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First of all, I must say that I have been interested in astronomy since childhood, but in the 90s it was not possible to purchase a telescope. In the 2000s, interest in astronomy was limited to watching Discovery Channel films, and the dream of a telescope was forgotten due to everyday worries — study, work, etc.
And when interest in astronomy suddenly flared up, I began to choose a telescope, read forum articles, etc. Finally I chose a tool for a balcony and rare trips out of town — Sky-Watcher BK909AZ3.
After a while, the Sky-Watcher BK909AZ3 telescope I ordered came with complete 10mm and 25mm eyepieces. I also ordered Sky-Watcher eyepieces 6.3 mm super-splash — for planets and 20 mm wide-angle 66 degrees, for star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, and also ordered a 2x Sky-Watcher barlow lens and a solar filter.
From the balcony, observations of the planets, the Moon and the Sun with the Sky-Watcher BK909AZ3 telescope were successful, but it was not possible to see deep space objects, since I expected to see them brighter than they were in reality, and besides, the observation conditions from the balcony aggravated by the construction site with powerful searchlights. In the future, I still understood how objects outside the solar system look like.
Now a description of what I saw.
Initially, observations were made from the balcony of the 8th floor, with access to the west, the outskirts of the city, under the windows there was a construction site with searchlights. There is no observational experience.
1. Moon. Time of observation: winter, spring.
Eyepiece 6.3 mm — in my opinion, the eyepiece captures a third or a little more of the surface of the moon, you can consider craters and other relief elements separately. Slight chromatism is noticeable.
Eyepiece 10 mm (included with the telescope) — the surface is almost as detailed as in 6.3 mm, but the viewing angle is much larger. There is also less chromatism, I would say almost none, in contrast to the 6.3 mm super-glare eyepiece.
Eyepiece 20mm wide-angle chic panorama of the moon, everything is very clear.
25mm eyepiece (included with the telescope) — there are no big differences from the 25mm wide-angle eyepiece.
2. The Great Nebula of Orion (M42). Time of observation: late winter, early spring.
Very bright, the contours of the nebula and some structure are clearly visible.
Eyepiece 6.3 mm — the nebula occupies almost the entire field of the eyepiece. the trapezoid is perfectly resolved into individual stars.
Eyepiece 20mm wide-angle chic panorama of stars and nebulae, the trapezoid is resolved as expected.
3. Pleiades (M45), Hyades, Chi-Ash Perseus (NGC 869 NGC 884). Time of observation: late winter, early spring.
The 20mm wide-angle eyepiece and the 25mm eyepiece showed chic starfields with approximately the same quality, it is impossible to take your eyes off. In eyepieces of 10 mm and 6.3 mm it is not interesting, since the viewing angle is small.
4. Jupiter. Time of observations late winter spring.
There are no big differences between the 20mm wide-angle eyepiece and the 25mm eyepiece. They show a small disk and two bands without details and 4 satellites.
The 6.3mm eyepiece is the same as the 20mm but larger and more interesting.
A 10mm eyepiece is between 20mm and 6.3mm, not interesting.
5. Saturn. Time of observation: late spring.
The 20mm wide angle eyepiece and the 25mm eyepiece set show a small yellow disc with rings.
Eyepiece 6.3mm is good. The rings and the gap between the planet and the rings are visible. A slight chromatism could be seen.
The 10 mm eyepiece, oddly enough, proved to be better than the 6.3 mm. It is possible that the heat fluxes from the house did not affect the image so much at a lower magnification. Chromatism was not noticeable.
6. Cluster M44. Time of observation: spring. The finder looks quite compact. Found in the sky as follows. Castor and Polux drove into the finder a little and turned the telescope a little to the left until in the finder he noticed a beautiful compactly open cluster of stars.
7. Sun. Time of observation: winter, spring.
Eyepieces 6.3 mm angle too small
Eyepieces 10mm, 20mm (wide angle) and 25mm spots are excellent, you can see the details in the spots (something like changes in the uniformity of the relief around sunspots).
M3 is the first globular cluster I have seen. The search was carried out along the star chain from Seginus down. It looks like a hazy spot, brighter in the center with a sharp decrease in brightness towards the edge. It is best to observe it with peripheral vision.
M5 — it seemed to me very similar to the M3, but dimmer. The search was carried out along the star chain from Unukalhai.
M13 — A large cluster of Hercules and M92 looked much brighter and more attractive than M3 and M5. When observed in mid-September, the brightness increased, perhaps the state of the atmosphere was very good, sparks were felt at the edges and a very bright center was distinguished.
M31 — the Andromeda galaxy — a rather large oval-shaped hazy spot — it was a bright center, without any spiral structure. Found her climbing up from Mirach.
Departure under the dark sky about 40 km from the city in a straight line. In fact, the foothills of the Ural Mountains. The border of the green and blue zones, judging by the light map. The Milky Way is clearly visible at the zenith, it is not distinguishable near the horizon. The illumination from Ufa does not rise high, it does not interfere with observations. Observation time mid-August.
M3, M13, M92 looked much brighter and more interesting than from the city. M13 and M92, as if sparkling at the edges with asterisks.
M31 — the Andromeda galaxy — a bright central part and a gradual decrease in brightness towards the edges were noticeable, the structure of the arms, of course, was not visible, but the “general galactic structure” was visible.
M32 was visible as a bright foggy spot
Hi-Ash Perseus (NGC 869 NGC 884) and Pleiades (M45) looked amazing. By the way, the Pleiades in the Sky-Watcher 20mm 66 degree eyepiece field do not fit completely.
M33 — For some reason, it was not possible to detect a galaxy in a triangle.
At the end of summer and autumn, in conditions of strong illumination by the searchlights of the construction site, I observed the following objects from the balcony with the eyepiece Sky-Watcher 20mm 66 degrees.
M11 — The Wild Ducks Cluster is observed dimly as 3 or more small stars, with a slight hint of nebula. It is better to observe with peripheral vision.
M15 and M2 are clearly visible globular clusters in my opinion. in mid-September, a bright center and sparking along the edges are visible.
M29 — Open cluster. 6–8 stars are lined up in a trapezoid shape, against the background of a cloudy foggy structure.
M56 — Looks like M5 and M3 to me, but dimmer.
M57 is the planetary nebula “Ring”. The first planetary nebula I saw. Visible as a relatively large (compared to surrounding stars) and bright spot. It is better to look with peripheral vision. When observed in mid-September, the contrast increased, with peripheral vision, a ring structure seemed to be visible.
M27 — Planetary nebula “Dumbbell”. very large foggy spot. The structure of the nebula is guessed. When observed in mid-September, the contrast increased.
M71 — Globular cluster. Very dim non-contrasting spot, dimmer than M56.
M94 — Dim foggy spot.
M39 — Observed in the first decade of November, a beautiful open cluster, 20–30 stars are observed, more with peripheral vision. The cluster fits well in the field of view of the Sky-Watcher 20mm 66deg eyepieces.
The “Hanger” cluster is a very beautiful asterism, best observed with a finderscope.
M31 — the Andromeda galaxy in late autumn looked like a large bright contrasting hazy spot. And her satellite M32 looked like a small bright foggy spot.
M101, M110, M51, M63, M33 could not be seen either with lateral or even more so with direct vision.
Also could not see the Veil Nebula, the Crescent Nebula, the Cocoon Nebula.
Double stars Heart of Karl, omicron1 and omicron2 Cygnus, Alberio, Lyra delta, Lyra epsilon look great in the telescope (it’s impossible to divide into four components by itself).
Conclusions:
1. The 10mm eyepiece supplied with the telescope performed surprisingly well, although I read a lot of negative reviews about it.
2. The 20mm wide angle eyepiece gives a very nice picture.
3. The 25 mm eyepiece supplied with the telescope, in my opinion, shows no worse than the 20 mm wide-angle.
4. For a telescope, it is advisable to purchase an inexpensive eyepiece with a focal length of more than 30mm to get a wider field of view.
5. Do not chase for a large increase. For starters, complete eyepieces are enough.
6. In a telescope, in any eyepiece, the stars look like clear points of different brightness. At high magnifications, heat flows from the house interfere, the picture fluctuates, the stars periodically become shaggy.
7. Azimuthal mount AZ3, which is supplied with this telescope, is very convenient, has mechanisms for fine movements, makes it easy to aim at an object and accompany it.
8. It is highly desirable to get out of the city for astronomical observations, where the telescope fully realizes its potential.
I have never regretted purchasing the Sky-Watcher BK909AZ3. I had a lot of fun watching.
It is very interesting to observe, I recommend to everyone who does not have a telescope to purchase. Get a lot of pleasure from observing objects located outside of our planet. What is worth observing the Moon or the very realization that objects of observation of unimaginable sizes are at an unimaginable distance from us and that they are available for observation. Positive emotions are also caused by simply looking at the night sky at a small increase, while counting time is lost.
Examples of videos in this telescope (the picture is shaking because I hold the camera in my hands, and the magnification is too high, in reality the picture is much clearer and more stable)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A7Nl5t5-1E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ9FPBkv1kg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogeGZfz05SY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqYW9VimjQY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEwG6Azbde8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZt3PfcvwuU
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