After six weeks ownership, a proper viewing night for my new scope!! Hooray!!
Conditions at Snake Valley were pretty darn good, and after setting up, the Tarantula was the first view. Now, I know that I can be prone to slight exuberance at times, but that view prompted a really significant outburst. Through a 20mm Pentax XW I was entranced by an absolutely clear, virtually 3D presentation. Ken just about kicked me out of the way to see what the fuss was all about, and he went off also! Absolutely magnificent.
That started a top night of nebulae, galaxies, clusters (47 Tuc through the Pentax 7mm was just........!) and planets (Ken hates planets, too bad!!). Passing fog prompted coffee breaks, a peek at the thermometer showing -2°C also prompted a break. Mind you, it was great to see the dew go away. Yep, it had frozen, ice everywhere!
In short, a simply grouse night in generally magnificent conditions.
Maybe the best bit was seeing the look on Ken's face when I asked him to operate the winch to get the 14" out of the back door of my van!!
Picture of the winching exercise. Winch is a bit difficult to make out at the rear of the seat, is attached by quick release hooks to the quite substantial seat frame.
