I've been doodling with a 4.5 newt for quite some time now, with the end of seeing just how nicely one can be made. Slowly but surely, it's been pieced together from mostly commercial parts that seemed to be the "best of breed" (Vixen Polaris mount, Orion Tube, etc...) with a few custom add-ons. I've tried two mirrors (stopped at the second, it seemed fine) and three diagonals (kept the worst and used the others in giveaway kit scopes). Kept the worst because I knew I wanted to try an enhanced secondary (none of them were).

Well, I just got one (along with the cool 3-vane spider and holder) from Protostar and put it in.

Last night was the shakedown cruise, and the results might be of interest to anyone out there with a 4.5... I got my first clue the other night when I resolved M13 all the way down from my driveway.

From Fremont Peak, in dark skies, we (I had a confirmation partner) started with the usual stuff; M11, 13, 22... all easy. Okay, fine. Next came the Veil. No problem with the part around 52 Cygni, or the brighter arm, but I was able to locate (with an OIII) significant detail in the middle area, too. Hmm.

So next we went for M51; spiral pattern was evident, but the arm to the companion was not a clean kill. M101 was *easy,* with some clotting in the arms visible. M81 showed hints of structure, and the two main lanes on M82 were easily spotted.

Okay, big joke time, let's try for Stephan's Quintet... 7331 was easy as pie, and showed both shape and structure, but alas, we had met our match; no sign of the quintet (blinkers are blinkers; stars, galaxies... couldn't really tell).

After a break, we had to console ourselves with views of M31 and Jupiter (180x) until Saturn came up -- which also supported 180x easily, and made me wish I had brought something shorter than a 5mm eyepiece, as this scope can now clearly support greater mag on bright objects.

The last and most stunning view was of the third quarter moon, rising from behind the trees. Other nearby scopes were getting the "wobbles" with it so low in the sky, but this little pup was holding it steady and pretty as could be, with an incredible degree of contrast and tonality.

Last night was something of a revelation in terms of what is possible with small mirrors, or even just obstructed telescopes. The biggest deficit the little newt had was the still annoying diffraction spikes from the spider.