[Lvas] Last Weekend

[Fred Rayworth]

For the two of you that actually read this forum...
 
Went out to Redstone last weekend and it was a killer night. Even though I was coming down with bronchitis, which I still have, I had a great time. I nailed over 20 obscure galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters. Ten of them were Herschel 2's.
 
Most of the night I used a 26mm Q-70 eyepiece from Orion. Through the night, I tried a 15mm Meade wide angle and a Baaden Planetariup 20mm Wide Field.  (The names and exact fl's may be a little off, but close enough). In both cases, about the only thing with either that impressed me were the flat fields. However, the views were nothing to write home about (and here I am doing it on this forum!). 
 
I put them both through their paces on the Andromeda galaxy and its companions and after switching back and forth between the three, the Q-70 showed just as much detail, and brighter than either of the others. Even with the extra magnification, I didn't see any more detail of the arms, dark lanes, or clumps at the edges than the cheap old Orion. Sure it has a fishbowl effect at the edges, but I'm used to it and don't really care. Most of what I look at is too small that the edge matters anyway.
 
I spent most of my time in Perseus, Andromeda, and Triangulum, which were rising in the east and away from the LV skyglow.
 
Glanced a few times at Jupiter and counted six bands at the best view, but none of the bands showed any flaking or mottling. Venus was a full disk and showed no detail.
 
Tried to find Uranus but it wasn't where it was supposed to be.
 
So, all in all, it was a good night.
 
How about the rest of you?
 
Fred
 
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