I decided this afternoon to take the 5” newt (Nexstar SLT) out for a spin.
Ran a quick 3 star alignment with SkySafari (using the SkyPortal wifi module) at dusk and was off to the races!
Unfortunately, I had many issues with the SLT mount. Screen freezes with SkySafari and several dropped connections. The most concerning issue was the alt motor sounded like it was binding several times. Eventually, it would recover after a freeze, disconnect and re-connect. At about 9:15, lost the alignment and packed it in. Not without a few grabs though!
1 Camelopardalis
(Variable Double Star in Camelopardalis)
Observed: Mar 24, 2020 at 8:06:19 PM
Main yellow star has moderate brightness. Secondary pretty closely spaced possibly bluish in color.
11 Camelopardalis
(Variable Double Star in Camelopardalis)
Observed: Mar 24, 2020 at 8:10:18 PM
Very nice widely spaced pair ( 177.8”). Main star has very good brightness (mag 5.2) and white in color. Secondary is yellow also with good brightness (mag 6.2) .
Beta Monocerotis
(Variable Double Star in Monoceros)
Observed: Mar 24, 2020 at 8:33:08 PM
Beautiful triple star. All three members are crisp and bright at magnitudes 4.6, 5.4, and 5.6. Clear seperation between the b and c components at 2.8”.
Epsilon Monocerotis
(Double Star in Monoceros)
Observed: Mar 24, 2020 at 8:38:32 PM
Nice double with a bright mag 4 main star and a nicely spaced mag 6 secondary at 12”.
(Open Cluster in Canis Major)
Observed: Mar 24, 2020 at 8:41:35 PM
Beautiful open cluster of moderately bright stars that filled the
(Variable Double Star in Canis Major)
Observed: Mar 24, 2020 at 8:44:39 PM
Striking mag 4.8 bright yellow primary star with msg 5.8 crisp blue-white secondary. Good seperation at 27”.
The view is so good in the 8mm it looks as nice as Albireo! Absolutely a fine double!
(Variable Double Star in Puppis)
Observed: Mar 24, 2020 at 8:48:29 PM
Superb optical double of almost equal brightness of 4.5 and 4.6 mag. Two bright headlights! Nice 10” seperation.
Algieba - Gamma1 Leo
(Variable Double Star in Leo)
Observed: Mar 24, 2020 at 8:52:15 PM
Very bright (mag 2 and 3) yellow stars with close (4.7”) separation.
All in all lots of fun. I guess I will have to open up the SLT mount one day to inspect and at the least lubricate.
This 130 mm newt gives nice bright views and I do enjoy using it with the SLT with wifi and SkySafari.
Seeing tonight was really poor and the sky was light gray. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I can get the imaging rig out!
Thanks for reading!