Lomo Astele 133.5mm Heads to Darker Skies

Lomo with flower pot dew shield

My poor Lomo has never been out of the back yard since its arrival in this light pollution (lp) hell hole that some call Austink. But the shit piles higher. Sad but true, since the arrival of the Great Red Tube (GRT), the little Lomo only saw use on nights too windy for a Dob, or when I actually wanted to see double stars cleanly. That’s right. The Lomo can do some mighty nice, pinpoint stars.

But 10" of aperture just blows away 5" and a little bit, especially considering the lp. Yet I balked at toting the Great Red Tube out to the countryside again. That’s because at present I lack the capability of collimating the GRT in the dark. Which means that I would have to get out in the sticks while Ogma lingered, collimate the GRT, then sit around in the 100 plus heat for 2-3 hours waiting for Moon to go down. Yuck!

But the Lomo does not require any collimation, normally. Course, if an average amateur astronomer actually wishes to collimate the Lomo, he can. But he probably shouldn’t.

Plus, the Lomo is way easier to tote around than the GRT. Way easier. So all those are reasons why the Lomo got to go and the GRT stayed home.

An average amateur astronomer equipped with a telescope, any telescope, may see more than a blind mouse. That’s what I think. The fact is, I know that all my telescopes, even my Bushnell Voyager Family Table Top Model, can help me to see more than a blind mouse, or even three blind mice. But how much better? Nobody knows exactly. Nobody has figured that out.

However, Druids like me may believe that a person or small telescope should be judged on personal merit, rather than merely compared constantly to someone or something else. Given that seemingly ridiculous criteria or consideration, I was pleased with my Lomo under darker skies. The fact is, it surprised me, facilitating views of even some faint deep sky naked galactic splendors like M102, M110, M33 and M74, plus the Helix Nebula. That means, that under darker skies, the Lomo may probably help me espy all the Messier objects fairly easily. I was surprised, not only that the Lomo could espy those objects, but also by the hints of detail. Mercy!

So maybe a 5.25 aperture Mak is not the best scope for deep skies. But my Lomo works on the faintest Messiers at a fairly dark site. Plus, the Lomo does not bust my ass for transport, setup and collimation.