Jiggy 67

Nice report Baz, have you tried the Baader Contrast Booster. I’ve use one on Mars, like you, with a 9mm Morpheus (and the 6.5mm) and found that it did make the darker features of the planet stand out a bit Also, have a go at Neptune, smaller that Uranus but I think it shows better colour

Sorry it was a joke hence the laughing faces

I have a number of observing lists running and I like to check objects off as I observe them. Some objects will appear in more than observation list, for example The Ring Nebula appears in the Messier List and also in a Planetary Nebula list I use....and it may also appear in others. I've noticed in SkySafari 6 Plus, when you "create an observation", it lists your current observation lists in which the object appears, the idea being to pick a list and therefore show it as "observed" in that list. The annoying thing is that I don't appear to be able to pick more than one list, so the Ring Nebula can be crossed off in the Messier list but not the Planetary Nebula list. Do any SkySafari users know if there is a way of correcting this or if there is a quick and easy workaround??....I use SkySafari on Mac and iPhone btw

Likewise, I’m a visual observer and they don’t bother me.....however, there have been occasions when I’m concentrating on an object and a satellite whizzes through the fov causing me to nearly fall on my backside with surprise!! They do make me jump sometimes 😂

Very clever!!.....I’m impressed, just by asking the question he’s bumped his score right up, knew exactly what he was doing 😂😂

It’s not all about magnification, it can be about brightness in which case aperture is King, the more aperture, the more light into the scope and the brighter objects are

I sort of understand their policy of no returns, at least without good reason. Astronomy can be a hobby people take up on a whim. Within days of receiving a scope and mount, they get bored, find it too difficult or the view through the ep isn’t the Hubble photo they expected. So they try to return the equipment. A store can’t be expected to operate like that

Don’t want to tempt fate but......

All good advice, the one thing with planets is patient observing with dark adapted eyes, if you spend some time with planets you will find that detail may reveal itself as your eyes adapt to what you are looking at, the same applies to DSO’s. Just one question to @dweller25 ....surely you would point the scope up, not down to cool it as warm air rises so will escape quicker??

Hmmm....thankfully I’m in no rush so I can afford to be patient but I feel for those who want to get into the hobby but can’t because the equipment just isn’t available or they have to pay more......it will have a knock on effect on the second hand market as well, good for sellers, not so good for buyers

Having been in the market myself recently I think it’s the same wherever you look. It’s a case of putting your order in and being patient. I’ve paid for a SW 100ED DS Pro but the earliest I can expect for delivery is December and I’m not particularly confident of that. It’s not the vendor‘s fault, they can only supply what they can get their hands on........”stuff” is gonna be pretty thin on the ground for some time to come 😢

COVID has reduced everything to a trickle

This might sound obvious and I’m sure you’re all over this but the issues you describe are not likely to be as a result of being an hour out, if you were an hour out stars and DSO’ s would not be centered or even in the fov, in fact what you’re describing confirms that you’re inputting correctly. What ep are you using to find the planets, if you’re starting with high mag then it will be at the edge of the fov, I don’t think any GoTo would get it centre

I live under Bortle 6 skies, though I suspect it may be a 7 or 8 . I use an 8 inch reflector so a reasonable aperture for faint objects. Last week I observed M57, the best view was with the 9mm Morpheus (x111 mag) with a UHC filter. With averted vision I could see a Smokey ring but it didn’t jump out at me, it still required a bit of work to get a good look so I’m not surprised you’re finding it difficult

My neighbors are also aware and although I do my best to be quiet as possible, I still make unavoidable noise including my GoTo mount slewing. Some noise is inevitable no matter what you do. Neighbors tend to close their windows in the winter so I would be surprised if they ever heard anything

Yep, this is what it looks like but there’s a lot more than on this screenshot

My TG is the type with the silver lining under a stronger outer weatherproof layer. I’ve heard of the silver layer tearing but I leave a finderscope on and nothing has ever torn. It’s like anything, if you’re careful and look after things they can last for years

Ah I see, it’s a good idea to consider the neighbors. Having used a number of covers over the years including those made by Green Witch (when they existed) and bbq covers, I can guarantee that the tg is no noisier. As for size, although they are a snug fit, if you were to leave a guide scope on it would probably just lift the bottom of the cover a bit higher from the ground, I don’t use guide scopes so can’t be sure of that. You could also consider a size one bigger than the one designed for your setup

I’m intrigued as to why you need it so quiet (just being nosey I suppose) I use a Telegizmos and don’t find it to be at all noisey, no more sound than any other large cover I imagine and it doesn’t flap around at all if you get the right size for the scope and mount. I know they are expensive but they really are the best and I leave my scope and mount in all weathers for long periods of time.....they are worth the extra expense for piece of mind

I’m also doing the Messier List. I’m only up to 40 so far but loving the challenge. My problem will be galaxies as I really struggle with them under my lp skies but I hope to bag a few at Galloway next month. I’ve also got a spreadsheet going and all obs recorded on SkySafari as well as my scope side notebook (overkill I know). It’s a great idea to create a project that powers your observation session. I have a couple of others ongoing as well.....80 Planetary Nebula and the Cambridge Double Star Atlas, all with their own spreadsheets, SkySafari lists and notebooks

Looking good

FLO must be tearing their hair out at the moment. I have about 8 items on my wishlist at FLO. Had a look before and 6 of them were out of stock!!..the remaining two had limited availability of only two or three in stock. Obviously I’m not blaming FLO it must be like trying to swim upstream through white water at the moment

Wow what a night!

Very strange, I also live in Cheshire and found the seeing on Saturday to be almost perfect 🥺. I started around 9pm and managed to bag a couple of planetary nebulae that I had struggled with on the previous 2 nights, NGC40 for example was impossible on Friday night but found it quite easily on Saturday. Also observed Neptune which was small but clear as a bell, a lovely blue colour

We’ve all done it or similar, try scratching your head for 15 minutes trying to work out why all is black through the ep and then realizing the scope front cap was still on!!. I wouldn’t polar align without the weights on though, you might get perfect pa and then add the weights which will shift the mount