Jiggy 67

Surrounding and packing it amongst pillows is good as well 

I find the 4.5 and 6.5 really comfortable but I have added the extension ring which prevents kidney beaning. I actually find the 6.5 really useful when I add the 2.25 Barlow, in my newt, it gives me x346, just right for those small pn’s 

11 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Great thread, Baz, thanks for posting 👍. As a big fan of Morpheus I meant to reply earlier but "life" got in the way (don't let anyone tell you that retirement brings lots more free time!)😂.

My Morpheus "journey" began soon after their initial launch..I bought the 14mm new, when FLO had them on offer at £149, on the basis that I liked Baader stuff, (apart from the Hyperion range which I never took to): I've owned several Hyperion zooms which are excellent, and I still have a Hyperion Barlow 2.25x which is also excellent: I also had their Maxbright binoviewers in the past, with good results.

I was shocked to find that the 14mm Morpheus comprehensively beat the Pentax 14mmXW I owned at the time..shocked, because XWs are living legends in the eyepiece world (and I still believe the shorter focal lengths, especially the 7mm and 10mm, are superb). However, the 14mm and 20mm XWs do suffer significant field curvature, and the Morpheus 14mm (and Vixen LVW 22mm Vs the XW20mm) really showed this up. I ended up selling my 14 and 20 mm XWs, and bought the Morph 14 and LVW 22mm to replace them.. the Morpheus' extra 6 degrees fov was really noticeable, and the Morph edged the XW on contrast as well.

I would have liked the 12.5mm Morpheus too, but at the time all this was happening (2016), I was negotiating to buy my beloved Tak FS128 apo scope: this was a massive purchase for me, and necessitated my selling almost all my other equipment and scopes to fund the Tak..so I never did buy the 12.5mm then, even though I've always felt that the 12-12.5mm focal length is a sweet spot for eyepieces..nowadays, that slot is filled by a very nice Nagler T2 12mm 82deg unit. 

I eventually sold the Morph 14mm (and a 9mm I had bought later, it was excellent) on the altar of the Tak purchase (which process took fully 10 months to complete!), and for a while I was Morph-less while I waited for fully 3 years until the launch of the 17.5mm to finish the range.

The 17.5mm was worth waiting for! I bought one new, and later a second one I found used, in great condition, for Binoviewing.. they were superb in the BV, and I was able (just) to use them in the Tak natively, ie without a Barlow lens, giving just under 60x magnification. The 17.5mm are significantly smaller than other Morphs, and I believe one of the reasons for the long delay in their launch was Baaders' wish to have the 17.5mms optimised for use in their Maxbright BV's MK1, and looking ahead, for the MkII's which were launched just before Covid but which are virtually unobtainable at the moment.

I sold my BV's and one of my 17.5s as part of my plan to buy a pair of MKIIs late this year, but I kept one of the 17.5s for cyclops viewing, as I like it so much.

For me, the standout features of the Morpheus range are:

- Class leading contrast

- Wonderful coatings and transmission, the best I have seen

- Superb viewing comfort, and the winged eyeguards really do help cut stray light down, especially in a binoviewer

- work great in the 2.25x Hyperion Barlow. My 17.5mm reduces to an effective 7.77mm, giving 133x in the Tak: a very useful magnification for Jupiter for example

- I find the 76 Deg field a sweet spot between genuinely widefield views and longer eye relief than with most UWAs such as Nagler 82degs for example.

- no barrel undercuts, which I loathe..the safety kerfs feature really works but never snags on diagonals or compression rings.

Almost inevitably, I suppose, the price of the Morpheus has been edging up, to closer to the Pentax XW range. But I still think they offer good value for the performance they deliver, and if you can find a nice used one for c £130-£150, they are outstanding value👍.

Highly recommended 😊.

Dave

Have to agree with everything you’ve said Dave. I was lucky as I used lockdown and the petrol money saved by working from home to buy one a month. I don’t know if I need the full range but after purchasing the 17.5 first followed by the 9mm I had to buy the rest

Beautiful!!

5 hours ago, Goldfinger said:

have an apartment in downtown St Louis, Missouri

You might be interested in this location near you 

Do you have an iPhone? The spirit level is excellent and circular allowing to level at all angles 

Keep the reports coming Joe, I take it it’s your winter down under. As the skies get lighter all night here in the UK, for many of us, the only stargazing we’ll do will be via your reports!! 😀

I had to wait about 4 months for my 100ED to arrive after ordering and paying for it. It’s a pain, but when it arrives several months after you’ve absorbed and forgotten the cost it’s like getting a new expensive toy for free! 😀

I wish we had something similar in the UK (I’m assuming this facility is not in the UK)

I have also lost faith in Clear Outside. I have four different apps and the best I would say is Ventusky 

I suggest you read this thread

You will not see galaxies as you see them in photos. With your skies and scope the best you can expect is some very faint smudges and the large nebula are very difficult to tease any detail out. A dark site will help but you may have to adjust your targets for now. There is plenty more, well visible in your scope and skies....double stars, planetary nebula, planets and star clusters. 
Save the galaxies and large nebula for a dark sky site, consider star parties for example where other observers can help you out or join a local astronomy club. There is plenty to see, but sometimes, you have to alter your expectations. 

That is truly a work of beauty, well done 👍 

Another one for M102 - 5866

@Barry-W-Fenner has given an excellent review of the range. I also use the extension rings but I have fitted them to all the range, I find them more comfortable and they prevent kidney beaning at the shorter focal lengths, the 4.5 and 6.5. I find the 6.5mm to be most useful when used with the Baader 2.25x Barlow which gives me a X346 mag, at the upper end of usability but not over it, with the 8’ newt, the contrast (a particular benefit of the Morpheus range imo) and magnification with this combination makes faint planetary nebula pop out. The 4.5 speaks for itself, sharp with good magnification and a wide fov. The 17.5 is outstanding. It’s wide fov makes it perfect as a finder ep and excellent for clusters in its own right. What can’t be understated with the Morpheus is the high contrast, I don’t know if it’s the particular coatings used but they definitely have an ability to search out fainter objects than that seen by other brands.

The 14 and 12 are probably the least used by me, I don’t doubt their ability, and I find the quality of view to be just as good as the 17.5, a nice sharp view to the field stop, apart from maybe the las 10% (though I would estimate 5%) as you mentioned Baz, where stars begin to stretch, but that doesn’t bother me as I move targets to the centre, I just don’t really have a need to use them that much, for me it’s the 17.5, 9, 6.5 and 4.5, they are the work horses and I wouldn’t swap them for anything, even Televue 

As a rider I have to say that I’m a massive fan of all things Baader, whether it be the click lock system which I’ve recently installed to my frac or their excellent filters such as the contrast booster, meaning I need nothing else for planets. The build quality is exceptional and the same is true of the Morpheus eyepiece 

Hi Joe. Nice report. I was also observing The Ghost of Jupiter last night though it’s quite low in my sky and right in the glare of light pollution. It’s a lovely planetary. I tried it with both a UHC and OIII filter, both made it jump out quite well 

On 07/04/2021 at 13:22, Adam J said:

The issue is that I don't want to take someone who is happy with what they have posted and effectively make them unhappy and potentially discourage them. 

In my opinion there’s your answer.

 I am no expert and wouldn’t ever offer advice unless it was asked for, I don’t want to be responsible for incorrect advice, especially in a hobby where opinions differ so frequently, I definitely wouldn’t advise someone to send a scope back, when it is possible that another member may have the opinion that the collimation may need tweaking for example. If someone is happy and proud of what they have produced then encouragement should be given. As people learn, then they start to ask questions, leave them be to enjoy what they are doing until that time arises. No one should assume that everyone takes their past time as seriously as you, or we do

39 minutes ago, amaury said:

With excellent conditions sure it is achievable. 

I wouldn’t rule out a Barlow, just get a good one, they double your eyepiece collection. I wouldn’t be without one 

You can certainly go way beyond x200 in UK skies depending on the seeing at the time. With good to excellent seeing x300 with an 8’ scope is achievable 

3 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

f anything, local light pollution has got worse due to DIY enthusiasts locked down at home putting up ever more fancy garden lights and security lighting. Grrrrrr! 🤬

A few years ago, the middle class obsession was fire pits and chimeneas (sorry can’t spell that) The new “on trend “ items to have are fancy garden lights hung everywhere they possibly can. I’ve noticed it in my road, lights everywhere, front and back, on all night, serving no purpose whatsoever because everyone’s in bed by 11. My brother has fitted expensive events level lighting all around his garden fencing....on three sides!! When I asked him why, he replied “They look nice and are better than than the neighbors’” who have also fitted some......thankfully they live on the other side of the country!!!

Great report, sounds like the Mrs had a great night!!

Do you have problems negotiating the flat bed lorry, needed for that dob, around those country lanes?? 🤣

8 hours ago, Marki said:

I do the same, Jiggy, My Az-Eq6 GT lives outside more or less permanently under a TG cover just outside my kitchen. All I have to do is put the scope out and power up. I do align each time though, but it doesn't take long  - I usually do a 1 star in the area I plan to observe that night, or bracket the taget zone with a 2 star if I'm feeling super techie ;). No distance to bring the scope in if the weather turns, although my house does effectively block any views to the west. Still, I'm getting to appreciate the seasonal change in the eastern sky better :).

It’s interesting that you Star align every session....have you tried the start from saved position option, I don’t use it every time but when I have I’ve found it to be spot on. I even leave the reflector on the mount (not the frac, cos that’s really light and easy to set up) and I have never had any issues with the weather, no matter how bad it is. So sometimes I can be observing within minutes 

Like John said, if I had to cart everything in and out I wouldn’t bother half as much, I actually didn’t a few years ago when I gave up for that reason. Just leaving everything out was like an epiphany that changed everything 

If only I knew, I use Procyon as my second alignment star, I could have killed two birds with one stone!!.....easy....no problem.....right??? 😀

Thanks John, I’m guessing I imagined any sign of the secondary , we’ll have to wait a few years for the separation to widen

Last night finally cleared at around 10pm. My plan was to hunt some galaxies around the Markarian Chain region, maybe tick off some Messier objects I haven't observed for a while or even bag some new ones.........however, galaxies and I have a love/hate relationship...i love them and they hate me, I think they are scared of me, they always hide whenever I am out!!....they are my nemesis, probably as a result of the heavily light polluted skies I endure. As a result I tend to take any excuse to avoid them and I happened to come across an observing plan from a few nights ago which I wasn't able to complete due to cloud so I started on that at around 10pm with the 8 inch reflector. Seeing was reasonable and the moon was no-where to be seen.

I started with Epsilon Hydrae, a white star with a much smaller, perhaps 1/5 size, pale blue and very faint, very close (almost touching) companion at 4 o’clock. 4.5mm (x222 mag). I went on to Kappa Leonis, a bright white/orange star with a much fainter pale blue star easily separated with 17.5mm (x57 mag) at 7 o’clock. B star approx 1/5 size of A.

Next was my only galaxy of the night....grrrrrr.....M49. It was visible as a faint stellar object at 17.5mm (x57 mag) and likewise through all focal lengths with and without light pollution filter. At 6.5mm (x153 mag) and 4.5mm (x222 mag) appears as a blurry ill defined star, the bright core of the galaxy. Light pollution filter reveals what appears as nebulosity around the core. No detail visible at any focal length.

One of the highlights of the night was M3, a globular cluster with a lot to say. Globs are probably one of my favourite objects to observe and M3 never disappoints, Huge glob at 6.5mm (x153 mag). Beautiful and stunning! Numerous stars resolved and the glob takes up 50% of the field of view. Really nice at 17.5mm (x57 mag) as well where it appears as a large cloud.

Onto Alkalurops (Mu1 Bootis), Lovely triple star. Consists of a large white primary with a wide separation to a faint small star at 1 o’clock. Easily separated with 17.5mm (x57 mag).
6.5mm (x153 mag) and 4.5mm (x222 mag) show the secondary to be a close binary with two evenly matched small stars, one on top of the other. Very close seperation. And then Izar (Epsilon Bootis). Easily split with 17.5mm (x57 mag). Large bright white star with a much smaller and fainter blue star at 4 o’clock.

Xi Bootis was next, and another highlight of the night. Lovely double star. White primary with 1/2 size pink/auburn secondary very close with 4.5mm (x222 mag) at 8 o’clock
Very nice. Not far away is Pi1 Bootis, A beautiful pair of white stars, close separation, best at 9mm (x111 mag). Secondary approx 1/5 size of primary at 2 o’clock. Lovely binary system.

I had a go at Zeta Bootis and I started a separate thread on this one. If I say that this binary are currently separated by a distance similar to that of the distance from Mars to the Sun.......enough said.

I finished the night with M5, bizarrely a glob I have never observed before, or if I have, I have never recorded it. It was visible as a large cloud like structure with 12.5mm (x80 mag) but no resolvable stars. Unfortunately I had to cut this short due to clouds rolling in. It was now 1.30am and I had had a great night......but with only one galaxy!!

NGC 1746 is the larger cluster but contained within it are two smaller clusters NGC1750 and 1758, could that be what you’re seeing?