Above~ View from the Observatory after telescope alignment on December 3, 2024. Quick and dirty shot, out of practice.
Tuesday, December 3, 2024~ 6:30 – 8:30 pm.
• Location~ Moosehorn Creek, NB
• Sky Conditions~ Partly cloudy at first, clearing a bit later.
• Temps~ -5° 80% humidity to -6°, 86%.
• Seeing~ Good (once the low clouds dispersed)
• Transparency~ 4
• Moonrise~ 10:26 am, Moonset 6:20 pm
• Age of Moon~ 2d 16h 7m (at 9:24pm)
• Lunar brightness~ 7.2% (non existent)
A Return to Observing~
Today marked my first real return to Observing after a nearly 19 month hiatus due to vertigo and other health issues. This also marked my first attempt at an alignment with the newly repaired and installed AVX motherboard that had arrived.
I had attempted to do an alignment with Matt West of the Saint John Astronomy Club on November 30 but we were clouded out. However, we were able to reset the time on the AVX mount, and that turned out to be a big time saver on this evening with low clouds moving in and out. I also managed to reset the mount to Polaris when some clouds finally parted, then do an alignment accordingly. It skewed very well during tests.
Celestron AVX Motherboard Repairs~
To backtrack a bit, about a year ago when I turned on the AVX mount to share the night sky with some friends a loud “POP” noise occurred and that was the end of it. The handset (brains of the outfit) worked but nothing moved. I did nothing about it for over a year because of my health problems and the thought of boxing it up to ship to Torrance, California gave me pause. So I sat on it.
When I thought maybe I could stick my toe back into Observing, I decided to fish or cut bait. Stuck about what to do, I posted on the excellent stargazers forum Cloudy Nights. Among the various replies and suggestions was one by Mark Lord (handle MLord) who asked if I could post some pics. I posted the ones you see above and below, and as soon as he saw the one below he pointed out the black dot (hole) in a chip. This was where the chip “blew,” and of course once seen it is obvious. You can view the thread on Cloudy Nights here.
He offered to replace and repair for the cost of parts and shipping. So we did. I received it back, it looked flawless, I installed it verified that the motors were now working. This particular night was the first chance to I had to do a proper alignment. And it worked.
I was impressed. If you have an AVX mount, Mark Lord (with the collaboration of others) has designed some really funky gadgets for the Celestron AVX and other electronics. His Homebrew Accessory for Celestron mounts is fascinating stuff, and worth checking out.
It never ceases to amaze me at the talent that is out there. This is one of those stories on forums that has a happy ending.
Back to the Telescope~
My first target was Jupiter in the east with a 13mm Ethos, which revealed 4 moons and some banding. Next was Saturn in the southwest, not as clear due to lack of transparency in that part of the sky, but still welcome as an old friend.
The real show stopper however, was the Double Cluster through the 13mm when I began putting the mount through its paces with the Sky Tour feature. By this time the low clouds had cleared in that area, and the clarity and presence of the clusters was astounding. I was just gobsmacked–it was as though there was no telescope, no eyepiece, you were just there, peering through the port hole of a spaceship. Unforgettable, and what astronomy and stargazing was made for.
I tore myself away and began poking around at other objects, the Pleaides (M45), the Hyades (face of the bull in Taurus), the Perseus Cluster, and M34 (the Sprial Galaxy). I then changed to wide angle and went through the whole series again with a 21 mm Ethos plus checked out one of my favourite targets: Kemble’s Cascade. But nothing beat the Double Cluster with a 13mm on this particular evening. I then attempted using the 8×56 binos on the Pleaides and Hyades, but found vertigo gets in the way a bit.
Frost was noticeable and I had to clear the Telrad with a hairdryer at least once. Overall a very good session.
Above~ Orion over the Ob as I went to bring the horses in on a frosty December night.
Notes on Vertigo~
I have been of the opinion for some time that a goto telescope is not a good idea for the beginner–it only gets in the way and defeats the principle of simplicity and finding things for yourself. However, that being said the condition of vertigo makes searching the heavens a whole new ball game and limits your horizon (no pun intended). Basically, one’s visual searching ability is impaired. If I want to do this, a computer doing the searching is almost essential. Right now I’m very glad I have it.
Scanning the heavens with binoculars can be difficult and is going to take some time to learn how far to push it. The trick is to avoid extreme head movements, know limits to avoid feeling woozy. Will see what happens.
Summary~
Jupiter, Saturn~ 13mm
Double Cluster, Pleaides, Hyades, Perseus Cluster, M34~ 13mm, 21mm
Kemble’s Cascade~ 21mm
Pleaides, Hyades~ 8×56 binos
Scope– ES Comet Hunter – 152mm f/4.8 731mm Maksutov-Newtonian
Mount– Celestron AVX
Eyepieces used– 13mm, 21mm Ethos
Binoculars used~ Celestron 8×56
Evening Twilight Cycle~
Sunset~ 4:39 pm
Blue Hour~ 5:00 pm
Nautical Twilight~ 5:13 pm
Astronomical Twilight~ 5:51 pm
Nightime~ 6:26 pm
Music~
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganni.
London Symphony Orchestra with Vladimir Ashkenazy and Andre Previn
Sources~
The PhotoPills App~ Exact time and age of the Lunar Cycle, sunset, twilight phase info for our gps location, etc. Great app.
Cloudy Nights~ Great forum for astronomy.
Homebrew Gen3 Accessory~ Interesting gadget for Celestron AVX mount.
