New scope in the worksPosted By Keith Lawson |
Well, the prognosis is…
Seeing 3—4/10. 35 degrees. 60% humidity. No wind. The first star viewed revealed some minor mis-collimation. Star collimated the optics and performed some general viewing. Zeta Orion was well seen. Easily split at 150X. The Trapezium revealed all six stars at the same magnification. The star test hinted at a very good level of the overall optical correction. Need a better night to give a more precise evaluation. My 250lpi glass ronchi grating revealed 4 straight bands with no edge hook. I will try again on a better night using only two bands. Pleased so far. Zero temperature affects visible in the out of focus star pattern.
The moon was well seen. I homed in on one of my favorite lunar targets, the Triesnecker rill complex. It was very well seen even though the moon looked like it was under flowing water (seeing). The F & G craters next to Triesnecker were clearly seen including the one in-between them when the seeing would settle a bit. Not too bad for such a soft night.
Seeing 3—4/10. 35 degrees. 60% humidity. No wind. The first star viewed revealed some minor mis-collimation. Star collimated the optics and performed some general viewing. Zeta Orion was well seen. Easily split at 150X. The Trapezium revealed all six stars at the same magnification. The star test hinted at a very good level of the overall optical correction. Need a better night to give a more precise evaluation. My 250lpi glass ronchi grating revealed 4 straight bands with no edge hook. I will try again on a better night using only two bands. Pleased so far. Zero temperature affects visible in the out of focus star pattern.
The moon was well seen. I homed in on one of my favorite lunar targets, the Triesnecker rill complex. It was very well seen even though the moon looked like it was under flowing water (seeing). The F & G craters next to Triesnecker were clearly seen including the one in-between them when the seeing would settle a bit. Not too bad for such a soft night.
Put the scope back on the larger Cave Astrola mount after making another, shorter, pier section for sit down observing. Slotted the holes on the pier to aid in polar alignment. I guess I was a bit spoiled by the greater stability of the larger 1.5" Cave mount compared to the 1" Cave mount. And the tweaking continues...
