Tuesday, January 4, 2005

Go To- (more astro bits) Well my old Bushnell telescope's equitorial mount kept the scope drifting to the horizon, so I had to get it fixed.  They didn't want just the small, stripped, nut but had to have the whole scope!  $30.00 in shipping later and it is on its way. I was surprised when opening the return box to find a NorthStar Go To scope in place of my old one.  The mirror was frustratingly smaller, but it did have the ability to automatically find stuff for me!  Maybe those old socks, and lost keys! It should also beat me and my brother pointing a flashlight into a foggy night looking for a thin spot to see stars... Another surprised came when I discovered the mirror rattling around inside the tube!  So back it went but this time the shipping tab picked up by UPS as a damaged good. Getting back from the holidays, I find the return box had been sitting on the porch a few days (phew!) and a bit soggy. However, it set up just fine and all the parts are OK! Fortunately, we seem to have gotten a brief window of no clouds for a couple of nights.  I made a list of 12 or so deep sky objects (figuring I'd give it a run for its money) and out I went. Going with the default alignment set up, the closest city was about 300 miles away.  The first star was not Polaris, but something else I had to look up (hey, I'm still new at this.)  The scope worked its way over to the star...right into the trees.  I made a guess and went for the next star...again looking it up, and again, trees, thicker this time.  Another guess, and I kept going. Asking for Andromeda, the scope cranked away and was soon pointing into the middle of nowhere.  So, I tried aligning it directly to some stars I know and things seem to be working better. So I went down my list:  leaves, tree trunk, roof top, hill, side of house....  Not too surprising as I only see about 30% of the sky from my deck.   I did manage to see a couple of celestial things, so I think the scope was working, but also some 'open clusters' that seemed to be a bit more 'open' than 'clustered'. By this time, it was getting later and cold.  Plus, the scope was having trouble moving.  Either the battery was about to run out, or it was so cold it wasn't putting out much juice.  (Might be the lubricants getting thick too.) Things I noticed about Go To: I think I will be able to see a ton of stuff quickly. I have no idea where in the sky I am looking. Some things (open, open, clusters) I will need to verify with a sky chart. Resist the urge to look through the eyepiece as the scope is moving! 6:51:59 AM