2026-01-14

Since the last journal entry I have added a handle to the ring mounts on my AT102ED. This added a bit of weight, but the payoff is worth it considering I’ve almost dropped my scope twice in the last year. The scope handle has additional screw holes to mount finderscopes or additional equipment. I’ve been wanting to add a red dot sight for quick slewing alignment but I was never happy with the red dot sight on my ST-80. I opted for a cheaper alternative.

So far I’ve been using the large fastening knobs on the ring mount to crudely align my telescope to a bright object in the sky. This works far better than I thought, as long as I align the tops of both knobs with the target right above it, that will get the target in the FoV of my finderscope. In order to improve upon this, I found two little plastic cable clips in the garage and screwed them into the front and back side of the handle. They have a very low profile / low weight and I can simply align to my target by lining it up inside the front and back circles that the cable clips provide.

The forecast for tonight was set to be clear with some moderate turbulence, but the conditions ended up being better than forecasted. The turbulence was low and the only problem I had was the occasional gust of wind that was strong enough to shake my scope (only noticeable under high magnifications). It was nice to observe in 40°F temperatures too!

7:06PM

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Nice multiple star. I was able to see the split of A,B from the 13mm eyepiece at 55x. Zooming in allowed C to come into view. Both B and C would pop into and out of view and AV helped view them a little.

Σ 271 was found pretty easily half way between α Arietis and c Arietis and a touch to the south. Surprisingly, this target was listed in my field atlas as an unlabeled double star.

7:26PM

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Larger cluster than I was expecting. It was also unexpectedly listed in my field atlas making it easier to find. It lies between four stars all forming a “box” around the cluster: A, 40, 42, and 50 Cassiopeiae.