44 minutes ago, ED Splitter said:

I added that focuser to my FLO wish list just last night. Any chance of a picture of what the scope looks like with that baader? Did you find a different means of mounting a finder scope?

The ED Stock focuser is part of the scope that was  clearly value engineered to drive down cost. It’s either too tight or too loose according to user reports. The former for me so far, too scared to loosen it.
I have pined over a moonrise or feather touch. But only just noticed baader offering and they do make very nice shiny things, I mean valuable scientific instruments that are also shiny. 

And the finder shoe is this one…….

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/william-optics-vixen-style-finder-shoe-mounting-base.html
 

All really easy to fit

The SW 100ED is a great scope, I use mine a lot but the focuser is pants, it will struggle if you add any weight such as a click lock system and a heavier diagonal plus a Morpheus ep. I swapped the focuser out for a Baader steel track which is a massive improvement. 

1 hour ago, globular said:

I tend to keep my observing eye closed when not at the eyepiece.

Really good idea….consider an eyepatch, serves two purposes. You don’t have to squint when you have it over your non observing eye whilst at the eyepiece and when you walk away switch it to the observing eye to protect dark adaption. There are plenty of ways to minimize the effects of screens without giving up a really useful tool all together IMHO

It's an impossible question to answer, it depends on a number of factors....level of your dark adaption, level of light pollution and your own eyes, it will be different for everyone. I too, use a smartphone (with SkySafari) at the scope (sorry @ollypenrice 😉) but I have it set to the red screen and the brightness turned down (iPhone). It's not the ideal situation but everything is a trade off....I love Skysafari, it makes everything so much easier so it's worth risking a minimal amount of dark adaption, surely anyone using a paper star atlas, which I sometimes do aswell would have to use a light source to see it...probably white light if it's really dark

Personally I prefer the uhc over the OIII. Its not just about the darkness of the sky but also the aperture of the scope. I also use an 8inch newt and find it's at the limit of usefulness for an OIII filter, it's just about enough for this filter but I definitely wouldn't bother with a smaller aperture because an OIII will just darken the image too much, you need as much light as possible with this filter which is why it is not the best for an 8inch. I find the UHC better as it has a wider bandpass. I love observing planetary nebula, many of them can be seen without a filter, a UHC will assist in making it stand out against a black background, some, even in light polluted skies. The same object disappears from view with an OIII...when it would look great with a 12inch scope. I use the Astronomik filter (all my filters are Astronomik or Baader) and can fully recommend it.

If you want to save some money, just Astro mod your current camera and use an Original White Balance (OWB) filter to correct it for normal daytime photography. Take a look at this thread, works perfectly in daytime 

On 20/07/2022 at 13:50, ollypenrice said:

The only time I've seen any colour in a PN through a 20 inch at a dark site was the Cat's Eye, which seemed on the blue side.

Obviously, an OIII filter can give them a green tinge but that's to be expected.

Olly

On 19/07/2022 at 11:48, SthBohemia said:

😞 I have never seen any colour associated with planetary nebs through the largest scopes I have looked through being-  11" refractor and 16" Newt...

I'm a bit surprised, I've seen colour in a number of PN's with an 8 inch newt from light polluted skies. They are my favourite deep sky objects, a challenge to find and to identify, especially the small ones which i find can provide the best colour, because they can be pinpoint, which somehow concentrates their colour. 

There are a few whose colour is inescapable....NGC7662, The Blue Snowball has an obvious blue/green colour with and without filter. NGC7009, Saturn Nebula appears as a small blue disc at x153 and becomes oblong at x222, resembling it's namesake, add an OIII and it stands out against a black background but with no filter it is a small blue non stellar disc.

IC2149 (no filter) - Small with a blue tint at x111 but for me, higher power didn't assist

IC3568 (with and without filter) - Small bluish disc at x250 mag

NGC1501 - From my log entry - Lovely little blue planetary that flickered and blurred with poor seeing. Appeared to display a slight haze around the nebula which had a definite blue colour. Very small at 4.5mm (x222 mag). Tried OIII and UHC but neither worked. 

NGC7008 - Again, from my log entry - Easily found with 14mm (x71 mag). Switched to 6.5mm (x153 mag) and could see it as a very small disc, possibly blue/green in colour. Image was shifting with the seeing. 
Tried OIII - Nothing
Tried UHC - Could see nebula against a dark background but better without a filter

NGC6543, Cat's Eye (no filter) - As @ollypenrice said - Reasonably bright nebula with a bright disc which has a blue/green haze to it. I only added a UHC to provide contrast.

Admittedly, many PN's only have a hint of colour but I have found many with colour to offer. As for eyepiece choice....I treat them in the same way as i would planets....don't need wide FOV, just power, start low and ramp it up when you ID the target.

24 minutes ago, Tomatobro said:

I also clicked on the "notify me when available" but with demand outstripping supply I guess it did not meet the "when available" criteria.

Hope you’ve got your order in now 👍

I'm a bit disappointed i didn't receive the notification for this despite clicking on it on the website (FLO website that is, not this site,it's not in my spam) so I've only just seen the release 😪

Order is in now, just the mount only option, hoping that with everyone going for the bundle, the mount only version will be quicker....is that how it works??.....😀

Ah......you confused me by miss typing your title, I've just seen NGC6766 in your image title, not NGC6776.

NGC6766 is the same as NGC6884 in Cygnus, it was so good they named it twice!!.......

https://in-the-sky.org/data/object.php?id=NGC6766

NGC6776 is a galaxy in Pavo, along with NGC6776A, a sister galaxy in Pavo which are southern sky objects............from SkySafari.....

NGC 6776

NGC 6776 is a 12th magnitude Elliptical Galaxy appearing in the constellation Pavo. It is 252 million light years from our solar system.

NGC 6776A

NGC 6776A is a 13th magnitude Spiral Galaxy appearing in the constellation Pavo. It is 172 million light years from our solar system.

What you have imaged is NGC6884 in Cygnus.....again from SkySafari......

NGC 6884

NGC 6884 is a 11th magnitude Planetary Nebula appearing in the constellation Cygnus. It is 5354 light years from our solar system. NGC 6884 appears roughly 0.1 x 0.1 arcminutes in size, corresponding to a physical diameter of 0 light years.

Forgive me if i've misread your query, what is the object in Lyra described as??

Nice image by the way

We've just bought a static caravan in Tywin, Gwynedd, not far from Aberdovey....which in itself is fantastic, but to top it off, it's a bortle 3, which I rarely get to experience. It's on the coast with Snowdonia behind us and the skies are far darker than what I'm used to in Cheshire...on a good night the Milky Way stands out against a black sky instead of hiding in an orange haze. I haven't tried it yet, but there are also the mountains behind us to gain a bit of height and it would probably be even darker.......plenty of lay-bys to set up. I know there are darker places but the combination of sun (sometimes), sea, sand, beer and dark skies does it for me. If you're spending a few days away, it's important to think of the daytime as well, especially if you're taking the other half!!

On 15/06/2022 at 20:47, Astro_Dad said:

 

On desktop I’ve always preferred using Stellarium to SS - it is a “desktop first” application vs SS which is “mobile first” . (Info from Simulation Curriculum). 
 

 

Sorry i have to disagree regardless of what Simulation Curriculum say. i have SS6 Plus on a 24 inch iMac and it looks and works amazing, i also have SS7 on an iPhone, equally good. SkySafari works great on desktop and has more features than Stellarium, which I also have but rarely use these days. A particular feature of  SS is the session planning tool. Plan your sessions during the day on desktop and your plan will be on the phone for the night (regardless of the version...6 on desktop, 7 on phone, it doesn't matter). I also like the logbook feature which enables to log all your observations, equipment used etc, building your own database of all your observations to look back on. SS observing lists are really useful as well. Sorry, I don't work for SC but i am a big fan 😀

17 hours ago, Shimrod said:

I would guess the list of cameras is just not up to date -  it looks like it stops somewhere around 2015

I think you’re right. It has arrived and fits perfectly. I’ve tried it out and it’s perfect, no pink tinge to pictures….recommend it for anyone who wants to duel purpose their cameras

Your problem maybe crying out for a telrad with a deep sky atlas like the Interstellarum (for which i made a template). Widen your field of view to take in some easy to find stars and take that RACI out of the equation.........though, I suspect you've already considered that

So I found this. Appears to be exactly the same as the Astronomik version but half the price. Did a bit of research and it returns the camera to its pre-modded state but can be removed for Astro…..best of both worlds. Warning though for those considering it as well, it will not work with EF-S lenses as these lenses invade the space inside the camera, occupied by the filter. My camera (250d) is not on the list of compatible cameras but I can’t see why for the life of me, that it won’t work so fingers crossed. Thanks to @Dan_Paris for pointing me in the right direction 

https://www.365astronomy.com/optolong-owb-ccd-(original-white-balance)-clip-filter-for-canon-eos-aps-c-cameras?search=optolong&page=2

3 hours ago, Rallemikken said:

Don't most DSLR's have something called "Custom white-balance"? Seen it refered to, something about taking a picture agains a white paper sheet, and so fourth....

Correct, but it’s a right faff having to do it every time you change scene or subject 

On 02/06/2022 at 08:01, Dan_Paris said:

This one :

https://www.astronomik.com/en/clip-filter-system/clip-filter-eos-mit-astronomik-owb-ccd-typ-iii.html

 

although I'm not sure it'd work if the sensor is not in its original position?

Thanks Dan, that looks perfect, however, whilst researching it I notice that it is compatible with numerous Canon DSLR’s but the 250d is not on the list. I cannot work out why because there is a version for the APS C sensor and many of the compatible cameras use the EF and EF-S lens mounting. I can’t see why it wouldn’t work so I might risk it and give it a go

Hi all,

 I have a modded Canon 250d, in that the UV IR Cut filter has been removed and the sensor brought forward slightly.

Although the camera’s main use will be astro I would like to use for normal photography as well. Is there a clip on filter that can be attached to either the camera or a lens that will effectively un-mod the camera for daytime use?…or is this not possible??

I do think the nature of the equipment is a deterrent to burglars without the need for fancy defenses. Many burglars ( or trespassers in this case)can barely read, if they could they would have progressed to more lucrative criminality. I don’t think they would be able to dismantle my EQ6 R Pro in the dark and without making a racket and there is little chance of them moving it fully assembled. If they did get away with it, what would they do then??…they don’t know what it is. I think the average burglar would opt for something simpler like the garden shears out of of your shed…something they can sell for the next bag of weed! However it’s always possible……

Sky atlas 2000 for me and for when I want to go deeper, the Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas…an outstanding atlas for which I made a Telrad template 

I have to admit that I have both versions and I struggle to get good focus on the rings with both versions in my f5, though I’m not done yet and will keep trying 😀

Planetary nebulae. They are all different, many are colorful and they can be a challenge to glean detail from 

Lovely sharp image with a bonus galaxy bottom right. 

I’ve had the same problem with my SW100 ED refractor which just can’t handle the weight of Morpheus ep’s and a Baader click lock Star diagonal, I have to sometimes push the focuser in manually. So I have a Baader Diamond Steel Track on order which can handle huge weights. I also upgraded my 200PDS to a Moonlite focuser but I don’t think they make them anymore for reflectors which is a shame because it’s a great focuser, maybe you can get your hands on a used one. 
Stock focusers just don’t seem to cut it unless you’re forking out thousands for a high end scope