraan-consulting.com

Date and time of Observation: 15-11-1999

Observing Location: Rotterdam (The Netherlands)

Object Observed: The Moon

Viewing conditions: Perfect

Telescope Celestron 102mm Refractor HD

Eyepiece Plossl 20mm

Observing notes:
Photo was made with a digital camera Sony Mavica FD 73 (resolution 640 x 800 DPI) by ocular projection. with a self-made ocular adaptor from plastic.

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Observer:	Kyle Kennard
E-mail address:	pinsir00@aol.com
Date and time of Observation:	Sunday, September 15, 2002 at 10:15 P.M.
Observing Location:	Near Atlanta GA USA
Object Observed:	M27, Moon
Viewing conditions:	Light Polluted, But above 4.5 mag stars visible tonight.
Telescope	114mm Celestron Reflector
Eyepiece	25mm SMA
Observing notes:	Seeing was excellent today, except for the moon in its nearly half phase. But, the moon didn't seem to bright. Viewed the moon, the moon is always fun to look at, but the moon was not my target tonight. I visited M27, the Dumbell Nebula, my next planetary! This was a big bright nebula, and it was circular in shape in the eyepiece, it gave a nice view with many stars around it! I liked this nebula more than M57, I guess because of its size. It wasn't too hard to find but, hard to point the scope at it as like M57 its almost directly overhead. I tried for M33, but with no luck... I guess I will have to wait a month or so when its higher up to catch a view of it! Clear Skys!

Observer:	jeff barbour
E-mail address:	barbour@ihwy.com
Web site:	astro.geekjoy.com
Date and time of Observation:	Monday Evening, September 9, 2002 10:45 - 11:30 PDST
Observing Location:	Backyard, Boulder Creek, CA, USA
Object Observed:	Veil Complex, North American Nebula, Crescent Nebula
Viewing conditions:	5.5 ZULM, 7/10 Stability
Telescope	102mm F9.8 C102-HD Vixen Sourced Achromatic Refractor
Eyepiece	24.5mm Meade SWF
Observing notes:	Greetings All, Got a late start observing last night. Finished my Monday, "Mr. Domestik" chores after sunset. Settled in with a pint of B&J's finest - Chocolate Fudge Browny. And viewed a rented video - "K-PAX" - starring Kevin Spacey as "Prot". Loved the movie, but unlike "Sixth Sense", ending a tad predictable. It's science was also slightly off. For you see our hero and "visitor from another world" had ventured forth from a 200 year orbital period eclipsing binary star system "in the direction of Lyra". That system of two suns - "Agape and Satori" - lay some 1K lightyears distant. In a meeting with astronomers, HST data was used to confirm Prot's claim of a planetary system based on unaccounted for orbital perturbations. Hey, I might believe a system at 100 LY's but not ten times that distance. I suspect we'd be hard-pressed to detect such distant planets using current means. And I doubt the Hubble has gotten around to that sort of non-cosmological research anyway. And finally, I might add, most eclipsing binaries have very short period orbits. But enough "reality therapy". Good movie. Filled with what I like most - people transcending their problems and advancing the cause of human evolution. Something that has actually been known to occur on the Blue Planet - from what I can tell... Started the movie round 8:30 and ended about 10:45. (Ice cream didn't last near that long). So I grabbed Ms. Vicki (she is not at all adverse to such actions on my part) and setup in ol' Backyard BC. There, with borrowed Meade 24.5mm SWF in place, made a few of the usual checks - Vega, Double Double, M57, M13, M71, M27 & M56. Strangely, although the sky looked very dark this evening (both unaided and in the 40x field of view), most things appeared exceedingly dim - especially the three globulars. A check of the Challice of the Ring did not quite hold the 12.3 star direct at 120x. At 40x, the 11.6'er was pretty easy though. Meanwhile, the Double Double showed four airy disks but no diffraction rings - 7/10 stability tops. Things weren't quite as good as they might have been. Except. Except, d**n if the little 4 incher didn't reveal the entire Veil Complex plus Crescent and North American Nebulae. Sure, I was using the Ultrablock filter for most views. But what the hey, I could actually make out the northern part of the Western Veil, plus the Crescent as well as define the "Gulf of Mexico" from Florida to the Yucatan of the NA Nebula without the filter. OK so in a nutshell, what did I see. Beginning with the Western Veil (NGC6960), not only could I clearly delineate the northern shall - but could also make out that more difficult diaphanous fan tail region south of 52 Cygni. Quite delicate and beautiful - though lacking any true sense of frontier. Centering on the limits of the northern extension, swept back and forth due east and west. Vaguely discerned that triangular shaped Northern Veil (AKA Pickering's Wedge - NGC6979). This is a tough catch for any scope and speaks well of the transparency of the sky and contrast possible using the refractor's optics and the Meade SWF. Continuing east had no trouble locating the Batlief shaped Eastern Veil (NGC6992) - complete with voids, brightenings, and those southern finger-like projections to the west. Yes structure, ladies and gentlemen. Plenty of structure. And at 40x through a 65 degree AFOV eyepiece - everything in a single sweeping panorama. From cleanly defined northern expanse to subtle southern projections. Spent considerable time enjoying the view, then moved north and east to the spine of the cross. There turned up NGC6888 - the Crescent Nebula. Last year spent a good deal of time trying to definitively locate this low surface brightness, star haze hampered, nebula through 6 inch Argo. But tonight - no problemo. And not only the brighter "C" which traces the outline of the keystone asterism but also the more extended nebulosity to west-southwest. (An expanse that practically quadruples the apparent size of this subtle collection of gas and dust.) A check without the filter, by the way, revealed the brighter portion but not the extended nebulosity to the south - so this baby is definitely enhanced through filter use.) It was then off for a tour of North America (NGC7000). But the scope's vertiginous angle introduced difficulties in orientation. For you see, one of Ms Vicki's focus knobs kept fouling the mount head of the equatorial mount. Luckily, could just catch nebulosity in the upper (eastern) field of view. So I allowed the Earth's rotation to drift it to center. Very intriguing. Kind of like a slow, seductive dance. Constant but almost imperceptible 45x motion. Patience, jeff, patience... What presented itself turned out to be the region of greatest frontier delineation in the entire almost two degree nebular realm - the Gulf Coast, straightforward and totally engrossing. No guesswork whatsoever. Imagination played no role whatsoever. Really! And thus began a half-hour exploration of the entire nebulae. From Florida to Arctic circle, it was all there - but not without varying degrees of contrast and delineation. To my eye, the Pacific Coast was pretty straightforward. It was only Canada that offered some difficulty. (But you know them Canadians have yet to decide what language even to speak yet!) But not because nebulosity wasn't there, but because that particular expanse blends more imperceptibly into the black of space. Having completed my continent-ranging tour, removed the filter. Behold! Nebula present but suppressed - with only the Gulf Coast revealing its frontier with real certainty. Interestingly, it was only after removing the filter that I was able to actually see the two dozen stars that make up the line of sight open cluster involved with the nebula (NGC6997). Experience shows that the Ultrablock knocks about 2 magnitudes off a scope's reach. Certainly the brightest members of the cluster are 10th magnitude or dimmer. So OK, had a fabulous view of many of the finest faint nebulae in the heavens. From supernova remnant to expansive hydrogen gas clouds. And all from the backyard. A rare occurrence. All the more delightful for that reason. But I still haven't quite worked out how this was possible. There remains the issue of those globulars. How could they be so faint, and those nebulae so bright? Hmmmm... love a mystery. Meanwhile, can someone tell me if Prot ever got back to K-PAX??? Comment: Hi Alistair & Co, these four inch refractors are great!

Observer:	Ron B[ee]
E-mail address:	ronby@cox.net
Date and time of Observation:	11/17/01 12:00am PDT
Observing Location:	Near San Diego (2000 ft. elev.)
Object Observed:	TV-102 met Eskimo (NGC 2393), spooked by ghost (M78)
Viewing conditions:	LM=6
Telescope	102mm TV-102 f/8.6 APO refractor
Eyepiece	30mm Ultima, 8mm,6mm,4mm,3mm Radian, 5mm Tak LE, 2X Ultima Barlow
Observing notes:	If there were any doubt left about the satisfying view through the TV-102; it was completely washed away tonight! Seeing was fair/good with LM=6 at my eastern sky. This morning around midnight, I observed NGC 2393, the Eskimo Nebula. Easily found at 22x (40mm Pentax XL). Immediately, I notice his "wife", the yellowish 8.2 magnitude star SAO 79428 "standing besides him". The nebula and the star looked like a double star. Even at 22x, the Eskimo was obviously non-stellar and slight larger than the star. 30x (30mm Ultima) gave a similar view. Bluish green at 60x; direct vision caused the nebula to blink and disappear totally. The 10.6 mag central star was easily seen. Got very interesting at 110x (8mm TV Radian) with a round shape nebulosity and bright. Direct vision does not make it go away. Central star very easily seen. Brighter nebulosity at 146x (6mm Radian). 176x (5mm Tak LE), 220x (4mm Radian), and 293x (3mm Radian) were all intoxicating! The Eskimo retained his brightness and the nebulosity simply kept getting larger and larger. So I went for broke with my Ultima 2X Barlow. The Eskimo retains his brightness at 352x and graniness in the nebulosity can now be detected! But lost color after 293x. Dim slightly at 440x but graininess is still apparent. Took a while to get focus right at 586x; the Eskimo got a dimmed further, but still plenty bright with graininess! I've never used this igloo size magnification on any PN so far. Wow, what a view! The Eskimo and wife are truly worth hospital to the TV-102. BTW, I can't say I saw any "clown face", the other name for NGC 2392. Before I called it for the night, the TV-102 went looking for M78. I had a note from observing M78 last year from my old C102-HD achromat as "disappointing". Most certainly not with the TV-102! Small nebulosity was seen at 22x with bright center. A hint of a double star in the middle of the nebula at 30x. 60x definitely revealed a presence of what looked like a "double star" lodged right in the middle of a fairly bright nebulosity. I was struck by horror at 110x 'cause M78 revealed itself as an eerie ghost with two eyes. 146x made the nebula brighter. But the eerie feeling turned into panic at 220x when all of the surrounding stars were no longer seen and the ghost simply was staring at me with two bright eyes. At this point, I got the feeling someone was looking at me behind my back. I hurriedly packed up, called it the night. I christened M78 with a new name in my Bee catalog as the "Ghost and Mr. Chicken Nebula" ;-). A really, really fun night with the TV-102 with many other objects observed (but too tired to write it up ;-)!

Observer:	Ron B.
Date and time of Observation:	07/19/01 10:00pm - 12:30am PDT
Observing Location:	semi-rural Alpine, CA (near San Diego, CA)
Object Observed:	Various
Viewing conditions:	Seeing: fair Temp: "chilly"
Telescope	4" (102mm) Tele Vue 102 APO refractor
Eyepiece	3mm Radian (293x), 4mm Radian (220x), 5mm Tak LE (176x), 8mm Radian (110x), 30mm + Barlow (60x), 30mm Ultima (30x)
Observing notes:	I went out to observe Mars first (as usual), but seeing and the dust storm was not encouraging. I also observed M27 and M71. The highlight tonight was NGC 6826, the Blinking Nebula). As far as I can tell from searching the Web, no one has logged its observation with a 4" refractor! The smallest instrument that I could find an observation log was with a 4.5" reflector. This has now become my favorite planetary nebula because of its brightness and its central star is so easily seen! NGC 6286, Cygnus, Mag 8.8 (magnitude 11 central star) Ideally positioned at the zenith. First PN that I can see central star so clearly. At 30x, hint of unfocus star near the set of stars to the north that forms an arc. Looks green. A nearby bright double star to the west is used for focusing. At 60x, definitely a PN, pin- point central star can be seen with averted vision, still a tiny disc. Round shape at 110x, pin-point central star with averted vision. See why it's named "blinking" because it disappears (though not completely) with direct vision (but this is true of any dim object I thought). Still bright at 175x but harder now to see the central star. At 220x, PN now looks oval with central star now looking like a "nucleus". Unbelievably, 293x was the best view (making the PN looked almost like the picture, only the PN is more blurred. Central star is now clearly seen (more nucleus looking). Still bright. 352x proved too much and too hard to focus. Here's the link to the picture. NGC 6781, Aquila, Mag 12.0 Not sure why I picked this PN, some web page said that it is reminiscent of the Owl Nebula. Well, not to me (and I have seen the Owl through my TV-102)! I couldn't even see it at 30x and 60x! Bagged it at 110x best view, very dim but large with averted vision. Couldn't have seen it without very detailed chart tonight. Went back to 60x and 30x and I could see it the 2nd time around. Note how the TV-102 was still able to bag this PN at the 4" 12th magnitude threshold. Really looked like irregular oval smoke. Can see stars within the nebula by using the Ron B's "close-then-open-eye" trick, which indicate that the nebula is not opaque. Too dim at 176x but can still be seen. This object is too dim to be fun for TV-102. Here's a picture of how it should look like. I also attempted the Bernard's Galaxy (NGC 6822), but failed to locate it (I got so confused) because I did not print out a good enough starhopping chart tonight :-(. Ron B[ee]

Observer:	Kazumi Funakoshi
E-mail address:	ccr61210@syd.odn.ne.jp
Web site:	www2.odn.ne.jp/~ccr61210/www2.odn.ne.jp
Date and time of Observation:	June 15,2000
Observing Location:	Hitachi-city Ibaraki,Japan
Object Observed:	Antares (Double Star)
Viewing conditions:	good
Telescope	Zeiss APQ100/640(4inch Fluorite Triplet Apo)
Eyepiece	A-4mm+Barlow lens
Observing notes:	The Moon is near Antares. I can clearly see the Antares companion because the atmospheric condition is good. It looks a little green color. I examine Antares with several combinations of eyepiece and Barlow lens, as follows; (case1): X2 Barlow lens+ 5 Barlow lens+ A-25mm telescope power is X250 (case2): X2 Barlow lens+ 5 Barlow lens+ Panoptic 19mm telescope power is X340 (case3): X2 Barlow lens+ A-4mm telescope power is X320 I can see the Antares companion each cases. I understand it is necessary for good atmospheric condition to see the Antares companion. Comment: very steady atmospheric condition is necessary to resolve the Antares companion , but it depends on the quality of the telescope. Please refer to my HP (English Version)

Observer:	Ian Betts
E-mail address:	ian.betts@virgin.net
Date and time of Observation:	Sunday 12th November 2000, 23:00 UT
Observing Location:	Sussex, England - near the south coast.
Object Observed:	Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon
Viewing conditions:	Better than average
Telescope	TeleVue 102 on Vixen GP-DX mount
Eyepiece	12mm Nagler, 8mm & 6mm Radian plus x2 Big Barlow
Observing notes:	Took my new baby out to watch the planets last night. The near full Moon was almost right between Jupiter and Saturn, so these seemed like good enough targets! I used a variety of eps - 40mm Pentax, 22mm, 17mm & 12mm Naglers, 10mm, 8mm & 6mm Radians plus Big Barlow all through an Everbright diagonal. Thought I would need the wide view of the 40mm ep but once I got the Starbeam aligned all my wide field eps were not needed. That Starbeam sure is accurate, and easy to use. I found that, in the end, I could look down the tube from about 3 feet away from the finder, slew the telescope to, say, Saturn, place the planet in the middle of the red dot, and there it was almost in the centre of the 6mm ep field when using the Big Barlow! That's centre of field with x290 magnification!! Talk about easy or what! Anyway, to the views. Seeing was OK. I'm not too experienced at rating it but looking at the Lunar limb with about x200, there was obvious image movement but glimpses of clarity were possible. The Moon and planets were really bright. The views were excellent - no false colour, took magnification up to about x220 and was only limited by the seeing. The view of Jupiter was enthralling. I watched the Red Spot being chased round to the limb by the transit of Europa and its shadow and the other 3 moons were all resolved to disks. Best views were with the 8mm Radian with Barlow (approx x220). Saturn was also great. Same magnification showed bands of clouds and a few small moons. The Cassini division of Saturn's rings was really dark and wide (this was even more impressive when you realise how close Saturn was to a nearly full Moon! The 102 was riding on a Vixen GP-DX and balanced very well on this mount, only one 5kg weight just a short way down the shaft. Vibrations died away almost the instant I let go of the focuser, which I might add performed brilliantly. Targets snapped into focus with no ambiguity. The objective of the 102 is very well protected from dew. It was really damp. The Starbeam misted up a couple of times (a 12 volt hair drier solved that), and after 2.5 hours the tube was dripping wet, but the objective stayed dry! All in all - two and a half hours of pure heaven! When I get the chance during moonless nights I'll do a comparison between the TeleVue 102 and the Intes Micro MN86 (8" Maksutov Newtonian). I'll report it back to this group. Both scopes are of excellent optical quality so I'm sure that the MN86 will beat the 102 but by how much? Clear skies all 'till next time. Ian.

Observer:	Paul Davenne
E-mail address:	pdavenne@kraan-consulting.com
Date and time of Observation:	15-11-1999
Observing Location:	Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
Object Observed:	The Moon
Viewing conditions:	Perfect
Telescope	Celestron 102mm Refractor HD
Eyepiece	Plossl 20mm
Observing notes:	Photo was made with a digital camera Sony Mavica FD 73 (resolution 640 x 800 DPI) by ocular projection. with a self-made ocular adaptor from plastic.