Clusters, Comet Tuttle, and NexStar mount

January 3, 2008 - evening - Transparency excellent, seeing average - 13 degrees -

Started out by using the Orion 80EDon the NexStar mount. It has an altitude limit of about 60 degrees which I ste on th emount. If I try to go to an object higher than that it warns me. I can over-ride the warning.

6:10 pm - Easily split Polaris using 5mm Hyperion - 120X - so much for m ylong held contention that while you could split Polaris with a 6-inch, you could never do so with smething as puny as an 80mm. Itnot only does it - it's a very pleasing split. I can't believe I've been observing most of my life and I'm still learning new - and very basic things - like how to see.

6:19 pm Swung over to M45 which is gorgeous in this scope. The 21mm Hyperion captures the whole cluster nicely. It should be giving me about a 2 degree 20 minute fov. It's at about 57 degrees altitude at this point and I can fit a finger between the base and the bottom of the diagonal, so I can't go much higher.

6:40 pm - went for M37 - the comobination of the 80Ed and the hyperions works nicely.

6:55 pm - Castor - split cleanly with 5mm - 120X

7:07 pm - Back to Polaris to checkout the "engagement ring" asterism - it works, but I find it a bit of a stretch - using the 21mm does frame it all nicely.

Switched back to 5-inch and did a fresh 3-star alignment, though I've forgotten why ;-)