Libra On My Mind

October 24, 2023

The Sun is in Libra now (at time of writing) and as Samhain approaches the nights are getting damp and humid. This can be problematic in astronomy with some technical issues concerning dewing. On October the 22nd the forecast was clear between around 22:00 and 04:00 and the weather was mild. I was initially sceptical about lucid conditions, and wasn’t far out. What was far out was that the jet stream had shifted and most of the Midlands had placid non-turbulent air. I had a session with the Titchy Sixty, on balance it was successful, until disaster struck and the Libran scales tipped against me.

I decided to give my Tele Vue 6-3mm zoom a fling (it doesn't get out much), as I couldn’t find my Baader Hyperion Zoom. No doubt it will turn up, after all, I put it somewhere ‘safe’. The TV is heavy for its small size, although lighter than the TV Barlow and Takahashi ortho’s it replaced. It also has a virtual parfocal 50° of field with click stopped magnifications of between 60x to 120x on the 60 EDF.

I also swapped the Takahashi prism for a TV 1.25” ‘Enhanced Aluminum’ diagonal. The TV diagonal mirror was probably less likely to introduce any false colour at f/6 and had far less technical gremlins.

The weight difference between the Tak' and TV diagonals was negligible. I mainly used the 2” Baader Maxbright in the session, even for planetary.

My first target was a ‘sky-dominating’ Jupiter. The zoom gave a bright and sharp image of Io transiting the planet. Jovian surface detail was very good and any contrast loss compared to the ortho’s was not noticeable enough to ‘swing the balance’. I couldn’t find the Ring Nebula or the Double Double in a low Summer Triangle, which I attribute to hazy conditions in the west. I did find a magnificent Zeta Cass however. At 120x the system’s three stars were easily visible. I also found the Owl Cluster quite stunning at 60x. I had a quick peek at a rapidly setting crisp and clear Saturn and Titan with the zoom.

As I waited for Io to transit across the Jovian surface after watching it disappear in front of the planet I switched to the 24mm Panoptic and eventually the 36mm Baader Aspheric. Now I spent some time looking at open clusters like the Pleiades and the Alpha Persei Moving Cluster. These were quite spectacular at 10x and 15x with the wide angle EP’s. The 24mm Panoptic is legendary for its acuity and edge sharpness. Many find the 36mm Baader Aspheric a tad streaky near the edge of field. On balance (see what I did there?) though, the sheer FOV of the Aspheric at 10x compensates for any edge distortion. Who looks at the edge of field with a wide angle EP anyway?

The marvellous Serpent Cluster between Alnilam and Mintaka was also quite beautifully intriguing. M42 and the Trapezium were equally pleasing considering how low Orion was for me. Eventually I went back to Jupiter with the zoom, although this time with the 1.25” TV diagonal with a Baader Neodymium filter in the nosepiece. I witnessed Io becoming a bright satellite again on the other side of Jupiter. I was thrilled to see the GRS. Near the end of the session I switched back to the Maxbright and 36mm Aspheric for viewing more clusters. This time though the Libra scales of justice and balance dramatically tipped against me, then metaphorically kicked me up the jacksy. It’s never been my favourite astrological sign anyway.

The rotating visual back mechanism had a serious malfunction and would not rotate properly. So I had no alternative to packing up for the night. On further inspection it appears a nylon shim or gasket has become loose or unseated. I’ve been told that it can be fixed and re-seated (thanks Adam at RVO). Whether I can disassemble the back and fix this gasket with only my left hand remains to be seen. I’ve finally found my toolbox. I’d put it somewhere safe! The Titchy Sixty is now out of commission for the foreseeable future. I still have the ED72 Evostar however and it is ready to go. The TV zoom works very well on that as it is f/5.8 and the zoom gives 70x to 140x on the 72mm Evostar. Which is a nicely balanced range of magnifications. High powered Zooms are fine unless you are unbalanced and overdo it (I’m talking about you Saffron!).