Stu

Bill Anders, who was on Apollo Eight and took the Earth rise image, has been killed in a plane crash aged 90. It shows something about these men that he was still piloting a plane solo at that age. Very sad. https://news.sky.com/story/astronaut-william-anders-who-captured-iconic-earthrise-image-dies-in-plane-crash-13149698

What I find frustrating is when you KNOW someone will need to refocus but they look through and say ‘no, that’s fine’ 🤬. An example would be if they do not wear glasses, and I have focused the scope using my short sighted eyes. To counter this, I sometimes try to focus wearing my glasses in the hope that this results in a focused view for someone with good vision.

Magnus’ wedge is already converted to have a shorter light path and T2 direct connection for binoviewers if wanted.

@AryaanHegde I was under similar skies with 15x50 binos on Saturday and saw a small handful of objects despite summer skies. M13 is easy to find, 1/3 of the way along between ETA and Zeta Herc. M92 is more tricky and it is smaller and a little further from the main four stars. In my case, with a 4.5 degree field, I placed Pi Herc at one edge of the fov and then carried on panning away from it. With a bit of panning around I found it fairly quickly. M57 is tiny in binos, perhaps not worth trying in x10, but getting Sulafat and Shelia’s centred in the field of view allows you to find it just off the line between them. M27 I find by extending a line from Alberio, perpendicular to the main line of Cygnus. This gets you in the right ball park to find it. The Coathanger or Brocchi’s Cluster is a nice one and again I find it from Alberio. Alberio itself is lovely, splitting at x15 and I imagine should just be possible at x10 but not sure M81 and M82 are also possible, though trickier in these lighter skies. There is an easy star hop to them which takes you right there, shown in this image. I find extending a line from Upsilon through h Ursa Majoris takes you straight to the triangle. Then extend a line from the base of the triangle and that gets you to the line, then you are there. All that seen in binos, plenty of other lovely stuff too, open clusters in particular are great such as Melotte 111.

Or even at GT40 👍 Not directly no. I bought 58mm to 48mm step down rings and they fit nicely to those. I also bought 58mm solar filters which screw directly in. These maintain the 58mm thread at the front so you can add the step down rings and filters ahead of those which cuts down CA and boosts the detail a bit for solar. Could add two continuum filters if you wanted but I can’t justify buying more just for this.

I’ve just got back from a wonderful weekend at the National Kitcar exhibition at Malvern Three Counties Showground. The setting is beautiful, and the weather particularly today was lovely. I drove up in convoy with eleven other Westfields, and there were around 85 parked up on the Westfield ‘Avenue’ as they call it. I thought about taking my FS-60C, but in the end all I could fit in was the Canon 15x50IS binos, plus my solar filters and OIII/UHC filters. Last night was clear later on, so I had a nice mooch around once it got a bit darker. Despite being very rural, the usual annoying lights remained on the toilet blocks which prevented me seeing as much as I might have. I caught M81/82, M13 and 92, M57 and 27 aswell as the Coathanger and Alberio. I just about split Mizar which looked great will Alcor. Naked eye Alcor was very clear. I tried for the NAN with the filters but couldn’t claim to have seen it, but plenty of nebulosity in that area. This morning I fitted my solar filters, plus the OIII and UHC, one on each channel and had some good views of the numerous sunspots, including, I believe, the return monster of Northern Lights fame. Detail is obviously limited at such low mag and aperture, but all the main ARs were seen, including one right on the limb. I could just about detect some faculae near one of the areas too. So, nice to be able to have a quick fix of one hobby whilst enjoying the other. My biggest mistake is having two that require good weather to enjoy! Fortunately when the weather plays ball like this weekend, I get a double whammy. I had a fab drive back down through Ross on Wye and back over the old Severn crossing. Great fun!

That’s a shame, but your solution seems good 👍

Is there a thread in front of the objectives on these ones Jeremy? I found some screw in filters for my 15x50IS which work really well.

I guess because it’s lighter and quicker to setup; just plonk down level and North and turn the tracking on, no alignment necessary. Easier for solar and for quick lunar:planetary sessions. Plus it has a handset for easy slewing around the target, and yes I know Rowan are bringing one out but I don’t have that yet.

Should work very well, and much more easily for planetary and is perfectly doable for DSO although I haven’t tried that. I think @PeterStudz is our resident expert on this topic 👍

Ah, but as in this case, a dob on an Equatorial Platform (not mount) is still a dob!

Which scope is it for Chaz? I use a Gitzo GT5542LS and a ScopeTech Zero mount as a lightweight grab and go for my FC100DC. Both of these are no longer available but the latest Gitzo equivalent is the GT5543LS. There is now a Sightron Japan Alt-Az Mount which is similar to the old ScopeTech I believe. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/alt-azimuth-astronomy-mounts/sightron-japan-alt-azimuth-mount.html

I don’t seem to be able to find the time for getting the scopes out currently, too much DIY and house/garden maintenance to do! Anyway, I managed to put our hammocks out at the weekend and have been enjoying a relax, looking up at the Moon and stars this evening. This is a 3 second shot from the hammock, handheld with an iPhone 15 Pro. Just shows the stabilisation works well! I managed to unwittingly catch Mel 111 in the second on I believe.

I guess if you think what the little Seestar is capable of now, fast forward five years and….. 😱 I have a 16” dob in the garage but it hasn’t been used for a while…..

If just wanting to travel light, I would take these with mine: 3 to 6 Nagler Zoom or SvBony 3 to 8mm Zoom Leica 8.9mm to 17.8mm Zoom 24mm Panoptic I would likely choose the SvBony vs Nag as they are very similar quality and the Sv has the extra range, although eye relief is a consistent 10mm on the Nag which is nicer. The Leica is pricey, but in my experience equals top notch eyepieces certainly over most of the fov, and it has between 60 and 80 degrees afov so doesn’t feel too constricted. Better than the Baader too from a limited side by side I did. There is also the APM 7.7mm to 15.4mm Zoom which is highly rated, with a fairly consistent 66 degree afov. Cheaper than the Leica but range not quite as good. It’s worth having the 24mm Pan along as it is one of the best eyepieces out there, a little gem in my book and the Baader Zoom at 24mm wouldn’t replace it.