Mark at Beaufort

I agree that the image from Learmonth and Cerro Tololo are always pretty good. I find the other not as good as my double stack PST. In fact I usually ignore El Teide.

Victor my understanding is the PST has a 1.0 Angstrom band pass whereas the Lunt 50mm has a 0.75 band pass. The new Lunt 40mm has a band pass less than 0.7. What this means is the lower the band pass the surface detail is improved. My double stack PST has a band pass of 0.5 and individuals have told me surface detailed is better than the Lunt 50mm. I personally have not check this. Someone will advise you that the extra aperture will always be better. I have also found on the Widescreen website that the Lunt 40mm has 3 blocking filter options - B500, B600 and B1200. On the FLO website it states under the Lunt 50mm that the B400 is better for visual and the B600 is better for imaging. More to consider.

Victor I have not used binoviewers on my PST. I have owned several binoviewers but I don't believe I could get focus even with a barlow. When we had the Mercury transit in 2016 I used binoviewers on my 4" Apo but not on the PST hence my opinion about focus. The attached photo shows that that the scopes were close enough to test the system on the PST.

I bought my PST in 2005 mainly to view the Annular eclipse in Spain and the Total eclipse in Turkey the following year. Since that time I have used the PST whenever possible. I used it yesterday and hopefully today. A few years ago I bought the Double Stack from a member of SGL. Okay it slightly darken the view but the surface detail is much improved. I always use a hood which improves the view. I have now watched the video that Victor listed. It does appear to be a very nice Ha scope and I can imagine that it will be popular. If I just wanted a quick grab and go Ha scope I think I would go with the Lunt 40mm rather than Quark or Solarscout.

You may find this video useful in making a solar filter. Pete Lawrence is using a Meade Mak/Cass. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014hpkh

We have a meeting this Thursday to discuss arrangements. Hopefully we will try and organise something on these lines.

I have arranged an event for Herefordshire Astronomical Society at a park on the edge of the City. Hope to use the PST plus another scope for white light.

A lovely image as always Peter. Really like it.

I have the 12 inch Revelation dob which I bought from TH and I have no regrets. It's been great on the Moon, Planets and particularly on DSOs. If the Omegon is the same quality it will be a good buy.

Hello Mark and welcome to SGL. Choosing a first scope is never easy because you need to consider budget, size, location, visual or astro imaging and finally interests (Moon, Planets or DSOs). I have a Heritage 130P which I have made many modifications and its a brilliant scope for quick, grab and go or for travel. I have seen a very large number of DSOs with this scope. Its not too bad on the Moon and double stars. If I was starting out I think I would choose the Heritage 150P for extra light grasp. However, you mention your main interest is the Moon and Planets so a Mak/Cass might be a better option - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-starquest/sky-watcher-starquest-102mc-f127-maksutov-cassegrain-telescope.html Here is my Heritage on a Skywatcher Pronto mount.

Mick I hope you are keeping well and still taking lovely photos. I still refer to your lunar 100 document. To be honest I have never seen a better example.

Yes I enjoyed the sun today using the PST + DS. The prom does look like a sharks fun - nice one Roy 😁 Some nice filaments.

Stu checking my notes I observed this area in January 2014 with the 180mm Mak and binoviewers. I cannot really remember so I looked at what Mick - @Doc stated 'the valley walls clip the south side of the crater Gylden. The surrounding area is dotted with craters and peaks and is full of interesting geological features' Checking various maps the valley appears to be between Gylder/Sporer/Herschel but I cannot really remember - I need to return and have another look.

An enjoyable read @Stu. I looked at my notes on the Lunar 100 and despite observing this list for over 10 years I am still missing nos. 96 and 99

Jeremy I thought that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory might be more involved rather than Los Alamos . They have a big involvement in astronomy in the Bay area - I have a few contacts. I really feel out of not having a Takahashi especially after reading @Johnnight out seeing the SN in IC3322a.

There is a good thread in cloudy nights especially the photo by SSmith. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/764742-supernova-sn2021hpr-in-ngc3147/

I checked out the SN again last night and it was the same brightness as the nearby star. I agree the transparency was not as good as the previous night. However it did not stop me trying for the SN in NGC 3147. The galaxy was easily seen in the 12 inch but could not see the SN - estimated mag 14.4

John this is an excellent report and a brilliant achievement. You only need to read Steve O'Meara's books to know what can be seen with a quality frac and an experienced observer.

Perhaps we should set a challenge to see who can view M83 from the UK. Certainly it's a good time to observe it when the Moon is out of the way.

Neil an enjoyable report and some great objects. Which Messier objects are you yet to observe? It took me ages to observe M69 and M70 and I did find M83 really difficult. In 2018 whilst on a mountain top in California I was able to observe M83 in 15x70 binos.

Last night I went looking for the Super Nova in IC3322A using the 12" Dob which has a 80mm finderscope to help with star hopping. I started at the bottom of Virgo at the star Eta (Zaniah) which has the star 13 close by. Moving up you reach star 16 and slightly above is M61. Moving upwards and slightly right you come to NGC 4261 and then to the left is NGC 4339. To view these 3 galaxies I was using my 20mm Myriad, 13mm Ethos and 9mm Myriad eyepieces. I knew that when I reached NGC 4365 - @John had already stated that IC3322A was in the same FOV. I had already checked out the Stellarium Premier on my tablet (see attached) and that there were 3 mag 8/9 stars to the left which were easily seen in my finderscope. I could easily see the SN and comparing the star nearby at mag 12.8 it look very similar in brightness. I could not make out the galaxy despite using an observing hood. The attached screen is just over a degree - similar to my Ethos 13mm. If you have the NGC 4365 on one side and the 3 stars on the other - IC3322A is in the middle.

Well done John. Last night the weather forecast was showing rain or snow later so I decided to give it a miss. Having NGC 4365 in the same FOV is certainly going to help so if I get a clear spell I will attempt to see the SN.

Yes Paul it was a great watch. I added the double stack to get a better view of the surface as well.

Agreed Mark. The prom on the eastern side is lifting off. Quite a few proms plus some small filaments together with a plage area. Well worth a look.

Thanks for the 'heads up' Alan - a great report. I noticed that there was a supernova but did not appreciate there were 3. Thanks also to @davheifor his diagram and that he observed it using a 10" Dob. It looks like we might have a clear spell tonight so I might have a go at SN2021hiz especially as its mag is 13.2 Thanks gain both.