Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Was a guest and supplicant of Jon Isaacs, a practiced observer, with scopes coming out of his ears (and all sorts of nice glass). Jon set up his 10.5" Dobsonian in his Clairemont backyard.

It was the first clear night in the week that he and I had been exchanging emails about some equipment sales.

This was my first extended observation session with dob (Newtonians on simple push mounts (as opposed to driven, computerized mounts). Newts and dobs are known for big apertures and short focal ratios (wide views). You also look perpendicular to the direction the tube is pointing, which is a bit odd: point your left ear at your target.

Overall impressions: really bright, clear, wide, immediate views of multiple stars and clusters. As Jon says, the newts provide an "aliveness" that the SCT's tend not to. Highlights included the ET cluster (a.k.a. the Owl cluster), the 73 cluster, and a bunch of double stars. And, of course, the company. It's nice to be led.