For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on the Spring Galaxy challenge provided by the Astronomical League. Utilizing no less than three telescopes and four different magnifications/eyepiece configurations, I got to compare the views under some pretty nice spring skies. The three scopes I used were: my 12″ Meade Lightbridge, a Takahashi Fc-76DS, and a Takahashi Fc-100DZ. All provided wonderful views, but I found myself impressed by the 76DS the most. Even with the extra inch of aperture that the 100DZ afforded, I felt as if the 76DS really had no business being as bright and sharp as it was. Don’t get me wrong, the 100DZ was equally good, but compared side by side, I’d say one would be hard pressed to discern which telescope was being used.

Here are three photos of the setups used: … Continue readingSpring Galaxy Challenge – Status: Complete!