John

1 minute ago, JeremyS said:

..Do you treat it in any way. I mean by polishing or varnishing (not giving it sweets - that would be silly)

 

 

I have given it a sort of wax treatment. We have recently acquired a light oak dining table which is a very similar colour so after waxing that I thought that a go over the tripod and tray would not go amiss

Its quite an old one Jeremy. It was actually made by Berlebach for BC&F Astro Engineering according to the stamp on the side of the leg so that dates it a bit. The bottom part of the legs is actually 2-tone slightly where the tripod was left at the same extension for quite some time I imagine.

I've used a couple of others that were loaned by FLO for testing purposes and they were quite a bit lighter in tone.

Cool down time might be the answer.

Also though, the F/6 200P dob is a pretty darn good lunar and planetary instrument.

Just got the Berlebach Uni 28:

On 05/04/2020 at 10:23, estwing said:

Guys this is the observing section nothing to do with imaging

Thanks - I've moved it and left a link where it was originally posted so folks can find their way to it still.

14 minutes ago, Paul M said:

I had my first look for it last night with my 10" Newt. Miserable fail on two counts probably. The Moon was well up by then and the sky was washed out and I'd probably done my roughest ever alignment and I'm usually rough. Unfortunately I couldn't identify any of the field stars at my search location on SkySafari, very unusual but given the sky brightness and my eyes still being dazzled from soaking up the Moon for a good while...

I hope to try again during its accelerating dive Sunward.

 

I had a cursory look for it with my ED120 last night but the sky was awash with moonlight and I'd found the comet underwhelming with my 12 inch dob a couple of nights previously so I didn't pursue it.

Sadly I don't think this one will get anywhere near the once-predicted magnitude in May of -1

It will probably be a "fizzler" rather than a "sizzler"

1 hour ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Thanks John I will give that a go and report back 😁

Good luck !

It's cloudy here so no observing tonight for me.

A couple of movies about a really BIG refractor

Pathe News:

"The Sky at Night":

No markings on the edge or back ?

38 minutes ago, Barry-W-Fenner said:

Some good stuff on this thread, Looks like you all managed to get out and enjoy the sky. I will definitely be out tonight! After all the positive results on the Pup I want to have a go later!

 

Baz

Try finding Sirius in twilight Baz. It helps reduce the glare from the primary star. 

I have to say last night that I did wonder how much better the views of the double stars could actually be ?

On a number of close double stars I was able to use a crazy 450x with the ED120 (Nagler 2-4 zoom on the 2mm setting) and the star images and gaps between them seemed absolutely textbook.

Of course observers such as Herschel used really immense magnifications to observe with (over 1000x) with far less sophisticated optics so I do wonder if the gradual degredation of our skies over the intervening years has got us where we, usually, are today. Because of the exceptional circumstances in effect currently across the world perhaps we are getting a glimpse into the past ?

4 minutes ago, Stu said:

Hope this seeing lasts, I can’t star hop when on my EQ Mount so will set the AZ100 up and have a crack and some other targets tonight if it’s clear.

I hope it lasts too Stu.

My observing is all about star hopping so my dalliance with the Vixen GP the other night didn't last long I'm afraid. Within an hour I had the Tak back on the Skytee II and was much more comfortable that way. Like putting on an old pair of slippers !

I'm not an "eq man" these days I fear, despite how well they look

Thanks for the comments folks. It was a cracking night last night and I ended it with a superb view of the lovely Izar as Bootes rose above my conifer line

@markse68 - I don't know why the images don't show in a mobile. I don't use a mobile for this sort of thing - maybe others will know ?

@F15Rules - well done on the Pup at 99x mate - I can seem to get it below 200x.

Anyway, Izar by Richard Orr about a year ago:

Nice - those "floating mountains" are a lovely sight I think

Great report, great session of lunar observing

Also now the Kraft Crater Chain (Catena Krafft) bridging the craters Kraft and Cardanus is showing up well. Out towards the Marius Hills is the strange bright feature, the Reiner Gamma looking like a bright tadpole with a long squiggly tail. 

Moon now in full view.

Fascinating detail in the thin area between the illuminated and dark surface. The Rimae Darwin and Rimae Sirsalis catch my eye where the former joins with the latter in a form of "T" junction. Rimae Sirsalis then sets off across the lunar surface for over 400 km.

I'll have to try a Vixen HR sometime. For now though I'm very happy with my TV 2-4 zoom

The odd thing is that I have owned a couple of the 3-6 zooms in the past and not got on with them

When it rises above the trees / rooftops shortly, me and my ED120 will be ready for it !

Thanks Jeremy and Dave,

I've just been observing Tegmine (Zeta Cancri) at 257x up to a stupid 450x - amazing with a clear split of the tighter 1.3 arc second pair all the way !

Just waiting for the Moon to clear the trees and rooftops. I'm keen to see what can be seen around that sliver of a terminator tonight.

The position of Sirius B corresponds to it's predicted position for 2020 on this chart:

The illustration below was made in February 2010 (by Harry Roberts, not myself, alas). Imagine the faint star to the E of Sirus A more to the NNE and with E & W reversed (refractor view) and that is a reasonable representation of the view that I'm getting during the best seeing moments:

Early in the session this evening I thought that the views of Venus with my ED120 were pretty good 250x and 280x.

For the first time with this scope I've just been able to see Sirius B, the elusive "Pup" star. It's glimmering faintly and intermittently in just the right position at 257x and 300x. The glare around Sirius A is well controlled an the star is sporting a nicely defined set of diffraction rings.

This first for me with this scope after quite a few years trying on this tough target. Having seen the Pup star with my much larger 12 inch dob and my 130 triplet refractor I'm pretty confident now that I've got it with the ED120. It does help having seen the little so and so though other scopes !

Good start to the session. Looking forward to some double star and lunar observing later

37 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

Out of interest what is your frac set of glass made up of?  (sorry for going off topic OP)

24 Panoptic, 17.3 and 14 Delos, 10, 7, 5 and 3.5 Pentax XWs, 2-4mm Nagler zoom.

I've owned a LXD75 and one of the older HEQ5 mounts. The HEQ5 was the stronger and more capable mount. The latest versions of the HEQ5 will be even more so. The LXD75 was about the same as the Celestron CG5.

Great report Stu

Nice to see the hedgepig as well.

We had a cloudy night here and actually quite a bit of rain (which the garden needed) so it was movie night with my other half last night.

Hope to get out with a scope again tonight though.

You can understand why Sir Patrick Moore spent so much time observing the Moon - there is so much to see !