michael.h.f.wilkinson

I have checked collimation and it cannot be far off if you get albedo spots on Ganymede. I didn't use IR on the above image (this was taken with my ASI182MC, and it has subtle colour).

I hope so too, but it will be assigned a new number, no doubt

I have a Celestron C8, and I have had good results, but I feel I have pushed it to its limits, and want more.

I see them too. If you look very carefully at the full-resolution images, some parts do seem to have a very fine stripe pattern. This could cause Moire effects when subsampling in a simplistic way. Very nice images. This is not good for my latent aperture fever.

Just got an alert on Spaceweather Live of an X-class flare (X3.48) and rushed out my little Coronado SolarMax-II 60 mm. Just beyond the limb, at the spot where AR3664 is hiding, there was an extremely bright spot, still apparently linked to the limb by a somewhat fainter bridge. Clearly, the flare is a parting shot from AR3664.

I got alarms on both SpaceWeather and Aurora apps, and as the sky was clear, I went to my favourite spot with relatively dark skies and clear northern horizon (Aduarderzijl). Nothing was visible with the naked eye, but My camera seems to pick up a purplish-red glow low over only the northern horizon. It was absent elsewhere. I took a series of shots with my Canon EOS-M6 mk-II, with Canon 22 mm F/2 lens (similar to 35mm in full frame), and stitched them in MS-ICE. A tweak of curves in Gimp gives this result Not brilliant, but because the purplish red colour only appears to the north, I do believe these are my first northern lights

My score is 99%

I have seen both the Pup and E and F in a Celestron C8, so an 8" Newtonian should be fine, but good sky conditions are a must

Just bodged together a cool pair of eclipse glasses for my little binoculars. One piece of Baader Solar Film and some cardboard from a six-pack of beer, plus some black tape, and the result works neatly for those with an interpupillary distance of around 73 mm. Spotted one big sunspot plus a little one with them. I am currently in Stonewall, Texas awaiting the eclipse, but the forecast is not good, so I doubt I will be able to do any imaging. These SUNoculars will be ideal for potential quick glimpses through gaps in the clouds. Fingers crossed.

I will probably be visiting friends in Leon, Spain, which is also on the eclipse line. Not ideal as the sun will be low in the sky, but certainly a cheap option

80s seems about right, but 90s is also possible. Note that Vixen made quite a few items marketed by Celestron.

That is very nice indeed

I have readily seen the spiral structure in M51 from a very dark site (Bortle 1) with my 8" SCT, but it is very hard from my Bortle 4-5 garden. A 16" RC at work can readily pick up the spiral arms from the outskirts of the city of Groningen (Bortle 6-7 I would guess). I should add that the view from the dark site in Southern France with an 8"was more impressive than what the 16" could do from the city. Aperture is apparently less important than sky background. With M101 things are curiously different. Due to the low surface brightness I could not really see the arms from a fairly dark site (Bortle 2-3) with my C8, but as my eye moved over the FOV, I got the impression of rotating motion, which is a common illusion when looking at spiral patterns. Using Olly Penrice's 20" Dob (Sir Isaac) from his beautifully dark site made the spiral arms stand out very clearly indeed.

Fingers crossed!

I will be in Stonewall, near Fredericksburg, Texas.