Observing with small telescopes to vast nebula complexes.

After 9 p.m., I arrive at my observing spot in a large clearing in the Swabian Forest.

I set up my tripod, the Giro mount, and my small telescopes, and enjoy the panoramic view.

In the northeast, a distant farm light is burning—a light that, as I know, usually goes out by 10 p.m. at the latest.

As my first target, just like on previous evenings, I seek out Comet Garradd. Located in the western part of Hercules, it is quickly spotted and centered in the 120mm refractor.

In the 120mm refractor at 20x magnification, the comet appears somewhat asymmetrical; in the 80mm refractor at 11x, a faint, roundish cloudlet is visible.

Around 10 p.m., I hear the sound of a boxer engine drifting through the woods. It’s Thomas C.’s old yellow VW 1600 Variant. Thomas unpacks his Grab & Go Telescope"—TMB Apo 80/480—and gets to work, focusing on the eastern sky. Jupiter, along with targets in the constellations Andromeda and Perseus, are on his agenda.

I had previously observed the Butterfly Nebula (IC 1318, the nebula surrounding Gamma Cygni) with my small-aperture scopes and was able to clearly locate the Crescent Nebula at the edge of the field of view alongside IC 1318 using the 80mm model. A look through the 120mm scope confirmed the sighting.

Next up was the Cirrus Nebula, which would easily fit into the field of view twice when using the 80mm f/11 refractor. It offered a very aesthetic view with plenty of surrounding sky. To the right lies the "Storm Bird" (Western Veil) with 52 Cygni, and to the left, the bright arc known as the "Witch's Broom" (Eastern Veil); with the 120mm f/11 refractor, I can easily make out the third section of the nebula, Pickering's Triangle, while in the 80mm scope, it is just barely discernible. The image orientation is now astronomically correct.

Thomas likes the eyepiece and the 80/324 telescope—essentially a large finder scope that, on this occasion, has morphed into the primary instrument—and so do I.

My procedure: First, aim at the relevant spot in the sky using the Telrad; locate and view the object with the 120/600 FH; and then—while seated on the observing chair—enjoy that section of the sky using the 80mm scope with a straight-through view, 11x magnification, and a 7.5° field of view.

After the Cirrus Nebula, the North America and Pelican Nebulae are observed and tested with various filters. The nebula stands out clearly, revealing the silhouette of the North American continent; within the dark Gulf of Mexico, the stars of the "Little Orion" sparkle.

The Pelican Nebula fits into the field of view with both telescopes. I can make out its outlines faintly. The most distinct parts of the nebula are the bright edge along the "California coast" and the dark nebula separating the North America and Pelican Nebulae. With the 80mm scope, I moved Deneb out of the field of view so it wouldn't interfere as much with observing the faint nebulae. The UHC seems slightly better there, but for the Cirrus Nebula, the OIII is clearly the favorite—even with the small optics.

In this region of the sky, M27, M71, and the "Coathanger" (Collinder 399) are also visited in succession. This 7.5° wide-angle perspective reveals unfamiliar views of indescribable beauty.

There is a point with the 30mm Zeiss wide-angle eyepiece where the eyepiece seems to vanish—as if there were no field stop—creating a genuine "spacewalk" effect.

I recall a description of a Merz comet seeker from 1850 featuring a 76 mm aperture and a 648 mm focal length, equipped with a 65 mm screw-in eyepiece whose 65 mm field lens provided a 6° field of view. W. Argelander conducted the "Bonner Durchmusterung" using a similar comet seeker.

My modern version is a straight-through finder with an 80mm aperture and a 324mm focal length, featuring a 2" helical focuser that holds a 30mm Zeiss wide-angle eyepiece with an 85° apparent field of view; this yields 11x magnification and a 7.5° true field, with good star images across 80% of the field.

By fully extending the tripod, the use of my astro-chair" allows me to view comfortably through the straight-through spotting scope, even when observing at the zenith. I have really taken a liking to this direct line of sight, combined with the option of glancing directly at the object itself.

With the 120/600, I use a star diagonal holding a Kokushi Khoki 2" 30mm WW III eyepiece, which has an apparent field of view of 84°. This yields 20x magnification and a 4.2° field of view. I also occasionally use my 20mm Nagler T2 as an alternative, resulting in 30x magnification and a 2.6° field of view.

When observing with a filter, I swapped the eyepieces between the telescopes; unfortunately, the Zeiss WW has no filter thread.

IC1396 in Cepheus is the next target; here, too, the nebula stands out better against the background in the 80mm scope—a UHC filter was used. The Elephant's Trunk remains visually invisible with a 120mm aperture.

The next object is the dark nebula B168, with the Cocoon Nebula located at its end. The open star cluster M39 fits into the field of view of the 80mm telescope alongside B168, and the dark nebula stands out better than it does in the 120mm model. It’s brilliant—something you simply have to see! Unfortunately, the Cocoon Nebula is beyond the reach of the available aperture.

Moving on to Cassiopeia, I can make out the faint, ghostly form of NGC 281—the Pacman Nebula—in both instruments with the help of the UHC filter. West of Delta Cassiopeiae, a tiny orange star flashes into view within M103 when using the 80mm telescope.

H&Chi—along with a long, curved chain of stars connecting to Stock 2 (the "Muscle Man") and extending toward the opposite edge of the field of view— can be seen in the same field as Trümpler 2.

The California Nebula is not a difficult object in either telescope when using an H-beta filter; in the 80mm scope, NGC 1499 appears with plenty of surrounding sky in the field of view.

The bright star cluster Mel 20 around Alpha Persei is a magnificent sight in both short-tube telescopes, followed by a brief detour up to Kemble's Cascade.

Using the 80mm TMB apochromat at 160x magnification, Thomas has Jupiter sharply and crisply in view. A dark, distinct bar-like feature stands out clearly on the western side of the southern belt.

My wide-angle telescopes will now go into the trunk for a short time,

The tripod is lowered, and the time has come for the old Lichtenknecker Newtonian (150/1300) from around 1970 to shine. Its sheet-metal tube—finished in "light blue hammered-effect paint"—had been resting on the car's back seat until now. A quick check of the collimation, and we’re ready to go. A look inside the tube reveals a slightly dusty mirror and a few cobwebs.

At 130x and 160x magnification, I can demonstrate to Thomas that a Newtonian—despite the additional obstruction caused by small secondary mirror supports—can still be an excellent telescope for planetary viewing. We are thrilled with the image quality of this old Dieter L. mirror.

Thomas pays the old Newton a high compliment, saying, "This is the first reflecting telescope whose image I actually like." (The dust stays on the mirror, and the "subtenants" aren't being evicted for personal use—that’s all part of the patina of this "youngtimer" telescope :-))

Unaccustomed to the fiddly nature of a finder scope and its narrow field of view—a far cry from using a Telrad (it feels like ages ago! :-o)—I fumble around the Summer Milky Way, hunting for the Ring and Dumbbell Nebulae, which Thomas is keen to observe through the old Newtonian telescope.

We wrap up Thomas's visit by viewing M36, M37, and M38 together in a single field of view using the 80 /324mm scope. 

I’ll keep going on my own for another hour, until 1 a.m. By then, it’s getting increasingly damp, so—after a leisurely stroll along the Milky Way that I thoroughly enjoyed—I pack up my small wide-field telescopes and a venerable old Newtonian.