A backyard astronomy dream setup
December 23, 2011 at 4:45 am
posted by Peter McMahon
It’s often said that the best telescope is the one you’ll actually use.
When I first took possession of a suite of Sky-Watcher telescopes supplied by EfstonScience*, the notion of how I would use any of these instruments was farthest from my mind (my first thought was to take the largest of the set and go on an “observing spree” of normally-faint deep space objects.)
It’s how I’ve been using these telescopes that’s fascinated me most, though.
My extended “test-drive” of a large/mid-sized mirror-based reflector, a smaller high-quality lens-based apochromatic refractor, a fold-up travel scope, and a pair of image-stabilized binoculars really got me thinking about the character of these diverse astronomy instruments.
So rather than wax poetic about optical wave fronts, chromatic aberration and splitting close binaries (whether or not you know the significance of these descriptions of image quality, or lack thereof,) I thought I’d share how and when I’ve used what the casual amateur might just call the astronomy setup of their dreams:
The “light bucket”
Diameter of main optics: 12.5”
Model: Sky-Watcher collapsible 12” Dobsonian reflector (mirror-based optics)
Most impressive view: the Andromeda Galaxy
Frequency of use during clear nights: 40%
As any large telescope owner will tell you, 40% use out of all the clear nights available on any given stretch of time ain’t bad.
Short of something that should be mounted in its own observatory, this is probably the largest scope I’m interested in carrying by myself out to the backyard. (One trip for the mount, with handy carrying handle, one trip for the expandable tube assembly.)
No adjustments were required most nights I set this beast up for viewing outside Eastern Ontario, small-town suburbia – just “point & shoot”.
The views from a nearby conservation area farther from my town of 9,000 have been my most-amazing-yet deep-sky experiences with the least travel time required.
The “planet-smasher”
Diameter of main optics: 3” (80mm)
Model: Sky-Watcher 80mm Black Diamond ED refractor (lens-based optics)
Most impressive view: detail in Jupiter’s cloud layers
Frequency of use during clear nights: 100%
If the big reflector is the high-powered pickup truck of telescopes, than the doublet refractor in this setup is the trendy roadster. Ideally, such a telescope would have a longer tube to magnify planets more with any given eyepiece. But here’s the thing: Because this “short & fast” scope (600mm, f7.5) is so easy to pick up and place on an outdoor tripod, I actually used it the most.
Jovian cloud layers stand out and swirl around the king of the planets, revealing details I haven’t seen in some instruments with twice the aperture. (To counteract the short focal length, I used a 5mm Celestron X-Cel eyepiece – Their 8mm version would be an even better happy medium for this and a variety of other scopes.)
The view of the moon through this trusty doublet-refractor with a Moon filter – was an absolute roller-coaster. Never before have I seen mountain ranges, craters within craters within craters, glimmering ridges, rays spewing out toward lunar seas, and the whole enchanting sphere floating around with such muted, spectacular realism.
This telescope has me checking the weather forecast every single night.
The “pocket-rocket”
Diameter of main optics: 5” (130mm)
Model: Sky-Watcher Heritage P130 (collapsible reflector)
Most impressive view: Star clusters and nebulas on low-power
Frequency of use during clear nights: 60%
When in the Rocky Mountains, I found I could break the tripod of this little giant down and hike to my campsite with all the parts of this gargantuan travel scope dispersed through several backpacks (broken-down, it also fit under the economy-class seat on the flight out West.)
The amazing thing about this scope is the Sky-Watcher has managed to miniaturize the technology used on their larger Dobs. This now allows people who would normally have to be content with binoculars or a 2-3” scope and camera tripod to bring into the wilderness (or cottage country) what would qualify as a good-sized instrument even in a backyard setting.
I would probably have used this scope most of all had I not had the large scope stored at ground level, three rooms from the backyard. The views of deep space objects and planets are great as any 5” scope goes, and the craftsmanship is superb – especially for the sticker-price of under $200.
The “widescreen presentation”
Diameter of main optics: 2” (50mm)
Model: Canon 15×50 IS All Weather Image Stabilizer binoculars
Most impressive view: Everything!
Frequency of use during clear nights: 80%
The Rolls Royce of the bunch was actually the binoculars.
I always found the night time view through standard binoculars not mounted on a tripod (such a mounting is mercifully wise) like looking through those coin-operated tourist specs…exciting but jiggly.
The image-stabilizer view on the other hand, is like looking at the same scene as a grand, panning shot in a large-format IMAX film. (Like a nice-quality small telescope with a “virtual” tripod.)
(For more on the image-stabilizer binocular revolution, check out my blog “5 reasons to get image-stabilized binoculars”)
I also can’t praise image stabilizer binoculars enough (both Canon and Fujinon make excellent models) – Whether the 15×50, 10×42 or more economical 10×30 or 12×36, Canon’s IS line is perhaps best-suited to comfortably scanning the skies at low-power. (As mentioned earlier this month, one astronomy magazine consumer reviewer said recently that the Canon 10×42 IS model “may be the finest binoculars available for astronomy”)
There are certainly larger, more exotic instruments for looking at the night sky, however, the “median” amateur astronomer (which includes me) would likely count themselves lucky to have such a large-aperture deep space scope, a high-quality planet-gazer, and a “grab & go” model for quick peeks.
So, while there’s no single “perfect” setup for backyard observational astronomy, it’s been fun exploring some of the latest options.
Sky News contributing editor Peter McMahon’s “Wilderness Astronomer” column appears in each issue of the magazine. You can find more of his campsite stargazing writing and images at wildernessastronomy.com
* Full disclosure note: The instruments supplied above were generously furnished by EfstonScience for promotion and evaluation purposes. Over the years, I’ve been happy to collaborate with the Efston family and appreciate their support of me as both a space promotion brand and as a science storyteller.
blog comments powered by
