Mark at Beaufort

So many lovely fracs on display. Gary that really is a thing of beauty. I would love the opportunity to view the Moon and Planets with that scope. To say I am envious is an under statement.

I thought of you and the problem that Monmouth was going to get. Clearly since the flood left Hereford more water was going to be added. I guess the road at Tintern would have been badly hit.

I have been a few times in the past so it would be nice to visit again. There are a few members from SGL I would like to meet so I will PM them nearer the time.

Lulu - Hereford had the worst flood in 200 years with many parts of the City and County under water. I attach a few photo taken from the old bridge in Hereford where the river was over 6 metres. I am not sure about Lucksall but Daz (Admin) has sent a message to them. I can say that Mordiford bridge was, and still is, closed because of safety concerns. In addition the road between Mordiford and Fownhope is closed because it has collapsed in two places.

John we have a similar forecast showing clear tonight, Tuesday and Thursday. On Thursday my Astro Society has an observing night in Fownhope close to Lucksall. Unfortunately, a number of road out of Hereford are under water and the road to Fownhope has collapsed.

Ron I was fortunate to meet Dr Thomas Paine - Head of NASA in early 1970 when he gave a lecture at the Royal Society. Part of his talk mentioned the 'Grand Tour' of the outer Planets which was still in the planning stage. The attached shows the proposal from the early 1970s which clearly was changed. Interesting to look back and then admire what was achieved all these years later.

Lots of moving cloud but I was able to pick up Mercury with the 7x50 binoculars. Tried to see it with the naked eye but failed.

I read this article which I thought was useful - https://astronomyconnect.com/forums/articles/zwo-atmospheric-dispersion-corrector-product-review.34/

Barry - a Total Solar Eclipse - its quite a long duration

Barry book your Gibraltar holiday for 2nd August 2027 - good time to revisit

Thanks for posting this - a wonderful moment in history.

I bought the Apollo binos because of the filter option. I am not aware of any other make that provides this option. However, you could send a message to Steve Tonkin - 'binocularsky' because his knowledge is second to none on this subject.

Mercury was easily seen with the naked eye this evening. I have observed it twice in the last few days using 15x70 and 7x50 binos. However, much as its lovely to see and view it I wanted more detail using a scope. I set up my Heritage 130P + TeleVue 8-24 zoom + Baader 2.25X barlow. Using various mags from 61x to a maximum of 183x I saw a phase of about 50%. After rain during the day the image was pretty stable so a good session before it set.

An enjoyable report to read Neil. I am hoping to get another chance tonight seeing Mercury - this time with a scope. I have grabbed it twice in the last few days both with binoculars (15x70) + (7x50).

Just used the Apollo binos to view Mercury. Binos are so useful.

If you have some 1.25" filters have a look at the Rosette Nebula and the Monkey Head Nebula they are well placed at the moment. I would also recommend not screwing the filters too tight I had a problem removing a Lumicon UHC filter once.

Good luck with your new binos. I also have the 15x70 Apollo and the 12x70 Cometron. I leave the Cometron in the car just in case I am away and have the opportunity for a grab and go session. I believe that buying the Helios Apollo opened up a new world of observing especially using O-III or UHC filters. Although for the money the Celestron Cometron are not too bad IMHO the Apollo binos are certainly a step up.

Excellent thread Iain - if I ever get a clear spell I will go hunting.

Great report Mike

Elliot try this as another option from the one Neil stated - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cubed-Foam-Block-445x310x95mm-Insert-For-EN-AC-FG-A022-Flight-Case/392470244531?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

That is brilliant Dave. I bought a William Optics 2X nose-piece and screwed that into the William Optics 1.6x that came with the binoviewers. The mag was incredible and I was viewing the Moon with my 12" Dob. As I said before I was not certain about the mag but it was HIGH.

Paul I use this which gives similar info and detail - https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4769 - I have amended the previous post which was incorrect for a Newt. Just click on the Moon and it downloads a TIF file to get a very detailed view of the Moon. The link above is for use with my Newt but you can get other views to match your OTA.

Dave when I used binoviewers I sometime used a 2X and 1.6X barlow screwed into bottom to get higher magnification. It seemed to work although I never calculated the exact magnification.

Really sharp using the Skywatcher 150p + 6mm Ethos + 1.6X barlow - mag 200x. As you say Paul brilliant night for observing the Moon.

Interesting Paul - I just went onto Virtual Moon and noticed that Copernicus was nicely place so I was making arrangements to take the scope out. So thanks for the 'Heads Up'