John

The Celestron Omni 2x barlow might be made by GSO as well. It certainly looks very much like a GSO product, except for the colour scheme.

Only in the width of the field of view. The 1.25" barrel size restricts the maximum size of the field of view with longer focal length eyepieces so going to the 2 inch format is needed when eyepieces get to around 20mm in focal length AND the designer wants a large field of view.

A couple of the finest scopes of their aperture made under probably some of the best observing conditions that any member of this forum has It is worth knowing what is possible when it all comes together though

I think the reflective coatings get a bit less reflective each year as well. Maybe a few % loss per annum ?

I was 9 years old when it all happened and remember it well. Watching these missions unfold at that age is probably one of the main reasons that I'm into astronomy now and have been actively since I was 11 or so. We set up an "information desk" at my school and had Airfix models of the LEM and Saturn V rocket plus the latest magazine and newspaper articles. We all thought we were James Burke I think I can remember going outside and looking up at the moon when Neil and Buzz were up there and thinking "my gosh there are people actually there right now" I've been lucky enough to visit the Kennedy Space Centre a few times over the years (including February this year) and never seem to tire of the exhibits and experiences there. Just being at the place where these missions launched is a thrill even though it was 50 years ago. This was Pad 39a at KSC on 25th February this year, all prepped for the Falcon manned launch that took place in May:

Thanks Barry. Uranus and Neptune are easy enough in binoculars. They look like stars but as long as you know which "star" is the planet, you have seen them Uranus shows a small disk from around 50x upwards in a scope. Neptune needs around 100x and upwards. With your 12 inch you might be able to spot Triton, Neptune's brightest moon at very high magnifications and, in theory, 4 of Uranus's moons are also visible in medium to large scopes.

I got Comet Neowise, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Mars and Uranus, plus the Earth (of course) and 5 of Saturn's moons, 4 Jovian Galilean moons and finally Venus just peeking over the horizon but that's it for me tonight. The Moon and Mercury will have to wait ! Saturn and Jupiter looked very good earlier with my 130mm triplet refractor. Mars was binocular / naked eye viewed this time but it looks nice and high in the sky which bodes well for future observing as it's opposition looms.

Photobombed by a satellite !

Hoping to have another look tonight. It's nice and clear, if a little breezy. "Heavens Above" have the comet at magnitude 3.3 right now so it will be interesting to see if it is noticably dimmer.

What scope do you have ?

Very dark skies and a 15 - 20 inch telescope or move over to using night vision technology ?

I think we must keep politics out of any discussions on here as well. Thanks.

@GavStar is UK based and has championed the use of NV technology without breaking any laws as far as I am aware:

That is really not the case. There are export restrictions on some types of night vision gear but there are also some excellent alternatives that are available to us. Just have a look at the threads in the EEVA section that I've linked to above and see what folks based on this side of the Atlantic have achieved. It is not a low cost field to get into but if you are prepared to spend and do some research there is some excellent equipment available.

Nice report Doug. I noticed that Mars was gibbous when I observed it a week or so ago. It's currently around 85% illuminated. I could see dark features plus the southern polar cap quite clearly then. I hope we are are not in for a planet-wide martian dust storm again during this opposition !

Good report @Dr Strange and great sketch Mike @Dr Strange - we have a section of the forum dedicated to night vision devices and their use and observations made with them here. The term EEVA is used : https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/208-eeva-electronically-enhanced-visual-astronomy/

Yep. And that's a good feature IMHO. I wish more newtonians adopted this approach.

That is the same scope as the Skywatcher 130 Heritage. It is a good choice as a starter scope.

Very good indeed. These are not the current chinese made 11x70's though. These are the Japanese made LER ones, now out of production.

Another night of clouds. Some light rain for good measure Glad that others are still getting views of the comet though. Hope it stays bright until Sunday night at least when the forecast is much better here.

The planets will look a lot smaller than you expect through a scope. 50x is considered low power for observing them. Generally 100x and more is required. They look pretty small even at 300x !

Charterhouse is good because it is in a dip. The slightly higher ground surrounding it deals with much of the light pollution from Wells, Bath, Bristol etc.

That's a lovely setup Gary

Brunel did not live to see the bridge completed. So maybe it does tilt a bit ? Great photo Bob My Dad painted that view (minus a comet and in daylight) back in the 1980's. He worked at the Bristol Water Company in their HQ on Bedminster Down and his office had that view, over the cemetery. He used to joke that one day he would end up there, and indeed he sadly did about 30 years ago now. The view is a very nice one though and actually puts a smile on my face each time I see it

Vixen SLV eyepieces are of excellent quality but I'm not sure you would notice much, if any, difference in your F/11 90mm refractor. When I tested them for the forum I was using faster scopes (more challenging on eyepieces):