John

A clear split of Pi Aquillae would be a very fine achievement with an 80mm with a 1.41 arc second separation. Delta Cygni is another good one. The split is 2.8 arc seconds but there is a large brightness difference.

What scope were you using ?

I agree. Considering the cost, age and aperture difference, the ED120 does pretty well though.

Some of my personal "tough tests" at this time of the year are Zeta Hercules, Pi Aquilae and Lambda Cygni. Eta Draconis is also a challenge for 100mm and below. The split there is 4 arc seconds but the brightness difference between the primary and the rather dim secondary star make the challenge.

Managed to find it OK with the 120mm refractor tonight. My estimate is around magnitude 9.5 as well. Got a bit distracted by the Summer Beehive cluster and Blue Raquetball planetary nebula before getting to the nova

Had another try with the stopped down ED120 refractor tonight. Stopped down to 52mm F/17.3. Same result as last time I tried this - at 225x split the wider pair but got a notched pair for the closer pair. Managed to split Delta Cygni with the 52mm aperture as well. Secondary star appeared very dim indeed though.

7 moons around Saturn are possible with small to moderate aperture scopes I've also managed 2 at Uranus (2 more possible I believe) and 1 (Triton) at Neptune.

If you want a 2nd one, and a contrasting one, nova V1405 Cas is still bright and easy to find in Cassiopeia.

It's good news that the used market is settling again. Over the years I've bought 95% of my equipment from the used market and I would simply not have been able to afford what I have now without taking that approach. 5 of my scopes are over 15 years old now and one is 20 plus. All still working excellently I'm pleased to say

Very interesting stuff I'm hoping to get my first (and possibly last !) glimpse of this nova tonight. Previous attempts have been clouded out plus that part of the sky takes a long time to become visible from where I observe due to some large conifers Maybe I'd better use the 12 inch dob for tonights attempt, given the rate at which the nova is fading !

Just too hazy here, unfortunately. Only the brightest constellation stars are showing through. Shame - it's been a lovely day otherwise

Hello and welcome to the forum ! That looks pretty good to me. What is the star test like ?

Good luck with that

So what is your contribution going to be ?

I've mentioned NGC 6229 before in observing reports. Tonight, while waiting for the nova in Hercules to rise above the conifers, I re-visited this fainter globular cluster with my 100mm refractor, as it lies right at the top end of the constellation. While not as striking as the other two, much better known, Hercules globular clusters M13 and M92, NGC 6229 is a very pleasing observational deep sky object and not hard to see even with 100mm of aperture. It is listed at magnitude 9.7 or thereabouts and it's stars are tightly packed so the contrast of this object is quite strong and it's shape well defined. Low magnifications show it well - I was using 37.5x this evening. It forms a striking triangle with 2 magnitude 8 stars in the eyepiece. The tightly defined globular cluster was actually mistakenly thought to be a planetary nebula by it's discoverer William Herschel and later by Admiral Smyth. Other early observers thought it to be a comet. It was only many years later that Heinrich d'Arrest correctly identified this object as a globular cluster. The reason for this initial uncertainty was probably because NGC 6229 is much more distant than many globular clusters being nearly 100,000 light years from Earth. That's about 4x further away than Messier 13. NGC 6229 has been classified as an outer halo cluster due to it's distance. If you are in Hercules looking at the brighter pair of globulars, do have a look for the distant NGC 6229 as well. It's not difficult to locate and looks nice even with smaller aperture scopes

Slightly better tonight but, at best, only suggestions of the companion star on and off with the 100mm refractor rather than the definite views of a couple of nights ago.

Spreading cloud cover now here

Just waiting for it to clear the conifers here. Hope it does not dim further in the meantime !

It's still looking nice and clear here after quite a hot day. Hope to have a look later.

I used to use one with a 12 inch Meade Lightbridge dobsonian. The Astrozap shroud then was a tube of material with complete hoops which dropped over the trusses and lower scope tube from the top end with the upper tube section removed. The upper tube assembly was then replaced and the shroud fastened at the top and bottom using a drawstring to fasten it to the bottom and top tube sections. Maybe the design is changed with other scope designs ? This was my scope with the shroud in place:

The best filter for the Veil Nebula is the O-III filter. Brands such as Lumicon, Astronomik or Tele Vue Bandmate II are very good ones. A UHC filter will show it but an O-III filter really shows this object at it's best. The O-III type filter also enhances contrast in planetary nebulae as well.

Judging by my recent experiences, that is what is needed. Antares looked very clean and well defined, unusually so, when I did manage to get the split the night before last. Last night it was the more normal sparkling ball.

No-go here tonight with Antares I'm using the 120mm refractor but the seeing is just not up to it. Antares is a glimmering ball rather than the neatly defined star it was last night. The consolation prize was Messier 4 though. Near Antares, a nice bright globular cluster which starts to resolve to stars quite easily even with smaller aperture scopes. This globular has a distinctive band or bar of brighter stars running through it. It is the closest globular cluster to us at around 5,000 light years distance. Messier 4 is very old though - around 12 - 13 billion years old in fact. About as old as anything can be ! Short session tonight - up early tomorrow This sketch of M4 is by Michael Vlasov:

And again with the 120mm frac at the same magnification tonight.

Great report and photos Stu - that last one of the moon is really excellent