In April’s Astronomy Now magazine there was an article about the Caldwell Catalogue. It’s a list of 109 deep sky objects assembled by Patrick Moore in the 90’s. None of them are Messier objects, and in that boyish OCD way, I thought it’d be fun to cross off some of the Caldwell Objects, seeing as my Messier list is as complete as is reasonably possible at my location.
Steven James O’Meara wrote the article, and I’ve already got his book on the Messier Objects, so my latest purchase sits alongside it very nicely.
But of course, I need my telescope setup sorted asap, and to that end I’ve decided to properly renovate my old 10″ Dobsonian, which I bought from Dark Star Telescopes back in the early 90’s. I’ve never got on as well with any telescope as well as that one, so I’m sorting it out, and this will mean getting a ‘real view’ finderscope too. I’m going to be working on it on Friday. The ‘spider’ needs
fixing as the weld on the nuts has snapped.
I also want to put my Telrad finder on there. With a Telrad, and a right view 10X50 finder on there, I think I’ll have a very comfortable, easy to use light bucket. And then I’ll start doing some serious observing.
The two Caldwell Objects I tried for in the Helios bins, on the last clear night’s observing at the observatory, still need re-checking. I’m pretty sure I didn’t see the open cluster Caldwell 1, and I need to re-visit C3, also known as the Iris Nebula. I’m convinced I saw a distinct spot of nebulosity in the right place through the Helios Bins. But my notes describe it as being in a ‘house shape’ of stars, which I can’t confirm from any of the maps I’ve seen. So I can’t honestly tick it off. But I will, and I’m looking forward to a more methodical method of observing when I’ve got my old friend back working. I’m pleased to say it glides a dream on its Teflon pads still. Bless!
I Need my Space 