Very recently I stumbled upon the opportunity to acquire a
Ceravolo HD 145 and as someone that appreciates fine optics, I was
intrigued. I knew little of these
instruments other than having heard of Peter Ceravolo and his reputation for
crafting fine optical systems. I did a
bit of “googlevestigating” about this Maksutov Newtonian and learned that not
only were these rare telescopes, but that there was scant information to be
found about these instruments and most of what exists are old threads on Cloudy
Nights. What I did not find was poor
reports about the optics; in fact, what little information is out there agrees
that these telescopes are among the finest performers in the 6” range. I did find one very interesting comparison with a TEC 140 carried out by several CN members and documented by Daniel Mounsey. I don’t know Daniel personally, only
having corresponded with him by email, however, I respect his experience as an
observer and his passion for sharing the hobby.
Last week I had the chance to spend 2 hours using the Ceravolo from
light polluted northwest Tucson, and observing the moon, Jupiter, several
double stars and a couple clusters, I decided on the spot to purchase the
telescope.
 |
| Milky way from my favorite observing site :) |
Back to Daniel’s write up - One reason Daniel’s review was
of great interest to me, is that in 2009 I purchased a TEC 140 as a 40th
birthday present to myself. A decade
later, and I wish I had aged as well as that telescope! I have enjoyed the TEC 140 immensely and
while I have bought and sold many other telescopes in the intervening decade
(and the one prior), it is the one telescope that I have enjoyed above all
others. Having owned several SCT’s,
refractors, and a Dobsonian over the years I am not one to wax poetic about the
virtues of my telescopes. The TEC 140 is
not a perfect telescope, yet it is perfect for me. Sitting
down at the eyepiece, the telescope gets out of the way and just delivers every
time.
From the first night testing the Ceravolo and considering
purchasing it, it was clear to me that it was the equal of the TEC 140, and
just maybe, slightly better. Keep in
mind I did not have them side by side and was making a judgment call based on
my 10 years’ experience with the TEC 140 under all kinds of conditions- and
that is what I mean when I say “maybe, slightly” better. Something about how sharp Jupiter’s moons
were, and the detail and contrast on the lunar terminator took me by
surprise. Using my own eyepieces, an
8mm Ethos and a 6mm Delos the views were as pleasing as any telescope I have
used in this aperture range.
The deal was done and a few days later I got the scope home. Below is my current eyepiece lineup – or at
least the ones I use the most with my TEC 140 and my 12.5” Dobsonian. It should be noted that the Ceravolo has a 2.5-inch
helical focuser and mine did not come with a 2” eyepiece adapter. I have one being machined, and it will be a
couple weeks until it is ready. Using
the original 1.25” adapter I was not able to bring the 13mm Ethos to focus
(needed just a little more inward travel) and the 2” adapter should solve that
issue as I will be able to fully seat the eyepiece into the focuser.
Given the lack of a 2” adapter, I was not able to try the
21mm or 31mm as they are 2” eyepieces. There are 2 issues lurking with using
these low power eyepieces, however, as both will undoubtedly vignette in the
Ceravolo, it is just a question of how much.
The second issue is that of exit pupil – you see above that the 31mm
Nagler has an ~5mm exit pupil and the 21mm is a bit better at 3.5mm. Once I receive the 2” adapter I will try them
out. In truth, the 17mm Delos performed
very well for me in the testing I have done, and if I am not satisfied with the
results of either the 21 Ethos or 31 Nagler in the scope, I will probably
purchase a 24mm Panoptic which would get me nearly another .5 degree FOV over
the 17 Delos, delivering 1.87 degrees at 36 power with a 4mm exit pupil. Low power is important to me, especially at dark
sky sites, as I enjoy both sweeping the milky was as well as observing large
scale objects that are inaccessible at most observing locations due to
artificial lighting of the sky (for example the nebula surrounding the
Pleiades, the North American Nebula, galaxy groupings).
So you have read this
far and are wondering if I will ever get to the observing report – I have
decided to break the observing report into two sections – first, in my suburban
yard as that is a typical condition under which an amateur will use a telescope
like this, and what I will share below.
Then, a report from a semi-dark location at which I will use the
telescope next week. I have also
observed several of the same targets that Daniel Mounsey and friends observed
in his 2011 comparison review with the TEC 140, as they are targets that most
amateurs are familiar with in their own experiences. To add to that short list of objects from his
write up, I added a bunch of Messier objects as again, I and most amateurs are
quite familiar with them. Initially I
was going to do a “part 2” to Daniel’s write up but decided that since I was
not personally placing these scopes in competition against one another, I did
not want to approach the write up in that way.
They are both amazing telescopes, and I am incredibly fortunate to have
them both. There are some comparison
comments scattered below, yet please keep in mind I did not set these up side-by-side
and any comparative comments are anecdotal based on my decade of observing with
the TEC 140.
Night one – backyard bliss.
I set the Ceravolo up on my Discmount
DM6/Baader tripod which makes for a very simple and enjoyable platform to begin
to get to know the telescope. I do have
a German Equatorial Mount that I may use at times if I desire go-to and
tracking. Fortunately, this telescope
came with Parallax rotating rings installed which are essential to allow the
eyepiece to be easily located in an accessible viewing location when using an
equatorial mount. As this telescope is a
Maksutov Newtonian, cooling must be attended to – in my case, not having active
cooling, I had the scope indoors during the day to keep it from heating up
(temperatures outside are 100+ in the shade) and only took it outdoors in the
shade about 45 minutes prior to sunset.
This provided the telescope about 90 minutes to warm up toward the
falling ambient temps before I began observing.
NELM at zenith from my yard is around magnitude 5.5 – 5.7. Seeing conditions were very good (8-9/10) for
most of my observing but as the night progressed the stability began to
deteriorate, and by midnight was below average (4-5/10). I did catch an occasional smell of smoke,
which is a little surprising as the nearest wildfires are northeast of Phoenix
well over 150 miles away. I did not
notice any obvious smoke in the atmosphere; however, it did seem that the sky
was slightly brighter than usual perhaps as a result of particulates in the
atmosphere diffusing light. Looking up,
I was still able to pick out magnitude 5.5 stars overhead.
Earlier I mentioned that when observing with the TEC 140 the
telescope disappears and simply delivers an outstanding image. In my first night with the Ceravolo, the
experience was nearly the same. Time
slipped away from me (one reason I love visual observing) and the moon was
rising before my first yawn. Using the
helical focuser of the Ceravolo is a new skill for me to master and in that
way, I did spend a little more time fiddling with focus than I do with the
traditional rack and pinion on the TEC 140.
This is a minor quibble and one that I will likely not address in the
foreseeable future.
Jupiter – I began with Jupiter for two reasons,
both as it is bright, and I was not yet dark adapted and as it is a somewhat
unforgiving target for optics under good seeing. Slight miscollimation, thermal currents or
poor optics can quickly obscure the subtle details. Jupiter was about 30 degrees above the
horizon and seeing in that area of the sky was better than average, say a 7 out
of 10. (Or to put it another way, quite good for an object at low
altitude). Using the 8mm Ethos Jupiter
was strikingly sharp, and the 4 Galilean moons were little spheres floating in
their orbits. I say floating as sometimes
when observing with the TEC I will qualitatively perceive that objects take on
depth to them. Most often I notice this
with nebula against a dark background, but last night I noticed this with
Jupiter and its moons. Perhaps it is the
subtle limb darkening on the planet that suggests this – and using the 6mm
Delos I noticed a very subtle tonal differences in the color of the Jovian
moons. Io and Ganymede had a slight
warmth to them while Callisto and Europa seemed a purer white. I’d like to look for this again to confirm my
perception. In terms of detail, I was
easily able to discern details within and on the edges of the equatorial belts,
and there were several other belts visible.
Shading towards the polar regions also hinted at bands within. All in all, a very pleasing image of Jupiter
and as far as a planetary scope, the Ceravolo HD 145 is a home run. In the moments of steady seeing, Jupiter was
truly picturesque – giving up stunningly sharp detail and possibly the best I
have seen in a small telescope…(I may have to set the TEC 140 up side by side
one day!!)
M13 – always a favorite of the masses at our
outreach programs, I went to this cluster next as I am very familiar with its
appearance in scopes of varied aperture.
It appeared beautiful in the Ceravolo, with brighter members resolved
across the fuzzy core. From my yard, the
northeast is the darkest area of the sky and this object was the first teaser
for me looking towards a darker sky trip next week. I always love looking at globulars and in
this case the tiny pinprick stars throughout and around the cluster were stunning. I realized I still had the 6mm Delos in the
scope so pushed up to the 4.5 mm and the cluster held together without any
degradation of the image. I enjoy some context
in the field of my targets so I dropped back to the 8mm Ethos and the cluster
was framed beautifully against a dark background. It is hard to describe contrast from one
scope to the next, however, I had the feeling that in the contrast department,
this scope excels…so I probably should look at a nebula!
M57 – Another crowd favorite and one that I am
exceedingly familiar with. Planetary nebula
are fuzzy creatures and demand magnification – so I installed the 4.5 Delos
only to immediately replace it with the 3mm Delite. Wow. The
Ring nebula stood out proudly from the background, with a clear elliptical
shape. The bright outer ring varied in
brightness (with the ends of the ellipse fainter), and there was even a hint of
uneven brightness across the inner portions of the nebula. No central star, of course, this is still a
small telescope in a suburban location!
Epsilon Lyra – the double double because…why
not? I never wondered about splitting
these pairs of stars in the Ceravolo, but it is a target that was observed in
Daniel’s 2011 shootout and would also give me an indication of how cleanly the
Ceravolo splits up double stars. I was
not disappointed, with a beautiful, clean split in the 8mm Ethos. Pumping up the magnification with the 6 Delos
and then the 3 Delite, the airy disc and surrounding area was nearly
perfect. I have not seen this level of
perfection, to my recollection in any scope I have owned. Push the TEC to 300 power and there is a hint
of color; the Ceravolo appears slightly more “apochromatic” at high
magnification. It should be noted that
the seeing was excellent at the moment, around a 9/10.
T-Lyra – again a target from the 2011 shootout,
and one of the nicer carbon stars available.
Nothing to report other than it has a nice red color, and again, seeing was
fantastic at that time.
M5 – Another favorite globular, in Serpens,
with a nice bright 5th magnitude star (5 Serpentis) in the FOV of my
8mm Ethos. Personally, I appreciate
observing this globular as much if not more than M 13. ‘Brighter’ stars were again resolved across
the cluster, with some very nice yellow/orange stars noted just beyond the
periphery of M5. At that point, I said
to myself that the 8mm Ethos is a fantastic match for the Ceravolo and I could
spend the entire night with just this one eyepiece. Writing up my notes now, it occurs to me that
the 8mm Ethos is also a favorite in the TEC 140, so perhaps there is just
something about that eyepiece, my eyes and observing habits that I prefer a
nearly 1 degree field of view at about 110 – 120 power with a comfortable exit
pupil. What’s not to like?
M22 – Keeping it real – Another globular! M22, despite being much lower in the sky than
M13 or
M5, is a beautiful sight in any telescope. In the Ceravolo, like my TEC 140, it appears
large and well resolved. Not quite as
condensed as M5, the often used “like diamonds on black velvet” really does
describe the view. Pinpoint stars across
the FOV.
M8 – Being in Sagittarius it was time to look
at a few milky way nebulae. Using the
8mm Ethos the view of the lagoon was excellent.
The nebula was extensive, nearly filling the FOV. The cluster stars were noticeably less steady
than earlier and looking up from the scope it was clear the seeing conditions
were dropping off a bit as the stars which had previously been very steady were
now twinkling somewhat. As I was in the heart of the Milky Way, I dropped down
to the 17.3mm Delos and the 1.4-degree field of view was beautiful.
M20 – the next stop on the Ceravolo nebula
train after M8, still using the 17.3 Delos.
M20 is not as bright, yet the dust lanes which transect the nebula are readily
apparent. Back to the 8mm Ethos, looking
at the edges of the dust lanes, they are not simply smooth edges, they have a
contour to them. To me, this is another
sign that the contrast of the telescope is first rate.
M17 – The Swan nebula, final stop on the
Ceravolo Nebula train and it is awesome.
Installing the 6mm Delos, the body and tail of the swan take on quite a
bit of mottling throughout. Indeed,
there is a faint puff of nebulosity behind the swan that can be seen. This nebula is impressive and after a few
minutes observing I again note it appears to float in front of the background
stars.
M 51 – The whirlpool. I had not yet looked at a galaxy and thought
that M51 would be a good target due to the detail that can be seen in a good
telescope. I was not disappointed as the
Ceravolo not only revealed the spiral structure from my backyard, but I also noted
2 stars superimposed on the main galaxy. Best view was with the 6mm Delos.
Jupiter – again! As the night was winding down and the moon
was now up, I wanted to again look at Jupiter and see if the great red spot was
perhaps visible. It was not, and I
noticed that the seeing was much worse than earlier, down to about 5/10. Oops, I yawned starting a chain reaction of
yawns as I waited about 10 – 15 minutes to see if the seeing would steady
again…no luck.
Saturn – pretty low, about 30 degrees or so in
altitude, and with less than steady seeing it was time to call it a night. The Cassini division was visible, as well as
Titan, Dione, Tethys, and Rhea in the 8mm Ethos.
Night one conclusion – I am quite satisfied that I jumped on
this telescope, despite already having my dream telescope, the TEC 140. The opportunity to own such a unique and
finely crafted optical system that will provide years of enjoyment is one that
should not be missed. I do not take for
granted that I am fortunate to have the financial means to obtain these
telescopes – and that not everyone can. Given
its performance in the same echelon as my TEC 140, I am a little surprised that
on the rare occasions these telescopes come up for sale that they are only
about 60% the cost of a TEC 140….so if you have the chance to buy one, do it!
Final note – There is a joy that I derive from sitting out
under the stars and using a telescope to peer beyond what we see naked eye and
appreciating the connection that we share with the Universe. Earlier in the day yesterday, before I made
these observations, I learned that a lifelong family friend and mentor to me
passed away. As I sat outside and used
the telescope for the first time and thought about my friend and mentor, it was
not lost on me that he always reminded people to pay attention to what matters
– our connections to people close to us, and to the greater world around
us. Astronomy is for me, a way to
maintain those connections and I will now associate this telescope with my
friend whenever I use it.
