Observing Reports
January 2006
30th January 2006
- Update and Orion 80ED – First light report
Its been a long time since I have written an observing report, probably due to imaging and processing my photos instead of actually looking through the eyepiece.
I have recently sold my EQ3/2 mount and purchased an Orion 80ED Apo refractor. It has the same focal length of my Startravel 120mm but slightly smaller aperture.
We shall be moving house soon so I am getting a Skywatcher 8” Reflector on the HEQ5 with Skyscan. This shall be a big improvement from my old mount. I still have the 120mm refractor but not sure if I will get much use from it now the Orion has arrived.
- Orion 80ED -
This telescope is a lot better than my Startravel scope even with a smaller aperture the images were simply outstanding. To really test this scope I would require a mount and only managed to use a tripod that I have for the 350D camera. To say the least most of the views were jumping all over the place but seeing M44 next to Saturn was very impressive. The colour of Saturn was a lot more natural and the stars of M44 we pinpoints and not spikey messes from chromatic aberration false colouring found in my Startravel. Tried viewing Saturn at 200x but could not keep the mount steady enough but the rings still looked good.
The telescope is going to be excellent on the HEQ5 with my Canon 350D and I cant wait to get setup in my new backyard.