More ST-80 Observations

As twilight deepened and the US vice presidential debate was heating
up I once again set up Little Red Riding Scope, my red-painted ST-80.
The scope was on a homemade alt-az mount atop an 'ancient' Criterion
field tripod. Little Red was set up in the 'Colosseum', my open-air,
backyard observatory that looks a bit like . . . well, I think the
reader could make a good guess ;-) A 90 degree, mirror diagonal was
used on Little Red. In my experience the standard 45 degree, erect
image diagonals that often come with ST-80s provide inferior images at
the higher magnifications.

Location/conditions: Observations were made from a rural area in the
northwestern US just above the 45th parallel. A thin atmospheric haze
was noticeable yesterday and this morning. Mount St. Helens is (at
least in my mind) a prime suspect. Nevertheless, the night sky was
still fairly decent.

M75: -- a fuzzy disk with a noticeably brighter center, no hint of
resolving into stars. M75 was identifiable at 20x. My observation
and sketch was made at 60x.

NGC 6907: -- not seen. Magnifications of 20, 26, 38, and 60 were
tried. Several stars were visible in the immediate area; but the
galaxy was not positively seen.

M72: -- a smooth, nebulous patch, not even a hint at resolution or
structure. Visible at 20x. Observation and sketch made at 60x.

M73: -- nebulous in appearance at 20x. Hint of stars at 26x, three
stars at 38x (two easy, one a little more difficult), a little better
at 60x, best at 105x, never more than three stars. Sketch made based
on 60x and 105x views. Once one has observed this tiny asterism with
a small telescope it becomes understandible that Messier included it
in his catalog.

NGC 7009 (Saturn Nebula): -- stellar at 20x, suspected nonstellar at
26x, definitely nonstellar at 38x, better at 60x, best at 105x.
Observation and sketch made at 105x. Disk-shaped, slightly bluish,
small, bright fuzzball.

Sketcher
To sketch is to see.

Great report!
Clear, Dark, Steady Skies!
(And considerate neighbors!!!)

Great report!
Clear, Dark, Steady Skies!
(And considerate neighbors!!!)


I second that. I do enjoy reading about sketchers sketches.

jon