(This post was originally published as a guide on the forum Astrofili.org, then re-edited and published on the blog "Mammal Biped", now I think I can feel good here too ... the cut is less technical than the usual post, I hope not "stone" too)
After the trip to the Canaries and awakening passion for ancient Astronomy I spent the end of August or early September to fight a worm that gnawed my head. "You need a tool largest ," said that worm, "you have to get a dobson, it is useless to insist spremer out an 8" that you can not give more . "All true, undeniable, except that the logistical problems of running a heavier telescope and cumbersome to me seemed insurmountable.
Plagued by woodworm I tried to ask people who had already spent questioning the forum of Italian amateurs , with the sole result of rain to see me in the head and neck offer those to which it is molto difficile resistere: un 12" usato in ottime condizioni messo in vendita da un astrofilo spinto dall'inquinamento luminoso ad abbandonare l'osservazione visuale per dedicarsi alla fotografia del cielo stellato.
Ci ho ragionato su un paio di giorni, solo per realizzare che era una decisione di fondo già presa. Ho mandato al diavolo i " problemi logistici " e mi sono fatto spedire il " mostro " da Crotone. Giovedì scorso me lo sono andato a prendere alla fermata del pullman, ho chiesto ospitalità ai miei cognati per poter disporre di una terrazza e l'ho tirato su di fronte ai miei nipoti esterrefatti. L'effetto era questo:
After the trip to the Canaries and awakening passion for ancient Astronomy I spent the end of August or early September to fight a worm that gnawed my head. "You need a tool largest ," said that worm, "you have to get a dobson, it is useless to insist spremer out an 8" that you can not give more . "All true, undeniable, except that the logistical problems of running a heavier telescope and cumbersome to me seemed insurmountable.
Plagued by woodworm I tried to ask people who had already spent questioning the forum of Italian amateurs , with the sole result of rain to see me in the head and neck offer those to which it is molto difficile resistere: un 12" usato in ottime condizioni messo in vendita da un astrofilo spinto dall'inquinamento luminoso ad abbandonare l'osservazione visuale per dedicarsi alla fotografia del cielo stellato.
Ci ho ragionato su un paio di giorni, solo per realizzare che era una decisione di fondo già presa. Ho mandato al diavolo i " problemi logistici " e mi sono fatto spedire il " mostro " da Crotone. Giovedì scorso me lo sono andato a prendere alla fermata del pullman, ho chiesto ospitalità ai miei cognati per poter disporre di una terrazza e l'ho tirato su di fronte ai miei nipoti esterrefatti. L'effetto era questo:
The " test" (if it can be defined) made under a polluted sky of class Bortle 8 , I was informed on key issues: The instrument weights , dimensions, need for frequent realignment of the optics, however, is only dimly perceive its potential observation. I just had to get a decent sky, and I intended to have the opportunity over the weekend
On Saturday morning I monitored the situation since the weather is not very exciting. The comings and goings of clouds, the time variable, sparse rainfall, non sono riusciti a dissuadermi dal desiderio di correre a Campo Felice per mettere alla prova il giocattolo nuovo. L'incertezza climatica ed il brevissimo preavviso mi hanno spinto a rinunciare all'idea di coinvolgere altre persone, e l'unica ad accompagnarmi fin lassù è stata la mia dolce metà, Emanuela, immagino più preoccupata di pensarmi da solo in cima ad una montagna di notte che entusiasta per l'idea di una nottata osservativa (con un telescopio, oltretutto, vissuto più che altro come un nuovo ingombro dentro casa).
La scommessa sulla situazione meteo è stata totale: al momento di caricare lo strumento in macchina i nuvoloni che si andavano addensando sulla città hanno prodotto un acquazzone estivo micidiale, that has strained the trust of his wife in my extrapolations based on METEOSAT and webcam. However along the way, it became clear that the cloud cover did not extend to the surrounding mountains. We had all the prerequisites for a satisfying evening observing.
And it was not. The sky of Campo Felice has appeared to us in an evening of grace, even on the rainy afternoon that cleared the air. I could estimated class Bortle 4, except that now I feel inadequate to the scale of Bortle the skies at high altitude, where the greater transparency of the air makes some objects more visible even in the presence of light pollution . For example, the zenith la Via Lattea nel Cigno era poco dissimile da quella osservata alle Canarie, mentre la situazione peggiorava nettamente per la parte di cielo più prossima all'orizzonte.
Ma l'osservazione al telescopio, quella era decisamente da urlo.
Il passaggio ad uno strumento di diametro superiore è sempre del suo sconvolgente (mi era già successo passando dai 4,5" del vetusto newton Skymaster 114/900 ad un diametro quasi doppio), ma non potevo immaginare l'abisso tra il mio precedente 8", strumento peraltro onestissimo, ed il Lightbridge. Il mio cielo è cambiato, il mio modo di pensarlo è cambiato, le mie aspettative sono cambiate e nulla potrà più essere come prima.
Alcune cose will surely put a log. For the first time I experienced the problems of thermal stabilization of the mirror (clear beginning, the blurred images, the convective cells generated from the hot surface of the primary mirror), and also accommodate a Red Dot pointer (".. . Chili Peppers ", as suggested by Manu) instead of the classic Finder is not just banal: a red cross point between the stars and find objects in the eyepiece is something unexpected, even for an amateur sailing.
However the coupling between the instrument and the large-diameter wide field eyepieces has irreversibly changed my perception of the sky, and I think also that of Manu, that perhaps for the first time it was really fascinated by objects that were watching.
The most trivial to note was the difference in what I said leaving the eye to see it. With the previous 8 "there was a whole series of statements," notes so and so, you should see an object of this type (small, large, concentrated, diffused, etc. ...) . "I said just now: " look! , "and she had to explain what he was seeing. The difference is mainly this: with a 12" items you see, do not go " searched for" no go " glimpsed " no go " imagined, and there are enough, forcefully, in the center of the eyepiece.
The truck has traveled quickly on objects " usual" summer sky, now " usual", however most were not, showing new details, nuances, and a different relationship with the starry background. The Lagoon Nebula, Trifid, Omega, the Ring nebula in Lyra, the Wild Duck Cluster in the Shield, the Dumbbell, the magnificent globular cluster M13 in Hercules, the Andromeda galaxy M31 with its outline to dwarf companions, the Veil in Cygnus, a sprinkling of open clusters in Cassiopeia, the Whirlpool galaxy M51 were unfortunately low on the horizon ... and then, for the first time in many years, started the hunt for things unseen.
This is another major difference compared to 8 ", not only objects" classics "are much more detailed and interesting, but those" children "begin to have their own reason. The tiny galaxies and nebulae that in an instrument smaller than even I was surprised that "you could see " (at the beginning we are content just slightly), now beginning to show interesting forms. Even the globular clusters, which are stored until the day before yesterday as " all the same, just a little 'bigger or smaller " and reduced to observations of M13 that "at least you see something " improvvisamente erano divenuti oggetti affascinanti: più concentrati o più diffusi, nascosti dietro un velo di stelle o sospesi nel vuoto, lontani, vicini... insomma è ripartita l'esplorazione.
Ho quindi aperto sul cofano dell'auto le fotocopie del " Tirion Sky Atlas 2000.0 " (n.b.: ho anche l'originale, ma teme l'umidità...) vecchie di oltre vent'anni ed in disuso da più o meno altrettanto tempo. Avevo acquistato le mappe ai tempi lontani del "114/900" per trovare le sfuggenti nebulose usando le stelle di riferimento. Poi, con l'8" ed il computerino per il puntamento assistito avevo preso l'abitudine di portarmi dietro solo degli elenchi (ed in quel modo, ora me ne rendo conto, parte the "magic " was gone).
The old atlas, resurrected, now shone a new light. I began to focus all non-stellar objects shown on the maps for the first time without worrying that they were too weak for my instrument. It has left out the most! The amount of observable objects has increased exponentially.
On Saturday morning I monitored the situation since the weather is not very exciting. The comings and goings of clouds, the time variable, sparse rainfall, non sono riusciti a dissuadermi dal desiderio di correre a Campo Felice per mettere alla prova il giocattolo nuovo. L'incertezza climatica ed il brevissimo preavviso mi hanno spinto a rinunciare all'idea di coinvolgere altre persone, e l'unica ad accompagnarmi fin lassù è stata la mia dolce metà, Emanuela, immagino più preoccupata di pensarmi da solo in cima ad una montagna di notte che entusiasta per l'idea di una nottata osservativa (con un telescopio, oltretutto, vissuto più che altro come un nuovo ingombro dentro casa).
La scommessa sulla situazione meteo è stata totale: al momento di caricare lo strumento in macchina i nuvoloni che si andavano addensando sulla città hanno prodotto un acquazzone estivo micidiale, that has strained the trust of his wife in my extrapolations based on METEOSAT and webcam. However along the way, it became clear that the cloud cover did not extend to the surrounding mountains. We had all the prerequisites for a satisfying evening observing.
And it was not. The sky of Campo Felice has appeared to us in an evening of grace, even on the rainy afternoon that cleared the air. I could estimated class Bortle 4, except that now I feel inadequate to the scale of Bortle the skies at high altitude, where the greater transparency of the air makes some objects more visible even in the presence of light pollution . For example, the zenith la Via Lattea nel Cigno era poco dissimile da quella osservata alle Canarie, mentre la situazione peggiorava nettamente per la parte di cielo più prossima all'orizzonte.
Ma l'osservazione al telescopio, quella era decisamente da urlo.
Il passaggio ad uno strumento di diametro superiore è sempre del suo sconvolgente (mi era già successo passando dai 4,5" del vetusto newton Skymaster 114/900 ad un diametro quasi doppio), ma non potevo immaginare l'abisso tra il mio precedente 8", strumento peraltro onestissimo, ed il Lightbridge. Il mio cielo è cambiato, il mio modo di pensarlo è cambiato, le mie aspettative sono cambiate e nulla potrà più essere come prima.
Alcune cose will surely put a log. For the first time I experienced the problems of thermal stabilization of the mirror (clear beginning, the blurred images, the convective cells generated from the hot surface of the primary mirror), and also accommodate a Red Dot pointer (".. . Chili Peppers ", as suggested by Manu) instead of the classic Finder is not just banal: a red cross point between the stars and find objects in the eyepiece is something unexpected, even for an amateur sailing.
However the coupling between the instrument and the large-diameter wide field eyepieces has irreversibly changed my perception of the sky, and I think also that of Manu, that perhaps for the first time it was really fascinated by objects that were watching.
The most trivial to note was the difference in what I said leaving the eye to see it. With the previous 8 "there was a whole series of statements," notes so and so, you should see an object of this type (small, large, concentrated, diffused, etc. ...) . "I said just now: " look! , "and she had to explain what he was seeing. The difference is mainly this: with a 12" items you see, do not go " searched for" no go " glimpsed " no go " imagined, and there are enough, forcefully, in the center of the eyepiece.
The truck has traveled quickly on objects " usual" summer sky, now " usual", however most were not, showing new details, nuances, and a different relationship with the starry background. The Lagoon Nebula, Trifid, Omega, the Ring nebula in Lyra, the Wild Duck Cluster in the Shield, the Dumbbell, the magnificent globular cluster M13 in Hercules, the Andromeda galaxy M31 with its outline to dwarf companions, the Veil in Cygnus, a sprinkling of open clusters in Cassiopeia, the Whirlpool galaxy M51 were unfortunately low on the horizon ... and then, for the first time in many years, started the hunt for things unseen.
This is another major difference compared to 8 ", not only objects" classics "are much more detailed and interesting, but those" children "begin to have their own reason. The tiny galaxies and nebulae that in an instrument smaller than even I was surprised that "you could see " (at the beginning we are content just slightly), now beginning to show interesting forms. Even the globular clusters, which are stored until the day before yesterday as " all the same, just a little 'bigger or smaller " and reduced to observations of M13 that "at least you see something " improvvisamente erano divenuti oggetti affascinanti: più concentrati o più diffusi, nascosti dietro un velo di stelle o sospesi nel vuoto, lontani, vicini... insomma è ripartita l'esplorazione.
Ho quindi aperto sul cofano dell'auto le fotocopie del " Tirion Sky Atlas 2000.0 " (n.b.: ho anche l'originale, ma teme l'umidità...) vecchie di oltre vent'anni ed in disuso da più o meno altrettanto tempo. Avevo acquistato le mappe ai tempi lontani del "114/900" per trovare le sfuggenti nebulose usando le stelle di riferimento. Poi, con l'8" ed il computerino per il puntamento assistito avevo preso l'abitudine di portarmi dietro solo degli elenchi (ed in quel modo, ora me ne rendo conto, parte the "magic " was gone).
The old atlas, resurrected, now shone a new light. I began to focus all non-stellar objects shown on the maps for the first time without worrying that they were too weak for my instrument. It has left out the most! The amount of observable objects has increased exponentially.
sensitive and brilliant planetary nebulae, globular clusters, open clusters, galaxies, objects that do not belong to me for years have resurfaced most of the maps with ink to show how diaphanous ghosts floating between the stars. My sky is changed, the old passion, powered by the new instrument, was rekindled. Saturday
Unfortunately we underestimated the cold mountain and its deleterious effects. After only a couple of hours, go hopping from one wonder to another, a chill wind and sharp pain is contrasted with a dress too "optimistic " had reason for my enthusiasm. When I started shivering, I had to surrender to the impossibility to continue the observations. But
" c'est ne pas qu'un debut ... , now that I've tasted the observation" deep sky "with an appropriate instrument at last I think it will be very difficult to go back, and at least one end week per month will end nicely sacrificed to the reborn passion.
Unfortunately we underestimated the cold mountain and its deleterious effects. After only a couple of hours, go hopping from one wonder to another, a chill wind and sharp pain is contrasted with a dress too "optimistic " had reason for my enthusiasm. When I started shivering, I had to surrender to the impossibility to continue the observations. But
" c'est ne pas qu'un debut ... , now that I've tasted the observation" deep sky "with an appropriate instrument at last I think it will be very difficult to go back, and at least one end week per month will end nicely sacrificed to the reborn passion.
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