After weeks of lousy weather ending with the grand finale of Gustav, I finally got in some afocal imaging with my new reflector. This 10” Newtonian F/4.7 is a true power house and the mount I’ve attached it to is solid as a rock. This afocal image consist 10x15 sec. subs unguided using our point & shoot camera and a steady pix mount. I stacked the 10 subs in Registax4 and I used PSE 2.0 for final processing. This scope and mount will definitely keep my busy for years to come, especially once I begin upgrading my imaging equipment to bring out its true potential…

Visually, this scope is a GIANT leap from my 5” Mak. And from what little observing I’ve managed so far…I can clearly see that aperture rules, hands down! Yes, it takes a few more trips to move it than my old scope, but it is well worth it. Most of the objects I’ve observed with my new scope so far… I was able to view with the Mak as well, but there is a huge difference in what I can see now, for example the Ring Nebula, through the 5” I could make out what looked like tiny grey puff of smoke and I had to start using averted vision at higher magnification. Viewing the Ring with my newt is remarkably brighter even at high mags. and some color is noticeable. The star just outside the Ring is easy to see and using adverted vision I can make out two other stars just outside of it. Also, I can see that the nebula has stuff in its center. I’m looking forward to brining my new toy down to Coleman, do some visiting with y'all, enjoying darker skies and not having to view at Zenith or through the trees!

Clear Skies,
Larry