Observing reports - 80mm Refractor

Observations made by 80mm refractors are shown below. There are many excellent reports detailing what can be seen with this telescope.

Observer: Ian Knight

E-mail address: iknight@eggconnect.net

Web site: www.lunarviews.com

Date and time of Observation: 29th January 2003 22:00 hrs

Observing Location: Downend, Bristol UK

Object Observed: M44 & M45

Viewing conditions: Very clear and cold, no Moon

Telescope Orion ST 80 Refractor on Camera Tripod

Eyepiece 40mm, 25mm & 9mm Kellner

Observing notes:
Tonight, a combination of dreadful TV inside and crisp clear skies outside pursuaded me to grab the Orion ST80 & Camera Tripod and search out M44 (the Beehive cluster) which is favourably placed in the eastern skies from my viewing location. With the scope up in seconds, I inserted the 40mm Kellner (giving 10x magnification) and pointed it towards Jupiter. Moving right towards the centre of the constellation of Cancer, I easily came across the Beehive Cluster. My immediate impression of M44 was its impressive size, neatly framed within the 40mm Kellners field of view. Swapping out the 40mm for 9mm eyepiece, I zoomed into the trapezium of stars at the heart of the cluster, however the overall view at lower magnification was far more fascinating to observe, so in went the 40mm eyepiece again.
With a whetted appetite, I looked across to Orion and M42 which was unfortunately hidden behind the house roof .I slewed the scope to the right of Orion to catch Taurus and the famous M45 Plaides Cluster. This is the most impressive view of this cluster I have seen to date with 20 plus stars in view. Moving up to the 25mm Kellner, the view was even more impressive. After a good few minutes studying this cluster it was time to get inside and warm-up.
Comment: Tonight's session although hardly ambitious, clearly demonstrated the value of the Orion ST80 which can set up very quickly if time is short. Its wide field of view and correct-image main tube and viewfinder on an alt-az tripod makes locating the better known celestial objects simple and intuitive (ideal for a beginner). Although my Equatorially-mounted 150mm f5 Newtonian reflector is great for both detailed deep-sky observation and lunar photographic work, the ST80 cannot be beaten for sheer convenience and ease of use. The only down-side to this set-up is the lack of slow-motion alt-az controls on the tripod when using the ST80 at magnifications over 50x. A sturdy AZ3 tripod would complete the set-up nicely - time to start saving !

Observer: Ray Hunter

E-mail address: hunters2@quiknet.com

Date and time of Observation: September 23, 9:30 PDT

Observing Location: Roseville, Ca. N 39. deg. Lat. 150 ft elevation

Object Observed: M-57

Viewing conditions: Fair, with almost a full moon

Telescope 80mm X720mm f/9 Stellarvue refractor

Eyepiece Vixen 8-25 mm Zoom

Observing notes:
I usually don't do much observing from my backyard due to the limited view. I can only view W, or S/W and E or S/E. Most of the northern Sky and most of the southern sky are obscured by my home looking north and high trees looking south. However on Monday night I was out with binoculars looking at the Moon when I noticed Vega shining very brightly almost directly overhead. I recalled that someone had told me that the best time to view an object was when it was directly overhead. I have tried on several occasions to view the Ring without success. So I decided to give it a go. I set up the scope and aligned on Vega. I have seen this bright beauty before but this was the brightest I have ever seen her shine. I used the telrad to find Lyra Beta and swept down about half way to Lyra Upsilon where I could see a faint round shaped hazy spot. I would have, and may have in the past, mistaken it for a faint star but my instincts are getting a little better now and I knew this had to be The Ring.
Instead of sweeping around I focused down on the zoom to 8mm and relaxed my eyes. I waited and kept viewing it took quite a while maybe 20 mins to half an hour but finally I saw it - a hazy ring with a dark center. Although books I have read say this object is bright and easily visible in small telescopes. I cannot say that was my experience. I was able to view it, but only barely, and with a lot of patience and persistence. However I feel very good about having done so from my own backyard.

Observer: Ray Hunter

E-mail address: hunters2@quiknet.com

Date and time of Observation: September 7, 2002 9:00-12:00 PM PDT

Observing Location: Blue Canyon, California, N 39 deg. Lat. Elev 5000 ft

Object Observed: Antares, M-4, Oph, M-22, M-17, M-51

Viewing conditions: Clear dark sky

Telescope 80mm X720mm f/9 Stellarvue refractor

Eyepiece Eyepiece Used:

Observing notes:
At our monthly SVAS Star Party, we set up our scope at about 7:45 PM and wandered around a bit to see some of the many different telescopes being set up.
We were particularly interested in a minimalist design 18" f/4 DOB. It's a first scope attempt made of aluminium and composites, the secondary mirror is suspended using monofilament fishing line and tension rods, the truss supports are made of very light weight carbon composite and the eyepiece is mounted to an aluminium bicycle wheel rim. This scope was attracting a great deal of interest all night long and judging from the oohs and awes coming from the people gathered around it the views must have been great.
We started our viewing session by looking for the Jewel Box in Scorpius; however, it turned out to be too low on the horizon to view so we moved up the line of stars in Scorpius to Antares. Antares: the red super giant is the 15th brightest star in the sky and is 700 times larger in diameter than our own Sun. We easily centered Antares in the Stellarvue and began viewing the bright areas around this star which includes the star Rho Ophiuchi which is surrounded by the emission nebula IC4604. The star is viewable in our 80mm telescope but the nebula was not.
Next we moved just below Antares to what was really our intended target all along - the globular cluster M-4. M-4 is a 6th mag. cluster approximately 14,000ly distant. It appeared faint but easily resolved in our telescope using low power. The globular center was faint but discernable.
We next moved up above Antares and toward the tail of Scorpius looking for a Triple Star called Oph. I do not have much info on this little triple except to say that yes it is there and we were able to easily view all three stars in our 80mm telescope at low power.
We next visited M-22 in Sagittarius, This bright 5th mag. globular is becoming one of our favorites. It shines brightly and is just beautiful to look at even in a small telescope.
Our next target was M-17 the Swan Nebula which we found faint but viewable at low power.
Our last target of the night was M-51 the Whirlpool Galaxy in Ursa Major. We started on Alkaid the first Star in the handle of the Big Dipper and then moved straight down using the low power 32mm eyepiece, without the Barlow, until we found the faint double smudge in our view. M-51 is an 8th mag. Spiral Galaxy however none of the spiral seemed resolvable to us. We ended our session around 12:00AM as the night air began to chill.

Observer: Ray Hunter

E-mail address: hunters2@quiknet.com

Date and time of Observation: August 31, 2002

Observing Location: Big Bend State Park, California, Elevation 5800 Ft

Object Observed: M-69, M-28, Mizar/Alcor, Arcturus, Altair, Cygni-61

Viewing conditions: Good To Poor

Telescope 80mm X720mm f/9 Stellarvue refractor

Eyepiece Vixen 12-25 mm Zoom

Observing notes:
Joyce and I volunteered our time and telescope for a 7 night public event entitled Starry-Starry Nights - 7 nights of public viewing at 7 different locations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This night's site was a roadside parking lot in a State Park. The conditions were very good as to clear skies but a constant stream of passing cars on the roadway made viewing very difficult. About ten of us, mostly SVAS members began set-up at about 7:30 p.m.
We were each assigned a list of different objects to view so that the public would be able to go from scope to scope without duplications. Our list started with Altair for an easy early bright Star. We had no trouble finding it as it was one of the first Stars to appear after Sunset. By 8:15 we had a line of people waiting to view at each scope. We stayed on Altair for about 30 min. giving everyone in our line a view using our new 12-25mm Vixen zoom lens. This lens turned out to be the perfect eyepiece for this type of viewing as it eliminated the need for constantly changing the eyepiece to increase the power. The clarity in this lens is not quite as good as in my 32mm and 9mm Stellarvue plossels, but what it lacked in clarity it more than made up for in convenience.
Our next target was Arcturus another bright star - even I was surprised at how bright.
Our next target was M-69 a globular cluster in Sagittarius. We were able to find it without too much trouble; however, the view was less than impressive with the constant passing of cars. At such low power it looked more like an open cluster as the globular center was not discernable.
Next on our list was Mizar/Alcor the easy Double Star in the Dipper. This object never seems to fail to impress people so we stayed on it for quite some time.
Next we decided to try for M-28. If you read our first post you know this was our first globular cluster so it has a memorable place in our hearts. I thought we would have trouble finding it however Joyce put the finder on it like she owned it and within a matter of seconds we had switched from Mizar to M-28 like we really knew what we were doing. The crowd around our scope was impressed at the smooth transition. I was dumbstruck as it had taken an eternity for us to find M-28 our first time. I high fived the wife and several members of the crowd did the same. The view of M-28 this time was not as good as it had been at Blue Canyon. I did not change the eyepiece but stayed with the vixen zoom set down to 12mm and the globular center was only barely visible. We stayed on M-28 for a good while as the crowd seemed to enjoy it.
Our last assignment was Cygni-61 a Double Star in Cygnus; I must confess that the Vixen even at 12mm could not split this star. However by this time the crowd had dwindled and no one seemed too disappointed.
We finished the evening by viewing M-13 in an 11 inch Celestron set-up next to us; quite a difference from the views of globulars in our little scope. All in all, it was a very fun evening.

Observer: Ray Hunter

E-mail address: hunters2@quiknet.com

Date and time of Observation: August 10, 2002 12:00 am PDT

Observing Location: Blue Canyon, California, 5000 ft elevation

Object Observed: M-28

Viewing conditions: Excellent

Telescope 80mm X720mm f/9 Stellarvue refractor

Eyepiece 32mm and 9mm with 2x barlow

Observing notes:
Saturday night turned out to be a perfect viewing night and with a little help from our star charts and some assistance from a fellow member aligning our finder scope. We were finally able to find some objects that had long eluded our view.
We started by finding the Teapot of Sagittarius and the star at the top of the dome using binoculars. I was very surprised that by using my old 7x35 binos I was able to see much more than I had ever seen sweeping with my telescope at low power.
Moving a short distance above and just a little to the left of the Dome star I was able to make out a faint smudge in my binoculars "this has to be M-28 I thought to myself". Now the hunt was on, could I get my scope on that spot? And would I see any thing when I did? I lined up my red dot finder as near the spot as I could and using the 32mm began to sweep the area looking for that faint smudge, Nothing! Dark sky, a star point here and there, but not a hint of the faint smudge that I saw in the binos. Damn! I pulled out the binos and swept the area again Bingo! There it was again! I'm not crazy - it's there.
At this point a fellow member who was set up right next to us must have sensed my frustration and asked a very simple question "how well aligned is your finder scope"? Huh! I don't know? Do finder scopes have to be aligned? I asked. He laughed at my naivet� and came over to have a look. After aligning my scope on the dome star and placing it in the center of my 32mm we looked through the red dot finder. The dot was a good full moon and half above and to the right of the star that was currently in the center of the scope.
My finder scope is really not a scope at all; it's what's known as a red dot finder. It is not permanently affixed to my scope, it attaches using double sided sticky tape. I have always aligned by simply aligning the base of the tape with base of the finder and looking straight down the tube of the scope. As the tape stays on the scope and the finder is removed I assumed this method would be reasonably accurate. Boy was I wrong!
We removed my finder, replaced the tape, and re-attached the finder. Then using the alignment adjusters on the finder got the dot and the star together in the finder and in the scope. We're back in business.
Ok let's try this again. Quick check in the binos, yep! Smudge is still there. Ok point the finder just above the dome just a hair left. Is it? Could it be? Yes maybe? Hey wait a minute, what is this? Is this M-28? My new found friend checks the scope. Well yes, I think it is, it could be M-22 but I think it's M-28. Increase the power and let's see. I put in the 9mm and now the object is not as easy to find and requires constant tending of the slow motion controls to keep it in view. I relax my eyes for a moment and return to the eyepiece averting my vision just slightly, BAM! There it is.
No doubt about it, my first globular cluster. M-28 in all its splendor! I can make out the granular center and the multiple stars erupting as out of a bowl of sugar. I returned to that eyepiece at least twenty times in the next hour as did my wife. Constantly tending the controls not wanting to loose what we had struggled so hard to find. We are looking at M-28 I say to anyone who happens by. Several people stop and have look, yes they all agree, it's a good view of M-28.
Later I Put the Barlow on the 9mm for a maximum power view. I was very surprised at how far out I had to extend the focuser in order to focus. The view was a little more detailed, but surprisingly the whole object no longer fit in the field of view. I now had to literally tend the motion controls constantly or loose the image. We decided to give M-28 back to the gods and visit a bit.
Later that night after enjoying a spectacular view of M-22, in a 32 inch Dobsonian, we were able view M-6 and M-7 open clusters lying between Sagittarius and Scorpius in our own scope. We packed up at about 2:30 AM and headed for home. This was without doubt our most successful viewing night since we took up the hobby.

Observer: Ray Hunter

E-mail address: TEXT HERE

Web site: TEXT HERE

Date and time of Observation: August 10, 2002 12:00 am PDT

Observing Location: Blue Canyon, California, 5000 ft elevation

Object Observed: M-28

Viewing conditions: Excellent

Telescope 80mm X720mm f/9 Stellarvue refractor

Eyepiece 32mm and 9mm with 2x barlow

Observing notes:
Saturday night turned out to be a perfect viewing night and with a little help from our star charts and some assistance from a fellow member aligning our finder scope. We were finally able to find some objects that had long eluded our view.
We started by finding the Teapot of Sagittarius and the star at the top of the dome using binoculars. I was very surprised that by using my old 7x35 binos I was able to see much more than I had ever seen sweeping with my telescope at low power.
Moving a short distance above and just a little to the left of the Dome star I was able to make out a faint smudge in my binoculars "this has to be M-28 I thought to myself". Now the hunt was on, could I get my scope on that spot? And would I see any thing when I did? I lined up my red dot finder as near the spot as I could and using the 32mm began to sweep the area looking for that faint smudge, Nothing! Dark sky, a star point here and there, but not a hint of the faint smudge that I saw in the binos. Damn! I pulled out the binos and swept the area again Bingo! There it was again! I'm not crazy - it's there.
At this point a fellow member who was set up right next to us must have sensed my frustration and asked a very simple question "how well aligned is your finder scope"? Huh! I don't know? Do finder scopes have to be aligned? I asked. He laughed at my naivet� and came over to have a look. After aligning my scope on the dome star and placing it in the center of my 32mm we looked through the red dot finder. The dot was a good full moon and half above and to the right of the star that was currently in the center of the scope.
My finder scope is really not a scope at all; it's what's known as a red dot finder. It is not permanently affixed to my scope, it attaches using double sided sticky tape. I have always aligned by simply aligning the base of the tape with base of the finder and looking straight down the tube of the scope. As the tape stays on the scope and the finder is removed I assumed this method would be reasonably accurate. Boy was I wrong!
We removed my finder, replaced the tape, and re-attached the finder. Then using the alignment adjusters on the finder got the dot and the star together in the finder and in the scope. We're back in business.
Ok let's try this again. Quick check in the binos, yep! Smudge is still there. Ok point the finder just above the dome just a hair left. Is it? Could it be? Yes maybe? Hey wait a minute, what is this? Is this M-28? My new found friend checks the scope. Well yes, I think it is, it could be M-22 but I think it's M-28. Increase the power and let's see. I put in the 9mm and now the object is not as easy to find and requires constant tending of the slow motion controls to keep it in view. I relax my eyes for a moment and return to the eyepiece averting my vision just slightly, BAM! There it is.
No doubt about it, my first globular cluster. M-28 in all its splendor! I can make out the granular center and the multiple stars erupting as out of a bowl of sugar. I returned to that eyepiece at least twenty times in the next hour as did my wife. Constantly tending the controls not wanting to loose what we had struggled so hard to find. We are looking at M-28 I say to anyone who happens by. Several people stop and have look, yes they all agree, it's a good view of M-28.
Later I Put the Barlow on the 9mm for a maximum power view. I was very surprised at how far out I had to extend the focuser in order to focus. The view was a little more detailed, but surprisingly the whole object no longer fit in the field of view. I now had to literally tend the motion controls constantly or loose the image. We decided to give M-28 back to the gods and visit a bit.
Later that night after enjoying a spectacular view of M-22, in a 32 inch Dobsonian, we were able view M-6 and M-7 open clusters lying between Sagittarius and Scorpius in our own scope. We packed up at about 2:30 AM and headed for home. This was without doubt our most successful viewing night since we took up the hobby.
Thanks again Alistair.

Observer: Kevin McCarthy

E-mail address: refractor@blueyonder.co.uk

Date and time of Observation: 18 May 02 23:30

Observing Location: Darkish Site SE London

Object Observed: M57 Ring Nebula, Lyra Alpha (Vega), Beta, Gamma

Viewing conditions: Mag 5 1/5 clouds high alt clouds low wind

Telescope Sky-Watcher 80mm Short Tube

Eyepiece 10mm 20mm 32mm 2.5x Barlow

Observing notes:
I was going to observe from my back garden but my neighbour has a security light that is forever coming on and off. Not prepared to put with this and it being such a clear night I jumped into my car and drove off to a semi dark site I have found in SE London near biggin hill. Once I arrived it was clear that the seeing was good all the starts in Ursa minor going down to mag 5 were visible. I didn't check further as this is great compared to my regular Mag 2 sky in my back garden a result of light pollution.
With so much on offer in the sky I didn't know where to start. The moon however was a quarter full in the eastern sky and was really quite bright casting shadows from everything so I decided to look eastward away from the moon and set up in the shadow of a stable where some horse's are kept. The smell aside I did a quick polar align and decided to take a quick look at vega which was fantastically bright in a 32mm 12.5x its only 26 light years away and so its one of our local neighbours so to seek but the bright light from it was enjoyable unlike my neighbour at home. It gave off some blue colour I think but it also looked red so I cant make up my mind if it was because of the scope. Epsilon Lyra the double double was in the same field of view and kept calling for my attention but I was keen on trying to look for M57 the ring nebula. After consulting "The Night Sky" a pocket guide I have I star hopped down to Beta Lyra another double not knowing how far apart the double is I tried to split this with a 2.5x barlow and a 10mm for 100x and stopped down to 46mm at F8.5. I couldn't split them. I noted a diffraction ring around Beta.
Putting the 32mm back in I could see both Beta and Gamma and on the chart M57 should be right in the middle. I couldn't see it! whilst scanning the middle area I though about how the image was handed and for a moment look in the area show on the charts as I did this something flashed and I looked back it was gone. So carefully scanning the middle ground so to speak with averted vision I saw a smudge pop into view. I barlowed the 32mm and could identify a circular area that was quite small at 32x and faint. I barlowed the 20mm for 50x and a brighter circular area was obvious but not clear. However with averted vision a distinct ring with a whole in the middle about two thirds the diameter of the outer ring. I tried to see this with direct vision but I just couldn't do it. Regardless I am very happy with these observations. I did try the 10mm barlowed to 100x but the image became pretty messy and not as clear. I spent some time with M57 it is actually the first object I have found other than splitting a couple of doubles that is beyond visual range and can only be see with a telescope of some sort. All my other observations have been easily identified in the sky and then the telescope turned on them.
At about midnight I could see clouds coming from the South East and the temperature was dropping. So I packed up and went home rather happy.
Comment: I have tweaked the scope by blackening the lens edges and shimmed the lens this has improved the images through the scope noticeably. Stopping down the scope at high magnifications and the use of averted vision and star hopping are are all things that have improved the views and improved my observation skills. I'm still struggling with polar alignment and setting circles not to mention my poor mag 2 suburban skies.
To sum up I have learnt a lot in the last three months. I have been frustrated and rewarded by my efforts. I feel that I am at a point of either giving up or getting stuck into this hobby. Observations like M57 are a great encouragement and now that I know were it is and how best to see it I can take pleasure from observing it whenever the conditions are right. If your just getting into astronomy again be patient and learn the basics the rewards are never that far off.

Observer: Kevin McCarthy

E-mail address: klm_67@yahoo.com

Date and time of Observation: 12 April 2002 23:00

Observing Location: Local Park South London

Object Observed: M81 Bode's galaxy

Viewing conditions: seeing 8/10

Telescope Sky-Watcher 80 Short Tube

Eyepiece 10mm 20mm Kellner

Observing notes:
M81 is a bright galaxy high in the sky close to Ursa Major. Using the setting circles and confirming the view with reference stars I was unable to make a confirmed contact, though again hints of something popping in and out of view. It's difficult to confirm these faint objects without having some prior knowledge of what should be seen through the eye piece.
Comment: I recently went along to a local Astronomy observing session which was great to take in some views with other scopes. I would like to do this again and bring my scope along so as to get an idea of what I can reasonably expect to see in the scope. We also got to watch the International space stations rise up from the horizon increase in magnitude flare up high above our heads and then fade away quickly into the earths shadow. What a sight !!

Observer: Kevin McCarthy

E-mail address: klm_67@yahoo.com

Date and time of Observation: 5 April 2002

Observing Location: Dark Site Near Biggin Hill South East London

Object Observed: M43 Orion Nebula

Viewing conditions: seeing 6/10

Telescope Sky-Watcher 80 Short Tube

Eyepiece 10mm 20mm Kellner

Observing notes:
M43 has got to be the most enjoyable object in the sky. You can play around with this object for hours its truly an astronomical playground in its own right. The list of things that can be seen and said about them is pretty long. I will say that in its a great object in this 80mm scope. It easy to see and with averted vision in the 20mm its shockingly bright I was jumping around on the ground with delight with my eye planted in the eye peace. After my previous attempts with some faint fuzzy galaxy's and nebula, M43 brightness is a marvel. It's green when I look directly at it but turn's white with averted vision and seem to quadruple in brightness. The extents of the nebula that can be seen with my eye are obvious but I could not see any detail with this low magnification but I can see what seem to all of it.
Comment: I've been looking for a dark site and have found a good one within a half hours drive from my home in south London. However twice after driving down the clouds have come in so in future I will only go down if I really need to and I can confirm the either. The weather I have recently bee getting Astronomical Weather reports from the www.bbc.co.uk (British Broadcasting Corporation) weather centre. The BBC have traditionally been supportive of Astronomy and science and technology in general.

Observer: Kevin McCarthy

E-mail address: klm_67@yahoo.com

Date and time of Observation: 1 April 2002

Observing Location: London Suburbs

Object Observed: M35, NGC2392 (Eskimo Nebula), M101

Viewing conditions: seeing 8/10

Telescope Sky-Watcher 80 Short Tube

Eyepiece 10mm 20mm Kellner

Observing notes:
NGC2392 the Eskimo nebula should be on the limits of the 80mm scope I think. I'm pretty sure I can confirm the right location and FOV but no visual contact with either the 10mm or 20mm eye piece. However a few very faint background stars were seen. I think I will need really dark sky's to try and pick this one out. M35 Took two attempts using RA and DEC to find this cluster. I cant see it with the the un aided eye with my sky conditions so have had to locate it using the setting circles. The first attempt it was simply out of the FOV with the 20mm. The second attempt I ended up in the same part of the sky and scanning about I found it to the SE of my position using the setting circles. I could easily see sixteen bright stars making a formation not unlike the Gemini constellation its self just mirrored all seemed to be white or blue in colour. There were some 60 fainter stars of a magnitude of about 10 which filed the central part of the FOV using the 20mm. There was also an obvious brightening around the cluster that was either background stars not individually resolvable using this scope or something else but it was clearly noticeable and made for a great view. I'm curious as to what it was? I took this view in for quite sometime truly worth the effort and finally some satisfaction for the recent efforts in getting to grips with polar alignment and RA and DEC angles.
M101 a Galaxy which is high in the sky at the moment. I was unable to see this galaxy so I cant confirm that I had the right part of the sky but am pretty certain I had it right use other reference stars. There was some very faint glowing blobs but I couldn't honestly say I saw it.
At the moment I am really just getting to grips with using the setting circles and practising polar alignment. I have learnt a lot mostly by trial and error. I can admit that I didn't realise that you had to reset the hour circle to the right time after observing an object say for ten minutes. It took me sometime to figure why I was not seeing the second object on my viewing list. The object had moved on by ten minutes in the sky whilst I had not moved the R.A. circle to take this into account. They always seemed to be out as the night progressed. This is a basic principle and one I had note seem explained anywhere in all the reading I had done, it was only trial and error that allowed me to figure this out. Ignorance is not stupidity but ignorance can be very frustrating.

Observer: Kevin McCarthy

E-mail address: klm_67@yahoo.com

Date and time of Observation: 4.MAR.2002 9:00pm

Observing Location: London, suburbs

Object Observed: M45 Pleiades, Saturn, Jupiter, Betelgeuse

Viewing conditions: Misty.

Telescope Sky-Watcher 80mm app. 400mm f5

Eyepiece 10mm 20mm kelner

Observing notes:
I recently decided to revive an old hobby of mine that I gave up as a teenager. I now in my mid thirties. Having read a lot about telescope on the market I decided I would buy myself a SKY-Watcher 80mm refractor F5. This scopes is widely available under different names and as such has a large user base with plenty of reviews (I don't think I actually read a bad one) in addition to being the cheapest scope I could get my hands on it seemed the best choice considering I live in a flat and would need to pick up the scope down some stairs and out the back for viewing. I got the scope a couple of days before I got a chance to get out side and actually use it. Time well spent familiarising myself with the screws, locks and bit and bobs. Practised putting it up and taking it down etc.
Anyway bearing in mind the excitement of a new scope plus my experience of what can be expected good and bad, though there are a number of years involved. I have access to a small back yard that has a three story building on the East side, a tall tree to the south and a high hedge to the West. Although this sounds bad it does shelter me from the surrounding lights. So this is a plus, I live in the city. Outside I aligned on Polaris to get accurate setting for the elevation setting reads 56 on the EQ1 mount while I'm actually at 51. pretty easy didn't actually use setting circles to find anything just spun the telescope from place to place. I did intend to try and find m457 in Cassiopeia as it's high in the sky but I didn't bring out the chart I printed of as reference so after a minute of scanning for it I couldn't wait any longer.
The 80mm 400mm F5 really being a good wide field views I spun the telescope around to the Pleiades (wow) what an eye full at 20X. Counted 35 star, I counted them twice quite satisfying given the surrounding street lights in the back garden I didn't expect to see this many. Actually more stars than are shown on the demo copy of Sky Map Pro I'm using as a guide in doors. Spent some time taking the view in I don't ever remember the view being this good. nice and sharp images with depth if you can actually see such a thing in a telescope. Moved on to a nearby bright star wonder why this star had a funny shape then realise that I found Saturn. The strange shape being the rings which are not clear at 20x so I dropped in the 10mm Kelner giving me 40x and the rings jumped out with a clear division between them and planet. No other visible detail at 40X but I not surprising anyone with that comment. Noted a moon to the south east. Realising the Grand Daddy was near by I moved onto Jupiter which was very bright and again another surprise I saw one band around the centre of the planet in addition to four moons.
I had a quick look at Betelgeuse, bright sizzling red star fantastic. I really gona have some fun with this telescope.
I realise that I going to need a Barlow and replace this 45 degree diagonal for a 90 degree If I going to save my back and neck to get a decent view of some of the planets . I have to find a small chair of sorts.
My first impressions are build quality good to very good. Instructions (I didn't get any) but you can download a complete set from the sky-watcher web site. The EQ1 mount is solid though I did have my doubts about the indicated angles for elevation but you can ignore them and align with Polaris which resolves any errors there. As for the DEC and RA there good enough for anything you will see with this scope. I did have a couple of nuts and bolts missing for the accessory tray but 60 pence in my local hardware shop solved that.
The 45 degree diagonal I got with the scope is not ideal and that will be the first thing I'll change I did ask for a 90 degree when I ordered the scope so I be on the phone about that.
All other aspects of the scope I'm happy with the optics are something that I think I can only guess at but I shall try my hand at a star test. Though my impression is that my 60mm tasco from my early teens never presented me with the vivid colour and brightness I'm seeing with this little scope. Its a case of I saw these objects a long time ago and whilst the image has never left my mind they were never this bright or colourful. Whilst I appreciate the interest in binary pairs etc, wide field views are great and far more impressive and interesting than trying to split one dot into two for someone like myself. However a 2x Barlow or similar is a must if not just to get a better view of the planets every now and then. The scope is great value I would recommend it. Just bear in mind that the planets my be out or your reach unless you invest a little more. Kevin.

Observer: jeff barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: astro.geekjoy.com

Date and time of Observation: Tuesday. January 15, 2002 6:30 - 9:00pm PST

Observing Location: Backyard, Boulder Creek, CA USA

Object Observed: NGC891!, 1023!, M34, NGC1245!, NGC1413!, NGC1528, NGC1545, NGC1514

Viewing conditions: 6/10, ZULM: 5.3

Telescope 80mm F5 Achromat (ST80)

Eyepiece 25, 15 and 10mm Ultrascopics with Ultrablock Filter

Observing notes:
Though chilly, the evening's sky was decently dry and clear but unstable. 150mm MCT Argo could barely reveal Cassini. Only the two equatorials on Jupiter were possible (No STTB ovals this evening!). Couldn't resolve the Iota Cass triple. Early on (with Iota not quite direct unaided), required moderate aversion at 120x to show the 12.2 mag field star (near Iota) that I use this time of year for transparency checks.
As a result, dismounted Argo and switched to the 80mm Pup for a low power (16, 27, 40x) tour of (mostly) Perseus.
By 7:00pm (or so) was able to hold 5.4 mag SAO55347 in Triangulum. Despite the decent depth, and low magnification involved, was unable to turn up galaxies NGC891 (in Andromeda) and 1027 (in Perseus).
NOTE: Under darker conditions (5.8) edge on NGC891 was visible during this last weekend's SCAC star party at the Bonny Dune observing site through a TV-85 so the possibility exists! No effort was made at that time to turn up NGC1027.
However, in searching for 1023 came across a fine 27x double star - colors blue and red - very close to 5th magnitude SAO 55793 (3 degrees south of M34).
Through the 6x25mm finder was just able to locate M34 in Perseus (no resolution however). Of course, all three main tube magnifications resolved some stars. At 16x, a dozen. 27x added a half dozen more. By 40x, the number jumped to more than 30 (many faint components peeked back at me.) Also, by this point, I finally noticed the widish M34 double just west of the core.
Had no luck turning up faint open cluster NGC1245 between Iota and Kappa Persei. Nor could I locate cluster NGC1413 south of Lambda.
However, due east of Lambda is a close visual pair of stars (the brighter is 5th mag SAO 24531). Was able to easily detect cluster NGC1528 one degree northwest of SAO 24531, and with greater difficulty NGC1545 30 mins due east of same. Of the two, 1528 was obviously a cluster. At 16x, it looked very humanoidal. At 27x - and especially 40x - it took on a shape I remembered seeing with Argo last year - "The Scope and Tripod cluster". Star count kept increasing as I stepped up the magnification until almost 3 dozen members could be seen at 40x.
Unlike 1528, NGC1545 didn't look a cluster. That quality never really became evident - even at 40x. However, 1545 did show a rather intriguing shape. Quite "three dimensional". In fact, it looked like a "coordinate grid in three dimensions" truncated along the z-axis and rotated away about 45 degrees. At best 7 or 8 stars were visible - but boy were those stars used to advantage!
Continuing due east from SAO 24531, came across a curious "3-lobed void" of stars. At center of the void, a sprinkling of faint 11th magnitude stars. Surrounding these were the three 30 arcmin globes where few - if any - stars were perceptible. This particular region was first recognized by Herschel who liked to document such things...
Even armed with the Ultrablock filter, I was unable to identify Bright Nebula NGC1624 - which is supposed to lie on the far side of Herschel's void. However, I was able to locate Planetary Nebula NGC1514 "way down south" in Taurus one degree south, and three east of Zeta Persi - but only because the filter made it possible for me to confirm my suspicions. (That rather unusually colored star really did have a large faint aura around it - at 40x).
One thing to point out is the fact that last year I was able to locate all of the above studies (save NGC1023 which was not on my yearplan) under conditions similar to this through Argo - so there are definite limits to what is possible with small apertures - despite high focal ratios.

Observer: jeff barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: astro.geekjoy.com/

Date and time of Observation: Friday, October, 26 5:45 - 6:30am PDST

Observing Location: Backyard Boulder Creek, CA, USA

Object Observed: Saturn, Jupiter, Capella, Aldebaran, M37

Viewing conditions: Stability 8/10, ZULM ~5.0

Telescope 80mm F5 - Achromatic Refractor

Eyepiece 15mm Ultrascopic w/ 5.6x barlow combo - 175x

Observing notes:
Greetings Fellow Stargazers!
Last night before turning in, made the mental commitment to get out and observe early in the morning IF i just happened to "wake up" while it was dark.
So here it was, 5:30 in the AM, and I'm just about to wrap up one dream in Lallaland and begin another when the alarm clock falls off the dresser onto my forehead.
No harm done, it's dark out. So OK, up!
Ten minutes later I'm dialing for focus on "The Ringed Wonder" and get the sharpest, most truly excellent view of Saturn yet seen through the 80mm. Cassini Division drawn with a mechanical pencil almost all the way around the ring system. Pronounced Ring B shading to Ring C. Hints of the Encke Minima (on eye movement). All at 175x (3x ultrascopic plus series 2.6x Shorty barlow followed by diagonal and 15mm Ultrascopic ep).
Other features in evidence: South Equatorial Belt well delineated. Blue Gray mottling at the South Polar Region. Ring shadow on the fore-planet disk. Planet shadow on posterior ring. Four satellites (Titan leading, 2 trailing, and one orthagonal to the south.)
So OK, not half bad - not even!
So how good was the seeing?
Turned to Capella: Five complete and circular diffraction rings with only hints of "wavering surface brightness" and occasional flashing. - Solid 8/10 stability sky.
(OK, I admit it, did tweak the collimation a little last night. But only because I had upgraded the Pup's "Collimation Collar")
Tracked down that missing (from the previous morning) third Aurigaen Cluster - M37 (at same magnification). Awesome! The group looked like though the Hand of God had dipped into the Small Sagittarian Star Cloud (M24) and sprinkled the contents within the northerly Charioteer's sky. The view was complete with "dark lanes" wending amongst pinprick points of light. Certainly my favorite Aurigaen - and the one I most wanted to turn up the previous morning. (I know, all God's children are beautiful BUT...)
Took a look at Aldebaran. The hope was to make out the close (34? arcsec 11.5? mag) companion. What's that? Something trailing to the north - hmmm - not definitive though.)
Then on to the Belted Monarch - Jupiter.
What? Why that's the North Temperate Belt! Clear, dark, contrasty, definitive. And the rift in the South Equatorial Belt! South South Temperate Belt too. AND barges intruding into the Equatorial Zone from the North Equatorial Belt. A first!
Then I noticed something else. A very faint first diffraction ring around each of the Galileans. Why, that must mean that they are point sources. No more claims of seeing "visible disks" from this quarter. In fact, doing the math, I realized that a Galilean would have to show a disk larger than 260 / 80 or 3.25 arc-seconds to be a "true disk" (in the 80mm of course).
Went on to observe the planet at 67 then 57 and 43mm (using aperture stops). With each decrease in diameter lost more and more of the NTB - until it disappeared completely at 43mm.
Shaking myself, broke the trance of Jupiter viewing. The sky was definitely a-brightening.
Turned the Pup on Castor. At 180x, clear that the 2.8 mag companion had a smaller visual airy disk than the 2.0 primary. Kept dropping down the aperture. Split distance narrowed - but never became a "thin line" of resolution - even at 43mm.
Put the Pup away. (Good Pup, nice Pup, you done good Pup.)
Climbed on the roof to try and catch Mercury. Venus hung just above the mountains to the east. No other luminaries. Watched until the morning fog rolled over the hillside - no "Winged Messenger" this day.
Who can complain?
Clear and Steady,
jeff

Observer: jeff Barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: astro.geekjoy.com

Date and time of Observation: 6:00 - 6:45am PDST

Observing Location: Backyard, Boulder Creek, CA, USA

Object Observed: The Gas Giants

Viewing conditions: 8/10 stability brightening sky

Telescope 80mm Achromatic Refractor with Equatorial Mount

Eyepiece 10mm Kellner with 3x Ultrascopic Barlow - 120x

Observing notes:
Over the last few weeks been "blueprinting" the 80mm ST-80 I call "the Pup". Efforts to collimate the optical train and re-planarize the air-spaced achromatic doublet object glass were driven after it came to my attention that disparate double star Delta Cygni (magnitudes 2.8 / 6.8 separation 2.4 arc seconds) should be resolvable by any high quality scope 65mm or greater in aperture. And the Pup wasn't cutting it...
--------------------------------
After a very successful night of double star quests, woke to Selene shining through the west-facing window. Rubbed the sleepy dust from my eyes and noticed the sky merging from dark to light. Knew it was still dark enough to catch the Gas Giants. Jumped out of bed. Through on some jeans and flannel shirt. Headed for the study. Within five minutes had the 43mm aperture stopped version of the 80mm Pup turned on Saturn at 120X.
No trouble getting a nice edge on the ring and the planets limb. In fact, at F9.3, depth of field was so good that a not inconsiderable amount of focus travel gave the same precise and equally gratifying image quality.
Cassini Division at 43mm was more present than I'd ever seen it before - even at 80mm's. Think about this, a scoope with an aperture less than many a finder, was showing the Cassini Division between Saturn's Ring A and B!
With the 67mm aperture stop in place (F6) depth of focus was lost - but it was possible to precisely snap to. Cassini now looked like someone had taken a black pencil and traced a line between Ring A and B. Contrast improved with the additional aperture. So did resolution. No, Cassini's didn't look like someone had scribed it into the ring system with an exacto blade (as it appears in 150mm MCT Argo) - more like a slightly used pencil line. Still very impressive.
But the question now was, would the image quality hold at the full 80mm (F5)?
And the answer was yes - but with slight qualifications. "Snap to" focus was not quite achievable. However Cassini remained undiminished and the planet's SEB might have been a hair darker than at 67mm. So I took several moments to mentally outline some of what I was seeing at 120x:
- Almost, but not quite, sharp limb focus..
- Cassini Division like a pencil line moree than 70% the way toward the polar regions from the eastern and western ansae.
- Ring A outside Ring B (implied by seeingg Cassini Division).
- Thin line of contrast demarcating the pllanet's body and anterior Ring B.
- Yellowish Equatorial Zone
- Brownish South Equatorial Belt.
- Fade to Blue Gray in the South Polar Reggion.
- Clean shading of terminator to planets eeast (especially southeast).
Things not seen:
- Crepe Ring.
- Ring B transition to Crepe Ring.
- Shadow of planet on posterior Ring at soouthwest (leading edge).
- Encke Minima
- Blue gray mottling to the SPR.
- Irregularties in the SEB edge.
But Saturn is, in general, more forgiving of optical rectitude than the other Gas Giant - Jupiter!
Previous to tuning the Pup the best I ever saw of the planet was the two main equatorial belts and the North Temperate Belt. Now at both 67 and 80mm's I was seeing:
- The two main belts (with hints of the riift in the South Equatorial Belt).
- The North North Temperate Belt (NNTB). - A much diminished North Temperate Belt ((what's going on here!) during moments of greatest steadyness.
- The South Temperate Belt (easier than NTTB, more difficult than NNTB).
Interesting fact was that I did not get this level of definitive detail while first viewing the planet. Along the way, took a look at a setting Selene and found the focus was a hair off (at 80mms). It was after precisely re-adjusting that the more subtle belts began to emerge on Jupiter.
There are a host of micro-level features associated with Jupiter that were not visible through the 80mm Pup. For instance the SEB rift was suggested - not obvious. Could not make out any barges, ovals or textures on the planet as occasionally seen through 150mm Argo. But the key here is that the planet achieved focus and presented enough detail to be interesting.
All the blueprinting done with the scope over the last several weeks has really payed off. The 80mm achromat is now giving the kind of views I would expect of any "optically correct" unobstructed scope costing 5 to 10 times as much. The keys to this performance improvement basically come down to:
1. Perfecting the collimation - within the limits imposed on the scope due to a lack of the kind of micrometer adjustements available on "high end" refractors.
2. Planarizing the two elements of the achromatic doublet in such a way as to get the star point to center both inside and outside of focus within reasonably "round" outfocus "globes of light".
Neither of these two adjustements has been accomplished to my ultimate satisfaction - and I'm not sure that the limited available mechanisms to accomplish these tasks will ever make "perfection" possible. But the proof that such adjustments can lead to superior results lay right there before my eyes...
Carpe Noctem,
jeff
PS: And oh yes, Selene - 2 brightenings visible in Plato at 120x. But no, still have yet to resolve Delta Cygni but suspect that this will be achievable once we lose the Moon and contrast with the night sky improves...
Comment: Originally posted on http://astro.geekjoy.com/forum/ a "smogas-board" of amateur astronomy posts for diligent observers of the night sky and all that is seen therein...

Observer: Jeff Barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: astro.geekjoy.com

Date and time of Observation: Sunday-Monday, June 10 & 11, 2001 10:00 - 12:30 PDST

Observing Location: Backyard Boulder Creek

Object Observed: M97, 108, 81, 82, Cor Coroli, M94, 63, 51, NGC5195, 4559, 4565, M65, 66, 3. 13, 92, NGC6210, Double Double, Ring Nebula, Mars

Viewing conditions: Transparency: 5.2 ZULTM, Stability: 5/10

Telescope 80mm Achromatic Refractor with Equatorial Mount

Eyepiece 25/9mm Plossls, 2X Shorty Barlow

Observing notes:
Here's the scenario: It's 10:00 PM. You and your friends just played three sets of mellow Jazz at a nearby restaurant of some elegance. You're feeling all warm and fuzzy about the music, the food, and the wine. Unloading the gear, you look up. A heavenly chorus resonates within your mind's ear. The sky is pitch black. A day already overfull, poised to end, now yields to a night alive with infinite possibility. Do you break out the scope?
Of course! But what to do with it? There's so much out there! Where to begin? (Knew where to end, Mars was already well into near-oppositional ascent. 'Round Midnight, it would stand revealed in all its -2.3 magnitude 20.4 arc-second glory.)
150mm Argo remained disassembled after the previous evening's China Ridge adventure. 80mm Pup, however, was all set up with someplace to go. Why, I could even imagine the little fellow rearing up on his hind legs, prancing around trying to get my attention. Sold! Tonight it would be the Pup.
With music gear stowed, sprung the Pup from the study. No mind at all as to what to observe. No charts. No note pad. Just me, the Pup and the sky.
A quick check showed I could just hold a 5.0 magnitude test star behind the bowl of the big dipper. Not bad! Why not track down the Owl Nebula? Sure, I don't give a hoot what I look at! The Owl it is. Now for the head scratching. No charts. Hmmm - which of the four stars in the dipper is it near anyway. Not the two northerly ones. So must be one of the two attached to the Bear's legs. Which one - east or west? Fifty-fifty chance - but the Owl's pretty tough for an 80mm on a 5.0 night. Hmmm. Should I get the charts? NYET! "Succeed or fail using what's inside you!" OK, (equivocating) I'll scan them both...
Dropped the 25mm Plossl into the diagonal. With 3X barlow: 48X - 1 degree field. Started at the eastern star - Gamma. Slewed the finder around to get the lay of things - no way this Owl is going to be seen in a finder. Shifted to the main tube. Swept the region south and west of Gamma. After maybe 10 minutes switched to Beta. Few minutes later - everything but the feathers. The Owl showed a vaguely diffuse half-disk just barely held with direct vision. As usual, both Owl-eyes firmly shut. (But I knew he was watching...)
So the Owl graced me with an apparition. But what about that huge, dim galaxy toward Beta? What's it called? M10... something. (108 - you memory deficient dolt). Swung the Pup back toward Beta. Sure enough, dim but incontrovertable. Oh yah, weren't there a couple of 12th mag stars bordering it? (Yup, caught one of the two with averted vision.)
So OK, you caught a couple toughies, now for something easy. Center on Upsilon UMA. Swing the scope due north. Catch the Galactic Wonders. (I remember - M81&82. M81 is the more southerly and larger of the two.) No problemo. Even in the Boulder Creek lightdome a fine view. Pair of luminous eyes glowing in the night - one open, the other winking at me in encouragement.)
Onward and upward! See if you can find that galaxy near Cor Coroli - and while there, check out the beautiful wide pair of radiant jewels themselves. (Priceless.) Caught the galaxy: Nice edge on. What's it called M?? (94). Now how about that one to the east above the arrowhead of 5th and 6th mag stars? Is that the one that's really a two? Face on presentation - no second core nearby. Maybe that's why Monsieur Messier missed it? (He used a small scope too.)
OK, now find that galaxy near 24 Canes Venatici. Sure. Oh! That's the galaxy with the bright companion. Cool! So the last one (M94) was supposed to be solitary. Then why couldn't Monsieur also make out the companion like I could? Strange...
Looked up, caught the faint, bespeckled glow of Coma Bernices slightly to the west. Swing the Pup around. Lot's of nice wide doubles and triples. One little group shaped like a "Y" - brightest 5th magnitude member at the crux. Sweeping east catch a broken football-shaped glow - not what I'm looking for. The quest was for edge-on NGC4565. This is the other galaxy (NGC4559). Spent some time contemplating its irregular dimorphic shape. Nice, but not the sharply delineated shaft of diaphanous light of last month. But that the edge-on lies almost due south a couple degrees. Bingo! Not quite the view rendered by 150mm Argo - but still splendid. And oh yes, isn't that a dim 12th magnitude star flanking the core?
Much further west, Leo sinks well into the lower third. Sky's a bit ratty down there - at best, 4.5ULTM. Go for it. Leo Trio here I come! Nice as the Messiers (65&66) are, there is no definitive view of that ghostly, slender edge-on beauty NGC3628. Leo Duo will have to do for tonight - but had Leo been overhead the Pup would have revealed it.
Ok, so back overhead. Globular Cluster M3. Nice! Hints of resolution under extreme aversion. Smaller than M13. Quite compact. Why not M13? Swing east. Easy (well practiced) find. Moderate aversion shows dozens of stars. Pup, you done good. Argo'd be proud!
And what about M92? Like M3 and M13 - easy finderscope catch. No resolution, surface appears rough though. Maybe on a 6.0 night...
And oh yes, let's take a look at that planetary - NGC6210??? (Correcto mundo, senior.) Find Beta Herculi. Sweep northeast. Pick out the dim wide optical pair. To the main tube! Yes! But not very well presented - even at 133X. No color. No central brightening. Still it is a planetary, and on a good night through Argo it really shines!
On to the Lyre - (I wonder if anyone plays jazz harp?). Double double, only single. Caught occasional glimpses of the 12th magnitude come on eye movement though. Now to the King of Rings (Or Regent of Annuli - if preferred). Core definite. Wow, did you see that? Caught a brief hint of the 13 division star just to the east. And the 12.8 magnitude in the Chalice can be held with extreme aversion. Wow, that Pup has some reach for 80mms!!! Never saw the Chalice of the Ring look so good through the Pup. (Thanks for bowing out Luna.)
Time to head for the workout deck. Mars takes center stage. First look - and even at 133X without a filter, I see a thumblike darkening to the northwest. Doesn't seem right for Mare Serpentis. Too large. Too far north. Didn't plan on doing a drawing - but the Pup's showing more than expected. Even at 20 arc-seconds, Mars is small at 133x - but the limb is pretty sharp and contrast is fine. (250X doesn't cut it though.) OK. Grab that pencil - it's sketch time! Thread in the green filter. Polar cap just not happening. Large brightening to the northeast. Another smaller brightening on the eastern limb. Red filter really brings out the northwestern mare.
Mars' low sky position allows me to remove the mirrored diagonal and view the planet direct - just like refractors of old... Not sure if this improves image quality much, but after a while, I start to make out a second darkening south-southwest. By 12:30 the viewing session is over. A sketch is ready for scanning and the Pup is stowed in the study. Run MarsPreviewerII software. Woh, so THAT was Syrtis Major: THE SYRTIS MAJOR. Meanwhile, exiting southeast was Mare Erythraeum and company. Things be happening with Mars. Now for one good night of steady seeing!

Observer: jeff barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: www.ihwy.com/~barbour/jeff/astro/index.html

Date and time of Observation: May 3, 2001 3:15 - 5:00 am PDST

Observing Location: Backyard Boulder Creek

Object Observed: M's 80, 4, 8, 20, 21, 22

Viewing conditions: Transparency: 5.5 ZULTM, Stability: ?/10

Telescope 80mm Achromatic Refractor with Equatorial Mount

Eyepiece 25/9mm Plossels

Observing notes:
Awoke this morning to ringing in my ears. Stumbled out of bed, splashed a little cold water on my face. Dragged myself outside. Setup the 80mm Pup on the workout deck facing south. Something was very wrong with the sky. The glorious star clouds north and east of Sagittarius were missing. A grey "gruel" bespotted with a few brighter stars were visible - otherwise, yuch. Decided that since I was up and things were in place, I was going to at least try and turn up a few globulars in Scorpio and Sagittarius. The northernmost part of Scorpio was rapidly merging into the treeline south-southwest. I would have to hurry.
Centered the finderscope on Delta Scorpii. Placed my eye over the three and one-half degree 16X 25mm Plossel. Star count was low (due to conditions). Slewed due east and picked out a diffuse light looking like a "dim fuzzy star". This just as Delta shifted outside the field of view. Bumped the magnification to 44X, and got a disappointing view of a brightish central core blending quickly into the murk. More interesting than the cluster was a nearby asterism. A group of 7th and 8th magnitude stars north of the cluster. The asterism took the general form of the head and forelegs of a "racing greyhound straining for the finish line".
Antares was still well clear of the trees. To its west (and slightly north) is 3rd magnitude Sigma Scorpi. Forming a flat triangle in the field (to the south of this pair), was a more obvious globular cluster - M4. The view of M4 was encouraging. At 16X, it showed a bright central core, surrounded by a luminous core region. Around that I could make out a roundish halo bleeding off into the murk. At 44X (9mm Plossl), this bright (magnitude 6.0) large (26 arc-minutes) cluster displayed only about half its full girth. With extreme aversion I could make out a dozen 10 plus magnitude stars buzzing around it's halo like a bonnet of bees about a hive. Another interesting feature was an elongated central core - like a cat's eye. This apparition was orriented north to south. (Thinking about it now, I had also seen this elongated type central core while viewing M92 in Hercules. Curious.)
As the bulk of Scorpio bowed behind the treeline I was eager to sweep Sagittarius. Looking up, I noticed that the murk to the south had dissipated. Before me was the fabric of the universe. A fine texture of countless, distant suns arched gracefully north and east. Great bands of darkness split the light into luminous tributaries and bays. Despite this, the Great River remained unstaunched. Could it be that the earlier murk was the residue of radiance thrown into the sky by a not-quite set moon? Of course! Though I rose later this morning than last, the progressing moon would still be high in the sky behind the Santa Cruz Mountains to the east (on the far side of the house). The sacrifice of a warm bed was now amply rewarded - but Sagittarius, like Scorpio before it drifted perilously close to the treeline.
A casual sweep southwest of Mu Sagittarii showed a remarkable mix of individual stars, asterisms, clusters and reflective nebula - all in the same 16X field. Many of the stars and star groups were embroiled in a vague nebulosity. Some ensconced in obvious clouds of luminous matter. Small patches of light could be seen everywhere. Magnificent!
The most obvious nebulosity involved a pair of 7/8th magnitude stars separated by about 10 arc-minutes (oriented north-south). These stars were completely surrounded by a globe of light perhaps twice as wide as the separation between the two stars. To the north was a group of four or five dimmer stars forming a low profile, misshapen rectangle encased in a smaller, more subtle region of nebulosity. It was obvious to my eye that this glow was really part of the brighter glow to the south and that a dark absorption nebula lay between them. To the east of the brighter glow was a third, dimmer cloud engulfing a pair of very dim 10th magnitude stars. A dark lane separated these two luminous regions as well. By now you've guessed that I had chanced on the famous "Lagoon Nebula" - M20.
Now the Lagoon Nebula would have been satisfying enough. But within the same field of view and to the east was an equally large (1 plus) degree field of about a dozen stars. The brightest members of this celestial troop of perhaps magnitude the 8th. Dimmer members could also be seen down to magnitude 10. A hazy nebulosity hung about this group. The cluster gave the appearance of a squat, bulging, ripe strawberry ready for cosmic delectation. M21, truly you are a delicate feast for the eye.
While scanning about (before alighting on M20 and 21), I had previously caught another bright area of obvious nebulosity to the south. Unfortunately, Sagittarius was sinking lower and the Pup's mount was having difficulty properly aligning. What I remember of it was a north-south oriented clutch of stars with a bright nebulous patch in their midst. I believe this to have been the famed "Trifid Nebula" (M8). Frankly, I can think of no other nebula of equal luminosity and size in the region.
Sweeping due east of the Lagoon, I came across what I consider to be the premier globular cluster visible from the temperate Northern Hemisphere - M22. Even at 16X it dominates the field of view. No resolution was possible at this low magnification. I was struck by how perfect the cluster displays however. Round. Bright. Brilliant. Extensive core region. Luminosity blending evenly to a well-defined frontier. With averted vision a "roughness" was seen suggestive of incipient resolution. The globular's core mounted up to meet the eye. Superb.
Earlier I had caught a dozen M5 stars under moderate aversion. Now with a sky free of moonwash, a brighter (5.4 magnitude), equally large (24 arc-minute) cluster, I knew the view would be wonderful at 44X. Switching over to the 9mm Plossel, dozens of individual stars shone round about the core region. This, without any special tricks of the eye. Perhaps only one other cluster could show as much of itself in a 3 inch scope - the incomparable Omega Centauri.
Slewing west (and somewhat south) I caught a final globular cluster. M28 looked much like how M80 would have appeared under similar conditions. Small (11 arc-minute), moderately bright (magnitude 6.9), this cluster is a lot like M22 in miniature. Bright stellar core, brightish core region, dimming to - this time - the darkness of space. Like M3, M28 is a study needing 150mm Argo's greater aperture. I suspect that through Argo the globular would give a view comparable to that of M22 using the 80mm Pup.
Following the view of M28, I swung the Pup north and east along that "Great River of Light" leading north and east from Sagittarius. Along the "Great White Way", many magnificent regions of nebulosity were seen - this time - not composed of gas and dust but of dim, unresolved clouds of distant suns.
Then like on any such morning, the sky to the west brightened and the natural limit imposed by a much nearer, rising Sun put a term to the morning's glories.
Comment: Alistair, thanks again for the site.

Observer: Jeff Barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: www.ihwy.com/~barbour/jeff/astro/index.html

Date and time of Observation: 8:45 - 10:15 PDST April 25, 2001

Observing Location: Backyard Boulder Creek

Object Observed: Moon, Jupiter, Epsilon Hydrae Double, Praesepe, Comet Schaumasse?

Viewing conditions: Transparency: Variable to 5.0, Stability: 7/10

Telescope 80mm F5 Achromatic Refractor with Equatorial Mount

Eyepiece 25mm/9mm Plossel/10mm Ultrascopics with 3x Ultrascopic and 2x Shorty Barlows

Observing notes:
Ah, Summer approaches. I can feel it between my toes, and on my sole(s). Not quite short sleeve shirt time - but barefoot in the backyard. This is the essence of amateur astronomy. Hey! publish if you like, or not. Observe with diligence, or not. You do it because you want to. You will never make a genuine contribution to the advancement of science - but to the Art - anything is possible! Why tonight I may have even discovered a comet! (Of course, this is something that could happen every night but totally without cognition.)
First the Moon. Its back - just like I said it would be. Right on schedule: "New Moon in the Old Moon's arms." Thin hornlike crescent, backlit by the Sun, courtesy of the Earth - of course. Tweak the Pup's focuser a little here and a little there and chromaticism almost undetectable. If only there was a fine adjust mechanism - I could call it a $200 semi-apochromat!
Like the moon, Jupiter was low. Nice contrast on the EBs. Occasional views of the NTB - averted and in syncopation with the few seconds of stability. No doubt about it. Due to the peculiarities of the seasons and the ecliptic, it will never happen of course, but now that the atmosphere is drying up, the planets definitely getting more contrasty. Since around here, dry means Summer, and Summer means low ecliptic, and low ecliptic means more atmosphere there will never be a perfect time to observe Jupiter. Just the optimal time. And that time would be Spring - if only the planet were in spring opposition. (Autumn is quite damp in these parts as well - so no recourse here.)
In reviewing my observing plan I noticed that I had yet to view double-star Epsilon Hydrae. So tonight, rather than assembling Argo, I decided to give the Pup a chance first. But let's start with the published data: Primary magnitude 3.8. Secondary 7.8. Separation 3.2 arc-seconds. Double Star Resolution Calculator says "80mm Short Focal length refractor splits on an excellent night under regional 5.2 ULTM conditions".
Well tonight was good - not perfect. Transparency was not quite 4.5 in the region of Epsilon. So, conditions not met forget it.
Really? Yes. Stacked up everything I had (roughly 250X). Got a decent airy disk. Reasonably concentric, though incomplete diffraction rings. Nothing. Dropped back down to 120X. Nice sweet airy disk around primary. Single, diffraction ring, still somewhat unstable. Observed. Observed. Observed. Late evening calm arrived. Epsilon started moving gracefully across the field of view. Only the diffraction ring danced now. Not the star itself. With 10mm Ultrascopic and 3x barlow in place, was that a bit of persistent brightening at the first diffraction ring due east? Just couldn't nail it. Lovely opalescent primary. Possibly a gray-blue 8th magnitude primary leading across the sky. But not confirmed.
By this time it was as dark as it was going to get. Carted the Pup over to the north lawn (only a couple dozen feet away really.) Split the distance between Pollux and Regulus. There it was faint glow in the sky. Turned the finder on it. Centered on the the ellipse of bright stars. Switched to the main tube. Scanned until I located the "y" shaped asterism that includes the 12.7 magnitude test star. Woh! There it is - but only when I moved my eye about the field. Stop and its gone. Move and there it is. Beyond extreme aversion. The last tease. + 1.3 magntude. The flit. So this evening, under nominal 5.0 conditions, the Pup could add 7.7 - 1.3 or 6.5 magnitudes at 120X. Refractors rule!
Why do I say that? Because at 80mm and 120X, the Pup should only be able to reveal stars down to magnitude 10.8. Instead the numbers strongly support 11.5. I've seen this before and still can not quite explain it. Tests using the 12.2 field star associated with Iota Cassiopeia showed that the Pup could reveal it with moderate aversion at a similar magnification. Again pointing to a telescopic limiting threshold magnitude of 11.5. Nice!
Now I was ready to go after that Comet. Fellow astronomer (that mysterious Backyard in Ohio dude the Astronomer) gave me a little email guidance as to how to go about tracking down Comet Schaumasse. (Together now, Comet What?) Schaumasse, Schaumasse that's it. I started at Beta Tauri. Scanned up to 10 degrees east at 16X. Lot's of possibilities = all on the margin could be anything (dim asterisms, lions, tigers, bears - like I said, anything). Switched to 40X. Started again. Due east. Nada. Shift 1 degree north of Beta. Due east. Nothing. Shift 1 degree south. Same. Nothing conclusive. Now 2 degrees north. Nope.
Now, 2.5 degrees north of Beta is a dim finderscope double star (maybe magnitude 8). OK, this is the last sweep. Anything that looks remotely like Charles Messier would think it was a comet, I was going to write up as "my best shot". One degree east. Two degrees east. Three degrees - four. Five degrees, six degrees, seven degrees. Waz zat? Faint 11th magnitude double. Look's fuzzy. But not the double. Something northeast. Definite roundish light mound, maybe 15 arc-minutes east of solitary 6.5 magnitude star. Some 5 arc-minutes in diameter. So OK Mr. Astro, did I find it?
Shifted the scope over to the east. Sighted on Denebola. Transparency went to hell. Couldn't even find the Leo Trio. Time to call it quits. Barefoot into the house. Write up my notes. Leave the scope setup. Excuse me I'll be right back...
It's now 11:30PDST on a work night. The sky looks very inviting, but so does bed.
Good Night Universe.

Observer: Jeff Barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: www.ihwy.com/~barbour/jeff/astro/index.html

Date and time of Observation: Friday, April 13, 2001, 7:30 - 10:30 PSDT

Observing Location: Backyard Boulder Creek

Object Observed: Snow Fence, Cell Phone Tower, Jupiter, Xi Ursa Majoris, Castor, Intergalactic Wanderer, Praesepe, M81, M82

Viewing conditions: Transparency: Variable to 4.5, Stability: 7/10

Telescope 80mm F5 Achromatic Refractor with Equatorial Mount

Eyepiece 35/10mm Ultrascopics with Ultrascopic 3x and Achromatic 2X Barlows

Observing notes:
My 80mm Orion ShortTube refractor (The Pup) has been packed a way since family members and I returned from a trip to Fremont Peak (at the end of March). This afternoon I started hearing those little whines and whimpers that said "Can I come out and play?" So, being the sensitive sort, I just had to let the Pup out of his travel bag. While pulling all the pieces together, I explained how broken clouds were likely to blow in for the evening. How such clouds can make seeing astronomical objects difficult (if not impossible). And how sometimes its better if the sky is completely overcast so you just get on with the rest of your life... Of course, all this expectation management was probably as good for me as the Pup. So, when these things came to pass, the Pup and I maintained our spirits and did what we could with what we had.
Just before dark, I pushed the Pups limits a little, and give him a chance to stretch his optical legs. The target was the 2 mile distant snow fence and cell phone tower I use for optics testing. The stretch was the stack of lenses added to the lightpath: 9mm Plossl (4 elements) and two barlows lenses. All this added up to about 220 magnification. (Or roughly 65X per inch of aperture.) Of course, the Pup took the load quite nicely. Per inch aperture, I'd say almost as well as Argo does - perhaps even better. Of course by the time you stack two barlows, an eyepiece plus the two lenses in the objective you've got about 11 pieces of glass between your eye and what you're seeing. But surprise, when I later turned the same configuration on Jupiter I was very pleased with image brightness.
Image detail, however, is a different story - two equatorial bands, sans features and edge irregularities. But the edge looked reasonably sharp, and the polar regions decently present. I suspect the view might have been better if the sky had a chance to darken before Jupiter sank to the west. It might also have been nice if I could have viewed the planet clearly for more than 5 or 10 seconds at a time.
Eventually the sky did darken. (Strange how this seems to happen daily.) With Xi Ursa Majoris high overhead, I quickly placed it in the sights. (Previously, I had removed the 2x shorty barlow and configured with the 10mm Ultrascopic and 3x Ultrascopic barlow.) After a few seconds of study, I saw Xi fully separate into a nice cleanly spaced pair of stars embraced by mutual diffraction rings. The split was not sustainable however. Most of the time the two stars were entrained in their outsized spurious disks. (What I have conventionally described as a "dirty split" - something more obvious than elongation, but less spectacular than compete separation.)
Being in a double-star mood, I switched over to Castor. At 120X, the gap between the 2nd and 3rd magnitude components remained more or less constant. In fact that gap was greater than the larger of the two spurious disks. The Pup is a very respectable binary star scope - even as, for whatever reason, I have yet to get a decent view of Jupiter.
The sky was as dark as it got the whole evening by this time. Clouds continued to roll in from the northwest. Overhead I could just make out 4.5 magnitude Lambda Leonis. I ventured north, well past 70 Geminorium to locate the faint group of 8th magnitude stars that share the field with the Intergalactic Wanderer (NGC2419).
Having precise knowledge of the Wanderer's relationship with three 8 mag field stars made it possible to find it. However, even with the sky darkening provided by 120X, the Pup was not able to supply enough contrast for this 10.4 magnitude globular cluster to be held directly. So, with moderate aversion, the Wanderer revealed itself as a splash of dim light - but reveal itself it did. The Pup done good!
I spent the next half-hour or so absorbing photons and quietly singing the few words I can remember - and the many I could make up - of an old folk song: "I am a weary and a lonesome traveler... I just keep traveling on." Now everybody sing!
About this time, Praesepe began its descent from the central meridian. I removed the barlow and dropped down to 40X. Even at 40X, the cluster spilled outside the 1 1/4 degree field of view. I replaced the 10mm with the 35mm. At 12X, M44 took up little more than one quarter the field. In fact, I could also take in the 4th magnitude Gamma and Delta along with 5th magnitude Nu Cancri.
Praesepe showed perhaps 3 dozen 5th through 10th magnitude stars. (10th magnitude is a bit of a stretch at 13X for the Pup - especially on a 4.5 night.) In viewing the cluster, I noticed two distinct asterisms. One, the brighter, gave the appearance of an ellipse oriented east-west. The other dimmer asterism, looked like a "T" with the top toward the north. In combination, the two gave the illusion or a "helicopter" of stars. The helicopter perpetually hovering while pointing to the east between Gamma and Delta.
Before departing, I setup the 120X combination again. The background sky darkened up nicely. Far more stars were seen - perhaps doubling the count. Hundreds of dimmer but imperceptible stars gave the field a rich and attractive texture.
Clouds continued rolling in in groups. The sky to the north above Boulder Creek alternately waxed and waned in luminosity. I mapped out a plan to revisit M81 and M82. I hoped to also catch two NGC galaxies in the same area - NGCs 2976 and 3077.
I caught the sky just as it was going down for the count. On acquiring M82, I could instantly see that this near edge on galaxy displayed luminosity variations along its length. It actually appeared somewhat battered, kind of scruffy. Just the sort of detail that is interesting to the eye. Between clouds I noticed the galaxy's northern flank tended to "bulge" slightly - compared to its more sharply delineated southern flank. I could also see at least three stars lying right along - or very near - its lenticular edge. The brightest of these - of magnitude 10, lay to the west. The galaxy itself seemed to take up a region maybe 2 by 8 arc-minutes. Orientation along the east-west axis. Even with the high thin clouds (and the Boulder Creek lightdome) I would describe the galaxy as showing a fair amount of contrast with the sky - however at times it (and its brighter neighbor - M81) would completely disappear from view.
Before detailing M82, I had a chance to view the entire region around M81 and M82 at 12X. The two galaxies - oriented north south - took up less than 25% of the field. To M82's west (the more northerly of the pair) I could see 5th magnitude 23 Ursa Majoris. A slightly dimmer 6th magnitude star lay closer to and west of M81. Several dim "light mounds" could occasionally be imagined flashing in the same field. It will take a darker night for me to confirm that any of these were 10.2 - 5x3 arc-minute sized NGC2976 (forming the southern apex of a triangle with M81 and it's westerly 5th magnitude field star) or 9.9 magnitude - 5x4 arc-minute sized NGC3077 (located half a degree southeast of M81). Unless the night is very dark, I'll probably half to turn this pair up with Argo first.
M82 did not get a full inspection this evening through the Pup. The sky collapsed before this was possible. What I did see was perhaps slightly less intriguing than M81. 82 is larger (10x5 arc-minutes directly visible), has a bright star-like central core. Displays a continuous brightness gradient from the center outward. The galaxy orients more or less north and south and presents itself as elliptical in shape.
I did notice one peculiarity about M82. It seemed to me that the large, bright core region has a halo. The halo extends primarily to the east and easily doubles the size of the galaxy. Unlike Argo however, M82 did not give a sense of "spiraliscity" through the Pup - regardless of how much I flitted about the field of view.
The Pup's OTA and mount are now joined. He stands tall and ready for his next night out. I find myself enjoying backyard outings with him. The refractor's optics display excellent wide-field views. This enables me to expand my "contextual sense" of the sky. Without the Pup to the kit, clusters like Praesepe, the Pleiades, and the Double Cluster in Perseus could not fit within a single telescopic field. A second scope of smaller aperture also help's you appreciate the extra reach and detail of a larger scope. Finally, the Pup allows me to test out my eyepieces and other accessories on a second OTA. Tonight, for instance, I took the opportunity to confirm that issues associated with Argo have more to do with astigmatic 35mm Ultrascopic eyepiece elements than with Argo itself.
Here's looking through you, Pup.

Observer: jeff barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: www.ihwy.com/~barbour/jeff/astro/

Date and time of Observation: Wednesday, March 14, 2001, 8:00 - 9:30 PST

Observing Location: Backyard, Boulder Creek

Object Observed: M41&50, NGC2237, 2244, 2316?

Viewing conditions: Transparency: 5.0 ULTM, Stability: 5/10

Telescope 80mm F5 Achromatic Refractor with Equatorial Mount

Eyepiece 25/9mm Plossls with 25mm Ultrascopic plus OIII Filter and 3x Ultrascopic Barlow

Observing notes:
Some evenings it's not always possible to pack up Argo and venture to exotic locales (like Boulder Creek Elementary School). On such evenings, when I time-share with other duties (like putting on my superperson costume and saving the world), I still like to take out a scope and "poke around". Since adding the Pup to the toolkit, I find it even easier to squeeze in a few moments of observation between other activities. Such was the case this evening...
Though tonight was "unscheduled uptime", I still felt the need to catch up on my observation plan. Despite the fact that good progress has been made since the weather broke last week, I'm still behind by two weeks. "Two weeks" you say, "Ah that's nothing. I've got DSO's on my list from two years ago I still haven't turned up!" Well such may be the case, but I'm kind of sensitive about this sort of thing. You see, I'm a big believer in the idea of tackling no more than you can and doing whatever is possible to see it through - in a more or less timely fashion. This quaint idea is my own failing, and I have no intent of foisting it on my fellow astronomers.
So tonight I reviewed the "100mm and under" lists from Deepsky Objects by Optimal Aperture and found a few gems to uncover I had yet to find with Argo. During a previous session, I had also penciled in the Pup for a look at the Rosette Nebula around NGC2244. At that time, it was obvious that the Rosette was visible in Argo. However, it spilled so far out of the 50X field of view that I could make no contextual sense of it. (You see there are five senses plus the contextual sense, and I really depend on my contextual sense!) Finally I thought it might be fun to try and hunt down something really difficult, so I added nebula NGC2316 to the shortlist just for giggles. (2316 lies very close to open cluster M50 in Monoceros.)
The evening started with a quick check of the planets. Again, like a previous outing with the Pup: Two belts on Jupiter. Cassini on the margin, Titan, but no equatorial belt on Saturn.
NGC2244 is an easy find just south of 5th magnitude 13 Monoceri. At 16X, the easily recognized "irregular rectangle" of bright 7th magnitude members leaped to eye. A star count showed slightly more than a dozen 7th to 10th magnitude stars. Most of these near the 6 star rectangle that is 2244's most distinctive feature. (A few outliers were also visible to the northeast and southwest.)
Rosette was coy and remained out of sight. The background sky, though reasonably dark to the eye (regional limiting magnitude 4.5+), appeared characteristically deep-blue in the 3 degree field. I installed the 25mm Ultrascopic with OIII filter in tactical response. The sky responded by taking on a rich indigo-black matt finish. Rosette slowly made her entrance - and what an "entrancing" beauty she is! Subtle too! I had to play the old swami trick with a towel, whilst comfortably settling in on an observing stool before her diaphanous details would emerge.
Rosette shows three main "lobes" of luminosity. The brightest and largest lies north of 2244. In fact, the narrow end of 2244's rectangle points directly toward the brightest point of the northern lobe. Two other lobes were also visible. These were inferior to the northern lobe in luminosity and size. Rosette extends well over one degree of the sky. North lobe makes up about a third of this expanse. The others extend out about as far, but begin more than half-way out from the center of the cluster. Initially, I thought the lobe to the west-southwest was brighter and larger than that of the east. Later, I wasn't as sure. In switching to 44X, I found that I could discern nebulosity with and without the OIII filter. The number of stars visible in 2244 doubled from that seen using the 25mm 16X Plossl (no OII filter). I also noticed a large triangular shaped region of more than a dozen stars pointing at the rectangle from the west. (The rectangle appears to balance on this triangle! .) The most interesting thing about the 44X view was the fact that very little of the Rosette is susceptible to the eye near the rectangle. This makes it quite easy to detect the Rosette whenever visible since all you do is view the rectangular region, get a sense of how dark it is, then sweep to the north and look for any grayscaling of the sky in that direction. The contrast is immediate and unmistakable. Why even the Pup could show it! And in thinking back, Argo showed it too.
M41, just south of Sirius was next on the evening's list. I had observed M41 late last autumn through Argo. (At that time I could make out several hundred stars within the 50X 1 degree field.) The cluster easily caught my attention in the 16X Plossl. The central region is significantly larger than the rectangular region of 2244. This appears as an oblate sphere oriented northwest to southeast. It takes up about 1/10th of the 16X field. Perhaps 3 dozen stars were detectable ranging from the 7th to 9th magnitude. Another two dozen stars could be seen outside the core. These arrayed themselves to the northwest, southeast and southwest. The northwest and southwest groups extended out like scarab legs from the body of the cluster and trailed back to the rear (northeast). The southwestern group extended straight ahead and more or less guided the group across the sky to the west. In fact the cluster looks like some ancient glyph written across the sky, (perhaps signifying some deeply! esoteric experience of the mysteries of life and death). Needless to say I missed all this when observing the cluster through Argo. At that time all I could think of was "My God, its full of stars!". At 44X, the central part of the cluster becomes almost "globular". Several great arcs of stars could be seen swinging around in a counterclockwise direction. (CCW in the Pup anyway.) The number of stars doubled at 44x, as once again increaed magnification bled luminosity out of the sky and dimmer 10 - 1).5 magnitude stars showed themselves. At 16X, a pair of stars at the center of the cluster seemed to claim the view. At 44X, these stars lost focus and the sense of depth implied by the great arcs became far more salient to the eye and imagination.
M50 in Monoceros, north and east of Sirius is the perfect object for an 80mm scope. It can just be detected as a swatch of light in the 6x26 finderscope. Turning to the main tube at 16X, a small, elongated scintillation in the field captures the eye immediately. At 44X, a half-dozen stars in a similar field can be caught with averted vision. It is only at 132X that M50's clusterlike nature can be confirmed. And this only at the price of great concentration by the observer. M50 is probably better suited to 100mm scopes, but in my estimation, on a reasonably dark night (ZULTM=5.0) it can be observed to satisfaction in a three inch refractor with fine optics.
Members of M50 begin at about magnitude 9.5 and go on down from there. The Pup probably showed about 2 dozen stars, few of which could be directly acquired without bowing out. The main group of stars is quite globular in appearance. At 132X that globularity appears encased in a triangle. The triangle fills about one-half the field of view. The core, at half that size, is displaced to the north. One tip of the triangle leads the cluster across the sky. Trailing this assemblage, just outside the 132 X field, is a blue 7.5 magnitude field star.
About one degree north and slightly west of M50 is reputed to be a very small reflecting nebula. Having finished my planned observations, I made several forays to this locale from M50. Each foray revealed objects that might be classified under the technical rubric "imaginosity". However, I did keep returning to a single spot where I could just detect a flash of dim, blue fuzzy light - much like a planetary nebula. I inspected this spot using magnifications of 44 and 132X, with and without an OIII filter. Nothing definitive, but I suspect that Argo could probably prove this out, one way or another. If in fact 2316 was found, then basically, an 11th magnitude nebula was revealed by a scope that can show 10.3 magnitude stars under 4.5 local ULTM transparency.
Starts you thinking that aperture fever is an affliction of the challenge-impaired doesn't it?
Comment: Don't let them Big Dobs intimidate you!
Comment: Clear and Steady!

Observer: jeff barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: www.ihwy.com/~barbour/jeff/astro/

Date and time of Observation: March 12, 2001 / 7:00 - 9:30 PST

Observing Location: Backyard, Boulder Creek

Object Observed: Planets, M1, M35, M78, NGC1499, NGC2071

Viewing conditions: Transparency: 5.5 ZULTM, Stability: 6/10

Telescope 80mm F5 Achromatic Refractor with Equatorial Mount

Eyepiece 25/9mm Plossls with 25mm Ultrascopic plus OIII Filter and 3x Ultrascopic Barlow

Observing notes:
There are limits. Yesterday I hit one. The sky was impossibly transparent, dry and even reasonably still concurrently. The moon had vacated the evening sky. A subtle, extended nebula I'd been seeking for several months suddenly materialized before my amazed perception. Extremely dim planetary nebulae in foreign regions of the sky were detectable even at low magnifications. The rush was necessarily going to catch up with me. So despite continued excellent skies, I took the evening off from serious observing and "loafed" with the Pup. Even so, I did cover two new finds from my observing plan - M35 in Gemini and NGC1499 in Perseus.
I keep hoping that the key to the planets will reveal itself to the Pup. With such fine optics it should be able to reveal at least the macro features on Jupiter along with Saturn's Cassini's Division and equatorial belt. Well, this evening a start was made. Cassini was detectable - if only after diligent, patient waiting. And the equatorial band was more or less steadily acquired. But to be honest, it really surprises me that such a modestly apertured scope can be so adversely impacted by the seeing. But nevertheless this appears to be so. The Pup likes things to settle down before he will show you much of the planets. And tonight things were better...
Jupiter was another matter. Again, the Pup revealed nothing more than the two equatorial belts - and this without elaboration. No NTB. Certainly no STB. Sure Jupiter appears obviously oblate, and the polar regions darken perceptibly to their respective poles. But that's it. Maybe one day the Pup will grow up and act like a true refractor. Until then, I expect that Argo will continue to offer up its extremely tantalizingly blend of almost but not quite amazing planetary detail.
A few days ago the Moon was trying to play Sun with the night sky, At that time I attempted to turn up both M1 and M78 with the Pup. At best, I caught a pair of diffuse, and unconfirmable "light mounds". Tonight, under the dark skies of the evening, both these fine nebulae were easy to find at 16x and quite susceptible to detailed examination at 44X. Of the two, M1 gave the better view. M1's core was definitely brighter than its frontier. There was also an indefinable sense of "dssolution" at the limits. Frankly I don't remember it looking quite this well-defined in Argo - but it's likely that my skills as an observer have improved since I last viewed it. Certainly I've had to track down objects far closer to the limit of susecptibility. This can't help but improve the eye.
In Orion, the larger M78 and the more subtle NGC2071 were both obvious nebulosities. M78 had the typical "flaring" tendency under averted vision that I'd seen in Argo last night. However, it's northern edge was not quite so well defined. Argo did a fine job of distinguishing NGC2071 to the eye. Both Argo and the Pup suffer from atmospheric "star haze", but I get a sense that the Pup does a slightly better job of informing the eye when it comes across any nebulosity within its reach.
Tonight was dark enough to make a serious run on NGC1499 - the California Nebula. I'd like to say the view was so obvious that I could actually make out the Monterey Bay Area - now said, it just isn't true. 1499 is very large and probably has a cumulative magnitude comparable to M1 and M78 - objects less than 1/100 it's surface area. It is an extremely tough catch for any telescope which lacks the chemistry or CCD memory needed to accumulate photons. (If only the eye had such a capacity!) Despite this, the Pup did rather well. All I had to do was: 1. Install the OIII filter in the 25mm Ultrascopic eyepiece. 2. Place an eyepatch over my left eye so I could leave it open comfortably. 3. Drape a towel over my head to block stray light from the street and neighborhood lighting. 4. Insert the 25mm with OIII filter into the star diagonal. 5. Orient the 16X, 3 degree field of the scope on Xi Persei. 6. Settle in on an observing chair and allow myself to completely relax. After a whil! e, this was followed by 7. A subtle sheen of light centered about 1 degree north and less than half a degree east of Xi. The sheen was perhaps 15 arc minutes in diameter and trailed off into a rather large rectangular region of "grayscale" against a more or less velvety black sky. The grayscale itself was occasionally bisected by dark sky given a divided appearance. The whole thing oriented north-northwest by south-southeast. It was impossible to see anything like this without the OIII filter, so along with the eye patch, the rich-field scope, the towel, and a dark night, you also have to spring the $100 for the filter to get the view. Better yet, go on the web and enjoy the astrophotos posted by various amateurs.
Before viewing the California Nebula, I looked up one other first-find object - M35 in Gemini. M35 is very large - in fact it appeared much larger than the half-degree assigned to it by those in the know. It's likely that many of the stars surrounding it are line of sight. It looked rather like a "three in one" kind of object. First there was a number of distant outlying stars - most within 45 arc-minutes of what should have been the clusters core. Then there was a "smaller" 45 arc-minute sized region that gave the vague impression of a spinning top or a tudor rose. Finally within this region and offset to the east, was a small group of very dim stars arrayed over perhaps fifteen arc-minutes of space. In all I could see perhaps fifty 7 to 10 magnitude stars at 44X. The "cluster within cluster" region contained about a dozen 10th and 11th magnitude stars.
The clear dark skies over the last few nights have reinforced the notion that seeing conditions are perhaps the most important determinant of the quality of the observing experience. Several nights ago, the Pup's three inches of aperture were pitifully inadequate to the task of definitively locating two celestial objects discovered by a Frenchman with a twenty-five foot long, similarly-apertured, poorly figured, refractor telescope two centuries ago. Tonight, under very good conditions, these same objects could be plucked out of the night sky at the lowest possible magnification and yielded up distinct hints of shape and surface morphology at a mere 44X. Such nights as this (and the last) may not be counted on. If they could, it is likely that we mortal's would simply take them for granted. Since they are rare, and despite my weariness, I just had to get out and make an honest effort at enjoying them.
Comment: Clear and Steady!

Observer: jeff barbour

E-mail address: barbour@ihwy.com

Web site: www.ihwy.com/~barbour/jeff/astro/

Date and time of Observation: Friday, March 9, 2001 7:00 - 10:30PST

Observing Location: Backyard, Boulder Creek

Object Observed: Sirius, M42, M43, NGC1981, Zeta Orionis, Pleiades, Hyades, M1, M36, M37, M38, Castor

Viewing conditions: Moon Limited Transparency: < 4.0 ULTM, Stability: 5/10

Telescope 80mm F5 Achromatic Refractor with Equatorial Mount

Eyepiece 25/9mm Plossls with 25mm Ultrascopic plus OIII Filter and 3x Ultrascopic Barlow

Observing notes:
The sky in Scotts Valley appeared very promising when I headed home from work around 5:00 this evening. Even before arriving in Boulder Creek however, I could see the usual pattern of "good weather / bad weather" playing out. Boulder Creek is located in the mountains north of Santa Cruz, California and somewhat north and west of Scotts Valley (where I work). During winter, the town is a magnet for precipitation. And where there's rain, there's clouds.
This evening's broken sky gave little sign of clearing. I waited till 6:00 PM before making the decision not to drive Argo (a 150mm Maksutov-Cassegrain) to China Ridge. Last night I made that same trip on speculation - it didn't pan out. So on getting home, I left everything packed in anticipation of the next good night. At that time, I mentally committed myself to spend more time with the Pup (an 80mm Synta manufactured Orion B&T ShortTube Achromatic Refractor). This basically meant that I would do most of my backyard observing using the Pup while taking Argo to exotic locales (like China Ridge).
The fact that I'm just beginning to put the Pup through its paces means I get to be a little more intelligent about my observing plan. Argo's observing plan shows very little sign of real intelligence. It came together before I developed the mathematical algorithms needed to calculate whether or not a particular object can actually be "found" and "gainfully observed". Based on experiences with Argo, I developed programs used to bin DSO's by aperture. Although Argo can find objects optimized for scopes twice it's aperture, unless I already know how to find these objects, the attempt can be sheer torture. We'll come back to this later...
I started the evening by "star testing" the Pup. To do this requires a bright star (Sirius in this case), high magnification, and a relatively stable sky. At 400mm focal length, the best combination available to me is a 9mm Plossl conjoined with an Ultrascopic barlow in 3x configuration. This delivers about 130X. Pretty low for a star test. But enough to show that the Pup displays a multiplicity of perfectly concentric a-focal rings bearing an identical (but chromatically tinged) signature inside and outside focus. Except for the chromatic aberration, the Pup effectively exceeds the optical quality of big brother Argo (1/6th wave rated 150mm MCT). Not bad for an OTA that costs less than 250 dollars American.
After completing the star test, I threaded an OIII filter into the 9mm Plossl and inspected Sirius. No doubt about it, the size of Sirius' spurious disk is significantly reduced by the filter. This suggests that star Sirius B could conceivably be revealed to the lucky user of an optically correct 8 inch scope with OIII filter on a clear and stable night. (I only saw Sirius B in my imagination using the Pup this evening. I'm sure if the Pup were in geo-stationary orbit it could make out Sirius B - but only without the OIII filter.)
Sadly, Orion is now rapidly leaving for points west. So to catch it before it's disappearance, I quickly turned the Pup on the Hunter's sword and centered The Great Nebula in the 132X OIII field of view. Superb! Even with the sky visibly moon washed, I was able to see tenuous folds and rifts. Surprisingly, the darkness cliff west of the Trapezium was directly detected. The Trapezium displayed all four main stars. To the north and east, nebula M43 was easily made out. Further north, the four star arch embedded in bright nebulae NGC 1973-5-7 was also visibly entangled. Above that, "Pi"-shaped cluster NGC1981 showed about a dozen 6 through 10th magnitude stars, a subtle hint of nebula enshrouded all its members.
Removing the OIII filter and migrating further north, Zeta Orionis was quite obviously elongated. At times I could just make out a "dirty-split" between it's 2.5 arc-second, 2nd and 6th magnitude components. (It's more distant 9.3 magnitude come near the limit of susceptibility). Installing the OIII filter in the 25mm (with 3x barlow ep - 44X), three faint regions of nebulosity, south, southeast, and west of Zeta were hinted at. The regions southeast and west were more or less circular, but still undefined "light mounds" while that to the south was long and linear. Not enough contrast to make out anything like a dark horsehead.
I continued my journey north (but east too) to M78. Here's where I first started to notice the big difference between Argo and the Pup. The Pup just doesn't have the reach. It was very hard to even find the stars making up "the Kingfisher" asterism I use to locate M78. Unlike nebulosity in Orion's Sword, that of M78 was not obvious. Unlike nebulosity near Zeta, M78 was at least verifiable.
Throughout this series, clouds rolled in from south and west. I would then have to break off observing for awhile. By the time I turned up M78, the clouds really spilled over and I carried the scope (one handedly at that) to a more advantageous backyard location. Even still, there was a wait until Saturn and Jupiter emerged from behind a bank of clouds. Using 132X, I made a quick check of Saturn. Not good. The 150mm gives a better view of the Encke Minima on a good night than the Pup gave of Cassini on this fair night. At least there was visible space between the planet and the rings - the south equatorial belt was missing and there was no sense of clarity and sharpness to Saturn's bearing. Jupiter fared little better, substituting the two equatorial belts for Saturn's single ring. OK, so enough of the planets - they belong to Argo anyway.
The Moon was now about a third of the way up the sky to the southeast. I concentrated on a lowering Taurus and Auriga in the northwest. My first look was M45. The Pleiades are an example of the kind of deepsky object the Pup excels at. Lot's of bright stars spread over a 2 plus degree field, embroiled in low surface brightness nebulosity. Tonight, however, between the brilliant moon and Boulder Creek lightdome, there was no suggestion of nebulosity. The stars were bright, but backdropped by a deep blue - not indigo black - sky. One thing I did notice (something that is beyond Argo due to its narrower field of view) is the central position that 3rd magnitude Alcyone takes in the cluster.
With Argo, I'd never go near the Hyades. Even with the Pup it is not possible (even at 16x) to fit all its member stars into a single field. However, I was able to get a sense of how this brightly scattered cluster is arrayed. The center is dominated by a pair of almost matched 4th magnitude stars. East of this pair is an arrowhead comprised of six 5th and 6th magnitude stars. The point of the arrowhead faces even further east but slightly south of Aldebaran "the Hindmost". Under tonight's sky the Pup caught perhaps three dozen stars arrayed round about the arrowhead asterism.
Moving on, I made several passes at getting a decent look at M1 (the Crab Nebula). Basically the results were about the same as M78. Definitely present, but indefinable, and small mound of light. Increasing magnification to 132X did nothing to improve the view whatsoever.
Moving on, I hoped to get some comparo views of the Aurigaean clusters M36-38. These are all mid-sized cumulative 6th magnitude groups of stars competing against an excess of moonlight. I was able to find two of them relatively easily. M36 and M38 both revealed themselves as star clusters to this aperture - even under less than ideal conditions. M37 was another example of a "light mound" hovering on the border of susceptibility. Both the visible clusters showed about a dozen stars. Strangely (as compared to Wednesday when I turned Argo on this trio) there was no advantage to going to higher magnifications. (Argo practically doubled the star count going from 50X to 180X).
I finished up with a quick check of Castor. Easy, clean, beautiful split of two closely matched less than 3.0 magnitude stars separated by about 4 arc-seconds. No test whatsoever for this scope...
So now, the Pup has proved himself a worthy addition. It now joins Argo in the rotation. The Pup gets to stick around the house while Argo goes on the road. The Pup will also bear a lighter load of deepsky objects. I will make no appointments with objects beyond his reach. I'll stick pretty close to the 4 inch scope list. And if the Pup is real good, he'll get to go to public star parties and wow everyone with his unique ability to show great gulps of the starry expanse of the heavens all at once. Onward and upward!

Observer: James Turley, Jamie Turley (9)

Date and time of Observation: 5 Sep 2000, 2030 PDT - 2200 PDT

Observing Location: Saratoga, CA 37.270072, -122.025586

Object Observed: The Moon

Viewing conditions: Lunar Seeing: 8/10 transparency, 8/10 steadiness
Limiting Mag: 5+
Temp/Humid: 58F 62%

Telescope Orion Short Tube 80mm

Eyepiece Meade 2000 9.5mm Plossl

Observing notes:
Atlas: Rukl, Atlas of the Moon, Sections 5, 12 and 13
EQUIPMENT NOTE:
Purchased a ST80 from the Orion parking lot sale in Watsonville last month. Newly sealed factory boxed, with inverted finder 7x50, $158 OTA only.
Mainly as a Grab 'N Go for my son (9) who is showing a lot of interest, especially the "hardware" aspects of Astronomy. I mounted the ST80 on a new super light super sturdy Bogen Carbon One 440 tripod with 3130 Micro Fluid Video Head with Quick Release. Quick Release plate attached well to the 1/4-20 bracket on the OTA. The PolyCarbonate material is light and diamond hard. Can you make an OTA out of this stuff? It's amazing. Expensive though. I think about USD $280 for the tripod only.
This mount/head setup provides exceptional stability with minimum weight. Rigidity is superb. The fluid head provides butter smooth Alt/Az star hopping. OTA, head and tripod weigh less than 8 pounds, with EP's and Diagonal, and Finder. A true GrabNGo for my kid. The Pan Head is great for tracking and hopping.
ST80 LUNAR OBSERVATION
Under clear and polluted steady night skies. I grabbed the assembled rig from our living room. Knocked down the tripod legs and set up on my front sidewalk in a garden chair. Rukl at hand on a TV Dinner tray. The First Quarter Moon shining clear 3 degrees NW of red Antares.
First Impression was typical Achromat Green Chroma on edges. Very thin, no other color. Earlier, the Achro Venus test showed moderate flaring, with little or no green chroma.
Seeing was exceptionally clear and bright. Tonight I decided to introduce Jamie to Cassini and the Lunar Alps. He loves Rukl, after I promoted him to Navigator on our last trip to Yosemite together. He now want me to drive him to the moon, so he can navigate with Rukl.
The Terminator touched the Eastern side of Aristillus, its floor in complete shadow. Above, Vallis Alpes was in high relief, its floor completely in shadow, but upper walls shining. A gash through the mountains. Jamie asks how was it made. Hmm.....
Mons Blanc (3600m) casts a long shadow. Hey, that's as high as the top of Emmigrant Lift at Squaw Valley. The Western Escarpment of the Lunar Alps in clear relief.
Cassini was stunning. Central A crater completely illuminated. B in shadow. Theaetetus, a black dot.
Calippus, rimmed by the high peaks of the Lunar Caucasus was in full shadow, edges shining. Jamie was able to describe the tiny Rima Calippus. "Dad, what is the little curved line below the crater?"
I've been trying to teach him to slow down and spend more time in the EP. He usually looks for about 3 sec, and says "cool". Lately, I've been asking him to describe what he sees, to develop his observing vocabulary, and train him to absorb the image slowly. Next, I'll encourage him to write down his seeing of each feature (coupled with some reward, of course).
He loves his ST80. Shows all of his friends. Drags the scope out to see the moon in the day time as they scooter past the house. (Scooters are big around here).
Jamie identifies Eudoxus, but can't pronounce it. Calls it Exodus. ST80 can tease out the collapsed walls and even tiny Lamech.
The ST80 performance as a moon scope is impressive. Coupled with its short tube, light weight making for easy slewing, this scope makes an ideal kid's scope, and a great Adult Moon Scope. APO purists will be annoyed by Green Ring, of course. But..my kid thinks it's cool!
Jim Turley
Silicon Valley
clear skies, Saturn just rising now

Observer: David Knisely

Date and time of Observation: August 30th, 2000, 0400 to 0630 hrs UTC.

Observing Location: Rockford Lake, Nebr. 40.227N, 96.581W, 1400 ft (427m) elevation.

Object Observed: Various deep sky objects

Viewing conditions: Mostly clear (patchy high cirrus), Temp. 78F, Wind S at 15 mph. UNAIDED EYE LIMITING MAGNITUDE: 6.4

Telescope Celestron 80mm f/5 Wide Angle Spotting Scope

Eyepiece Orion's (U.S.) 30mm Ultrascopic (13x, 3.7 degree field without the filter, 3.5 degrees with a filter),
University Optics 24mm Koenig (17x, 3.5 degree true field),
18mm Orthoscopic (22x),
Meade's 14mm Ultrawide (the "Glass Hand Grenade", 29x, 2.9 degree true field),
10mm Orion Ultrascopic (40x, 1.2 degree true field),
Meade's 6.4mm Super-Plossl (63x, 0.8 degree true field),
TeleVue 2.5x Powermate image amplifier to get the 156x with the 6.4mm eyepiece.

Observing notes:
After attending the recap of the 7th annual Nebraska Star Party at our astronomy club meeting, a friend of mine and I got something to eat at Village Inn and then noticed that the sky was actually fairly clear for once (forest fire haze did not completely gunk things over). I didn't feel like loading up the ten inch as the sky didn't look outstanding, so once we got home, I just grabbed my 80mm f/5 Celestron Wide Field and my eyepiece case for a quick trip to Rockford Lake and a little wide-field work. It was still pretty humid (the 14mm Ultrawide fogged over a bit after I opened the case), so the transparency wasn't all that hot. Still, after the last few weeks of really gunky skies, I wasn't going to let that stop me. That little 80mm f/5 scope is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine, as its wide field and pin-point star images make it a fine performer. I still haven't gotten a decent mount built for it, so I had to suffer with the little rickety camera tripod I use for shooting stuff off of my computer screen. I also had to do a little neck straining near the zenith, as I am still using the Amici prism erect diagonal instead of a regular star diagonal. Our first target was M24 (one of the few objects in the southwest which was out of some local gunk). With the 30mm Ultrascopic, it just glittered with stars, nicely framed in the 3.7 degree field of view. Indeed, going up and down the Milky Way at only 13x was a wonderful experience, even with the slight haze. In particular, the Scutum star cloud showed wonderful patchy dark detail, mainly in the form of a dark curving lane in the eastern half (B.114-7 and B.118), and the dramatic dark dropoff west of the cloud (B.102). I also noted M11 sitting like a glittering diamond near the northeast end of the star cloud and M26 off the southwest side. We stopped for a quick look at the Coathanger, and it appeared much more striking that it had from my driveway a few weeks earlier just after I had gotten the scope, showing many fainter stars in the field.
I decided to play "name that object" with my friend, so I put in the UHC filter and centered M27 in the scope. He had no idea what he was looking at, since at only 13x and with the filter, the outer "wings" off the sides of the dumbbell make the object look like an oval ball rather than a dumbell. It took a bit higher power before he finally recognized it. Without the filter the dumbell form was fairly easy to notice, with the wings being quite faint. We also looked at the Veil with the OIII, and both main arcs were fairly easy to see, although they weren't all that bright. The western arc (NGC 6960) seemed a bit brighter around the star 52 Cyg than the average brightness of the eastern arc (NGC 6992-5), but the eastern one seemed a bit easier to notice initially, with its strongly curved irregular form. Between the two arcs was the much fainter large triangular patch of NGC 6979, which surprised me a bit, as at NSP, I hadn't noticed it in the 80mm. I could just fit all three areas of nebulosity in a 3.5 degree field. From there, I pushed the 80mm up towards the zenith to have a look at the North America Nebula. It showed its full form rather well, but was slightly brighter and better in the UHC than in the OIII filter. Sweeping through central Cygnus was a joy, and in some ways, this star field is better than many of the Sagittarius fields.
Aquarius was high in the south, so that meant it was time to look up the Helix NGC 7293. It was just visible in the 80mm's 6x30 finder as a very faint diffuse patch, with the scope itself showing a somewhat easier round diffuse fuzzy patch. The OIII filter immediately brought out hints of its structure at 13x, but it took 17x and the OIII to get its ring form to show up very well. We used up to 40x on it, but due to the shaky tripod, it was better at 29x with the Meade Ultrawide and the OIII. The UHC helped it stand out somewhat as well, but the OIII was the clear winner here.
Swinging around to the east, I took a nice long look at M31. Even at only 13x, the galaxy was quite nice, showing the faint curving arcs of the outer arm structure. However, the galaxy seemed to actually look a bit better at 17x in the 24mm Koenig, with hints of one of the dark lanes just west of the central core region. Both M32 and NGC 205 stood out much better with just a bit more magnification, and employing the "Glass Hand Grenade" (Meade 14mm Ultrawide) gave the best view, with M31 filling the field nicely at 29x (2.9 degree field). Going over to M33, I did note it easily, but again, to see much in the way of detail required somewhat more power. The 14mm Ultrawide again gave a nice view, showing the slightly brighter core and patchy outer haze. Indeed, part of the northern arm was visible at times, with the southern side showing two or three dim patches in a very diffuse haze. From there, I went over to east of Gamma Andromeda, and just for fun, tried to track down the galaxy NGC 891, an edge-on spiral. Surprisingly, the object did just barely show up as a very faint tiny streak running roughly north-south, framed between a couple of faint stars in the 24mm Koenig. I might have to try this one sometime in a pair of 11x80 binoculars!
The double cluster was staring me in the face, so I swung the 80mm over to it. As usual they were spectacular, but surprisingly, both clusters seem to have a faint rich outer halo of very faint stars which extends well beyond their usual apparent limits seen at higher power. It almost seemed that the halo stars got fainter as you looked farther out towards the edges of the haloes. In fact, the outer halos seem to make the two clusters appear to be almost touching each other, with their long diameters being around 0.5 degree or perhaps a bit more. I had never noticed this before when using larger apertures, but again, I had never been able to examine them at fields much larger than a degree. This little 80mm scope is a real winner in my book!
Seeing how well things were working, I decided to go after a faint "challenge" object; the large diffuse nebula and star cluster IC 1396 in Cepheus. It was faint but fairly easy to find, as it extends south from the red star Mu Cephei. With the UHC in the 30mm, the object was simply huge! The brightest portion is immediately south of Mu, but there is an even more noticeable dark lane running in from the north side, where it narrows and curves to the west. Several other dark patches could be seen in the interior of the nebula, with hints of other broad lane-like structures. The south edge is rather diffuse, and the entire object seemed to fill nearly the entire 3.5 degree field. The star fields here are very rich, making for a pleasing view.
With this success, I tried another challenge; the California Nebula NGC 1499 in Perseus. It was visible at 13x with the UHC filter, but was quite faint, appearing as a large elongated diffuse fuzzy area running roughly east-west. The H-beta filter helped somewhat more, bringing out a few hints of detail in the interior, but the object remained faint and not nearly as impressive as IC 1396 had been.
With the Pleiades high in the east, I thought it was time to take a look at probably the most impressive object the 80mm Wide Field scope will show. As usual, the cluster was wonderful, but I wanted to see what the 14mm "Glass Hand Grenade" would do to it. I had looked at M45 from my driveway with the 14mm with the moon in the sky, so I expected the usual pinpoint images in a black background. However, one look made me quickly examine the 14mm to see if it had fogged over, as the brightest stars all had faint diffuse haloes around them. The eyepiece was fine, so I looked at all the other components to see where the fogging seemed to be, but everything looked clear. To check on whether it was the sky doing the fogging, I pushed the scope over to the Perseus OB Association, but didn't see any haloes there, or on bright stars nearer to the Pleiades. I went back to the cluster, and then noticed that Merope had a faint diffuse fan of light heading off in exactly the RIGHT DIRECTION! The scope wasn't fogged at all! I was seeing nebulosity around the 4 bright stars in the "bowl" of the Pleiades! Atlas and Pleione showed only a slight glow around them, but the nebulosity around Merope, Alcyone, and Maia was unmistakable with a very faint glowing background through much of the group. Any "fogging" of the group was being caused by something over 400 light years away, so I guess there wasn't too much I could do about it! A few clouds began to drift in, so I finished things off with Jupiter and Saturn. Even at 40x, it was obvious that seeing wasn't all that good, as the limb of the planet was shimmering a bit. Only 3 moons were visible at low power, with Ganymede to the east, and Europa and Callisto hugging the planet's disk (IO was in transit). 63x showed the two equatorial belts, but seeing was rapidly deteriorating. Saturn was a little higher, and showed the rings well, but with the wind and at 156x, the scope was bouncing way to much to get a decent view, so we packed it in. Still, I can't wait until later this fall, when the winter Milky Way gets into prime viewing position for my little 80mm gem.
Clear skies to you.
David Knisely

Observer: Jerome Lawrence

E-mail address: rehling@cogsci.indiana.edu

Date and time of Observation:

Object observed: The Planets

Viewing conditions: Good

Telescope 80mm refractor

Observing notes:
I have a 3 inch refractor and found Mars at opposition to be a fascinating object. Two dark spots (Acidalia and Syrtis Major) are fairly easy to see and by watching the planet over a period of days or hours, you can acquire an awareness of which way Mars is oriented, in terms of rotation, even when you're not looking at it. Other than the GRS, this is unprecedented among the planets.
I find even a distant Mars a more interesting object than almost anything else in the sky. It's quite colorful. Uranus (which never shows detail, of course, without something like the Hubble or Keck) is very similar in that regard.
I have never felt sure that I have seen the GRS (through my scope) or the Cassini Division, but quite easily see that Saturn has a pale equatorial band. That was an exciting observation because I didn't expect it.
I've also seen Neptune (a blue point, again unusually colorful). Rhea is right at the threshold of what I have been able to make out. I think I see it, but it may be imagination, when I know that I *should* be able to see it.
Cheers, -JAR

Observer: Jeff DeTray

E-mail address: jeff@detray.com

Web site: http://www.AstronomyBoy.com/

Date and time of Observation: 21 May 1999 (UTC)

Objects observed: Mostly Open Clusters

Viewing conditions: Seeing: 5/10. Transparency: magnitude 5.5 at zenith.

Telescope Orion ShortTube 80mm Refractor

Eyepiece 30mm Celestron Ultima, 11mm Tele Vue Plossl, Ultima 2x Barlow

Observing notes:
I set up the ST80 right at the edge of the woods on the north side of my property to provide the best possible view to the south. Even so, anything south of approximately -5 declination was blocked by trees. Got to do someything about that!
In the notes that follow, "OC" is the abbreviation for "open cluster." Most of the objects I observe with the ST80 are open clusters.
As usual, I used the 30mm Ultima (13x) as my "finder." The first target was globular cluster M5, just two eyepiece fields from alpha Serpentis. It is a large fuzzball in the ST80, with tempting hints of resolution around the edges. I had a long (for me) list of objects tonight, so I didn't tarry here.
Moving into Ophiuchus, the first stop was IC 4665, an open cluster with 15-20 apparent members. Most were magnitude 7 and 8, with a few fainter stars glimmering in and out of view. It was a nice field at low power.
About 4 degrees due south lay Cr 350, an OC whose appearance in the ST80 can best be described as "sparse." Perhaps a half dozen member stars were readily apparent, that's all.
I next scanned through Mel 186, an OC centered on 67 Ohiuchi. It's a huge cluster, 4 degrees in extent, and it appears no different to me from any other star field in the area. I can only assume that careful study has shown that stars in this area lie at similar distances and share similar proper motions. There's nothing in the eyepiece that suggests they are related.
NGC 6633 was next. It's yet another OC, and a nice one. It consists of a rich, compact grouping of about 20 stars, dominated by a few 8th and 9th magnitude stars, with a spray of 10 more stars spilling out to the east.
Just 3 degrees away is IC 4756, another bright OC comprised of dozens of mostly 8th and 9th magnitude stars. Dozens more members were on the edge of visibility in the ST80, popping in and out of view as I scanned the field of view.
Planetary nebula NGC 6572 was nearby, so I took a look at 73x. At the location shown in SkyMap Pro, I saw what appeared to be a 10th magnitude star, TYC 443-1482-1. With little experience in observing planetaries, I can't be sure if that was the PN, or simply the star at the same location. Can anyone enlighten me?
Globulars M10, M12, and M14 were easily seen. At 73x, both M12 and especially M10 showed hints of resolution at the edges, which was fun. M10 appeared more condensed than M12. M14 was fainter than either of the other two and showed no resolution, just a fuzzball.
Leaving Ophiuchus, I headed for Vulpecula, where Brocchi's Cluster (The Coathanger) was an easy naked eye object. The ST80 and 30mm Ultima is just great for objects like this.
The same can not be said for the small globular cluster M71 in Sagitta, which was actually difficult to see at first. My sky is brighter in the east than in other directions, so I'm sure that was a factor.
Back in Vulpecula, planetary nebula M27 (The Dumbbell Nebula) seemed quite bright. I think I detected its orientation, with the bright lobes in the northeast and southwest. I haven't been able to find a reference to confirm this and would appreciate more information. Perhaps it was all wishful thinking.
I was tiring and so concluded the night with brief visits to NGCs 6830 and 6885. The more rewarding of these two open clusters was 6885, which displayed an attractive grouping of 25-30 stars at 37x.
I've now spent just over a year with the ShortTube 80 and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Observer: Jeff DeTray

E-mail address: jeff@detray.com

Web site: http://www.AstronomyBoy.com/

Date and time of Observation: 22 October 1998 (UTC)

Objects observed: Mostly Open Clusters

Viewing conditions: Seeing: 7/10. Transparency: magnitude 5.5 at zenith.

Telescope Orion ShortTube 80mm Refractor

Eyepiece 30mm Celestron Ultima, 10mm and 25mm Kellners

Observing notes:
Seeing was excellent tonight, probably the best I have enjoyed since acquiring the ShortTube 80. Except where noted, the objects observed are open clusters and the magnification used was 40x.
NGC 1528 was a fuzzball at 13x, but at 40x resolved into about two dozen mostly mag. 10 and 11 stars. A pretty, if not spectacular open cluster.
NGC 1545 has four bright (mag. 8-9) members, but only a half-dozen others could be seen. This cluster is listed as being brighter than 1528, but it's far less interesting visually. 40x.
NGC 1513 showed 6-8 stars down to almost mag. 12 with averted vision. They seemed arranged in a compact arc, but SkyMap does not show this arrangement. This object was near the limit of my skills.
IC 348 is a bright nebula surrounding Omicron Persei. All I saw was Omicron. It seemed embedded in a glow, but I am sure it was scattered light in the scope - it was too bright.
NGC 1664 showed 12-15 stars down to mag. 11.5. As I moved my eye around the field, the fainter members popped in and out of view.
At 13x, NGC 1582 showed 10-12 of its brighter stars. At 40x, the background resolved into a faint members, and a total of 25-30 were seen. Half of the stars seemed arranged in a gentle arc on the SW side. Nearby is the attractive double 57 Persei. It's a wide pair, about 1.5 arc minutes (90 arc seconds).
M1, the Crab Nebula, was clearly non-stellar and easily found, even at 13x. At 40x, it became a faint, extended smudge. I saw no elongation - just a round glow. Seeing M1, first in binoculars and now in the ShortTube, gives me a particular thrill. I feel connected to the observers of almost a millenium ago who saw a -6 magnitude star appear from nowhere at this very spot. It must have been an amazing sight! How many other astronomical objects, besides variable stars, have changed visibly during human existence?
The great seeing allowed me to see more detail on Jupiter than ever before. For the first time, there was detail visible in the SEB, which was clearly wider in some places than in others. I caught the beginning of an Io transit at about 0545. Saturn showed Titan, Rhea, and the Cassini division. Wonderful views!

Observer: Jeff DeTray

E-mail address: jeff@detray.com

Web site: http://www.AstronomyBoy.com/

Date and time of Observation: 19 July 1998 (UTC)

Constellation: Sagittarius Region

Viewing conditions: Seeing: 6/10. Transparency: magnitude 5.7 at zenith.

Telescope Orion ShortTube 80mm Refractor

Eyepiece 30mm and 7.5mm Celestron Ultimas

Observing notes:
This was a magnificent summer night in southwest New Hampshire. My niece, visiting from a city where the sky is never so dark, asked me what that "big, long cloud" was. It was the Milky way, blazing across the entire sky.
This was the first time I have ever pointed a telescope at Sagittarius, so everything that passed through the eyepiece was a new wonder. I toured the region at 13x, using 53x for close-in observation of selected objects.
M22 was the first stop. At 53x, it appeared coarse and grainy, which I presume is partial resolution.
M28 was a dim fuzzball at 13x. I didn't try 53x.
M8 was a softly glowing cloud with open cluster NGC 6530 imbedded in it. What a beautiful sight!
Nearby M20 was much fainter and more difficult to see. Along with M21, this 1� patch of sky is extremely dense with stars and bears revisiting. For some reason, I did not go above 13x on this region. Next time!
Speaking of dense, M24 offered a wonderful wide-field view. One has the impression that you could increase aperture forever and never run out of stars.
With so many brighter objects in the vicinity, I gave M18 only a few moments. I shall return!
At 13x, M17 appeared as a small, bright, elongated glow, with a more diffuse glow to the N. At 53x, the diffuse glow resolved into a dozen or so faint stars, separated from the bright glow by an oddly empty patch of sky.
M25 nicely filled the FOV (< 1�) at 53x. It reminded me a bit of Stock 2, with many stars shining in a narrow brightness range.
OC NGC 6645 was just visible as a small patch of haze, with no member stars resolved.
Seven members of OC Tr 33 were visible at 53x, down to mag. 11.4.
M23 showed dozens of member stars, and 53x was just about ideal. I saw the same scintillating effect I noticed with the Double Cluster, where faint stars were constantly popping in and out of view as my eye swept across the FOV.
NGC 6716 revealed eight of its 20 members.

Observer: Dave Mitsky

E-mail address: djm28@psu.edu

Date and time of Observation: Late February and early March, 1998

Objects Observed: Comet Hale-Bopp and numerous southern hemisphere deep sky objects

Viewing conditions: Seeing - very good, Transparency - very good, Limiting magnitude - approximately 6.5

Telescope 80mm f/5 Orion ShortTube achromatic refractor and a number of other small telescopes and binoculars

Eyepiece 26mm Tele Vue Ploessl, 10.5mm Tele Vue Ploessl, 2x Celestron Ultima Barlow lens

Observing notes:
My cruise aboard the MS Veendam to see the 1998 total solar eclipse afforded me the opportunity to observe many of the best celestial objects of the southern hemisphere from as far south as 12 degrees north. I was armed with Swift 10x50's and an Orion ShortTube 80 refractor mounted on a Bogen video tripod, 10.5 and 26mm Tele Vue Ploessls, a 2x Celestron Ultima Barlow lens, and an Orion Ultrablock nebula(r) filter.
The ShortTube acquitted itself quite nicely on board a ship. Several of the nights were very windy and the sea was choppy so I stayed at 15x. But on other occasions higher powers (30 and 36x) could be used to good effect. (I used 72x on the Moon briefly during the occultation of Aldebaran on 3/4/98 but the result was almost comical as the Moon swung in and out of the field of view.) The crew cooperated by keeping most of the lights off and it was really quite dark on the upper forward deck when one stayed in the shadows. M41 was an easy naked eye object. Unfortunately, it was possible on just one remarkably calm and windless night to set up on the upper forward deck. When the ship entered the trade wind latitudes observers had to be content with using the starboard or port decks or the aft decks. Of course, after the we headed north the aft navigation deck was the place to be in order to look southward.
In addition to the usual winter, spring, and summer northern hemisphere DSO's I logged numerous southern objects, some of which I had not observed before. Before I mention those I should say that parts of the Rosette Nebula were visible in my 80mm when the Ultrablock filter was in place. And, of course, the sword of Orion was very striking when it was so high in the heavens.
Perhaps the most memorable moments were seeing Comet Hale-Bopp again some 31 months after first observing it in S & T staff member Kent Blackwell's wonderful "Big Eyes" 20x120 naval binoculars, viewing Eta Carinae and Omega Centauri through TAC member Rod Norden's 105mm AstroPhysics Traveler equipped with an A-P binoviewer and twin 19mm Tele Vue Panoptics (definitely the best view of Eta Carinae that I have ever had), observing the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070) and the Large Magellanic Cloud for the first time, and scanning the summer Milky Way one morning through Kent's 20x120's.
Some of the many southern DSO's that I observed included NGC 2477 and NGC 2451 (a wonderful pair of open clusters in southern Puppis that are remarkably similar to M46 and M47 in northern Puppis), Collinder 135, NGC 2546, IC 2391, IC 2602, NGC 2516, NGC 2070 and the LMC, NGC 2808, NGC 3114, the Eta Carinae Nebula, the rich open cluster NGC 3532, the Jewel Box Cluster (NGC 4755), the Coal Sack Nebula (which was most prominent in my 10x50's), Centaurus A or the Hamburger Galaxy (NGC 5128), and Omega Centauri (NGC 3159). Alpha Centauri was split at 30x with the ShortTube as was Gamma Velorum.
On one night I saw Omega through a 6" Intes Maksutov and a number of objects including Omega and Eta Carinae through a pair of Miyauchi 20x100's. On another I compared Eta Carinae with M42 and estimated that Eta extended at least 3 times as far as the Orion Nebula.
The summer Milky Way was extremely rich and well defined. Seeing Scorpius rise vertically from the sea was quite a sight! The Pipe Nebula (B59, B65-67), an absorption nebula in Ophiuchus, was fantastic through my ShortTube and Kent's 20x120's! Cruising through southern Scopius (M6, M7, NGC 6231), Sagittarius (M8, M24, M17, M18) and into Scutum (M11) with the 20x120's was an amateur astronomer's dream come true.

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Observer:	Ian Knight
E-mail address:	iknight@eggconnect.net
Web site:	www.lunarviews.com
Date and time of Observation:	29th January 2003 22:00 hrs
Observing Location:	Downend, Bristol UK
Object Observed:	M44 & M45
Viewing conditions:	Very clear and cold, no Moon
Telescope	Orion ST 80 Refractor on Camera Tripod
Eyepiece	40mm, 25mm & 9mm Kellner
Observing notes:	Tonight, a combination of dreadful TV inside and crisp clear skies outside pursuaded me to grab the Orion ST80 & Camera Tripod and search out M44 (the Beehive cluster) which is favourably placed in the eastern skies from my viewing location. With the scope up in seconds, I inserted the 40mm Kellner (giving 10x magnification) and pointed it towards Jupiter. Moving right towards the centre of the constellation of Cancer, I easily came across the Beehive Cluster. My immediate impression of M44 was its impressive size, neatly framed within the 40mm Kellners field of view. Swapping out the 40mm for 9mm eyepiece, I zoomed into the trapezium of stars at the heart of the cluster, however the overall view at lower magnification was far more fascinating to observe, so in went the 40mm eyepiece again. With a whetted appetite, I looked across to Orion and M42 which was unfortunately hidden behind the house roof .I slewed the scope to the right of Orion to catch Taurus and the famous M45 Plaides Cluster. This is the most impressive view of this cluster I have seen to date with 20 plus stars in view. Moving up to the 25mm Kellner, the view was even more impressive. After a good few minutes studying this cluster it was time to get inside and warm-up. Comment: Tonight's session although hardly ambitious, clearly demonstrated the value of the Orion ST80 which can set up very quickly if time is short. Its wide field of view and correct-image main tube and viewfinder on an alt-az tripod makes locating the better known celestial objects simple and intuitive (ideal for a beginner). Although my Equatorially-mounted 150mm f5 Newtonian reflector is great for both detailed deep-sky observation and lunar photographic work, the ST80 cannot be beaten for sheer convenience and ease of use. The only down-side to this set-up is the lack of slow-motion alt-az controls on the tripod when using the ST80 at magnifications over 50x. A sturdy AZ3 tripod would complete the set-up nicely - time to start saving !

Observer:	Ray Hunter
E-mail address:	hunters2@quiknet.com
Date and time of Observation:	September 23, 9:30 PDT
Observing Location:	Roseville, Ca. N 39. deg. Lat. 150 ft elevation
Object Observed:	M-57
Viewing conditions:	Fair, with almost a full moon
Telescope	80mm X720mm f/9 Stellarvue refractor
Eyepiece	Vixen 8-25 mm Zoom
Observing notes:	I usually don't do much observing from my backyard due to the limited view. I can only view W, or S/W and E or S/E. Most of the northern Sky and most of the southern sky are obscured by my home looking north and high trees looking south. However on Monday night I was out with binoculars looking at the Moon when I noticed Vega shining very brightly almost directly overhead. I recalled that someone had told me that the best time to view an object was when it was directly overhead. I have tried on several occasions to view the Ring without success. So I decided to give it a go. I set up the scope and aligned on Vega. I have seen this bright beauty before but this was the brightest I have ever seen her shine. I used the telrad to find Lyra Beta and swept down about half way to Lyra Upsilon where I could see a faint round shaped hazy spot. I would have, and may have in the past, mistaken it for a faint star but my instincts are getting a little better now and I knew this had to be The Ring. Instead of sweeping around I focused down on the zoom to 8mm and relaxed my eyes. I waited and kept viewing it took quite a while maybe 20 mins to half an hour but finally I saw it - a hazy ring with a dark center. Although books I have read say this object is bright and easily visible in small telescopes. I cannot say that was my experience. I was able to view it, but only barely, and with a lot of patience and persistence. However I feel very good about having done so from my own backyard.

Observer:	Kevin McCarthy
E-mail address:	refractor@blueyonder.co.uk
Date and time of Observation:	18 May 02 23:30
Observing Location:	Darkish Site SE London
Object Observed:	M57 Ring Nebula, Lyra Alpha (Vega), Beta, Gamma
Viewing conditions:	Mag 5 1/5 clouds high alt clouds low wind
Telescope	Sky-Watcher 80mm Short Tube
Eyepiece	10mm 20mm 32mm 2.5x Barlow
Observing notes:	I was going to observe from my back garden but my neighbour has a security light that is forever coming on and off. Not prepared to put with this and it being such a clear night I jumped into my car and drove off to a semi dark site I have found in SE London near biggin hill. Once I arrived it was clear that the seeing was good all the starts in Ursa minor going down to mag 5 were visible. I didn't check further as this is great compared to my regular Mag 2 sky in my back garden a result of light pollution. With so much on offer in the sky I didn't know where to start. The moon however was a quarter full in the eastern sky and was really quite bright casting shadows from everything so I decided to look eastward away from the moon and set up in the shadow of a stable where some horse's are kept. The smell aside I did a quick polar align and decided to take a quick look at vega which was fantastically bright in a 32mm 12.5x its only 26 light years away and so its one of our local neighbours so to seek but the bright light from it was enjoyable unlike my neighbour at home. It gave off some blue colour I think but it also looked red so I cant make up my mind if it was because of the scope. Epsilon Lyra the double double was in the same field of view and kept calling for my attention but I was keen on trying to look for M57 the ring nebula. After consulting "The Night Sky" a pocket guide I have I star hopped down to Beta Lyra another double not knowing how far apart the double is I tried to split this with a 2.5x barlow and a 10mm for 100x and stopped down to 46mm at F8.5. I couldn't split them. I noted a diffraction ring around Beta. Putting the 32mm back in I could see both Beta and Gamma and on the chart M57 should be right in the middle. I couldn't see it! whilst scanning the middle area I though about how the image was handed and for a moment look in the area show on the charts as I did this something flashed and I looked back it was gone. So carefully scanning the middle ground so to speak with averted vision I saw a smudge pop into view. I barlowed the 32mm and could identify a circular area that was quite small at 32x and faint. I barlowed the 20mm for 50x and a brighter circular area was obvious but not clear. However with averted vision a distinct ring with a whole in the middle about two thirds the diameter of the outer ring. I tried to see this with direct vision but I just couldn't do it. Regardless I am very happy with these observations. I did try the 10mm barlowed to 100x but the image became pretty messy and not as clear. I spent some time with M57 it is actually the first object I have found other than splitting a couple of doubles that is beyond visual range and can only be see with a telescope of some sort. All my other observations have been easily identified in the sky and then the telescope turned on them. At about midnight I could see clouds coming from the South East and the temperature was dropping. So I packed up and went home rather happy. Comment: I have tweaked the scope by blackening the lens edges and shimmed the lens this has improved the images through the scope noticeably. Stopping down the scope at high magnifications and the use of averted vision and star hopping are are all things that have improved the views and improved my observation skills. I'm still struggling with polar alignment and setting circles not to mention my poor mag 2 suburban skies. To sum up I have learnt a lot in the last three months. I have been frustrated and rewarded by my efforts. I feel that I am at a point of either giving up or getting stuck into this hobby. Observations like M57 are a great encouragement and now that I know were it is and how best to see it I can take pleasure from observing it whenever the conditions are right. If your just getting into astronomy again be patient and learn the basics the rewards are never that far off.

Observer:	jeff barbour
E-mail address:	barbour@ihwy.com
Web site:	astro.geekjoy.com
Date and time of Observation:	Tuesday. January 15, 2002 6:30 - 9:00pm PST
Observing Location:	Backyard, Boulder Creek, CA USA
Object Observed:	NGC891!, 1023!, M34, NGC1245!, NGC1413!, NGC1528, NGC1545, NGC1514
Viewing conditions:	6/10, ZULM: 5.3
Telescope	80mm F5 Achromat (ST80)
Eyepiece	25, 15 and 10mm Ultrascopics with Ultrablock Filter
Observing notes:	Though chilly, the evening's sky was decently dry and clear but unstable. 150mm MCT Argo could barely reveal Cassini. Only the two equatorials on Jupiter were possible (No STTB ovals this evening!). Couldn't resolve the Iota Cass triple. Early on (with Iota not quite direct unaided), required moderate aversion at 120x to show the 12.2 mag field star (near Iota) that I use this time of year for transparency checks. As a result, dismounted Argo and switched to the 80mm Pup for a low power (16, 27, 40x) tour of (mostly) Perseus. By 7:00pm (or so) was able to hold 5.4 mag SAO55347 in Triangulum. Despite the decent depth, and low magnification involved, was unable to turn up galaxies NGC891 (in Andromeda) and 1027 (in Perseus). NOTE: Under darker conditions (5.8) edge on NGC891 was visible during this last weekend's SCAC star party at the Bonny Dune observing site through a TV-85 so the possibility exists! No effort was made at that time to turn up NGC1027. However, in searching for 1023 came across a fine 27x double star - colors blue and red - very close to 5th magnitude SAO 55793 (3 degrees south of M34). Through the 6x25mm finder was just able to locate M34 in Perseus (no resolution however). Of course, all three main tube magnifications resolved some stars. At 16x, a dozen. 27x added a half dozen more. By 40x, the number jumped to more than 30 (many faint components peeked back at me.) Also, by this point, I finally noticed the widish M34 double just west of the core. Had no luck turning up faint open cluster NGC1245 between Iota and Kappa Persei. Nor could I locate cluster NGC1413 south of Lambda. However, due east of Lambda is a close visual pair of stars (the brighter is 5th mag SAO 24531). Was able to easily detect cluster NGC1528 one degree northwest of SAO 24531, and with greater difficulty NGC1545 30 mins due east of same. Of the two, 1528 was obviously a cluster. At 16x, it looked very humanoidal. At 27x - and especially 40x - it took on a shape I remembered seeing with Argo last year - "The Scope and Tripod cluster". Star count kept increasing as I stepped up the magnification until almost 3 dozen members could be seen at 40x. Unlike 1528, NGC1545 didn't look a cluster. That quality never really became evident - even at 40x. However, 1545 did show a rather intriguing shape. Quite "three dimensional". In fact, it looked like a "coordinate grid in three dimensions" truncated along the z-axis and rotated away about 45 degrees. At best 7 or 8 stars were visible - but boy were those stars used to advantage! Continuing due east from SAO 24531, came across a curious "3-lobed void" of stars. At center of the void, a sprinkling of faint 11th magnitude stars. Surrounding these were the three 30 arcmin globes where few - if any - stars were perceptible. This particular region was first recognized by Herschel who liked to document such things... Even armed with the Ultrablock filter, I was unable to identify Bright Nebula NGC1624 - which is supposed to lie on the far side of Herschel's void. However, I was able to locate Planetary Nebula NGC1514 "way down south" in Taurus one degree south, and three east of Zeta Persi - but only because the filter made it possible for me to confirm my suspicions. (That rather unusually colored star really did have a large faint aura around it - at 40x). One thing to point out is the fact that last year I was able to locate all of the above studies (save NGC1023 which was not on my yearplan) under conditions similar to this through Argo - so there are definite limits to what is possible with small apertures - despite high focal ratios.

Observer:	James Turley, Jamie Turley (9)
Date and time of Observation:	5 Sep 2000, 2030 PDT - 2200 PDT
Observing Location:	Saratoga, CA 37.270072, -122.025586
Object Observed:	The Moon
Viewing conditions:	Lunar Seeing: 8/10 transparency, 8/10 steadiness Limiting Mag: 5+ Temp/Humid: 58F 62%
Telescope	Orion Short Tube 80mm
Eyepiece	Meade 2000 9.5mm Plossl
Observing notes:	Atlas: Rukl, Atlas of the Moon, Sections 5, 12 and 13 EQUIPMENT NOTE: Purchased a ST80 from the Orion parking lot sale in Watsonville last month. Newly sealed factory boxed, with inverted finder 7x50, $158 OTA only. Mainly as a Grab 'N Go for my son (9) who is showing a lot of interest, especially the "hardware" aspects of Astronomy. I mounted the ST80 on a new super light super sturdy Bogen Carbon One 440 tripod with 3130 Micro Fluid Video Head with Quick Release. Quick Release plate attached well to the 1/4-20 bracket on the OTA. The PolyCarbonate material is light and diamond hard. Can you make an OTA out of this stuff? It's amazing. Expensive though. I think about USD $280 for the tripod only. This mount/head setup provides exceptional stability with minimum weight. Rigidity is superb. The fluid head provides butter smooth Alt/Az star hopping. OTA, head and tripod weigh less than 8 pounds, with EP's and Diagonal, and Finder. A true GrabNGo for my kid. The Pan Head is great for tracking and hopping. ST80 LUNAR OBSERVATION Under clear and polluted steady night skies. I grabbed the assembled rig from our living room. Knocked down the tripod legs and set up on my front sidewalk in a garden chair. Rukl at hand on a TV Dinner tray. The First Quarter Moon shining clear 3 degrees NW of red Antares. First Impression was typical Achromat Green Chroma on edges. Very thin, no other color. Earlier, the Achro Venus test showed moderate flaring, with little or no green chroma. Seeing was exceptionally clear and bright. Tonight I decided to introduce Jamie to Cassini and the Lunar Alps. He loves Rukl, after I promoted him to Navigator on our last trip to Yosemite together. He now want me to drive him to the moon, so he can navigate with Rukl. The Terminator touched the Eastern side of Aristillus, its floor in complete shadow. Above, Vallis Alpes was in high relief, its floor completely in shadow, but upper walls shining. A gash through the mountains. Jamie asks how was it made. Hmm..... Mons Blanc (3600m) casts a long shadow. Hey, that's as high as the top of Emmigrant Lift at Squaw Valley. The Western Escarpment of the Lunar Alps in clear relief. Cassini was stunning. Central A crater completely illuminated. B in shadow. Theaetetus, a black dot. Calippus, rimmed by the high peaks of the Lunar Caucasus was in full shadow, edges shining. Jamie was able to describe the tiny Rima Calippus. "Dad, what is the little curved line below the crater?" I've been trying to teach him to slow down and spend more time in the EP. He usually looks for about 3 sec, and says "cool". Lately, I've been asking him to describe what he sees, to develop his observing vocabulary, and train him to absorb the image slowly. Next, I'll encourage him to write down his seeing of each feature (coupled with some reward, of course). He loves his ST80. Shows all of his friends. Drags the scope out to see the moon in the day time as they scooter past the house. (Scooters are big around here). Jamie identifies Eudoxus, but can't pronounce it. Calls it Exodus. ST80 can tease out the collapsed walls and even tiny Lamech. The ST80 performance as a moon scope is impressive. Coupled with its short tube, light weight making for easy slewing, this scope makes an ideal kid's scope, and a great Adult Moon Scope. APO purists will be annoyed by Green Ring, of course. But..my kid thinks it's cool! Jim Turley Silicon Valley clear skies, Saturn just rising now

Observer:	David Knisely
Date and time of Observation:	August 30th, 2000, 0400 to 0630 hrs UTC.
Observing Location:	Rockford Lake, Nebr. 40.227N, 96.581W, 1400 ft (427m) elevation.
Object Observed:	Various deep sky objects
Viewing conditions:	Mostly clear (patchy high cirrus), Temp. 78F, Wind S at 15 mph. UNAIDED EYE LIMITING MAGNITUDE: 6.4
Telescope	Celestron 80mm f/5 Wide Angle Spotting Scope
Eyepiece	Orion's (U.S.) 30mm Ultrascopic (13x, 3.7 degree field without the filter, 3.5 degrees with a filter), University Optics 24mm Koenig (17x, 3.5 degree true field), 18mm Orthoscopic (22x), Meade's 14mm Ultrawide (the "Glass Hand Grenade", 29x, 2.9 degree true field), 10mm Orion Ultrascopic (40x, 1.2 degree true field), Meade's 6.4mm Super-Plossl (63x, 0.8 degree true field), TeleVue 2.5x Powermate image amplifier to get the 156x with the 6.4mm eyepiece.
Observing notes:	After attending the recap of the 7th annual Nebraska Star Party at our astronomy club meeting, a friend of mine and I got something to eat at Village Inn and then noticed that the sky was actually fairly clear for once (forest fire haze did not completely gunk things over). I didn't feel like loading up the ten inch as the sky didn't look outstanding, so once we got home, I just grabbed my 80mm f/5 Celestron Wide Field and my eyepiece case for a quick trip to Rockford Lake and a little wide-field work. It was still pretty humid (the 14mm Ultrawide fogged over a bit after I opened the case), so the transparency wasn't all that hot. Still, after the last few weeks of really gunky skies, I wasn't going to let that stop me. That little 80mm f/5 scope is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine, as its wide field and pin-point star images make it a fine performer. I still haven't gotten a decent mount built for it, so I had to suffer with the little rickety camera tripod I use for shooting stuff off of my computer screen. I also had to do a little neck straining near the zenith, as I am still using the Amici prism erect diagonal instead of a regular star diagonal. Our first target was M24 (one of the few objects in the southwest which was out of some local gunk). With the 30mm Ultrascopic, it just glittered with stars, nicely framed in the 3.7 degree field of view. Indeed, going up and down the Milky Way at only 13x was a wonderful experience, even with the slight haze. In particular, the Scutum star cloud showed wonderful patchy dark detail, mainly in the form of a dark curving lane in the eastern half (B.114-7 and B.118), and the dramatic dark dropoff west of the cloud (B.102). I also noted M11 sitting like a glittering diamond near the northeast end of the star cloud and M26 off the southwest side. We stopped for a quick look at the Coathanger, and it appeared much more striking that it had from my driveway a few weeks earlier just after I had gotten the scope, showing many fainter stars in the field. I decided to play "name that object" with my friend, so I put in the UHC filter and centered M27 in the scope. He had no idea what he was looking at, since at only 13x and with the filter, the outer "wings" off the sides of the dumbbell make the object look like an oval ball rather than a dumbell. It took a bit higher power before he finally recognized it. Without the filter the dumbell form was fairly easy to notice, with the wings being quite faint. We also looked at the Veil with the OIII, and both main arcs were fairly easy to see, although they weren't all that bright. The western arc (NGC 6960) seemed a bit brighter around the star 52 Cyg than the average brightness of the eastern arc (NGC 6992-5), but the eastern one seemed a bit easier to notice initially, with its strongly curved irregular form. Between the two arcs was the much fainter large triangular patch of NGC 6979, which surprised me a bit, as at NSP, I hadn't noticed it in the 80mm. I could just fit all three areas of nebulosity in a 3.5 degree field. From there, I pushed the 80mm up towards the zenith to have a look at the North America Nebula. It showed its full form rather well, but was slightly brighter and better in the UHC than in the OIII filter. Sweeping through central Cygnus was a joy, and in some ways, this star field is better than many of the Sagittarius fields. Aquarius was high in the south, so that meant it was time to look up the Helix NGC 7293. It was just visible in the 80mm's 6x30 finder as a very faint diffuse patch, with the scope itself showing a somewhat easier round diffuse fuzzy patch. The OIII filter immediately brought out hints of its structure at 13x, but it took 17x and the OIII to get its ring form to show up very well. We used up to 40x on it, but due to the shaky tripod, it was better at 29x with the Meade Ultrawide and the OIII. The UHC helped it stand out somewhat as well, but the OIII was the clear winner here. Swinging around to the east, I took a nice long look at M31. Even at only 13x, the galaxy was quite nice, showing the faint curving arcs of the outer arm structure. However, the galaxy seemed to actually look a bit better at 17x in the 24mm Koenig, with hints of one of the dark lanes just west of the central core region. Both M32 and NGC 205 stood out much better with just a bit more magnification, and employing the "Glass Hand Grenade" (Meade 14mm Ultrawide) gave the best view, with M31 filling the field nicely at 29x (2.9 degree field). Going over to M33, I did note it easily, but again, to see much in the way of detail required somewhat more power. The 14mm Ultrawide again gave a nice view, showing the slightly brighter core and patchy outer haze. Indeed, part of the northern arm was visible at times, with the southern side showing two or three dim patches in a very diffuse haze. From there, I went over to east of Gamma Andromeda, and just for fun, tried to track down the galaxy NGC 891, an edge-on spiral. Surprisingly, the object did just barely show up as a very faint tiny streak running roughly north-south, framed between a couple of faint stars in the 24mm Koenig. I might have to try this one sometime in a pair of 11x80 binoculars! The double cluster was staring me in the face, so I swung the 80mm over to it. As usual they were spectacular, but surprisingly, both clusters seem to have a faint rich outer halo of very faint stars which extends well beyond their usual apparent limits seen at higher power. It almost seemed that the halo stars got fainter as you looked farther out towards the edges of the haloes. In fact, the outer halos seem to make the two clusters appear to be almost touching each other, with their long diameters being around 0.5 degree or perhaps a bit more. I had never noticed this before when using larger apertures, but again, I had never been able to examine them at fields much larger than a degree. This little 80mm scope is a real winner in my book! Seeing how well things were working, I decided to go after a faint "challenge" object; the large diffuse nebula and star cluster IC 1396 in Cepheus. It was faint but fairly easy to find, as it extends south from the red star Mu Cephei. With the UHC in the 30mm, the object was simply huge! The brightest portion is immediately south of Mu, but there is an even more noticeable dark lane running in from the north side, where it narrows and curves to the west. Several other dark patches could be seen in the interior of the nebula, with hints of other broad lane-like structures. The south edge is rather diffuse, and the entire object seemed to fill nearly the entire 3.5 degree field. The star fields here are very rich, making for a pleasing view. With this success, I tried another challenge; the California Nebula NGC 1499 in Perseus. It was visible at 13x with the UHC filter, but was quite faint, appearing as a large elongated diffuse fuzzy area running roughly east-west. The H-beta filter helped somewhat more, bringing out a few hints of detail in the interior, but the object remained faint and not nearly as impressive as IC 1396 had been. With the Pleiades high in the east, I thought it was time to take a look at probably the most impressive object the 80mm Wide Field scope will show. As usual, the cluster was wonderful, but I wanted to see what the 14mm "Glass Hand Grenade" would do to it. I had looked at M45 from my driveway with the 14mm with the moon in the sky, so I expected the usual pinpoint images in a black background. However, one look made me quickly examine the 14mm to see if it had fogged over, as the brightest stars all had faint diffuse haloes around them. The eyepiece was fine, so I looked at all the other components to see where the fogging seemed to be, but everything looked clear. To check on whether it was the sky doing the fogging, I pushed the scope over to the Perseus OB Association, but didn't see any haloes there, or on bright stars nearer to the Pleiades. I went back to the cluster, and then noticed that Merope had a faint diffuse fan of light heading off in exactly the RIGHT DIRECTION! The scope wasn't fogged at all! I was seeing nebulosity around the 4 bright stars in the "bowl" of the Pleiades! Atlas and Pleione showed only a slight glow around them, but the nebulosity around Merope, Alcyone, and Maia was unmistakable with a very faint glowing background through much of the group. Any "fogging" of the group was being caused by something over 400 light years away, so I guess there wasn't too much I could do about it! A few clouds began to drift in, so I finished things off with Jupiter and Saturn. Even at 40x, it was obvious that seeing wasn't all that good, as the limb of the planet was shimmering a bit. Only 3 moons were visible at low power, with Ganymede to the east, and Europa and Callisto hugging the planet's disk (IO was in transit). 63x showed the two equatorial belts, but seeing was rapidly deteriorating. Saturn was a little higher, and showed the rings well, but with the wind and at 156x, the scope was bouncing way to much to get a decent view, so we packed it in. Still, I can't wait until later this fall, when the winter Milky Way gets into prime viewing position for my little 80mm gem. Clear skies to you. David Knisely

Observer:	Jerome Lawrence
E-mail address:	rehling@cogsci.indiana.edu
Date and time of Observation:
Object observed:	The Planets
Viewing conditions:	Good
Telescope	80mm refractor
Observing notes:	I have a 3 inch refractor and found Mars at opposition to be a fascinating object. Two dark spots (Acidalia and Syrtis Major) are fairly easy to see and by watching the planet over a period of days or hours, you can acquire an awareness of which way Mars is oriented, in terms of rotation, even when you're not looking at it. Other than the GRS, this is unprecedented among the planets. I find even a distant Mars a more interesting object than almost anything else in the sky. It's quite colorful. Uranus (which never shows detail, of course, without something like the Hubble or Keck) is very similar in that regard. I have never felt sure that I have seen the GRS (through my scope) or the Cassini Division, but quite easily see that Saturn has a pale equatorial band. That was an exciting observation because I didn't expect it. I've also seen Neptune (a blue point, again unusually colorful). Rhea is right at the threshold of what I have been able to make out. I think I see it, but it may be imagination, when I know that I should be able to see it. Cheers, -JAR

Observer:	Jeff DeTray
E-mail address:	jeff@detray.com
Web site:	http://www.AstronomyBoy.com/
Date and time of Observation:	21 May 1999 (UTC)
Objects observed:	Mostly Open Clusters
Viewing conditions:	Seeing: 5/10. Transparency: magnitude 5.5 at zenith.
Telescope	Orion ShortTube 80mm Refractor
Eyepiece	30mm Celestron Ultima, 11mm Tele Vue Plossl, Ultima 2x Barlow
Observing notes:	I set up the ST80 right at the edge of the woods on the north side of my property to provide the best possible view to the south. Even so, anything south of approximately -5 declination was blocked by trees. Got to do someything about that! In the notes that follow, "OC" is the abbreviation for "open cluster." Most of the objects I observe with the ST80 are open clusters. As usual, I used the 30mm Ultima (13x) as my "finder." The first target was globular cluster M5, just two eyepiece fields from alpha Serpentis. It is a large fuzzball in the ST80, with tempting hints of resolution around the edges. I had a long (for me) list of objects tonight, so I didn't tarry here. Moving into Ophiuchus, the first stop was IC 4665, an open cluster with 15-20 apparent members. Most were magnitude 7 and 8, with a few fainter stars glimmering in and out of view. It was a nice field at low power. About 4 degrees due south lay Cr 350, an OC whose appearance in the ST80 can best be described as "sparse." Perhaps a half dozen member stars were readily apparent, that's all. I next scanned through Mel 186, an OC centered on 67 Ohiuchi. It's a huge cluster, 4 degrees in extent, and it appears no different to me from any other star field in the area. I can only assume that careful study has shown that stars in this area lie at similar distances and share similar proper motions. There's nothing in the eyepiece that suggests they are related. NGC 6633 was next. It's yet another OC, and a nice one. It consists of a rich, compact grouping of about 20 stars, dominated by a few 8th and 9th magnitude stars, with a spray of 10 more stars spilling out to the east. Just 3 degrees away is IC 4756, another bright OC comprised of dozens of mostly 8th and 9th magnitude stars. Dozens more members were on the edge of visibility in the ST80, popping in and out of view as I scanned the field of view. Planetary nebula NGC 6572 was nearby, so I took a look at 73x. At the location shown in SkyMap Pro, I saw what appeared to be a 10th magnitude star, TYC 443-1482-1. With little experience in observing planetaries, I can't be sure if that was the PN, or simply the star at the same location. Can anyone enlighten me? Globulars M10, M12, and M14 were easily seen. At 73x, both M12 and especially M10 showed hints of resolution at the edges, which was fun. M10 appeared more condensed than M12. M14 was fainter than either of the other two and showed no resolution, just a fuzzball. Leaving Ophiuchus, I headed for Vulpecula, where Brocchi's Cluster (The Coathanger) was an easy naked eye object. The ST80 and 30mm Ultima is just great for objects like this. The same can not be said for the small globular cluster M71 in Sagitta, which was actually difficult to see at first. My sky is brighter in the east than in other directions, so I'm sure that was a factor. Back in Vulpecula, planetary nebula M27 (The Dumbbell Nebula) seemed quite bright. I think I detected its orientation, with the bright lobes in the northeast and southwest. I haven't been able to find a reference to confirm this and would appreciate more information. Perhaps it was all wishful thinking. I was tiring and so concluded the night with brief visits to NGCs 6830 and 6885. The more rewarding of these two open clusters was 6885, which displayed an attractive grouping of 25-30 stars at 37x. I've now spent just over a year with the ShortTube 80 and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Observer:	Dave Mitsky
E-mail address:	djm28@psu.edu
Date and time of Observation:	Late February and early March, 1998
Objects Observed:	Comet Hale-Bopp and numerous southern hemisphere deep sky objects
Viewing conditions:	Seeing - very good, Transparency - very good, Limiting magnitude - approximately 6.5
Telescope	80mm f/5 Orion ShortTube achromatic refractor and a number of other small telescopes and binoculars
Eyepiece	26mm Tele Vue Ploessl, 10.5mm Tele Vue Ploessl, 2x Celestron Ultima Barlow lens
Observing notes:	My cruise aboard the MS Veendam to see the 1998 total solar eclipse afforded me the opportunity to observe many of the best celestial objects of the southern hemisphere from as far south as 12 degrees north. I was armed with Swift 10x50's and an Orion ShortTube 80 refractor mounted on a Bogen video tripod, 10.5 and 26mm Tele Vue Ploessls, a 2x Celestron Ultima Barlow lens, and an Orion Ultrablock nebula(r) filter. The ShortTube acquitted itself quite nicely on board a ship. Several of the nights were very windy and the sea was choppy so I stayed at 15x. But on other occasions higher powers (30 and 36x) could be used to good effect. (I used 72x on the Moon briefly during the occultation of Aldebaran on 3/4/98 but the result was almost comical as the Moon swung in and out of the field of view.) The crew cooperated by keeping most of the lights off and it was really quite dark on the upper forward deck when one stayed in the shadows. M41 was an easy naked eye object. Unfortunately, it was possible on just one remarkably calm and windless night to set up on the upper forward deck. When the ship entered the trade wind latitudes observers had to be content with using the starboard or port decks or the aft decks. Of course, after the we headed north the aft navigation deck was the place to be in order to look southward. In addition to the usual winter, spring, and summer northern hemisphere DSO's I logged numerous southern objects, some of which I had not observed before. Before I mention those I should say that parts of the Rosette Nebula were visible in my 80mm when the Ultrablock filter was in place. And, of course, the sword of Orion was very striking when it was so high in the heavens. Perhaps the most memorable moments were seeing Comet Hale-Bopp again some 31 months after first observing it in S & T staff member Kent Blackwell's wonderful "Big Eyes" 20x120 naval binoculars, viewing Eta Carinae and Omega Centauri through TAC member Rod Norden's 105mm AstroPhysics Traveler equipped with an A-P binoviewer and twin 19mm Tele Vue Panoptics (definitely the best view of Eta Carinae that I have ever had), observing the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070) and the Large Magellanic Cloud for the first time, and scanning the summer Milky Way one morning through Kent's 20x120's. Some of the many southern DSO's that I observed included NGC 2477 and NGC 2451 (a wonderful pair of open clusters in southern Puppis that are remarkably similar to M46 and M47 in northern Puppis), Collinder 135, NGC 2546, IC 2391, IC 2602, NGC 2516, NGC 2070 and the LMC, NGC 2808, NGC 3114, the Eta Carinae Nebula, the rich open cluster NGC 3532, the Jewel Box Cluster (NGC 4755), the Coal Sack Nebula (which was most prominent in my 10x50's), Centaurus A or the Hamburger Galaxy (NGC 5128), and Omega Centauri (NGC 3159). Alpha Centauri was split at 30x with the ShortTube as was Gamma Velorum. On one night I saw Omega through a 6" Intes Maksutov and a number of objects including Omega and Eta Carinae through a pair of Miyauchi 20x100's. On another I compared Eta Carinae with M42 and estimated that Eta extended at least 3 times as far as the Orion Nebula. The summer Milky Way was extremely rich and well defined. Seeing Scorpius rise vertically from the sea was quite a sight! The Pipe Nebula (B59, B65-67), an absorption nebula in Ophiuchus, was fantastic through my ShortTube and Kent's 20x120's! Cruising through southern Scopius (M6, M7, NGC 6231), Sagittarius (M8, M24, M17, M18) and into Scutum (M11) with the 20x120's was an amateur astronomer's dream come true.