Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Sept 21, 2004 0:21:49 GMT -6
Lakefront Observing with The Celestron Nexstar 8"
What a great lakefront, light polluted - street lamps in your face - observation session I had Monday night!
Fellow Astronomer Steve Cosgrove contacted me for a possible observation session at the lakefront this evening and I jumped at the chance to check out his new Celestron Nexstar 8".
Packed soundly and transported in a canvas rollabout, Steve proceeded to set up the scope. It takes some time he warned, as the balance and alignment must be accurate for the go-to to function properly. I had my "antique" scope set up 1,2,3, and captured views of the moon as the Celestron took shape.
I watched as all was leveled and plumed and ready to search for it's guide stars for final computer set. Steve pushed a series of buttons and ...off it went.
With minor tweaking here and there, and checking the alignment...The Celestron was to be proven reliable in finding celestial objects. Armed with four good eyepieces, one being a Televue Zoom (25 mm - 8mm), we started our search for deep sky objects.
I didn't expect to create a log of my observations, but I quickly jotted down what we started to target. As I had a star map from Skymaps in my cache of materials - www.skymaps.com - we started to pick out Messier objects to hunt down.
First the Double cluster in Perseus was punched into the computer...and off it slewed. With incredible intense street lamps, burning into our retinas, we watched the Nexstar swivel with purpose and stop, back up a tad and confidently presented itself for viewing. And in the eyepiece, was the Double Cluster! A pretty sight, we studied it for a bit and went on to the next Messier object.
As I attended to people who came up to our scopes, showing then the half Moon, Steve targeted M31..The Andromeda Galaxy. I have never seen the galaxy in this manner before. In my scope, all I can see is a dim glowing cotton ball. But here, I could define the axis of the galaxy and I was awed. I want to see this again in the Celestron in darker skies. Al...you reading this?
Now...as a coordinated team sailing the U.S.S Celestron, I shouted out the next Messier catalog number as Steve punched in the order into the computer. M15 was our next desired target. As it ceased it's search, we observed a faint glow, as our light assaulted pupils stayed contracted wouldn't allow serious study. With more time to adapt, we could have seen more detail in the globular, but for now, here in front of the Adler and in the glow of insane city lights, it would be just fine.
I next barked out M57. With quick performance, it pointed almost straight up...and there it was. Now...I only recently had my first view of the Ring Nebula this spring thru serious star hopping with my 4.5". In the Celestron 8", I could clearly define the boundaries of the ring including the darker inner hole. I could not discern the central star, but it was certainly brighter and bigger here. M13 in Hercules was our next heading. The globular cluster showed us a rather dim but clearly discernible mass. Quite cool. Other objects were targeted during the evening, including Alberio in Cygnus. I compared the views of the moon in the Celestron 8" and my Meade 4.5". The Celestron image was brighter and sharper, and with the zoom eyepiece...just too great. I attempted to snap a few digipics thru the eypiece, but they were not satisfactory to post here.
We tried to target other objects, but some were not visible in the eyepiece or not yet over the horizon. Even the Copernicus Statue fought us in seeking out DSO's by obscuring our line of sight. Good ones in Saggitarius were too low...engulfed in the Chicago horizonal muck.
By this time, the dew was getting pretty heavy and we were ready to pack up and leave. I had mentioned to Steve about our upcoming Chicago Astronomer Star Party in Woodstock, and he expressed interest in the event.
Now, I know that many astronomers look down and frown upon go-to scopes, and even I, to a lesser extent, found it to be cheating. But in all reality, in the bright skies of Chicago, and few stars to guide us by...it would take a lot of time, patience and frustration attempting to locate objects with the tried and skilled star hopping technique. I like the go-to option a lot, but I still like to hunt them down manually too. My next scope will certainly have a go-to, but also must have the option to shut it down and go natural.
It was a good evening of DSO hunting and I had a good time with the Celestron. Thanks to Steve who ventured out with all his equipment and allowed me to share in the views. I'm sure there will be more sessions in store.
