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Used the zoom eyepiece most of the evening.
It was obvious, surprising, startling, seeing the darkening of the sky! There's proof. Going to high power darkens the sky. Some say this improves contrast so faint things are easier to see. Who was I talking to about this? Chris?! Allendria?
The click detents are obvious and catch when "climbing," i.e. increasing power from 24 to 8. A very faint click. A tactile small vibration. But the detent is soft going the other way. Not obvious especially if going quickly. Easy to miss. I often overshot to then come back.
Overall, I thought the optical quality good. Seemed to be quite a flat field. No weird colours. A little soft at highest power...
Spent a long time viewing θ (theta) CrB. Used the 2x again but in the focuser this time. I.e. C8 OTA, WO focuser, TV 2x PM, WO mirror, and then the ocular. And this evening, the Baader zoom on loan.
The zoom goes to 8mm. Hadn't considered that at first but that's more than the TV Nagler 9mm!
Theta? If i didn't know it was a double...
It was even higher in elevation, I got to it earlier. Lost the notes (didn't capture the notes) but ... was it 65 degrees? Is that possible? [ed. Yes, around 9:45 PM, it was 65° in altitude.]
Viewed HD 146168 aka STF 2029 in CrB. Nice. Subtle. Attractive separation at low zoom. Unequal brightness. Colourful, if I remember correctly.
Viewed ψ (psi) Ser. In Caput. Neat grouping. But could not see B star. Will need to put on View Again list. For the B star. The other members were extremely wide. From Haas. And she only refers to C. So I checked if off, done, in her book.
Went to β (beta) Ser. A and B obvious. HD 141040 off to the NE. I spotted a faint star opposite, about half the distance. Ah ha! That was C. Software did not show it initially. Had to turn off the moonlight. Also in Caput. Near the tail. Haas only refers to AB only.
Viewed HD 140665 aka ROE 75. Attractive at lowest zoom. 6". Tight. Unequal. Like the previous one, i.e. sep and brightness. Not far from β. Star hopped to it.
Observed HD 148653 also known as Σ2052. Hercules. Nice. C was super faint. A and B close. Equal. White. Oh, a binary, 224 year period. Has says citrus orange but I didn't think so.
Finished with M13 (Messier 13) in the loaner ocular. The grand globular was actually surprisingly good in the zoom. Richer at high power. Too soft at low power. Nice view at high. Many stars!
Oh, yes, Saturn. It was also quite nice in the zoom eyepiece. This would be good at star parties!
Not that late. 'Round midnight I decided to throw in the towel. Not in the mood.
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Repaired mount worked just fine. Good seeing again. Poor transparency.
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gamma Her. ST3P shows logged. But the general notes suggest something was missing. Will need to sort this out. And maybe update or delete the general notes.
[ed: I have observed AB and BC but not AD. It is tight to the primary at 8.3". Looks like it is a mag 8.1 star compared to the bright 2.9. 5+ delta. Will be tricky.]
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