Mark at Beaufort

Great report and session Paul. I wish I had your 16" Dob to pick up that SN in NGC4277.

Excellent report John. I concentrated on Virgo last night and will write up a report sometime this morning. I tried to view the SN last night and although I could be see the galaxies NGC 4273, 4281 and 4270 I could not resolve NGC4277 neither could I make out any stars in the correct position. So I failed to see the SN.

Charl a great image of the Prom. I saw it yesterday and it looks impressive. Currently sunny in Hereford so will get out the PST + DS. Charl keep well and safe.

Hello Jack hope you are keeping safe and well. Really nice photos of the morning sky. Mark from Herefordshire Astro Society

Yes John that observing night I spent with you brings back pleasant memories. I always remember the 6" Mak/Newt that you had and FLO allowed me to use a Skywatcher 150PDS.

I decided to spend the observing night with my 6" Newt to see how it performed on DSOs. In saying that I did start with 'Tegmine' in Cancer to see if I could split the Primary. I used the 6mm Ethos + 2.25x Baader barlow - (mag281x). I watched the system drift across the FOV and from time to time I could see that the Primary was a double. Moved over to Leo and with the 13mm Ethos (58x) I had a good view of NGC 2903. The next challenge was the Leo Triplet because I wanted to detect NGC3628. Well the FOV of the Ethos gave a nice view of the 3 galaxies. I moved down to Corvus and using the TeleVue Nebustar and then the Astronomik O-III I was able to detect, although faint, the PN - NGC4361. Two years ago I had the pleasure of using an 18" scope on a mountain top close to the Lick Observatory in California. One of my most enjoyable sights was the Antennae galaxies so I used the 6" to view them again - well no too faint - worth the try. Virgo was now nicely in position so I started with M98 and M99. I moved down to the start of the Markarian's Chain at M84, then M86, next the 'Eyes'. I ended there because I wanted to use the 12" Dob tonight to view more galaxies along the chain. Finally I wanted to observe Globular Clusters using the 9mm Myraid and the 6mm Ethos. I started with M53 and whilst in the area had a look at M64. Next target M3, then M5 by which time Hercules was high so I viewed M13 and M92. I decided that the 9mm gave a more enjoyable view at 83x. So it shows that a Skywatcher 6" Newt can produce the business with a decent dark sky.

Hello Gerry hope you are keeping safe and well. I really enjoy binocular astronomy and a few years ago I bought some Helios Apollo 15x70 mainly because I wanted to screw filters into the eye cups. I don't use a tripod or monopod but simply use a garden reclining chair which goes almost horizontal. These binos are brilliant and I can easily pick up DSOs like M1, M33 and M101. With UHC or O-III filters I have had good views of Rosette, Helix and Monkey Head Nebs to give an idea. Okay they are heavy but the views are very good. I agree with you that having the Heritage 130P is an added advantage but I think they compliment each other depending on your mood or time available. Never had the Canon IS and I imagine they are very good.

Thanks John for showing this chart. Last night I used my 6" Newt and observed many DSOs. I decided that tonight I would set up the 12" Dob to view galaxies in Virgo. Your post has now changed my proposals and I will now seek out these galaxies on the chart and hopefully pick up the SN.

Thanks Paul very helpful.

Agnes I once considered the 72ED as a solar and travel scope (well I still might). I never bought it because I wanted an assurance that there would be enough inward travel to focus when using a 1.25" Lunt HW. I am still not sure about this point although I could ask FLO.

John - Whilst viewing Tegmine last night I just wondered what it would be like in a quality 4" APO. Perhaps one day I will find out.

In the thread 'Anyone playing tonight' I listed some hopeful targets with the 12" Dob which I had set up late afternoon. I wanted to try and observe Sirius and the Pup whilst still in twilight especially as 'seeing' was forecast as excellent on some websites. Well Sirius was not being helpful and I failed to see the Pup. Next with the 6mm Ethos still in the focuser I viewed Venus - lovely sight although I could not make out any cloud markings. There has been a few recent posts on the star 'Tegmine' in Cancer. I must admit that I have never viewed this star system before so I was hopeful with the 6mm Ethos (253x) that it would be a lovely sight. Well it was and I was able to split the system into 3 stars although the Primary was very tight. Now astro dark I moved the scope to observe the difficult galaxy IC342 (Caldwell 5). I started the star hop from Kemble's Cascade which was a delightful view in the Altair 80mm finderscope. Whilst there I viewed the lovely cluster NGC 1502. IC342 is an easy star hop from the Cascade using the Interstellarum star atlas. This galaxy is faint but with averted viewing I believe I could detect a faint glow although I think this was just the nucleus. I knew the Comet - C/2019 Y4 (Atlas) was not too far away so I star hopped from Muscida (Ursa Major) having first viewed M81 and M82. The Comet was close to stars 43 and 42 in Camelopardalis but I had problems at first finding it. Eventually I viewed it with the 13mm Ethos but it was fainter. Moved down the last of my pre-arranged targets NGC 2403 (Caldwell 7). Now this is an excellent galaxy to observe which I first saw in April 2010 at the SGL5 star party I ended my observing (still in shorts) with Leo viewing NGC2903 and the Triplet.

Brilliant Nick - as you say observing "Brings a sense of normality in these times"

Well done Alan a great report. Certainly a 20" with night vision does the trick. With clear skies forecast I look forward to further reports.

Rob that sounds very frustrating. I know that sometimes, especially on the 60mm finder, the rubber focusing ring seems to slip and does not move. I sometimes use the eyepiece securing bolt to get fine focus rather than using the focusing ring. Have you another EP that you could try? When I star hop with the finder I sometimes use a different eyepiece. I know that some of my EPs need to twisted out so easier to focus.

Luke - really nice photos of Venus. Not being an imager may I ask a technical question. When you state IR and UV are you using a filter to block this wavelength. The reason I ask is last night I forgot to remove by IR/UV filter when I was solar viewing. I started to observe Venus with the filter in place and it seemed better than no filter at all. It may have been my imagination but you post made me think. As I said great photos.

Thanks John - to be honest I bought a Svbony solar finder which is spot on. I use it on the Skywatcher 150P with the 13mm Ethos and the image of the Sun is in the centre of the OTA. But thanks for the thought.

Reading these replies it confirms that I really need to consider an ED frac. Unfortunately I also need to budget for a 2" diagonal + 1.25" Lunt HW. I have all the available finderscopes + EPs. Its frustrating in hindsight that I had a 1.25" Lunt HW + a 2" TeleVue Everbrite diagonal but we all make mistakes in selling kit that we regret.

Thanks for that - this is what worries me about buying an achromatic refractor especially as I had previous used a quality ED frac.

@nutrockerI own both the Altair 80mm and 60mm finderscope and they both use the same arrangement for focusing the telescope and the eyepiece. Sometimes a new Altair helical focuser could be stiff so this is what I recommend. Remove the eyepiece completely Twist the helical focuser - when screwed tight its at infinity when you screw it out (about half an inch) its at close focus. Move it up and down then screw it right in. With the eyepiece out use its focusing ring to get the cross hairs sharp then replace the eyepiece into the diagonal. View a distant TV aerial or similar and slightly adjust the helical focuser to obtain a sharp image - if it needs it.. Don't touch the eyepiece. I would recommend you don't touch the the glass screen with the cross hairs although in the future you may want to remove small dust particles. Hope this helps.

Okay I would like some opinions especially any member that has used an Achromatic refractor for solar work. I know somebody is going to advise that I should purchase an ED or APO but I don't want that expenditure at the moment. I would add that I did own a 4" Astro Tech ED frac which I used with a Lunt HW, Baader Continuum filter and binoviewers which was brilliant - so I know what is possible with the right equipment. My good friend @Stuhas given me some useful advice already saying "a well corrected achro like a TAL 100 or better one of the 102 f11s would work well for solar with a Herschel Wedge. It is often the spherical aberration that kills the detail in fast achros, and that should be well corrected in these scopes." I might be lucky finding a TAL 100 but I think that a f/11 might not be suitable on my AZ5 although it has the better tripod and pillar and the literature states a 9kgs carrying weight - maybe!! Anyway I have looked at these OTAs - has anyone had one and used it successfully mainly for Solar White Light observing. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-ar-102l-1000-refractor-ota.html https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-120-ota.html http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_1_1_65 If you think I should stay with my Skywatcher 150P Newt + solar filter and wait for a suitable 100mm ED frac then I don't mind if that is what you want to tell me.

Stu what an excellent write-up and as you say the Sun might be 'blank' but there is lots to observe with the correct equipment. As I told you privately I so regret selling my 4" Astro Tech frac and Lunt HW but I want to return to more WL observing in the near future. Currently I am using a Skywatcher 150P with a front filter which gives an orange Sun which is okay (ish) but I want to obtain a better view.

I tried to observe in WL yesterday but failed to see any AR. However, when I switched to the PST I could see some plage in the appropriate area. Turning the tuner almost to WL I could not see any spots. I have to admit that although I have enjoyed using my Skywatcher 150P with a solar filter I look back and so wish I still had my 4" Astro Tech ED frac. I used this frac with a Herschel Wedge and binoviewers and the solar views were always first class. I keep thinking about a new frac and wonder whether it should be an 80mm or 100mm. I have little knowledge on the quality of an Achro and wonder whether this might be okay for solar only.

I decided to view this conjunction tonight with my Altair 80mm finderscope. Using a Celestron Ultima Duo 17mm 68 degrrees gives 19.5x mag and a 3.5 FOV. Had a quick look and M45 + Venus fills the FOV - fantastic sight so far. Look forward to it getting darker.

I had some lovely views using the Heritage 130P and the ES68 24mm EP but I think my most enjoyable site was using the Helios Apollo 15x70 binos.