astronymonkey

What an interesting night. One.of.the problems I'm seeing is that there is so much energy in the high atmosphere that it appears to have an overall background glow So only the brighter columns are visible against the background. What a night , and another monster flare has just been emitted from the Sun too ! Cheers

Never seen this before kp9 ! Looking good for lighting up again in next 30mins or so .

Fab display tonight. Here's some photos from our garden .

I'd agree with the above, an engineering workshop will probably do it for a few beer tokens. If they use a threaded insert then you would be able to keep the same internal thread . I have 2 places I use depending on what I need ... one does sheet steel fabrication, the other does metal fasteners and fixings. Both are great for little jobs which only takes them 5 mins. Cheers

It's good to see you had a good good run of clear nights. I remember visiting a few years before covid and enjoyed it despite having cloud that weekend. Any more photos ??? Cheers

Hi, For my 16 inch dob I use the bag that a mattress came in that I got for free from a bed shop. It's from a double mattress and covers the scope from to top to the ground. It's nor breathable but is good for keeping the rain off with a bungee tied around it. Cheers

https://www.diy.com/departments/antinox-protective-board-h-2-4m-w-1-2m/1328561_BQ.prd This stuff works and is dirt cheap. I use it on my 16inch dob. 👍

Have you thought about flocking the inside of the tube rather than paint ? I'd do that on a Newtonian but I'm sure others.will be able to say if should be done on an SCT. Cheers

Love this , I still like the use of a hand sketched observing report. It really helps you concentrate and tease out the detail of what you are seeing. The only thing I would add is to calculate the field of view in degrees or minutes and add that to the info as it helps if you move on to star hopping and you get an idea of how far you are moving the scope and also how big you expect an object to appear in the eyepiece. Great job . cheers

Hi Hermann, I didn't clock that it was the secondary a a different type of scope ! I have it just on the primary of the Newtonian, I don't have anything on the secondary but it's a different optical arrangement in your scope so I'm sure someone will come along with a more suitable suggestion. Cheers

This type of thing is what I've used on my newtonians. Cheap and cheerful but do the job. https://www.ryman.co.uk/ryman-ring-reinforcements-pack-of-500-1

It's good to see that so many still have a soft spot for these eyepieces and given the price of them now I'm pleased I bought them when I did a number of years ago. I've thought of selling them every now and then but eyepiece technology doesn't move that quick so they are unlikely to go out of date or become obsolete. I think the 82degree FOV is a real sweet spot too , having looked through ethos and couldn't really see the added value the wider field would bring ... but that's just personal opinion. I know there are some who think that dobs get over promoted , and I agree that everyone has their own reason for using a particular scope. For me though, I am purely visual , enjoy deep sky , and the combination of a big mirror and a nice eyepiece is something I enjoy. I don't tend to have the time though these days but one thing I can be certain is that when I do get out with the scope this combination of mirror and eyepiece never seems to get old ! Cheers

Hmm, I'm thinking this may need a hairdryer on the outside tube to warm it up and expand it a little. It sounds like a bit of bonding so the expansion may help. Cheers

I remember a long time ago at a star camp being told to get good eyepieces secobd hand as the resale prices are normally good and you'll get your money back. The guy said that way you only really "borrow" them for a while as they don't end up costing you anything. Subsequently I bought a scope second hand about 6 years ago and I could probably sell it for the same money ... so I like to think it's not really cost me anything as its only on loan 🤔 🙃 😉

I've got the full T4 set and went to Delos for the higher powers. I wear glasses so the longer eye relief of these eyepieces are an advantage. In my f4.5 dob the cope well, much better than the stock eyepieces.