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| Southward at 3am |
Lately I've been surfing around on various sites and looking at additional gear or even a larger scope. If I were to make any additions to the telescope I currently own, the only items I could possibly use would be various filters. The eyepieces I currently own combined with the Barlow give me plenty of options for viewing all kinds of targets. The filters would be an moderate enhancement of views I already have, and to my understanding would not be a dramatic shift.
There's also the urge for me to try and get a larger scope. A 10-inch Dobsonian has played a part in my research. It would double my current aperture and bring fainter objects to better view. But I can't put a clock drive on the Dob, my solar filter only fits my Orion, plus I feel like I want to get several more years out of my 130mm before adding something major to my rig. It feels like I've bonded to my scope.
Putting the Telrad on in place of the finderscope has created a shift in perspective. For example, I'd been trying to locate the Crab Nebula since that first winter, but have had no luck. The Messier charts I found that have Telrad targeting got me right to it. It was another "Holy shit!" moment which never gets old.
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| M1 in the upper left, Crab Nebula |
As I wrote earlier, Backyard Astronomy is an ever-changing hobby. The universe is not inert and new discoveries are being made almost daily. Articles are being written about phenomena never seen before, like the flash in one of the moon's craters:
https://astronomy.com/magazine/stephen-omeara/2023/02/atwoods-flash
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| Virtual background for Zoom meetings with my astrophotography on the wall |
I think in the coming months and years, I'm going to target a single object, maybe two, per night. Unless we have company or family wanting to see what's out there, it will be more rewarding to slow down and appreciate the wonders which have existed for eternity one step at a time. Let the universe breathe.
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