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I have thought exactly this for a long time, maybe we should exchange forum names?

Yes, eyeglass cleaner is fine and safe to use. Only spray it onto the tissue and nor directly onto the lens just in case it seeps between the elements.

Absolutely right @josefk! I like coming on this side of the forum and getting inspired by what other people are doing. For me, it makes it feel like more of a community, if that makes sense - we exchange views and reports in a way that wouldn't be fully possible without sketching. Although the M44 you posted yesterday was from another universe (in terms of quality at least)

Nice. I recognise those stars 🙂. The beauty of this game is it does feel like these wonderful things are committed to memory better.

This won't last... 58 N is a terrible latitude to be doing astronomy during summer... 🥲

Telescope Live replied. They said no to EAA style scheduling.

Glad you had a chance to get out and view something.

Another point that Cuiv made was that the camera does not seem to have an output usb, which - if true - will not allow the owners of this camera to use it with other acquisition software; making it a rather very expensive item.

Thanks a lot for your kind words! Cheers Göran

Looks like an interesting scope for Astrophotography, optics designed by Licktener Optics.

Forgot to update this.. went with the TS Flat2 in the end. Works well with the 533 sensor, not tried APSC yet. Flat field, nice stars. There's significant backfocus with this, around 120mm or thereabouts, so I needed an extension tube and a spacer between flattener and camera. Getting the right backspacing is a case of trial and error with APSC, from what I have read

Glad to hear that. Would enjoy having a look at some of your reviews if you'd like to share any.

one last go from me. its not as good as alacants and took me slightly longer than 5 minutes but its not a bad effort. i did a gentle sharpening in astro sharp just as a test. alacant got more detail out of the fatter sprial arms, but im not a million miles away.

It wasn’t there. I asked, they said it is still in the design and development stage so not ready for reveal. HTH

Final process, I promise! Given that it's a very recent image, I decided to give this the PI and XT treatment now that I'm full on learning this software. Noise has gone, tidal tail from NGC 3628 more visible and, to my eye, a better colour balance. Comments welcome as always 🙂

Slight reprocess

That's a strong tail for a comet so far out. Very promising. I just happen to be in South Africa in September when it should be naked eye visible and have booked my flight seat so I can see it from altitude. I have a good feeling about this one. Lots still to find out. What colour will it be? Will it be twin tailed? If the projection in Stellarium is anywhere near accurate, it's going to be an amazing sight.

Hi Oddsocks wow what a comprehensive reply just by reading what you have said I’m leaning more towards the 10u I was leaning that way anyway as I think the learning curve for the paramount is very steep whereas not so for the 10u . I have read some of both the forums it seems to me that users seem to have more problems with the paramount than the 10u and the sky x is harder to learn ,also you’ve got to read the manuals thoroughly. cheers Dave

There's a lot of 12P Pons-Brooks pictures in the widefield Special Events section 😉

I have just had a look at the images. Absolutely speechless. I would never have imagined that was even possible. I have so much to learn. Thank you

Are you sure that it is the blocking filter that needs replacing? It's usually the ITF filter, the one that is fitted before the blocking filter that fails and needs replacing. 🙂

From the UK it's not possible to see Pons-Brooks anymore. The comet is now visible in the southern hemisphere. There might be another comet visible from the UK in October. https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/comet-c-2023-a3-tsuchinshan-atlas

@almcl With perfect collimation, if you defocus, the central spike of the 11 and 1 o'clock patterns move towards each other, and the 3 o'clock central spike moves up. The 5, 7 and 9 o'clock patterns are the same as those that differ by 6 hours (opposite of the central star). If the 3 o'clock spike moves up, so does the 9 o'clock spike. A tri Bahtinov mask produces three ordinary Bahtinov patterns. The idea is that with miscollimation, the three patterns are focused at different focuser positions. Collimation equalises the focus positions. It's like a three legged stool, where you want the seat to be absolutely level. What I found in my second test was that I could move focus position quite a distance before I could see a clear shifting of the central spike. That is why I questioned its applicability. Otoh, it may very well be that the coupler between the focus motor and the focuser shaft has come loose during the winter, causing some play in the focuser. The large temperature fluctuations that we've experienced during winter, can do that. I just put my gear in summer storage until mid August (no astro darkness left after the coming full moon), but I plan to do some more tests when I set up again. I will have to check collimation then anyway, so I will be doing a side by side comparison (barlowed laser/cheshire vs tri-Bahtinov mask) then.

Doing a mini Messier marathon tonight. I’m shooting 15 minuTes on a bunch of targets, just to see what I can get in a short time. With the full moon and a blustery breeze, it’s not the night for anything seriousI a, going for 30 second exposures so there will be more exposures and more benefit from dithering, and binning 2x to compensate for the short exposure time.

~ 14 pages on this one eyepiece? Brother! .