Shot over the course of a year on and off, this is the swan song for my first small refractor--affectionately named Baby Scope. Baby is a ZenithStar 61 that I got back in 2020 during the COVID lockdowns to try to relieve the frustrations I was having with my EdgeHD 1100. That it did spectacularly. I cannot recommend this little telescope as a first, entry level scope enough. And it grew with me--first carrying an ASI294MC, then an ASI2600MC, and finally handling wide-field monochrome with an ASI6200MM. It's been a great travel scope, too, helping me capture the Gecko, Rho, the Shark, and many others while out and about in our RV. Parting with it will be bittersweet, but it's going to a great home with Carlos Aragon at Reach for the Stars, a children's charity in Tucson that teaches kids about the night sky and inspires them to want to learn and grow. I can think of no better place for it than that. 

I shot the first panel of this image, the Heart & Soul portion, back in September 2022. In trying to decide what would be my last target with this scope, I knew I needed narrowband since I would be doing it here at home in my Bortle 8. Then it occurred to me that there are so many wonderful things near the Heart & Soul that people so often overlook. And then @Bray Falls posted his amazing image of IC 1805 with HB3 and StDr 61 and the deal was sealed. My result is not in that league, but I think it's a respectable effort.

I'm sure I'll revisit this with the FSQ106 I'm in the process of placing at Deep Sky West. I already have a TOA130 out there and am also working on bringing up a CDK12, which will give me a wide range of focal lengths under a dark sky. But I'm not giving up on my back yard. I've converted the HD1100 to planetary and visual use, and I intend to replace Baby Scope here at home with a RedCat 71. I looked at the Baby Q, but I want a shorter focal length in a Petzval for home and travel--as well as something I can put a Quark stack on for solar imaging.  

So here it is--the last shot from Baby Scope at the Castle Hills Observatory next to my house.

Edited to add: I just noticed that this image puts me over 5,000 hours integration time. I use that as a measure of the total hours I've spent cognitively engaged with this avocation. Malcolm Gladwell famously once said that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. So I guess that means I've got another four years to go!