HarryLP

Thanks for the quick and interesting responses. According to Clear Skies I live in Bortle 5. I do my observing out the back so I effectively have a space behind of two gardens facing East and a fairly clear view to the South (approx) between neighbours back gardens on to a farmers field. I am fortunate in that my neighbours do not tend to light up the backs of their homes. Street lamps directly out the front so thats a no no for me. For me like PeterSudz I find the better view is with the 5mm. I also use Turn Left at Orion. WRT to M13 I do see a definite structure and 'stars' both within the greyish outline shape and also the surround. I do not see 'a ball of light that looks as if it were dusted with diamonds'. I do see more precise star points in say the Pleiades and call also resolve the trapezium in Orion. So my opinion is twofold, I am seeing roughly what some others are seeing taking into account different locations, sky conditions etc. Secondly I am going to have overcome the newbie hurdle of doing my first collimation.

Now that the night skies have improved I have been able to locate and observe M3, 5 and 13 with my 200p DOB. I use the SW25mm planetary wide and the finder scope to locate At this mag I get a smudge. I then have been able to progressively increase the mag with my TMB 8 , 5 and 4mm eyepieces. My question is what should I/ do you see? I see progressively more shape detail with increased mag but I find that I am unable to get a precise focus that is I do not observe pin points of light (stars). I can see that each glob is subtly different. M13 has a ghostly outline of what I see as loosely resembling the shadow ships from Babylon 5. I see flecks of light rather pinpoints which appear and disappear. I guess my eyes are constantly changing focus as I struggle to obtain precise focus. Don't get me wrong I know not to expect hubble views and I am pleased with what I see but I would be interested to hear of other experiences.

Out again last night, two nights in a row, cannot remember the last time this happened. Has done some prep for this session. Started of with M3 again just to get comfortable that I could locate it (practice makes perfect and all that). Then moved on to try again for M13 this time using an imaginary line between Vega and the mid star Alphecca in Corona Borealis. After a few attempts using the SW 25mm planetary wide I found it, just the familiar faint smudge which tells me something is there. Swapped up to the TMB 8, then the 5 and finally the 4 revealing more and more detail with each increase in mag. As it moved across my fov it reminded me of the shadow vessel from Babylon 5. Tried again for M5. Eventually after many attempts with going back and forth to M13 and M5 I finally got it. I think on previous attempts I was too early in the evening and not low enough down. Time will tell.

Out again last night 2215 to 0015 BST (twice in a fortnight), things are definitely improving and according to ClearSkies tonight also looks good. Went back to M3 for my second viewing and I could see so much more detail and many more stars than my first night. Impressive with my TMB 8mm, so swapped for the TMB 5mm. The seeing held firm. Whilst grey shades and stars twinkling in and out of my eyes I could fully grasp the globular structure with a denser centre and ghosting out much further than before. Spent a lot of time sweeping for both M5 and M13 with no success, maybe I should try with binoculars first? A first sighting and splitting of the double double in Lyrae this year, although it took the TMB 5mm to get a clean split in the southern pair with an intermittent split in the northern pair. All four stars on the fuzzy side. Polaris also split. Neck aching from trying to look up at the zenith. Harry

Strickly speaking not last night but finally got outside Friday 8th April. Only the second time out since January due to the excessive endless nights of clouds. Had decided earlier in the day I would try for M3. Consulted Stellarium earlier in the day and worked out I should try from Arcturus by placing Arcturus overset in the finder scope and moving upwards. I am very pleased to report that in my 9 * 50 scope with non dark adapted eyes, straight out the back with the 200p I got it ! My first Globular, I tried before by the "I think its there approach". Over a period of two hours I kept coming back to it, reassuring myself I could consistently locate it and obviously an improved experience with dark adapted eyes using a SW 25mm and TMB 8mm. With the 8mm I got the illusion of a pulsing grey blob with stars popping up and immediately disappearing only to re appear. I put this down to my eyes constantly trying to get a lock on. Checked out Polaris, split at 150 with good separation with the secondary being fainter than I recall but then I was looking over the roof of my house. Mizar Alcor with Mizar double easy split. Looking around Coma Berenices (I think, not experienced enough yet) I located again what I would describe as an outline grey ring donut with a dark centre, single star in centre with three stars forming a tri angle outside of the ring. A fuzzy blob below on offset to the right (dob view). Ring any bells ? Very pleased with my two hour session, hoping its not so long till the next session. Clear Skies all

Hi, Thanks to all for your warm welcome to SGL. I tried different search parameters looking for information on Solar Filters and got some useful advice. Encouraged by this I took my unused Bresser Solar Filter out of it's unopened sealed package. Looked for any obvious defects, creases, holes etc and finding none held it up to a bright light source. My bright light was reduced to a pin prick. Encouraged by this I then held it up to the Sun. Even with just looking with the unaided eye through the filter I have only ever seen photographs of what I was now seeing. A round orange disk that did not dazzle my eyes or cause any discomfort. Located the safety leaflet which came with the Bresser Telescope package; EN and ISO numbers stated. Proceeded to the scope and secured filter over the dew cap, fit appears snug. Removed view finder. Move outside; rechecked fit, removed end cap from diagonal located the sun. Could see the sun light source through diagonal. As per the safety manual inserted the H20mm ep which came as a part of the package (I had also found a recommendation on SGL to use an H ep as there would no risk of cemented lenses being damaged). Use of the supplied H4mm not recommended as it "yields blurred solar images). Had my first ever look through a telescope at the Sun. Well defined orange disk with a single black spot. Rotated ep to see if the spot moved it did not. Surprised by the color was expecting a white disk but orange is good. With the winds we are experiencing in the UK, scope unsteady so quickly packed up after 5 mins . Made it inside before the rains came. The pleasure and satisfaction of such a simple test seeming to go right. Harry

Andy, It's for the front of the 70/700. Should fit over the Dew Cap Yellow plastic surround with the filter itself being a silver color material. I think it's got 3 or 4 screws to hold in place. I guess should be ok or there would be a lot of law suits over the years. Harry

I have been dipping into Stargazers Lounge on and off now for a few years along with the other popular Cloudy Nights, so thought its about time I officially joined up. By way of background interest similar to many members; an initial interest way back in my teenage years, bought and read a few PM books but no telescope. Then as many have said 'life takes over' and before we know it 50 years pass in a flash. Anyway back in Dec 2019 purchased my first scope the Lidl Bresser 70/700 Skylux on the basis of being a reasonable telescope for the money with some well publicised shortcomings (poor Eps) but a good tripod and in my case a good lense. So in my view not a lot to lose but everything to gain. Time would prove this approach to be correct. Biggest regret left the scope in the box for a few months before assembling and using. First look at the moon with the included H20mm and I was hooked, the H4mm of little use. But from my reading I was expecting this to be the case so not put off. Quickly bought a 20mm Plossl (thought to be a Vixen) and the a SW 25mm Planetary UWA from Astroboot. Major improvement. In August 2020 I ordered the 200p DOB Skyliner from FLO by this time the delivery issues due to Covid had begun and my scope was not delivered until the first week of November but FLO had made me aware of this at point of order and I was happy to accept. My Skyliner is now worth more than I paid for it. Since then I have been buying other UWAs and enjoying my viewing sessions when I can. What has really come as big unwelcome surprise is how much cloud cover we have and how little I get out. Only twice this January and nothing so far this month. Which brings me to my question, we still have the Sun to look at ? My Skylux came with a Solar Filter (its still in the sealed plastic bag). I have searched online and have been unable to obtain any reviews of the solar filter which came with my Skylux. Has anybody out there used this? I guess it should be safe for visual observing but would really appreciate if anyone having used one could confirm. Clear Skies All Harry