Observing: What I learned on my Summer Vacation

Hi guys and gals;

Just back from a trip to Taos, NM. Pretty nice, kinda warm but not quite like
Phoenix and the low lands, in the 90's, not the 110s and at 7000 feet it cools
off quickly.

A couple of things to share.

1. First night of two in Red Rock State Park, Gallup NM. ~6500feet. A bit
windy and a bit warm. I set up my Starhunter 10 inch F5 DOB a bit before
sunset. No great hopes for the evening, the wind and moon seemed sufficient
adversaries. Add the brain rubble/pain left by the aura of a visual migraine
earlier in the day, and I had few hopes. Collimation consisted of taking the
scope out of the upper bunk on the motor home where it had travels for a 1000
miles or so and various bangings about, no need for good collimation on a night
like this one.

The moon is barely above the trees and the flood light on the bathroom is a
continuing threat.

But a quick look at the moon at 170x reveals a sharpness and detail that is
uncommon. Barlows and short focal eyepieces get the magnifaction up to around
500x and things are still looking crisp. I have heard of such seeing but never
really believed it.

Next of course, was to try the double-double. Airy disks and diffraction rings
are not things I normally see with the 10 inch, but this night, at 500x, the
Airy Disks are sharp and tight and stable. At somewhere around 750X
(scope+Paracorr, Ultima barlow and 4 mm UO ortho) things are still looking
tight. Tracking, a bit touchy but doable.....
------
Next up is Antares, I had never split Antares but this night, Antares with
still in the tree tops and I was able to split it. Pretty amazing, a defocus
showed mostly tree leaves but when focused the companion was clearly there.

Moving the scope cleared the trees and the companion was still visable to the
edge of my 6mm Orion Expanse clone operating at 500x.

Pretty amazing. Unfortunately by the time Mars was above the tree tops, the
seeing was no longer so fine... :-(

2. The next night a trailer showed up and setup next to us, some older folks
and an obviously bored and disappointed young fellow, probably junior high
school age. The Gameboy was out but he seemed to want more.

He spied my Pronto set up for birding and asked if I was into photography. I
said a bit and he said it looked like a neat Camera. I said it was a
telescope and that if he wanted to, he could come by later and we could look at
some stars with something a bit larger. He was eager and said he had been
wanting a telescope for about 2 or 3 years.

After sunset I heard what turned out to be tentative knocks on the door but
they were not enough to raise me. Finally a louder knock with a faint, "Excuse
me Sir but is it dark enough to look at some stars now," got me going.

The 10 incher was setup and the first target was the moon. My young friend was
awe struck and couldn't get enough. He wanted to point the scope himself and
quickly was tracking. Again he commented, "I have been wanting a telescope for
2 or 3 years." I took this for youthful time warp, probably been wanting one
for a day or two was my thought.

Soon we moved to the Ring Nebula, the double-double, the dumbbell, the Wild
Duck and M81-82. He was like a child in heaven.

Then the door of the trailer opened and his mother came over, intorducing
herself with something like, "I want to see for myself what has gotten my son
so excited"

The young man quickly asked if he could point the scope at the moon and then
did so. His mom was amazed by the craters and the wonders of the moon. Soon
he was pointing the scope with the Telrad at the double-double and searching
for others targets.

At some point his mother commented that "He has been wanting a telescope for 2
or 3 years now but we did not know what to get him." So much for my cynical
judgement.

She broached the subject with, "Those scopes you can get at Walmart are not
worth getting??." I then mentioned the Hardin 8 inch DOB at $300 and both
seemed interested. The young guy mentioned he could finance the scope with
produce he grew but I think the mom was ready to get the scope right then and
there. In retrospect, I think she was as excited as he was.

I tried to point out the advantages and disadvantages of a DOB but I think the
combination of what they had just seen in a 10 incher, the young man's joy at
pointing the scope himself and that $300 price tag were enough to squash any
talk of GOTO and tracking mounts.

The session was finally ended because of "bed time" but not before a wide range
of doubles and DSOs were seen the moon viewed again and again... Email
addresses were exchanged and all were happy.

The next morning as we were preparing to leave, the mom came by and said that
she had talked with her Husband back home via Cell phone. The 10 incher was
gone but Hardin still had the 8 incher (this I knew.) Dad of course wanted be
sure all was right but I have a strong belief that that there is scope making
its way towards one excited young man and his mom.

Thanks to all for reading this, dark skies and cool nights to all.

jon isaacs

Say, this is an very interesting report, Jon. Glad you guys had a good time
in NM. And congratulation on splitting Antares. But you left out one clift
hanging
detail, did the young fella look through your Pronto ;-)?

Unfortunately not. I had put the Pronto away to keep it away from the dust.

Added note, we are back in SoCal. We crossed the desert from Kingman, AZ to
Barstow yesterday, in the heat of the day, Needles hit 119F yesterday but we
went through when it was only about 110F....

San Diego was about 70F, something of a relief....

jon