John

I just print off a chart from the web for that sort of target. My preference is always to keep things as simple as possible out at the scope.

I try in keep in mind that the scope is a means to an end and not the end itself

The StellaLyra 12.5mm seems very similar in many ways to the current version of the William Optics 12.5mm SPL. I would not be surprised to find that they are the same under the skin: The StellaLyra seems to be twenty quid less expensive though More similarities here as well:

I feel like a bit of a dinosaur just sticking with the Pocket Sky Atlas and my finders Seems to work OK though, which is the main thing Once I've found something I can usually get back to it from memory for a few weeks afterwards. Next season, I need to re-find the more obscure stuff though

My view last night was with my Vixen 102 using the Delos 14mm. Similar findings to @Stu and @PeterW

I'm glad you are enjoying your Tak Nicola. I've enjoyed my FC100 since I bought it in 2016 When I use my refractors (I have 4 between 100mm and 130mm in aperture) I enjoy the feeling that the views I'm getting are probably as good as any scope of that aperture can give. When I want to go deeper, fainter, tease out more detail or see something that I've never been able to see before, I go to larger apertures and I can't afford / manage a 8 inch plus refractor so it's a newtonian on a dobsonian mount that I turn to. A good one, as it happens. For me, seeing things that I have seen before, exquisitely nicely, is one part of the hobby but what keeps me personally in it is being able to occasionally see things that I've never managed to see before. We all have different motivations, of course

I'm now clouded out so the answer was about two for me as well ! Plus the nova and a couple of nice doubles. Oh, well, can't win them all !

Another clear night 😀 I'll see how many galaxies I can catch with my Vixen 4 inch F/6.5 tonight:

All in all, I think having a go at cleaning and re-mounting the existing objective lens is probably the most effective way forward.

Great report Mark I must have a look at the Whale and the Hockey Stick again. I don't think I've observed them since that lovely night at Lucksall with our 6 inch scopes

That is a very good description of the process of finding these fainter targets

Great report Mark It's been really nice having some good galaxy hunting skies lately. I often do what you do, do some observing then find out a bit more about what I've been looking at. As you say, sometimes you find out something quite unexpected Of course then the urge is to have another look, armed with that additional knowledge !

Yep - that's a nice one in my 100mm refractor

Sounds a good session

Assuming they are properly collimated, they will show M42 better than a 76mm or 100mm Tak , even when not fully cooled down. There is nothing "magical" about Taks or other premium refractors. They are really excellent though and perform 100% as you would expect a premium scope of their aperture to perform, maybe even 110% I love my Tak FC100-DL (the F/9 version of the FC100 series) but my 12 inch dob has always been the scope that has given me my "firsts" and my biggest "wows". I think the dob cost me around £450-£500 to put together. I'm not knocking these wonderful refractors (I own 4 of the things ) but just being realistic on the basis of my experience

Still a big difference though and that makes it difficult to split. Later in the year, try Dela Cygni. The magnitudes there are 2.8 and 6.3 and the separation 2.7 arc seconds. It really can be quite hard to split because of that magnitude difference.

Why would it look better with a smaller aperture and less light gathering power ? M42 is a deep sky nebula. A £250 200mm chinese newtonian will show it better than a Tak 76mm or 100mm.

Sad to hear of yet another poor customer experience with this company

Nice sighting ! Always a thrill to see a little fragment of the early solar system burn up in the atmosphere. I think they are meteors unless they are proved to have reached the earths surface when they become meteorites

More time in Leo tonight with the 12 inch dob. I'm using a little more magnification and teasing out slightly fainter galaxies. I got 3 of the "Leo Quartet" in the Lions neck area including NGC 3185 but the 4th eluded me - I think it's surface brightness is close to mag 14 so too faint for the conditions this evening. Also picked out NGC's 3221 and 3222 which I didn't spot last night.

Well I got Sirius B reasonably easily earlier at 221x with my 12 inch dobsonian. No joy with Procyon B though even at 400x plus. Not really surprised to be honest

Not yet, but soon hopefully

The 12 inch dob is out again. Splitting Sirius, hence the crazy angle of the scope here in the UK It will be "lights out" on this side of the house when it gets darker.

Hope you get a good session

When you get down to 1 arc second, I think the seeing conditions become the limiting factor. http://www.damianpeach.com/seeing1.htm