John

As Douglas Adams would have put it, this is now an SEP - Someone Else's Problem !

I've owned a Tak and a TMB / LZOS for the past 5 years. They are very much in the same league IMHO. To my observing eye the 130mm LZOS delivers very similar optical performance characteristics to the 100mm Tak but with the additional "punch" that you would expect from 30% more aperture. What has been a (pleasant) surprise is that my Skywatcher ED120 has not been significantly outclassed by either of them. Maybe my ED120 is a particularly good one ? I've enjoyed using the premium refractors but as I posted earlier in this thread, they have not really revolutionised the hobby for me or anything like that. They are just nice to own and use and probably at or close to the best optical performance that their respective apertures can deliver. I have no idea what formula you could use to determine whether any performance differences are worth a particular price difference though What I suppose is reassuring in one sense is that had I not been in a position to own and use these expensive instruments, I now realise my enjoyment of the hobby of astronomy would not have suffered particularly. But without trying them for myself for some time, I might not have known that, and that's the "catch 22" We probably ought to be thankful both for premium brands for continuing to make very high quality instruments available for those to want and can afford them AND to manufacturers such as Synta, GSO, etc who make really good quality instruments available that are accessible to many more people.

We need our Skylab protection helmets again:

I have quite a few pairs of binoculars but most are used for birding / wildlife. The ones I use for astronomy are: 10x50 Helios Naturesport 8x56 Opticron Vega II 11x70 Opticron ZCF

I'm just the same I'm afraid Much respect to those, like Rob, who do keep good records though

Scope: cheap 90mm f/11 refractor optical tube, branded Celestron, that I'd forgotten I had in a cupboard What did it show me during a short session last night ?: Double stars: Theta Aurigae, Izar, Algieba, Gamma Virginis, Epsilon Lyrae, Iota Cassiopeia - all split quite nicely at 150x. Eta Draconis - the 8th magnitude companion star was not seen with this scope. Globular Clusters: Messiers 13 and 92 in Hercules. Nice bright fuzzies at 50x. Hints of granulation in the outer regions of M13 at 100x Nova: V1405 Cassiopeia - easy to see at 50x within a nice star field and the faint sprinkling of stars from open cluster Messier 52 nearby. Galaxies: Messiers 84 and 86 from the Virgo part of Markarian's Chain of galaxies. The "Leo Triplet" of Messiers 65 and 66 and, very faintly indeed, the "hamburger" of NGC 3628. And that was that as the clouds got thicker and the gaps between them became few and far between. The scope cost around 30 quid used I seem to recall. I was using the stock RDF finder and low cost mirror diagonal last night. Most viewing with a 7.2mm - 21.5mm zoom eyepiece sometimes with a 2.25x barlow lens. Optics seemed quite good. Very little CA. Decent, though not perfect, star test. The long tube needs a tall and quite steady mount and an RACI finder would be preferable over the stock straight through RDF but we managed anyway. Nice slice of astronomy targets available for the low cost I think. Plenty enough to get someone hooked on the hobby. The moon and planets would also be good targets for this type of scope. A lot of enjoyment per £

Those charts are useful but we also need something similar for NGC objects. Many NGC's don't have Messier classifications but are brighter and better objects for small scopes / novice observers than some of the Messiers The Caldwell Catalogue is helpful in this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldwell_catalogue

I'd love to see it when you get time Dave

Despite some streamers of cloud starting to interfere, I managed to find NGC 3147 in Draco and, with a little difficulty and using 257x magnification, managed to tease out supernova SN 2021 hpr which is currently gleaming dimly at magnitude 13.8 or thereabouts. Ended the session with a quick look at Nova V1405 Cas which I thought looked a little brighter than my last viewing - maybe magnitude 7.5 tonight ? Overall a pleasing session with some challenging targets amongst more regular gems. Any session with 2 comets on view is a good one

Pretty poor skies earlier have now improved somewhat so getting the 12 inch dob out to see one comet has delivered somewhat more ! Here is my report on spotting comet C/2020 R4 Atlas, followed by another post when I found comet C/2020 T2 Palomar - both within 2 degrees of each other just now: https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/375031-c2020-r4-atlas/?do=findComment&comment=4081253 Add to the comets improving views of the globular clusters M3, M13 and M92, the Cat's eye nebula and the fine double stars Izar and Eta Draconis and my initial misgivings about the conditions have been replaced by a grin and an enjoyable session. Might even see if the supernova is still glowing in Draco

Yay !!! I've just managed to get C/2020 T2 Palomar as well !!! It's a smaller patch of fuzz. The skies are a bit better than earlier so I've been able to pick it up thanks to Cartes du Ciel. Both these are moving quite fast against the starry backdrop though. Fast enough to require "re-finding" after a break from observing for 15 minutes or so. My first comets since Neowise as well. Very pleased to get the pair tonight when little seemed to be "on" They are within 2 degrees of each other right now - might make a decent imaging target ?

I've just managed to find C/2020 R4 Atlas in Canes Venatici. It's currently listed at magnitude 9.5 but Neil's description of a hazy patch (perhaps elongated ?) without a clear nucleus is spot on for me as well tonight under poor skies. I'm using my 12 inch dobsonian. Glad to have caught it - not a good observing night at all but the prospect of the comet got me out there There is another comet not far away from R4 Atlas - C/2020 T2 Palomar but it's listed at around mag 12 just now and given the inconspicuous appearance of R4 Atlas I strongly suspect T2 Palomar will be "no go" tonight. Even the normally glorious Messier 3 is looking a little dowdy tonight Chart below from Cartes du Ciel:

I have not split this one but I'll certainly give it a go ! My 12 inch dobsonian and my 130mm refractor will be the best tools I think. Very close separation and quite an uneven brightness pair - very challenging I would think ! Might have to settle for just getting some elongation with the refractor but we will see. At least it's easy to find and nice a high in the sky. Thanks for the suggestion

Under a very dark, transparent sky and with an experienced observer Eta Draconis may well be possible with an 80mm scope. The split and the B star magnitude are within the grasp of the aperture.

I think having doubts over observations is very much part and parcel of observing towards the edge of what the conditions / scope / observer can deliver. Thats what sends us back out again ! Interesting how often the "2nd time around" is so much easier though

Great report - I really enjoyed reading that Despite having "back yard" skies and a max aperture of 12 inches to use I love to press deep into the sky as far as my conditions / scope will allow. I have managed to see the 4 members of the Leo Quartet and one or two of the brightest members of some of the other groups you mention. It is a thrill when you pick up one of these very faint and distant smudges of light

Nice report Dave - thanks for adding it to this thread Glad you got some clear sky - it's been rather poor here for the past couple of nights.

I managed to have a quick look at the nova just now with my 4 inch refractor, though a convenient cloud gap (there have not been too many tonight ) and it still seems to be around the same brightness, maybe a touch brighter, certainly no dimmer than the last time I observed it.

Excellent. Another Thomas M Back masterpiece !

I wonder who actually makes the Skytee II ? When it was first launched it was thought to be a Skywatcher product but FLO corrected that and said that it had been imported to the UK by OVL but was not a Skywatcher model. It has a similar look and feel to Synta products though

Lovely scope ! Is the quad 2 at the top and 2 in the middle ?

I've just snapped a pic of the same part of my ST II. Not perfect but not as "holey" as yours:

The Altair Astro Sabre Mount is similar to the Giro Ercole: https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/altair-sabre.html The AYOswiss alt-az mounts are very nice indeed: http://www.aokswiss.ch/ayo/ayo_ii/main_ayo_ii.html

I have seen some heavy scopes on the ST II. This is an 8 inch F/5.9 weighing over 14kg. Not sure that I would go that far though

My ST II has provided excellent service over the years that I've owned it. I do also have an Ercole but the ST II gets much more use, even doing a decent job with my 130mm F/9.2 refractor (pictured below) until I acquired a T-Rex for that scope. The ST II is still my mainstay for my 100, 102mm and 120mm refractors. I hope you get good service from yours Stu