We approached Northern Tennessee right around sunset, and the tiny sliver of new moon arcing towards the horizon with Jupiter and Venus made a beautiful sight off to the right of the car. The moon was still hovering above the horizon when we arrived, but the sky would have to wait until after the car was unpacked, dinner eaten, and everyone settled into my sister's house.
Around 7:30, the sky was still clear and noticeably darker than from my back yard in Chicagoland. I snuck out to see what I could see. While the sky was darker here than at home, the surrounding porch lights and street lights were more inconveniently placed than in my own backyard. Well, you can't have everything.
I started by looking for Andromeda (M31), which was located almost straight overhead. I was struggling to manipulate the scope, which I have on rings and a dovetail, mounted side-saddle on the ball-head tripod. About that time my sister came out to see what I was up to. Right away she noticed and asked about the hazy patch appearing half way up the eastern sky--the Pleiades. I was happy to point the scope in that direction and be rescued from my zenith frustrations. The whole cluster was framed nicely through a 32 mm eyepiece. My sister enjoyed the view, and I convinced her to get out her binoculars and try looking through them. She was pleased with the result.
I moved down and to the left to find the Starfish cluster (M38) in Auriga. It was a hazy patch, only partially resolved through the 32 mm eyepiece. I tried a 5 mm but didn't think it was an improvement.
By then having gotten more used to the setup, I was ready to try again for Andromeda and show off another "wow" object. This time I found it without too much trouble. It was a hazy brightness, and I thought I could see some elongation. M32, which I can easily spot from home through my 8 inch
By then I noticed Orion rising and could not resist showing off one of the best objects in the sky. The entire sword fit in the view through the 32 mm eyepiece, and the Great Nebula (M42) showed its smoky C shape at 80X.
We then went over a few of the brightest constellations--Cassiopeia, Auriga, and Pegasus--and we located the North Star. I tried briefly to split it, but to no avail.
Now on the subject of double stars, and seeking some redemption, I pointed to Gamma Andromedae (Almach). Through a 5 mm eyepiece it was nicely split into the bright orange primary and the dimmer blue secondary. Such a lovely pair, it really lives up to its reputation, even using a modest instrument like a short 80 mm achromatic refractor.
That pretty much did it, as were getting a little chilly, and I was satisfied with our tour of the Greatest Hits. I was glad to have this little grab-and-go setup that can I throw in the car for pretty much any trip.
