In Praise of Small-Scope Astronomy

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jrkirkham United States of America
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Re: In Praise of Small-Scope Astronomy

#21

Post by jrkirkham »


I mainly use my C11 right now, but I think my second favorite project has been the year and a half I put in with only a 50mm plastic refractor duplicating Galileo's observations for the AL Galileo observing club. For me astronomy is about exploring and learning. That was a magical experience of trying to put myself in Galileo's shoes and wondering how he could recognize what he was looking at.

My all time favorite project has been logging meteor showers for the AL meteor shower observing club. I didn't use any telescope at all for that project.

I bought my C11 for other projects, but they were no more fun than these two.
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
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pakarinen United States of America
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Re: In Praise of Small-Scope Astronomy

#22

Post by pakarinen »


turboscrew wrote: Sat May 07, 2022 1:44 pm
I can ask the CloudyNights forums for advice on choosing my next scope.
Wrong forum. :wink:
Wrong forum if you want considered, rational discussion without veering off on wild tangents and devolving to personal insults. But I digress...

I was impressed with that article, especially since I'm playing around with a 50mm f5 scope (actually just a RACI finder with the ability to change EPs). I'm sure it won't match the view with my 15x70 binos, but I won't need to lie on my back to observe overhead. We'll see how it works out.
=============================================================================
I drink tea, I read books, I look at stars when I'm not cursing clouds. It's what I do.
=============================================================================
AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
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turboscrew
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Re: In Praise of Small-Scope Astronomy

#23

Post by turboscrew »


pakarinen wrote: Mon May 09, 2022 12:59 pm
turboscrew wrote: Sat May 07, 2022 1:44 pm
I can ask the CloudyNights forums for advice on choosing my next scope.
Wrong forum. :wink:
Wrong forum if you want considered, rational discussion without veering off on wild tangents and devolving to personal insults. But I digress...
:lol: :lol: :lol:
- Juha

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Telescope: OrionOptics XV12, Mount: CEM120, Tri-pier 360 and alternative dobson mount.
Grab 'n go: Omegon AC 102/660 on AZ-3 mount
Eyepieces: 26 mm Omegon SWAN 70°, 15 mm TV Plössl, 12.5 mm Baader Morpheus, 10 mm TV Delos, 6 mm Baader Classic Ortho, 5 mm TV DeLite, 4 mm and 3 mm TV Radians
Cameras: ZWO ASI 294MM Pro, Omegon veLOX 178C
OAG: TS-Optics TSOAG09, ZWO EFW 7 x 36 mm, ZWO filter sets: LRGB and Ha/OIII/SII
Explore Scientific HR 2" coma corrector, Meade x3 1.25" Barlow, TV PowerMate 4x 2"
Some filters (#80A, ND-96, ND-09, Astronomik UHC)
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