John

Is the eyepiece the older X-Cel (top picture) or the newer X-Cel LX (bottom picture) ? Apparently the more recent design is a better performer in a number of ways to the older design, including the control of the aberration called astigmatism which makes the stars towards the edge of the field of view that "seagull" shape you describe.

Sounds like a good one tonight ! I'm having an evening off (of astronomy) after a late one last night so hope those out there tonight have fun

Meade or Tele Vue ? I've been quite a fan of the Tele Vue brand for years now. I've owned / used most of their eyepiece types with the exception of the DeLite's which I've yet to try. Currently I have these: Good luck with building your own collection

That's why I stick to portable scopes

I'm sure glad that I did not go with the "Clear Outside" forecast last night which showed heavy cloud cover from around 8:00 pm onwards. In the end it stayed hazy but clear through to the early hours. Transparency was poor but I was not interested in DSO's with the Io transit plus a full moon in the sky. The seeing could have been better at times but overall it was a very good session to have my LZOS 130 out I'm generally happy to take what I can get from my back garden rather than travelling. Over the years I've done pretty well all in all with my refractors and my 12 inch dob from here

I've just observed the final stages of Io's transit and it's re-emergence onto the backdrop of space, leaving it's shadow temporarily on Jupiter's equatorial cloud tops. Rather magical I'm packing up now. Many thanks to @Kon for starting this thread as a "heads up" Very enjoyable session despite the ups and downs of the seeing.

I've been distracted by some double stars, the moon (though practically full) and Neptune's tiny blue disk. Back on Jupiter again now though it's starting to sink lower so that will impact the seeing. Being mobbed by some Tawny Owls as well, just to add to the atmosphere !

Darn ! Just popped out for what was to be my last peek before packing in and the seeing is the best it's been all evening ! In the steadier moments, the ginger colour of the north equatorial belt contrasts nicely with the greyer tone of the south equatorial belt. Io's shadow is nearly in the centre of Jupiter's disk just now. Now, do I have the energy for another 30-40 minutes of this

Yes I have that too - the transparency has improved quite a bit but the "wobbles" remain

That ingress of Io was nice Seeing really variable currently. One moment it's looking good and I'm about to call my other half out to take a look, the next it's like observing Jupiter under a stream of running water I think I'll let her carry on watching her film ...... Nice seeing the mechanics of the solar system at work before our eyes though, isn't it ?

The seeing has improved a bit here so I'm back at 200x again Surface detail on Jupiter is clearer including a couple of nice barges on the northern edge of the north equatorial belt. Despite better seeing I've not been able to see Io's disk for a while now. If this seeing remains stable the shadow transit should look nice 🤞

Seeing is "challenging" here as well. I can just about make out the GRS and 4 cloud belts with my 130mm refractor. As Io moved onto Jupiter's disk I was able to track it as a bright spot against the jovian equatorial zone for the first 10-15 minutes of the transit, probably due to the limb darkening effect. I have not been able see Io's disk for the past few minutes. For a while 200x was working quite nicely but lately the seeing and transparency have worsened a little more so I've dropped back to 171x. If it was not for this unfolding transit event I would probably have packed the scope away !

Jupiter has just risen over my neighbours roofline so I'll be able to catch the start of Io's transit. Seeing here is so-so. Not great conditions for seeing the actual moon's disk against the Jovian cloud tops. The shadow of Io, when it moves onto the disk, should be straight forward I think.

Some haze here but stars still shining through so it should be OK 🤞

Yep - I'm hoping for some of that "LZOS magic" tonight as well

I've owned his number 1 scope - but sold it a few years back ! At least getting another isn't too difficult (normally )

It's been a lovely day all day here (I've been fishing to make the most of it ). A few clouds about now and I'm in a similar quandary - CO shows heavy cloud cover from around 8:30 whereas the sky could well be good. On the basis of recent experience, I'll put a scope out. Generally lately, things have turned out better than forecast

From my experience doing outreach with folks of all ages, the above are by far where the "wows" are for most of those who have not looked through a scope before. Many deep sky targets, even some of the famous ones, either prove invisible to the novice or elicit the response "what ? - that small faint smudge ?????" You say you live in / near London ?. What are your skies like for darkness ?. Light pollution kills the view of many deep sky objects rather effectively, unfortunately.

I could stay out longer but cloud has put a stop to my fun here

No dew issues as yet but the Moon is dominating here as well. Contrast on Jupiter quite nice though. The Ethos SX 4.7mm looks a bit obscene in the diagonal of the ED120 !

The only barlow that I own / use now (having owned lots in the past) is the Baader Q-Turret 2.25x. Simple external design but it seems to have good glass in it https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlows/baader-classic-q-225x-barlow.html

My favourite quote from that is "you wind up spending a lot of money to eventually find out that you didn't need to spent a lot of money"

Interesting to hear Ed's views on this. For me, and assuming that would be "it" for the rest of my life, it would probably be a high quality 8 or 10 inch F/6 dobsonian with excellent mirrors.

I think this is the same mount that @dweller25 has posted above, here with my 130mm F/9.2 triplet on board. That scope weighs 9.4 kg which I felt was on the limit for the GPDX but workable with a little care. It's a longer tube than the FS 128 though My Tak FC100-DL (2nd pic) is a piece of cake for the GPDX as you might expect.

I find a similar thing with my Nagler 31mm and Ethos 21mm - the Ethos 21 gets a lot more use with my 12 inch F/5.3 dobsonian. If my skies were ultra-dark then the Nagler 31 would probably get more use though.