Jiggy 67

7t means “7 Timer” which is the resource from which the figures originate from

Impressed you saw it a small scope......and that you found it using nothing more than a star map!!......It is indeed, very glob like

I have mixed results quite often based on the transparency. Last night was pretty good but, like you John, no detail. I did have a fantastic view of M94 though, it was really bright and jumped right out. M94 is a lovely target for galaxy hunters, almost appearing as a globular cluster with its bright core

Totally agree, I’m under Bortle 6, according to Clear Outside but I suspect it may be higher so I never expect to see any detail in galaxies, the aim is just to find them and see something even if it’s so faint you need to use averted vision. I’ve been out the last 4 nights under clear skies and not seen a single spiral arm!! But with my 8 inch reflector I’ve been patrolling Leo and identified plenty of smudges to tick off the Messier and NGC lists.....Great fun!!!

Impressive results, stars are sharp and nice detail and colors.

Have you entered the date correctly, remember it needs to be in the American format month-day-year

I think you’re talking about getting the perfect home position. Watch this video for the perfect home position Other than for purpose’s like this the setting circles are useless so I wouldn’t bother with them

Great report Mark, you’ve given me some ideas for tonight to have a go at, just hope the transparency is better than last night, I really struggled with an a larger light pollution dome than usual, as the light scattered towards the zenith 😢😢

Damn!!!....I never thought of this!! I’ve been slewing around blindly looking for double ✨ not in the database when I could have used this function......what’s worse, I knew about it but didn’t think of it!! 😫😫😫

It’ll be interesting to see how you get on but I think the important thing is where you are on the Bortle Scale

Have you got the bottom plate square??..If I remember right there is a plate that holds the whole thing in place, if it’s not square it’ll make everything tight

Under Bortle 6 skies I can’t see M1 in my 200PDS!!😥😥

If you level the mount as best as possible, then place Polaris in the centre of the polar scope, you can then move Polaris to the top of the circle USING ALT BOLT ONLY, Polaris is now at 12 O’Clock, just move the RA axis to put the scope 12 o’clock on Polaris and lock the clutch. your polar scope is calibrated. Then carry out PA using whichever app/method you use

I can think of worse places to social distance Olly!! 😀😀

Well my recent purchase from you was paid for with money I’ve saved on petrol as I’m working from home.....every cloud.....

Bizarre!!.....Thanks Ciaran, looking at that excellent sketch (and the two prominent stars to the left of the nebula) makes me think I was viewing it 😀😀 Talk about timing of unrelated posts!!

That is a fantastic sketch!!....in more ways than one. Tonight I posted a report in the Observing Report section about last night and my observations of M97. I wasn’t sure I was actually seeing it but your sketch and the prominent 2 stars to the left confirm it!!...Thanks

Yeh, I’m not sure I’ve actually been on it, does my description sound like it could be it??

Good call!!

So every weather and astro weather app I have told me that last night (Friday 20th) was going to be clear throughout the whole night.......they couldn't be more wrong, I went out at around 8pm and by 11.30pm, total cloud cover!!!....all was not a complete disaster though as in the 3 hours or so I had, I managed some quite good observations. I thought I'd start with some nice Messier Open clusters so M50, M47, M46 and M48 got the treatment. M50 and M47 were easy but fairly nondescript, I suppose they are just there to be ticked off the Messier Marathon, put it this way I didn't spend long in their company but I really love M46. I found this to be a lot dimmer than the other two and it required a bit more magnification so I took it x83 mag and it appeared as a beautifully rich star field with thousands of stars resolved......a real stunner for an Open Cluster. The same is true of M48, my next target, another rich field of hundreds of stars. Next up was NGC2264, The Christmas Tree Open Cluster and its resident, The Cone Nebula. The cluster itself was lovely and bright but there was no chance of seeing the nebula in my Bortle 6 skies, I made a token effort by ramping up the magnification but quickly gave up. My next target was M53, a Globular Cluster rising in the East and by 10.15pm it was at a reasonable altitude. This is quite a dim glob and at X60 mag I found it to be a fuzzy cloud like structure and I was unable to resolve any stars. I did try higher magnifications but they didn't really work.....sometimes the best views are at lower mags, they provide an overall more pleasing image, even though you can't resolve the detail. It was still worth the effort...I love globs!! My last target of the night was M97, the Owl Nebula. Now I've made a couple of attempts at this and I've never been sure that I've seen it....in fact, I'm still not 100% so what I'm about to describe maybe complete garbage and I might be describing a dim star but.......I found it to very faint and very small. The best view I could get was with my Vixen 8mm (125 mag) and an Astronomik UHC filter where I could see the faint small disc with a possible hint of blue, I found it better with averted vision. I also tried an Astronomik O111 filter but that just blackened it out of view......which make me wonder if it was the neb?? By now the clouds were rolling in, including some very wispy high cloud which didn't help my attempt at M97 so I packed up. Overall though it was a very good evening, just a shame it was cut short as, without the clouds, the seeing was very good. Thanks for reading

Beta Mon is a stunning triple star system

just make sure everyone stays one field apart!!!......enjoy, looks like the skies are going to be kind

Hmmmm....I think there is a clear message in this thread 😀...however, seeing as how I’m working through the current crisis from home I would only be spending money that would normally be spent on petrol so I might just go for it (perverse logic I know but it works for me!)

Thanks guys, yeh I’ve read about the yellow tint. I think I can live with that if the filter brings out a bit more detail and enhances the object against a black background in my Bortle 6 skies. Have you noticed an improvement in fine detail??..Littleguy I know you had issues with a sandstorm but have you tried it on Jupiter

I’m considering one of these for my 200PDS reflector as I believe they are really good on planets, however they are not necessarily optimized for reflectors. I already have the Baader Moon and Skyglow filter so is the opinion that the Contrast Booster would be a worthwhile addition????