I had two clear nights on Christmas which I used to gather about 11 hours on the Rosette Nebula and another 7 hours on the California Nebula. With the cold weather outside this really made me appreciate the simplicity of a small refractor. I can carry the whole setup outside and I’m up and running within 10 minutes. Compared to my small newtonian I never have to go outside to tinker or change things, it just works.

This is driving me down the rabbit hole of potentially looking for a new scope to go after smaller targets. I love my newt but it has some serious flaws (mainly the weak focuser). I could get a better, bigger newt but that comes with extra challenges. I could also get a bigger refractor but that too comes with certain limitations. I’ll probably overthink this for the next few months.

For now I’m looking forward to galaxy season again.