I recently acquired a slick classic (circa 1998), Celestron C-11 Schmidt Cassagrain Telescope that had been languishing and forgotten in an outdoor storage locker for six years - in a rusting trunk it was in...and was last used for the 2003 close Mars-mania approach.

A detailed narrative will be created about the specs and details on the telescope soon, but I felt that the Chicago Astronomers needed to put the scope through it's paces, play with it and see what it can do before it gets too cold.

We assembled on a brisk Saturday evening, not too far from the Adler Planetarium and in relatively dark location, (for the city). The C11 beast is heavy, not the tripod or the OTA itself, but the mount and counterweight are brutally heavy. Using the case I had my C5 scope in, the mount, shaft and counterweight fit in nicely and makes it portable...

Joining me this evening were fellow Chicago Astronomers, Bill, Steve & Jeff...and new participant, Paulie....who brought along his two scopes - a motorized 4.5" and 6" Dob...



Setting up the C11 is pretty straight forward, but always good to have a hand to assist, and Steve helped in hoisting the tube on to it's Losmandy mount. Making sure all was secure, we let go of the clutches and it was free...and so we start the shake out.

I had a cigarette adapter to power the mount and cautiously plugged it in to the car,(first time powering up), with plenty of cord to reach the scope...



No zaps, smoke or sparks...only reassuring red glows from the LED lamps on the control panel.

The beast is alive...!

The Moon was setting quickly, and so we target it with full 11 inches, but the atmospheric conditions this evening - although kinda clear - was not optimal for good seeing. A lot of haze and turbulence in the air - and Soldier Field had it's full stadium lights on, creating a small supernova to our west...



The Moon looked good, but very sloppy, as it sunk into the urban muck....so that was out.

Next was Jupiter, still riding high....but before setting test time on the Jovian world, Steve and I discovered that the tracking motor was not...tracking. It would nudge in one direction, but not keep tracking or slow slew back wards. I was disappointed, but as we kept on activating the keys on the hand controller, the action was more crisp and reactionary. I guess laying dormant for 6 years and the heat, moisture and cold stiffened the works a bit, and the attention it was now getting started to loosen things up.

I swung the beast around and using the Rigel Zero Mag finder first, located Jupiter and using the 60mm finderscope brought the king of the planets into view in the eyepiece. Again, the viewing conditions were mucky and the planet was a boil. But every once in awhile, it cleared up for a few moments and showed good banding...



Images taken with Steve's 2" eyepieces and right directional, the views were very good - almost like looking thru a spaceship's portal and impressive... ;D



The second series were taken in Fluorescent light balance with the Canon Powershot S3...and although three of Jupiter's satellites were out, here I only capture two...



But soon, Jupiter was too far down in the urban muck and we switched to other objects. Orion was rising high and I wondered how M42 Nebula would look. I was pleasantly surprised...even in this poor viewing of conditions.



I could discern wispy patterns quite easily, and the "thumbprint" sharply contrasted against the ghostly glow of the gas cloud. The first image, although jiggly, is interesting...



The second montage was taken through the 60mm finderscope - which offers crisp views and wide field.

The C11 was performing well, but needs slight tweaking to get the collimation accurate. A two person job, but I got friends to lend a hand when ready. Also, the con against SCT scopes, is that the corrector plate is open to the elements and at the mercy of dew. With this hazy evening, we dewed up real good. I didn't have a dew shield, and even with Steve's chemical hand warmers he brought in anticipation, it still fogged over.

I took the OTA off the mount and brought into the Chevelle for some evaporating heat....



My dual exhausts were creating quite a cloud of carbon monoxide steam on it's own...I feel sleepy.

With the tube back on, I fashioned a make-shift temporary dew shield out of a reflective sunblock window barrier and it did the job for the remainder of the session...



Bill, an expert in locating just about any celestial object, found the Andromeda galaxy and satellite galaxy for us in the C11....and in his own 10" Dob that he brought along this session...



We compared views in an impromptu shoot-out on Andromeda seeing...and they were both good, but some thought the C11 edged out the dob in contrast.




By now, the C11 star party was breaking up, but first a prerequisite Chicago Astronomer group shot...



I was now left alone...and that was ok...and solo observation is both calming and personal. With permission to remain at my observation site as long as I wished from area authorities - there was no one to bother me. Observing at my leisure and tunes playing, I slowly explored the late fall skies and enjoying everything the C11 was giving me.



I had the entire open sky to myself...with old friends to enjoy, Taurus, the Pleiads, Orion and Gemini. Slowly slewing the C11 manually with no direction or time constraints, I relished this time I was having and seeing them brightly and clear with this beast of a telescope.

Mars was about 40 degrees high, but an awful mess in the eyepiece. I got a orange disk, and some hint of an ice cap, but it was totally washed out with turbulence. Next.....

I targeted Sirius, the dog star in the scope, and was taken aback at the bright jewel that I saw...



We all have observed this star in scopes, and I show it to visitors to the Adler in how bright and it is and explain temperature & age of stars...but here, this evening - alone with it - it was mesmerizing.



Swinging over to the Seven Sisters, the open cluster of Suns were bright, but I didn't see any nebulousity - and the field of view in the C11 is rather tight, so I took a wide field angle shot through the 60mm finderscope...



It was now 1:30 am and time to end this installment of the Chicago Astronomer sessions. Every thing was now damp with dew, but the C11 performed well, needs some cleaning of the optics, (inside & out), a nudge in collimation, and the tracking now performs well - quietly and steadily.

It will serve us well for many years and the king of the mountain in my arsenal of telescopes.

More on the scope later.