Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

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Bigzmey United States of America
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Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#1

Post by Bigzmey »


12/05/2021

Location: home, Bortle 6.0
Equipment: SW 180mm Mak and Stelarvue 102ED on iOptron AZMP, EPs: TV Delites set, Baader Aspheric 36mm, ES62 26mm.

This was my second session with SW 180mm Mak. It keeps growing on me. Such a nice instrument but sloppy focuser.

17:30. Right after deploying the scopes and before it gotten dark, I took a quick look at the planets.

Venus has shown a nice narrow crescent with some jaggedness along terminator, no filters. 180mm Mak/TV Delite 13mm (208x).

Jupiter: Io transit was in progress. The view was fuzzy in both scopes due to poor seeing. Still, sharp black circle of Io’s shadow was well defined, but no signs of Io itself. 180mm Mak/TV Delite 13mm (208x) has shown more details compared to SV102ED/Delite 5mm (143x).

After that I took a break to have dinner with my family and came out ~19:00. It was humid and all exposed surfaces were covered with dew. Thanks to the long, insulated dew shields, the scopes resisted fogging for the duration of the session. Still, not to push my luck I have selected lower area of the sky which happened to be Eridanus.

Eridanus doubles

STF 308 – 10.5, 10.4, 11.2, 11.2, ab0.5”, ac21.1”, cd0.4” – AC was wide split in both scopes, but the yellow color was more pronounced in 180mm Mak. Cranking power in Mak I was able to achieve touching split for AB, but no luck for CD. 180mm Mak/Delites 11mm, 9mm, 7mm (245x, 300x, 386x).

STF 315 – 8.1, 8.9, 1.3”, pale yellow pair – No luck with SV102ED. Secondary was picking in 180mm Mak/Delite 7mm (386x) at the moments of better seeing.

I 461 – 9.0, 10.6, 3.2”, orange, white – Quality of split was similar in both, SV102/Delite 3mm (238x) and 180mm Mak/Delite 13mm (208x). Split with some distance between the components at the moments of better seeing.

HJ 3545 AC – 8.5, 10.4, 43.5”, yellow, white. SV102/Delite 18.2mm (40x).

Rho2 Eri (BU 11) – 5.4, 8.9, 1.4”, yellow, white. Failed with SV102. Kept pushing power with 180mm Mak until at 900x (I know right?! :lol:) with Delite 3mm I finally saw the secondary picking out at the moments of better seeing.

BU 527 – 8.2, 8.9, 12.5, ab1.3”, ac59.2”, all white – AB – tight clean split, uneven pair; C – faint dot at distance. 180mm Mak/Delite 13mm (208x).

STF 356 – 8.2, 10.3, 15.4”, yellow, brown. Looks nice in both scopes, wide apart in 180mm Mak. SV102/Delite 15mm (48x). 180mm Mak/Delite 18.2mm (148x).

STF 357 – 9.6, 10.8, 8.6”, orange, silver. Better colors in 180mm Mak. SV102/Delite 13mm (55x), 180mm Mak/Delite 18.2mm (148x).

STF 358 – 9.0, 11.6, 15.2”, yellow, silver. Secondary resolved as fuzzy spec with averted vision in SV102/Delite 3mm (238x). Secondary is a direct vision sharp dot in 180mm Mak/Delite 18.2mm (148x).

HJ 3554 – 8.8, 10.1, 21.5”, yellow, silver. Secondary was fuzzy spec with AV in SV102/Delite 5mm (143x). Wide apart, sharp view in 180mm Mak/Delite 18.2mm (148x).

STF 365 AB – 10.3, 10.8, 13”, white pair. Wide split in 180mm Mak/Delite 18.2mm (148x).

Asteroids
While having a blast splitting doubles with two scopes I was keeping an eye on Taurus. By 21:30 it has finally cleared the giant ash tree in the neighbor’s yard, and I could finally catch a few asteroids on my list. 7” of Mak aperture provided clear advantage in picking those faint rocks, and sharp flat fields made IDing asteroids against faint background stars easier. All observed with 180 Mak/ES62 26mm (104x).
roids 120521.jpg
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#2

Post by notFritzArgelander »


Nice haul again. Jagged terminator is about as good as it gets with Venus.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#3

Post by Unitron48 »


Nice bag of doubles, Andrey! 900x...quite the accomplishment!! Great that you got the split.

Dave
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#4

Post by Bigzmey »


Thanks nFA and Dave!
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#5

Post by John Donne »


👍👍👍
A great outing Andrey.
The 900X put a smile on my face...😊
Good show !
CS
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#6

Post by kt4hx »


Well done Andrey. A nice bag of doubles. I was in Eridanus myself Saturday night. I will cut my report loose soon. You knocked it 'em out with that 900x! Nicely played, though I am sure you can't get away with that too frequently. :)
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#7

Post by John Baars »


Well done!
I think one might conclude the 7 inch Mak is well suited for splitting double stars.
Splitting a 5.4 and 8.9 magnitude star at 1.4" is quite an achievement! Seeing must have been excellent since A and B of STF 308 were seen. Amazing!
I suppose insulation worked here just fine! Here, the Maksutov briefly throws off the idea that its temperature regime makes it difficult to separate double stars with this instrument.
IMHO a VROD should be well earned.
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#8

Post by helicon »


Agree with John, the VROD is definitely appropriate here. Congrats on the 2nd session Andrey with the Mak which seems to be a great midsize instrument. Since Ptolemy of Alexandria put Eridanus amongst his list of constellations, it is surmised that it represents a version of the Nile river in heaven.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#9

Post by KingNothing13 »


Good night Andrey - and congrats on the VROD!
-- Brett

Scope: Apertura AD10 with Nexus II with 8192/716000 Step Encoders
EPs: ES 82* 18mm, 11mm, 6.7mm; GSO 30mm
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List Counts: Messier: 75; Herschel 400: 30; Caldwell: 12; AL Carbon Star List: 16
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#10

Post by John Baars »


Congratulations on the VROD!
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
Amateur astronomer since 1970.
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#11

Post by Juno16 »


Fine report Bigz!

Congratulations on the vrod.

The new scope sounds awesome! I’m glad that youare enjoying it!

I saw the 900x and I cannot imagine! Is that a magnification record?
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#12

Post by helicon »


Juno16 wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 2:53 pm Fine report Bigz!

Congratulations on the vrod.

The new scope sounds awesome! I’m glad that youare enjoying it!

I saw the 900x and I cannot imagine! Is that a magnification record?
Heh.

My first scope was a 40mm drawtube refractor which with the supplied Huygens promised something like 600x to view the planets. Needless to say the view was not real clear!
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#13

Post by turboscrew »


Congrats on the well deserved VROD!
You decided to split that Rho2 Eri no matter what? :lol:
- Juha

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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#14

Post by Makuser »


Hello Andrey. Another great report with the 7" Mak telescope. You really hauled in a lot of nice targets on your session. The Mak-Cass telescopes are great for lunar/planetary observing/imaging and splitting double stars. Wow 900x and I have never had mine above 600x. Thanks for the outstanding observing report Andrey and congratulations on receiving the TSS VROD Award today.
Marshall
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Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#15

Post by Bigzmey »


Thank You Mark, Alan, John, Michael, Brett, Jim and Juha for the nice comments. Thnaks for the VROD, much appreciated!

I guess a bit more details on 900x power are in order. :D This is my absolute record for the highest productive power and I don't expect it to be bitten or reproduced any time soon. My previous productive highest power was 508x with 8" SCT on STF 2403 double of similar design (6.3, 8.4, 1.1") which is not a coincidence.

To start, doubles are known to handle well small exit pupils which translates to high powers. Once airy disks of two stars making a tight double are resolved, adding more power does not bring any extra fine details but just enlarge the airy disks and spread them more apart, which makes them easier to split as long as the stars are bright enough.

Let's compare Rho2 Eri (5.4, 8.9, 1.4") and STF 2403 (6.3, 8.4, 1.1"). While STF 2403 has less separation, it's primary is dimmer compared to Rho2 Eri primary, and secondary of STF 2403 is brighter than of Rho2 Eri. This makes it a bit easier to detect the secondary of STF 2403 in the glare of the primary. Differences in the components magnitudes are 3.5 for Rho2 Eri and 2.1 for STF 2403, which again makes it a bit easier for STF 2403. Still both are very difficult doubles and require larger aperture, sharp well collimated optics, EPs and diagonals with good light scatter control and good seeing.

It is also fun (at least for me) to compare two optical designs: 8" SCT and 7" Gregory Mak. As you see both are excellent double splitters. SCT has an advantage of larger aperture which translates to better resolution (0.57" for 8" SCT and 0.64" for 7" Mak) and smaller airy disks. On the other hands Mak has advantage of slower optics (F15 for Mak vs F10 for SCT) which is less affected by bad seeing and smaller central obstruction (Mak's CO ~23% by aperture, 5% by area, SCT's CO ~32% by aperture, 10% by area). Smaller central obstruction means that less light is diverted from airy disk to the diffractions rings, which makes splitting easier. Also, given other thing are equal smaller central obstruction translates to better contrast. But this is just one of many factors determining visual quality of optical system.

Since my observing locations are plagued by poor seeing I feel that on a typical night for me 7" Mak may hold an advantage over 8" vanilla SCT on doubles, planets and Moon. I will know better once I play more with my CATs. :D
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#16

Post by Bigzmey »


Makuser wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:32 pm Hello Andrey. Another great report with the 7" Mak telescope. You really hauled in a lot of nice targets on your session. The Mak-Cass telescopes are great for lunar/planetary observing/imaging and splitting double stars. Wow 900x and I have never had mine above 600x. Thanks for the outstanding observing report Andrey and congratulations on receiving the TSS VROD Award today.
Thanks Marshall! What was the target you have used 600x for? I don't believe I ever went above ~400x on any target other than doubles. But than again I just got my Maks, we shall see. :D
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#17

Post by Makuser »


Hi Andrey. Whoops, my error. It was at 540X. Well of course, the target was beautiful Selene (the Moon). I had a super pristine dark sky night about 2 or 3 years ago and cranked it up. I saw small craterlets inside of craters but this good seeing only lasted for about half an hour and then the upper atmospheric thermal spherules came along and everything got wavy. My old CG5 mount couldn't track quite fast enough and the craters kept drifting slowly out of view. :lol: This was the first, last, and only time that I was able to try this wild experiment as my skies haven't been very good for some time now. Normally I stay at 300x or much lower for lunar/planetary viewing depending on sky conditions with the 7" Mak. I hope this helps Andrey and the very best of regards.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#18

Post by Bigzmey »


Makuser wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 9:37 pm Hi Andrey. Whoops, my error. It was at 540X. Well of course, the target was beautiful Selene (the Moon). I had a super pristine dark sky night about 2 or 3 years ago and cranked it up. I saw small craterlets inside of craters but this good seeing only lasted for about half an hour and then the upper atmospheric thermal spherules came along and everything got wavy. My old CG5 mount couldn't track quite fast enough and the craters kept drifting slowly out of view. :lol: This was the first, last, and only time that I was able to try this wild experiment as my skies haven't been very good for some time now. Normally I stay at 300x or much lower for lunar/planetary viewing depending on sky conditions with the 7" Mak. I hope this helps Andrey and the very best of regards.
That's close enough to 600x. :) I suspected it was the Luna. On a typical night I feel good if I can get at least 200x on planets, less than that is hard to resolve any fine details.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Makuser United States of America
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Re: Eridanus doubles and (mostly) Taurus asteroids

#19

Post by Makuser »


Hi again Andrey and here is an addendum. The Mak/lunar view was done with a 5mm Edge-On Planetary eyepiece. I also had a great experience with my 12" Dob around this time. Before my eldest son, daughter in law, and grandson moved from here, we took out the 12" Dob with a 3mm Edge-On Planetary eyepiece (500X). We caught the craters and craterlets in Mare Imbrium and on up to Mare Frigoris, and of course the images were brighter with the larger aperture. My Dob is a PushTo, so we had to constantly move the scope with the navigation knob (handle at the top of the telescope tube) to keep the object in view. I haven't that many good skies or help with the telescopes for awhile, which is why you don't see much in the way of observing reports from me lately. :cry: I am pretty much limited to meteor showers, binocular views, and the ISS flybys, and there is one tonight for me shortly at 6:19 PM EST. Thanks Andrey and all, and the best of wishes for many clear skies.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
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