Nice night at MB

by Rashad Al-Mansour

I went to Montebello last night and had a very nice time. "Old School" my new Genesis SDF performed very well indeed! For the first time in any scope I've owned I was able to split Sirius and the Pup! Boy was I pumped!

There was a fairly large turnout, I did not count the scopes but I would guess 10-15. And quite a few people who were part of a docent astronomy training group I think, anyway they really enjoyed looking through the various scopes on display. From Albert's 17.5" Dob to my 4" APO. I even had a chance to compare my SDF with a new NP 101. I tell you the SDF holds its own when comparing to two scopes. Did I say that Albert saw the Pup too?

The best sight of the night was a fantastic view of Comet Neat. It has a very bright core and very long and narrow tail. If you haven't already, get out tonight or tomorrow night and check it out before it sets.

I stayed until about 10:45pm after looking at lots of bright stuff. I even went after some Open Clusters. They don't half bad in a wide field scope. I wonder if I could learn to like Open Clusters.... Naw...;-)

Away a fun time was had by all, can't wait to get out and do it again!

BTW, Did I say I split Sirius?