John

No problem at all Dave - it may clear later but if not I think the prospects later this week might be hopeful

........ and now clouded out

Thanks - I only do a few snaps a year so I make the most of it when one comes off !

My 22 year old Vixen ED102SS is cooled and waiting

This image that I snapped last night shows a couple of the Lunar 100 targets: A = the Leibeniz Mountans (L96) and B = crater Drygalski (L94)

Under last nights excellent seeing conditions and with a favourable lunar libration I managed to capture an image of the south polar limb of the moon. These were discussed briefly in the "What did you see tonight ?" thread in the general observing section. Having done a bit more research today I have managed to find an annotated image of this area of the moon, this time made in 2007, by Charles A Wood, the co-author of the excellent "21st Century Atlas of the Moon". I have cropped and re-orientated my image to match that of Charles's image and I can see that I have managed to capture a number of the mountain peaks and craters that he has labelled. The crater Drygalski is Lunar 100 #94 and the Leibniz Mountains (the ones designated M1, 3, 4 & 5 I think) are #96. I'm pleased with this from a simple mobile phone snapshot and to see this part of the moon in some detail. The Leibniz Mountains are on the rim of the South Polar-Aitken Basin which is a huge 2,500km diameter ancient impact feature. Charles A Wood's 6th January 2007 image: My 17th January 2022 image:

Yes, I got that quite clearly with my 100mm refractor last night. Not much of a "waist" to it but no doubt that it is a pair of stars Somewhere between "elongated" and "resolved" from the guide below, with the 100mm:

I agree Steve, it was the same from here

I snapped similar pics to the ones @IB20 caught with my mobile and I'm now trying to ID some of the features. The bright crater in the wider view is Tycho:

I'm not a lunar expert but I think the humps and bumps are the Leibnitz Mountains and the crater is Hausen. But wait for someone who really knows their lunar features to confirm (or otherwise) this ! Thanks for the "heads up" on this region - I'm looking at it now with my Tak 100

For a challenge I tried Kappa Geminorum. Just 3.2 degrees from the full moon tonight so spotting the 8th magnitude primary star at 7.2 arc seconds separation from the magnitude 3.6 primary star tests the eye as it's bathed in moonglow. I found 180x did the trick but I had to look hard ! I'll find some that are further away from the lunar searchlight I think

Full moon but observing multiple stars is still fun The seeing is really good here currently. E & F Trapezium with my 100mm refractor - must be a decent night

Hi Alex, I was using the Pentax XW 5mm. The scope is capable of 300x plus with ease although Jupiter is usually more rewarding in terms of sharpness and contrast (with all scopes) at slightly lower magnifications than other planetary targets.

20 lbs is really quite reasonable for a 155mm triplet refractor. My 130mm F/9.2 triplet weighs that much. Still have to be careful mounting and dis-mounting such scopes though - don't want any accidents to observer or scope of course !

Unless you are observing from an area with a lot of light pollution or under a bright moon, the Orion Nebula can be seen glowing faintly with binoculars and optical finder scopes. From Australia, Orion looks like this, with the position of the Orion Nebula marked in this image. Use a low magnification eyepiece (say 30x - 50x) and point the scope towards the part of the constellation indicated and you should see the nebula:

The pale swirly lunar feature I mentioned earlier, Reiner Gamma, is pretty interesting - possibly a mini magnetic shield but there are other theories as well: https://the-moon.us/wiki/RoI_-_Reiner_Gamma

The illumination tonight is pretty close to that of the image Steve

Currently enjoying views of the Mare Procellarum and in particular the craters Krafft and Cardanus with the crater chain Catena Krafft running between them. The oddly "tadpole" shaped pale feature called the Reiner Gamma is not far away and showing well too. Image credit: Vaz Tolentino Lunar Observatory, Brasil:

Me too, plus doubles in and around Orion so far Seeing seems quite good here. Misty bands of cloud here and there to keep me on my toes

Sounds a fabulous experience with a fabulous telescope. Thanks for posting about it

Interesting comparison here of the Tele Vue, Takahashi and Synta (in Vixen guise here) 4 inch refractors: http://www.wlcastleman.com/equip/reviews/100mm_refractors/index.htm

It is interesting to recall that Tele Vue did collaborate with Richard Day of Skylight Telescopes, London to produce the 101mm F/15 objective that was used in the rather splendid Skylight AR 101 achromat refractor. A pure observers telescope if there ever was one !

They go back to the 1970's as Steve says. I have a 1970's Tasco catalogue that has one listed in it. I don't think I'd want to try that though !. The old H.W English catalogue has something similar listed as well, probably of the same vintage. I think the Vixen LV / Tele Vue 8-24 were the first ones that folks rated good performers for astronomy purposes followed by the Baader 8-24 Mk1 which raised the bar a little more I think.

I think a number of other brands have disproved that.

I'm sure you are no fool I can't recall how I learned this (possibly through some annoying experiences) but I've always tried to keep my eyepieces at just a few degrees above the outside temperature to stop them misting / fogging up. When out in the field this can be a challenge after a few hours. The foam in the cases seems to retain a little warmth if I remember to close the lid after swapping eyepieces. When observing at home my eyepieces are indoors, so quite warm, between each use.