WHY A SUDDEN DOWNPOUR THURSDAY EVENING?

My hopes of going to Binbrook for more comet images were dashed with the sudden downpour at 7 pm. A little while later Steve Germann knocked at the door to show me his new 16″ Lightbridge dob. He had picked it up at Khan’s at 7 pm and wanted some First Light.

A 16″ Lightbridge is a big scope. You have to be 6′ tall to see into the eyepiece when looking at things overhead. Still, it’s marvellously compact and easy to set up:

It fits into a VW bug:

One guy can put it all together: .

Looking through the scope was fun.

It moved smoothly; it was well-collimated; the dual-speed focuser was very smooth through its 35mm of focus travel. The scope gave very good views of Jupiter through the light clouds:

Watch out! Steve will be driving to Binbrook on every available clear night from now until Starfest! Here’s your chance to see through a very nice 16″ dob.