Starwave Rave, Mars & the NPH

[Nightspore]

 

Captain slog; Starwave Date 13/8/24, 00:30-05:00 BST. The incredibly accurate MET Office site (OK, possible sarcasm there) was adamant that it would be clear outside from at least midnight to sunrise. I should have trusted Adam Ant more than the MET forecast. Hold on, let’s backpedal a bit. For at least a couple of years I have been really jonesing to get my 102mm Altair Starwave out and wave it about under the stars again. I’ve had some medical complication issues over the past couple of years as well as a possible bout of insanity (induced primarily by pharmacological clashes in my medication regime). Admittedly the latter state is difficult to distinguish from my usual crazed and psychotic demeanour. 

 

 

Eventually I got to grips with the logistics of transporting the Starwave, the Vixen Porta II, TL-130 tripod, eyepiece/accessories bag, powertank and binoviewer case down to my designated observing area. The powertank is mainly for its torch/flashlight rather than dew control or any of that new fangled GOTO HAL 9000 “open the pod bay door” BS. I was going ‘old skool astro Starwave rave’ rather than relying on pesky argumentative technology to find objects. I’m no obscurantist but I’d set-up under a beautiful starry night (almost van Gogh-like, but distinctly less post-impressionist). Of course, as soon as I was all set, it clouded over and so there was much profanity (as well as water vapour) in the air. 

 

 

I had taken all of my bino pair eyepieces in at least three cases (two of the cases were mercifully very small). Which then left my eyepiece choices for cyclops mode. I decided on a minimalist approach for convenience. These were: a 7mm Nagler T6, a 2x Tele Vue Barlow, a 9mm Circle T Ohi orthoscopic, a Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Zoom and, last but not least, a 36mm Baader Hyperion Aspheric. I almost took the 24mm Panoptic and 14mm Baader Morpheus as well, but it didn't seem like a Zen-like minimalist approach ‘Grasshopper’ lol. 

 

 

My reasoning was to use the 2” Baader MaxBright diagonal with the Aspheric and BHZ (2” skirt) for a range between 89x to about 20x for deep sky. For splitting doubles and other high magnifications I would switch to a 1.25” TV aluminium mirror diagonal combined with the 7mm Nagler for 102x and 9mm Ohi for 159x (with Barlow). Of course, the Nagler would give an 0.5mm exit pupil (204x) with the Barlow.

 

 

The BV would be for planetary use nearer the dawn when Jupiter and Mars, in conjunction, would be visible. Well, that was the plan anyway. 

 

 

Plans, of course, tend to go awry. Naturally I blame the astrological Jupiter/Mars conjunction in Taurus. Then I noticed with abject horror that my knob had fallen off (deja vu all over again)! Luckily the azimuth knob was still in the tripod bag complete with its tiny hex screw. So I wasn’t as hexed by the conjunction as I’d assumed. It didn’t take long to re-attach it as I had the tools with me. 

 

 

Of course during the comparatively short time it took to rectify the knob situation ‘starry night’ had become cloudy night. When the clouds eventually dispersed I got a decent butcher’s at Saturn (Aquarius). I could see Titan and what was most probably Rhea. Dione was actually close to Rhea in parallax and is similarly 99.9% illuminated. However as Rhea is much larger in comparison I assumed I was observing Rhea rather than Dione. As for things awry, it was beginning to dawn on me that the return with the 2” MaxBright/BHZ was a little ‘waggly’ with the TL-130 tripod (hexed again?). Years before I’d use the Porta II combined with the sturdier HAL-130 tripod and half-pillar combined with APM prism diagonals. The TL-130, although a very nice and convenient tripod, just wasn’t really hacking it with the Starwave and 2” diagonals. Particularly at magnifications above 45x. 

 

 

In desperation I switched to the 1.25” TV aluminium diagonal and the 7mm Nagler. Weather conditions were not improving but I did split some doubles at 102x, including the Double Double, Albireo and Iota Cass. The lighter diagonal also vastly improved the return bad vibes. I also got another, and less wobbly, look at Saturn. Inevitably the cloudy night returned so I went back to the house to make some hot chocolate and stream a couple of old episodes of ‘Drop the Dead Donkey’. When I ventured outside again the stars had come back out. Better still, I could see Jupiter and Mars rising in the south east with the Nagler. Unfortunately I had to wait for them to pass behind a large conifer. Although this gave me some time to swap diagonals again and insert the William Optics BV. This would be a first as I’d never used the BV with the Starwave outside. I dropped the length of the tripod slightly and discovered that the Starwave could be angled very comfortably at Jupiter which was at +35° altitude. I could sit very relaxed and view ergonomically.

 

 

I started with the 15mm TV Plossls for around 95x. I could see all four Galilean moons and the Jovian surface detail was sublime. The seeing was above average which did kinda surprise me considering the humidity (the reflex sight window was almost opaque lol). It was also surprisingly warm for this time in the morning. Not surprising since the day had possibly been the hottest of the year. So I was well comfortable and spent some time observing the Jovian surface. Of course, it was Mars that I really wanted to observe. At nearly 36° alt, 88.5% illuminated, 6.1 arcsec and 1.5 AU away I wondered what I might be able to see with the BV. The phase was apparent but I really needed more cowbell before I could view the canals, Dejah Thoris or even Valentine Michael Smith. So, I swapped the 15mm TV Plossls for the 8mm TV Plossls. At 178.5x re-acquiring the target was not easy. Fortunately the binoviewer makes the tiny 8mm Plossl FOV seem much greater than it is in cyclops mode. 

 

 

After sweeping about a bit I found Mars. The 8mm TV Plossls didn’t disappoint and after a while of observing I ‘grokked’ a few surface features. Mars wasn’t very large at 6.1 arcsec but eventually details could actually be basically ‘inferred’ as much as observed. I spent quite a long time at 178.5x but finally snapped and got the 6mm SvBony ‘Expanse’ clones out. With a 66° field ‘Barsoom’ was re-acquired relatively easily. I knew the Starwave could easily manage 238x as I’d viewed Mars years ago with my 3mm TV DeLite. I could definitely see dark albedo features just south of the equator. Fascinatingly; I’m pretty sure I could perceive both the Northern Polar Hood and a hint of the southern polar cap! 

 

 

So, the maiden voyage of the Starwave plus William Optics binoviewer was a great success. The vibrational return issues I discovered with the 2” MaxBright were not repeated with the combined 1.25” Baader T2 plus the BV. Admittedly the eyepieces chosen were quite lightweight, but the 520 gram WO BV did not have the same return bad vibes issues as the larger diagonal plus BHZ. Weird, right? I don’t get it either. Either way, besides bad vibes, possible hexes, and knob problems, I’m really pumped about Mars.

 

 

[+Streetbob]

Glad to hear your patience paid off. I haven’t used my Starwave 102 since getting the 125edf but perhaps I should give it another try.

[+Bino-viewer]

An excellent read and report thankyou @Nightspore

and i'm pleased to hear the Altair 102 and binoviewer are performing well.

 

I've been pretty inactive over the summer, but this week alone have had two sessions both between midnight and around 02:00

so i'm hoping the astro bug will start to bite again. I'm planning another  pre dawn session in just under a week to try and follow the Saturn occultation.

Theres an astro show as well in another month which i'm planning to attend. Maybe i should buy something..........

 

I still need to track down Mars, and Venus as well which continues to allude me this apparition. But my western sky is poor to say the least.

 

Wishing you good health, and clear sky's 👍🏼😊🔭

 

ps    I like the Star Trek video as well. Not seen that for a good while. I can alway make time  for a bit of 'T'Pol in the morning 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nightspore]

48 minutes ago, Streetbob said:

Glad to hear your patience paid off. I haven’t used my Starwave 102 since getting the 125edf but perhaps I should give it another try.

 

I think it was a case of now or never, before the weather changed. The Starwave is my biggest ED refractor. I think it was Patrick Moore who said that a 4" refractor was as good as a 6" reflector in many respects. I'm still a bit gobsmacked that I saw the NPH.

 

 

One size virtually fits all lol!

Edited August 14 by Nightspore

[Nightspore]

17 minutes ago, Bino-viewer said:

An excellent read and report thankyou @Nightspore

and i'm pleased to hear the Altair 102 and binoviewer are performing well.

 

I've been pretty inactive over the summer, but this week alone have had two sessions both between midnight and around 02:00

so i'm hoping the astro bug will start to bite again. I'm planning another  pre dawn session in just under a week to try and follow the Saturn occultation.

Theres an astro show as well in another month which i'm planning to attend. Maybe i should buy something..........

 

I still need to track down Mars, and Venus as well which continues to allude me this apparition. But my western sky is poor to say the least.

 

Wishing you good health, and clear sky's 👍🏼😊🔭

 

ps    I like the Star Trek video as well. Not seen that for a good while. I can alway make time  for a bit of 'T'Pol in the morning 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, and you're welcome Rob. I was quite pleasantly surprised to discover that the Starwave/BV combo works so well in the field. I think we've all been pretty inactive this 'summer'. Buying astro gear is always good, after all it can't impair the weather further lol! Venus is very low at the moment. It's eluding me too.

 

 

Apparently, according to Jolene Blalock, the accentuation of T'Pol's 'lady bumps' was a constant joke on set. She reckons it was an attempt to boost ratings. I think it worked lol.

[+Bino-viewer]

I can't think of much better than a decontamination session with T'Pol 😀

My favourite Star Trek lady. Especially in S3 & 4. Jolene played the role superbly, as did Jeri Ryan and others before her.

[Nightspore]

2 minutes ago, Bino-viewer said:

I can't think of much better than a decontamination session with T'Pol 😀

My favourite Star Trek lady. Especially in S3 & 4. Jolene played the role superbly, as did Jeri Ryan and others before her.

 

There are rumours that Blalock is going to feature in an episode of Strange New Worlds.

 

 

[+Bino-viewer]

Thanks, i'll look out for it. 

One forgets Star Trek : Enterprise is 20 years old now.

[Nightspore]

4 hours ago, Bino-viewer said:

Thanks, i'll look out for it. 

One forgets Star Trek : Enterprise is 20 years old now.

 

Scary isn't it? Those NX class ships must be rust buckets by now! 

Edited August 14 by Nightspore

[+seven_legs]

nice report, thanks.

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, what a lovely though😇. mind you she still looked good in Star Trek: Picard

[Nightspore]

1 hour ago, seven_legs said:

nice report, thanks.

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, what a lovely though😇. mind you she still looked good in Star Trek: Picard

 

Thanks. Yeah, another actress with large attributes brought in to boost the ratings. She certainly boosted my ratings lol.

 

 

 

I still rate her attributes lol.