The King of the Planets

I’ve coveted a Meade 8” SCT since I was a kid, ever since I read about the scope in the Backyard Astronomer’s Guide. It looked to me like a proper scientific instrument, computerized and professional. Sadly, it was out of my 12-year-old self’s budget. Fast forward 16 years and I finally acquired a Meade 10” f/10 LX-200 ACF. I thought it would complement my 4” Takahashi nicely, with the Takahashi excelling at wide field views and the Meade providing big-aperture views of faint deep-sky objects. I also had high hopes that my Meade would have quality optics suitable for planetary observations under good seeing conditions at high power.

Harout from Markarian Fine Optics raved about the Meade 10” ACF that he had in stock, saying that he had it out at Manning Park recently and that it delivered markedly superior views compared to the APM 140 apochromatic refractor on Jupiter and Saturn. Felix, who was also with Harout at Manning Park, had previously mentioned to me that the views through the 10” were superb. I was convinced and took it home with me, naming it “Tornado”.

I organized a planetary observation night on Seymour Mountain (and see more we did), inviting Felix, Jeff, and Steve, as well as Sean, Kamryn. Lucas and Gurveen, co-presidents of the club, also joined us for the observation. It was my first time observing at Seymour Mountain, and the seeing was forecast to be average to above average.

I arrived at the P1 lot, at 922m (3000ft) of elevation, at around 8:30 pm; during the drive over, I could see Jupiter low on the horizon. It was clear and calm at dusk, and the stars started to pop into view as I set up next to Felix, who was setting up his Takahashi FC-100DL. I brought with me my Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 mount, my 4” Takahashi FC-100DZ, and of course my Meade 10” ACF. The mount held both scopes in alt-az mode without breaking a sweat and tracked perfectly, with accurate go-to. I can’t recommend this mount enough.

Once I completed the 2-star align, I slewed to Saturn and was delighted to see that the seeing conditions were far better than the previous night, with the Cassini division easily visible along with banding on the disk. I had wrapped my Meade with Reflectix to insulate the scope, having read that it eliminates the need for cool-down since the heat exchange on the OTA is nearly eliminated. My experience so far agrees, as my insulated scope is usable straight away, which is a complete game-changer for a big cat notorious for slow cool-down times.

Soon after I set up, Jeff arrived with his NP-127, Steve with his TMB 130, Steve’s friend with his Stellarvue 4”, and Sean with his NP-101, along with Kamryn, Lucas and Gurveen. They also brought the club’s APM 140, but didn’t have space in his car for a mount, so sadly it sat in the car all night. So we had 6 world-class apochromatic refractors and 1 10” ACF between the 10 of us.

I switched to my William Optics binoviwers with the included 20mm eyepieces on my Meade and was struck by an immediate increase in detail and apparent size compared to monoviewing. Saturn’s Cassini division was etched, as was the shadow cast by the ring in front of the planet and the shadow cast by the planet on the rings behind. I also noted banding and colour variations on the planet. Compared to my Tak (or with any of the other refractors), there was no contest; the Meade showed a brighter image with far more detail, although there was more scatter around the planet compared to the refractor. It could be the fault of the cheap eyepieces - I’m planning on purchasing Televue Plossl pairs in the future. However, I’d take the extra scatter for the additional detail any day of the week.

As darkness fell, Jupiter rose higher and the seeing markedly improved. It was breathtaking through the binoviewers (this time with Jeff’s pair of 16mm Naglers) - bright enough to eliminate my dark adaptation, with so much detail in the belts and storms and clouds that it was impossible to take in all at once. The Great Red Spot was just rotating out of view; Felix counted 14 distinct bands, and I saw intricate swirling festoons, distinctly blue, between the main belts. The moons were obvious round disks. Gasps of amazement and intermittent swearing pierced the quiet night.

The skies at Seymour are probably around a Bortle 5/6, as the light dome of Vancouver is visible high in the southern sky. Despite the light pollution, after midnight, as Mars started to rise, I viewed some deep-sky objects through a variety of scopes, including the notoriously faint M33 through Jeff’s NP-127, which looked like a faint whisp. M57, the Ring Nebula, looked impressive through the 10” with the binoviewers, with structure in the nebulousity. Of course, I couldn’t make out the central star unlike at Manning Park through the 18”.

I eventually slewed my mount towards Mars and was surprised to see obvious albedo markings on Mars despite its low altitude, confirmed the next day as Terra Sabaea on Sky Safari. The polar icecaps were not in view, but I have no doubt it would have been easy to see through the Meade. I also viewed Mars through my FC-100DZ and it delivered a similarly detailed view with no hint of false colour.

I spent most of my time viewing Jupiter through the 10” and the binoviewers. It continued to deliver a spellbinding view that was one of the best observing experiences of my life, no doubt helped by the fact that Jupiter’s opposition is only a few days away and the closest it’s been to Earth in 60 years. The seeing improved as the moon and Mars rose higher.

The last memorable observation was viewing the Moon through the binoviewers. It was dazzlingly bright, and I experienced a bit of vertigo while I slewed around the lunar landscape, feeling for a moment like I was flying over the moon in a space shuttle.

I’m looking forward to taking the Meade 10” ACF to a dark site and seeing what it can do on deep-sky objects.