Click to Enlarge M46 - Open Cluster in Puppis

A great 9 hour session, with some sleep in between. The first really clear night in over a week, and the first clear morning in over a week, although the moon really washed out the sky this morning as it was directly overhead (well, close enough). It was almost my first light after flocking the OTA and cleaning my mirror!

I spent some time last night evaluating the Andrews UW80degree 30mm (2") that Mark Hodson has leant me. My initial impressions after my 10 minutes using it last week weren't the best, but after spending about an hour with it last night I like it a lot more. The field is nice and large and it is possible to immerse yourself in the view, having to look up/down/left/right to take in the whole field.

Conditions

Conditions were very good. Seeing: Good to very good. Transparency: Good. Wind: Calm. Temperature: ~19deg C.

EyePiece Report

	Click to Enlarge Andews 2" UW80deg 30mm

I am still disappointed with the sharpness around the edges, there's probably almost 1/3rd of the view around the edges where the stars look like seagulls. But the more I used it, the more I got used to it and didn't find it as annoying as I did at first. My 50 degree 32mm (1.25") GSO plossl exhibits the same problems around the outer edges, but because of the wider field in the UW80 it's obviously much more noticeable.

I'd like to be able to compare it against the 30mm GSO SV, which has a 60-something degree field, to compare the edge sharpness and field-of-view in my f/5 dob. Like many others, I do think that either the SV or the Andrews UW80 will make a good budget widefield low power 2" eyepiece, as long as you learn to live with the aberrations around the edge of the field. I'd also like to try both with a 2" barlow to see what they're like at twice the magnification - hopefully i've got a loaner on it's way from Andrews soon.

Objects Observed

For my tests I went open cluster hunting in Canis Major and Puppis. I also took in my first planetary nebula!

Object	Type	Notes
M41	Open Cl.	Open Cluster in Canis Major, close to Sirius
NGC2360	Open Cl.	Open Cluster in Canis Major
NGC2362	Open Cl.	Open Cluster in Canis Major
M46	Open Cl.	Open Cluster in Puppis. My favourite for the night
M47	Open Cl.	Open Cluster in Puppis
NC2438	Planetary Neb.	Planetary Nebula on the northern edge of M46. My first planetary!
M93	Open Cl.	Open Cluster in Puppis
NGC2451	Open Cl.	Open Cluster in Puppis
NGC2477	Open Cl.	Open Cluster in Puppis
NGC2546	Open Cl.	Open Cluster in Puppis
M42	Nebula	The great Orion Nebula
Saturn	Planet	In my 9mm the CD was visible more often than not, which is a sign of good seeing for me. My wife even saw the CD and banding on the planet for the first time.

I must say that M46 was my favourite! What a great open cluster, looks like a loose globular. I could make out a hint of NGC2438 on the northern edge of M46 with the Andrews UW80, and confirmed it's position when I put in my 9mm plossl, the grey ring was quite evident, although I did wish I had a OIII or UHC filter.

Other Thoughts