First light observing is always special observing. We wait months or longer for new equipment to arrive, wait out the obligatory punishing sky-obscuring weather, and then get out of Dodge for that special once-only observing session -- first light. We just can't wait for that first setup, first collimating session, and then at last the first time the light from a star, a planet or a distant galaxy is collected by our new equipment and enters our eye. You all have been there and know how memorable it is.
Mojo's brand new f/4.85 14.5 inch LITEBOX telescope arrived by DHL from Hawaii on Wednesday 9/20. By the time we got home from work on Wednesday, after attending an astronomy club meeting in San Francisco, it was 10:00 PM and the sky was totally fogged in. It was hopeless. There was to be no first light that night. The four boxes were opened. The telescope had arrived in perfect shape. The mirror, which we hand-carried to Hawaii several months ago for balancing came back intact. Whew!
When some friends suggested we go camping with them at an RV park, we cringed a little at the thought of lights, campers and campfire action. But we also thought of our love of sharing the universe with others, the opportunity to let our good friends share the magic of visual observing with us, and to combine these with a nice weekend get-away. Our friends chose San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area, where they had camped the previous weekend. Over the Pacheco Pass, past Dinosaur Point and down to the reservoir we went. While they manouvered their RV between white lines on the asphalt, we took our sun scope from the trunk of the car, set it up and showed the campers some sunspots.
After we pitched our tent, it was time to set up the evening scopes. We planned to do some side-by-side observing for this first light night. Out of the back seat of the four-door Camry came two LITEBOX telescopes. 12.5 inch f/5.75 "Strider," a feisty three-year-old now, and the brand new 14.5 inch f/4.85 LITEBOX which we have nicknamed "Baby Blue" for the moment. The name will likely stay. I set up my scope and went over to the RV to cook up some vittles.
Mojo set up the new telescope, attached the 80mm Lumicon finder, collimated the telescope quickly and pronounced it ready for action. The Astro-Physics 105mm f/5 "Traveler" refractor was removed from the car trunk next. It was then set up on the mount that had been doing sunspot duty during the afternoon.
Four scopes, a tent and sleeping bags, observing books, eyepieces tables, etc. were now out of the small car and set up for our evening pleasure. We couldn't wait for dark. There were not a lot of campers in the park, but those that were there came over to see what was going on. Some looked at the sunspots. The camp host, two State Park rangers, and a dozen or so campers made their way back and forth to look through the telecopes through-out the afternoon and night.
Venus was caught for just a moment through the Traveler. Then it was gone. Soon the Milky Way appeared. There was no wind, and the temperatures never got below 50 degrees. It was a comfortable night. This location had an outstanding southern horizon, so we delighted in showing the guests to our telescopes the summer wonders of Sagittarius, then later in the evening, the fall drama within Andromeda, Pegasus, Perseus, Cassiopeia, and Pegasus, and even later, the winter wonders of Taurus (with the planets Uranus, Saturna nd Jupiter thrown in for good measure), and Orion, which one teenage visitor (the granddaughter of the camp host) insisted in calling "the big dude".
Side by side we starhopped to our favorite objects. Side by side we looked through our own telescope, and then switched to compare the views between the two instruments. We selected eyepieces that gave a similar magnification through the two telescopes, to ease the comparison. We swung the tall graceful telescopes high to see the Ring Nebula, M-57. Then swung low to catch dark nebula B-86 and NGC 6520 in Sagittarius. Up to compare views of double stars like Eta Cassiopeia and Epsilon Lyrae and down to Gamma Aries. We compared V Aquilae, the awesome blood red carbon Mira variable star in the two scopes. The May 1998 Sky and Telescope Carbon Star article by Brian Skiff is part of my observing kit every time we go observing. There are always several deep red stars to observe as the seasons change.
We compared M-8 the Lagoon with Ultrablock and O3 filters through both scopes. Then we compared all parts of the Veil Nebula. Mojo observed the Barnard objects in Aquila: B 142, 143, 139 and LDN 634. Aperture does rule. It was fun to hear the visitors compare the views through the two telescopes.
On we went through globular and open clusters. And several planetary nebulae like the Cats Eye, and the Saturn Nebula. Then to some favorite galaxies, such as NGC 253 in Sculptor, and NGC 5907 in Draco. And globular cluster NGC 288 close to the spectacular 253. As we were watching Saturn and Jupiter rise (in the Traveler refractor) we went after the Pegasus projects. NGC 7331 in Pegasus and its companions were a treat in the bigger scope. As a grand finale, Mojo brought Stephen's Quintet into view through the new Baby Blue scope.
What made this first light observing session a special night? Well, 18 year old Tonya, who stopped by at 8:00 and didn't leave until midnight, when her granddpa, the camp host came to drive her back to their camp home, was our most memorable visitor. The satisfaction of watching her find and name the 6 Saturnian moons through the new scope (near midnight) was memorable. We gave her our SkyMap Pro chart with the moons named as a souvenier in the morning. Her verbal sky tour, where she named the fall and winter constellations, including the constellation she named "the big dude". Orion, was memorable. So were the couple who watched the planets rise from their own camp, and then came over at 1:00 am for a look "because the planets looked high enough for a good telescope view." We didn't disappoint them. And we got a great hug when they left. It was this fellow who proclaimed that the Pleiades looked like "a single ice cream scoop on a sugar cone". Our RV friends were enchanted with the night sky too. All these memories went into a great first light night for the new telescope. But observing side by side, quitely working on projects, or comparing views was the best of all!