Observational Session

   I was able to get the scope out several nights the past week. I was gonna focus primarily on October 26th. What made that night significant was was my success in finding the M13 star cluster. M13 is approximately 145 light-years in diameter, and lies some 25,000 light years from earth. It's said to be composed of hundreds of thousands of stars, the brightest of which is a red giant.

   When I first found M13, it was difficult to identify as a star cluster. It looked similar to M31, Andromeda Galaxy, just a little cloud in the lens, but I was using my 30mm SuperView lens, which gives more of a wide mosaic view. So I popped in a 9mm lens, and I was startled for second. I could see individual stars, just about like this picture here. It was phenomenal.

   Star clusters, or if you want the technical name, globular clusters, are held together by an immense gravitational pull. Astronomers say that there could be about 180 different globular clusters in our own Galaxy, each spaced tens of thousands of light-years apart. The globular clusters are also said to be much older than the open clusters found throughout the arms of the galaxy, and are, of course, much more dense.

Telescopes

Orion xt8i, xt10i, and xt12i intelliscopes

   If you're looking to see a globular cluster in good detail, I'm gonna have to recommend a dobsonian telescope. Dobsonians have the largest aperture of any telescope for the amateur astronomer. A scope with an 8-inch aperture will do great, but at least a 10-inch would be ideal, or if you wanna go further, maybe even a 12-inch. Just remember, the larger the aperture, the more light that is collected. Keep in mind also, a larger aperture means more $$$. These intelliscopes here to the right cost a pretty penny as well. You can get each of these three models without the computerized go-to mount, and save hundreds. The nice thing about having one without a computerized mount is that the telescopes movement is all manual. Which means you have to work to find what you're looking for, and as a result, instead of just memorizing coordinates to punch into a keypad, you actually learn the layout of the night sky. That's what makes astronomy fun right? It just seems so much more satisfying that way. That is, however, just my opinion. If you really want the computerized tracking mount, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having it, in fact, I imagine it would quite fun to use. It's all up to you.