RobertI

This continues to be a really fascinating and informative read, thanks! I’d be really interested to see how they compare on some DSOs, such a globulars, open clusters and some emission nebula with an OIII or UHC filter (eg: the Veil). I’m guessing standard laws of aperture would apply, but the Takahashi seems to break the laws of nature! 🙂

A rare outing for the H130P atop the SkyProdigy, which auto-aligned in two mins and delivered accurate gotos for the session. Full report here.

A fun session last night with the 130P and SkyProdigy - a smattering of DSOs and a noctilucent cloud (kind of). Full report here.

100% agree with your sentiments on biniviewers. 👍

Yes that was my conclusion too.

I thought I would have a quick session tonight using my SkyProdigy and Heritage 130P combo. This was partly to test whether my ancient 7ah Celestron Powertank still had enough oomph to power the mount. Switching on, the SkyProdigy did its auto align perfectly first time, despite a bright moon and I was ready to observe. With a 17.5mm Morpheus giving 37x, and a 2.25 Barlow giving 83x, I had a nice tour of some DSOs including the globular M15, the Wild Duck cluster M11 in Scutum showing a lovely rich fan shape of stars, NGC7009 the Saturn Nebula in Aquarius showing up as a small non-stellar greenish disc and a nice compact open cluster NGC663 in Cassiopeia. Finished off with Albireo. The mount behaved perfectly for the hour or so I was out there, and the gotos got objects into the FOV at 37x, so it looks like the battery works well with the mount. I’m still chuffed with this little setup - I cant think of a portable goto setup that is quicker to get up and running! During the session I had a strange visitor in the form of a very bright cloud overhead. It moved very slowly northward over the course of 30 minutes. For a while I wondered if I was seeing an aurora as it had that kind of rippled curtain look, then I thought noctilucent cloud, but I’d expect to see both of these further to the northern horizon. I think it was just a high cloud, perhaps catching the moonlight?

I think there are a few fast 90mm refractors around like this one from SVBONY. Doesn’t say what kind of glass, could be quite a bit of chromatic aberration given the focal ratio and price, but should be very portable, eg: for airline travel. But my 102ED F7 sits on an AZ4 mount (like the Versago 2?) and it’s a very stable setup, which is also nice and easy and quick to set up in the garden, so is very grab and go in that sense.

Superb, I’m jealous of that wonderful seeing, must have been amazing to see.

That’s an amazing image, especially for an 8”.

Nice report and sketch. Not bad for “scruffy”! 🙂

Really fascinating work.

I was wondering how long it would take you to notice! 😉 (just kidding ). I’ve done similar things with my equipment, realising after several years that a particular screw or knob does something incredibly useful.

Understood, thanks. 👍

That’s really helpful, good to hear about your personal experiences. The general message seems to be consider taking less rather than more. That’s also a good point about looking through other scopes, I do want to try and get some views through other scopes, especially some of this big dobs. I’m conscious of the fact that there’s a high probability I won’t get ANY clear skies, so I guess I shouldn’t go mad with equipment. 🙂

Were the electrical problems caused by the supply at Kelling or by the amount of dew?

Thanks Paz, some good ideas there. Yes I had considered dew and have dew bands, etc (even a little hairdryer!) but a ‘spare’ scope is an interesting one. If it was just me I wouldn't bother with the CG5 and electronics, but thinking that my friend might be more interested if there was some fun tech to use…

Wonderful image. Might get more attention if it was put in the imaging forum?

Not sure best place to post this, but here goes. I’m off to Kelling for four nights in October and taking a friend with me who is a compete beginner. Trying to work out the best kit to take. Now I think my site is partially obscured by trees so I may need to move around to get a full view of everything. But my thinking was to take the following (purely visual): My C8 on a CG5 EQ mount - this can be controlled by SakySafari on a tablet and I was thinking my novice friend might have fun using this, I could create a list of interesting objects for for him to explore under my supervision. My Skytee 2 altaz manual mount with a 102ED F7 frac on one side and ZS66 on the other - this would be used mainly by me for tracking down more challenging stuff and bino-viewing Jupiter and Saturn. 10x50 binoculars! I also have a Heritage 130P which sits nicely on a SkyProdigy or manual altaz mount like my AZ4, but not sure this adds anything to the kit I am taking. And I also have a 150 F8 Newtonian which has produced great results but is a bit bulky to transport. The best objects I think are going to be the open clusters in and around Cassiopeia, emission nebulae in and around Cygnus, scattered globulars and of course Jupiter and Saturn. What do people think? Have I missed something obvious in the setup or some other considerations?

I’ve just seen that there’s already an H-Beta SkySafari list in the Member’s observing list thread! Oh well….

I’m visual only, I’m taking a couple of scopes and tripods as I am taking a friend who is a novice, so he can have a go, and I’ll be happy to share views with anyone else. I will also be looking to get a look through some large dobs if possible. I’m kinda thinking it would be good to have a list of visual observers who are happy to let other SGL’ers have a squint. I’m on pitches 431 and 442 in red field, very happy to chat (I don’t get out much!).

If folk are interested I have created a Sky Safari observing list with Don’s Hb targets (except three I couldn’t find), hope it’s of use…. H Beta targets.skylist

Thanks for the thoughts Louis and Don. My filters live in a manual filter wheel at the moment, so I can flick between them quickly, although obviously I can’t stack!

It’s an Astronomik Hb, same as my other filters. Yes I do have 40mm Plossl which came with my C8 purchased 25 years ago - it’s still rolling around my eyepiece tray somewhere, never really used, so it will be good to find a use for it! I shall definitely give is a go, good suggestion, although I hope my pupil can expand large enough (5.7mm so should be ok I think). As for the Heritage 130, another good idea, I was thinking about that, it has worked really well with the OIII in the past so will give a go. 👍

I have never lost the wonder of looking at certain celestial objects. When you gaze into the heart of the fiery Orion Nebula and see the crucible of the Trapezium where stars are being born, and tendrils of illuminated gas spanning light years, it does give me a sense of our place in the Universe and a perspective on the mundane problems of life. Unfortunately these feelings rarely permeate my day to day stresses and anxieties, but I do feel a duty to spread the message and enlighten others when I can.

Interesting John, I have switched between OIII, UHC and no filter on M42 and it is equally interesting to see the difference - switching in the Hb should be really interesting. The filter wheel is great for this, makes switching easy and the difference views immediately obvious.