My wife and I headed out to Bluemont, Virginia wine country yesterday to celebrate our 45th anniversary. Anticipating at least one clear night I packed my Unitron Model 114 (60mm,
f/15) refractor that I purchased in 1959. This is a photo of the scope taken the day it was delivered!
As a matter of background, my interest in astronomy was kicked off by the launch of Sputnik in 1957. As part of my education I took several observational astronomy courses at the Buhl Planetarium (1961-62) in Pittsburgh, PA. My instructor for those courses was Dr James Mullaney, a noted double star astronomer. He was the catalyst for my interest in those gems of the night sky! He also provided several of us teens the opportunity to use the 13 inch Fitz-Clark refractor at Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh. What a thrill that was!!
My observing location from our cottage had a pretty clear view of the eastern horizon and was on a hilltop. Although several trees obstructed the view, I had clear access to my targets for the night.
The objects I selected for the evening were those that I viewed and shared over the past 65 years: the Moon, Mizar, Cor Caroli, Porrima, Algieba, and Castor. I used all Unitron
EP's, but not the original .965" that came with the scope; I used 1.25"
EP's that came with my 4 inch Unitron. I started out viewing the Moon at first 23x (40 mm Mono) and worked my way up to 150x (6mm Plossl). The contrast and sharpness even at 150x was a testament to the quality of the optics!!
I then turned to the planned doubles:
Mizar-Alcor: viewed at 23x and 36x (25mm Plossl)
Cor Caroli: viewed at 50x (18mm Ortho and 18mm Plossl) and 72x (12.5mm Plossl)
Porrima: viewed at 100x (9mm Plossl) and 150x
Algieba: viewed at 72x and 100x
Castor: viewed at 72x and 100x
A great session, bringing back some fine memories of bygone days. I did wake up early to check out the planets, but clouds had rolled in.
Dave
