Two families review our telescope/binoc setup – Part 1

January 31, 2012 at 5:30 pm

A few months ago, we sent space & astronomy journalist Peter McMahon out into the Canadian wilderness with a selection of Sky Watcher telescopes, and a pair of Canon image-stabilized binoculars (more on that here.)

Recently, Peter (centre, in the image above) took several families out to some Eastern Ontario conservation areas to have them put this gear – and the the views it yielded – to the test.

The setup

Peter met the first family at a lookout in Northumberland County’s Ganaraska Forest – about an hour east of Toronto – to show them views of Venus, Jupiter, a waxing first-quarter Moon, the  Orion Nebula, the Pleiades star cluster, and the Andromeda Galaxy through a 5.1″ Sky Watcher Heritage P130 reflector, Sky Watcher Black Diamond ED80 3″ refractor, Sky Watcher 12.5″ reflector, and a pair of Canon 15×50 image-stabilized binoculars.  Also on-hand were an iPad with a variety of astronomy apps and a Celestron Sky Scout GPS-based “star-finder” personal planetarium.

The reviews are in:

In their own words, unbiased and unedited, here below is what the whole family thought of the gear and the views it provided:

Wayne

In one sentence: “The whole thing was far out man!”

Favourite thing I saw: Jupiter’s gasses

Favourite instrument to see it through: Large telescope (12.5″ reflector)

Favourite instrument overall: “That small, fat telescope” (Heritage P130)

Julie

Favourite thing I saw: the Moon

Favourite instrument to see it through: “Small, fat telescope” (Heritage P130)

Favourite instrument overall: “Small, fat telescope” (Heritage P130)

Tyrus (age 13)

In one sentence: “This was the most eyeopening experience I’ve ever had about how small we actually are.”

Favourite thing I saw: the Orion Nebula

Favourite instrument to see it through: Large telescope (12.5″ reflector)

Favourite instrument overall: Binoculars (Canon 15×50 IS)

Darah (age 9)

In one sentence: “Looking at the moon was the most amazing experience I have ever had because it looked really close even though it’s so far away”

Favourite thing I saw: “the Moon up-close”

Favourite instrument to see it through: Large telescope (12.5″ reflector)

Favourite instrument overall: GPS (Sky Scout star-finder)

Calder (age 7)

In one sentence: “I liked how Venus was the brightest star that we could see. It was cool to see jupiter and the moon.”

Favourite thing I saw: Venus through a telescope

Favourite instrument to see it through: Medium telescope (80 mm/3″ refractor)

Favourite instrument overall: iPad and GPS (Sky Scout star-finder)

Part 2 -Stay-tuned: Next, we’ll take another family out to put our scopes through their paces AND we’ll be sending that family home with one of the telescopes to use and report back on…