Mark at Beaufort

Well Paul at least you got an image which shows the Comet. I decide that tonight was my last attempt so I have placed the 12" Dob in the best location at the end of the garden. I have checked out its position and there are some good stars to compare the area. Fingers crossed although I might fall asleep!!!

I thought that I had seen it with my Apollo 15x70 binos on the 22nd May as a diffused glow. Since then I have tried with a 6" Newt, Heritage 130P and my large binos but unfortunately no trace of it. I will keep trying but not optimistic.

Great report and photo Stu. I missed this event as I was watching the talk on zoom. I will try and catch something tonight.

Chris on Friday night I used my Apollo 15x70 binos and had to study Stellarium to get its exact position. The software was showing that the comet was in the middle of a line between star 36 and Nu Perseus. I accept that the northern sky does not go completely dark but I could see a dim, diffused glow which I took as being the comet nucleus. There is nothing else in that area. Anyway if I get another clear sky I will hunt down the comet using my 6" Newt plus the Apollo binos. I will also return to area I mentioned above just in case I got it wrong but I really believe that I observed the comet albeit no tail.

Stu I have only just seen this - so really sorry and sad. Hopefully, you will be able to undertake some sort of repair. At least the optics are ok. I think the intensity of the wind took most of us by surprise.

Well done Michael picking up Comet Swan in binoculars. Last night I decided to follow your example and used my Apollo 15x70 binos. Not easy with the bright horizon in the North so in the end I had to compare the area using Stellarium. It appeared that the comet was in the middle of a line from star 36 to Nu Perseus and looking closely with the binos I could see a dim diffused object which I assumed was the Comet nucleus as nothing else was shown in my star maps. Hope its easier to observe over the coming week as it heads towards Capella.

Great report John. I set up the Skywatcher 150P and first observed Venus with the 6mm Ethos - lovely crescent. I was using my fairly new Altair 60mm finderscope which showed the Venus crescent very well. It also showed Mercury. Using the 24mm ES68 EP both Planets were nicely placed in the same FOV. I then placed the 6mm Ethos + the Baader 2.25x barlow and viewed Mercury. Mag 281x. As you say John this is what observing is all about.

Started to observe Venus in the 12x70 binos and decided to take out the Heritage 130p. Used the 8-24 TeleVue zoom and the phase of Venus quite special. Went looking for Mercury and found it with the 9x50 finder. Decided to use my new Baader 10mm classic ortho with the Baader 2.25x barlow giving 146x. Great to see the phase of Mercury.

That is brilliant Craig. I have just been observing Venus and Mercury with Heritage 130P.

The focuser is the standard helical focuser that came with the scope. I have added PTFE seal tape to improve the movement. I have done quite a lot of modifications to this scope to improve it use. Here is my modifications -

Owen I use my Heritage 130P for quite grab and go and viewed a number of DSOs last night. The RDF is very useful but I have added a right angle correct image 9x50 finderscopes. The attached photo show the Heritage on an alt/az mount although I have now upgraded this mount to a Skywatcher Pronto.

I love my Pocket Sky Atlas for generally checking out locations. However, it does not go deep enough. I have the Uranometria which is very good but much prefer the Interstellarum which I place on a large music stand next to the 12" Dob. I don't have the Field edition but after I locate the DSO I place the atlas back into a large plastic box to save it getting too wet with dew. Although its expensive the pleasure I get from finding objects more easily outweigh the initial cost.

Brilliant review Matthew. Like John I owned the 3-6 zoom which I sold preferring the larger FOV and eye relief of the Ethos range. In hindsight that was possibly a mistake.

I tried this morning with binos from 2am onwards but a cloudy horizon stopped me seeing it. I could see Almach and Beta Triangulum but lost further down. Hopefully, with clear skies we might pick it up going past Algol and onwards to Capella. The big problem for us in the UK is we are coming towards summer solstice on the 20th June so no astro darkness. I understand that in central UK the best time to view the Comet is about 1am when the Sun is at its lowest point below the horizon.