RobertI

I did scurry out briefly last night, primarily to get both moon and Jupiter in the same FOV. The 102ED with the 24mm (2.25 degrees) was not quite wide enough, but the Panaview 38mm (3.7 degrees) got them both. The pairing looked rather lovely. Too cold, back indoors!

I would consider purchasing from Harrison Telescopes, who supply Altair Astro gear and who have always given me excellent service. 

Welcome. 👋

24 minutes ago, Stu said:

72mm is a bit of a sweet spot,

I almost used the very same words, then chickened out! I have to say if budget is important the Sky-Watcher 72mm is hard to beat at £329. Glass type unknown I think but apparently very good for visual annd imaging.  Apparently the dewshield, though not retractable, does easily slide off for transport. 

3 minutes ago, SwiMatt said:

the Askar looks HOT 

Another plus point for the Askar is that it has a detachable section which allows the OTA to be shortened - this should allow you to get some delicious low power views with a binoviewer - if I were in the market for a 4” this would be top of my list I think.

23 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

I'm hoping my new 8" Newtonian will bring new galaxies in to view this galaxy season.

 

I shall look forward to the results. 🙂

I had a 72mm APO which was about the biggest scope I could fit in my astro-backpack with eyepieces and accessories - it was an excellent travel scope and went surprisingly deep on DSOs, also light enough to sit on a decent tripod - I would thoroughly recommend something like this. A two inch focuser allowed for 2” eyepieces for those extra wide views. Stupidly, I sold it! I still have my 66mm, the views are similar, but the focuser is pants and only 1.25”. The Skywatcher 72mm does not have a retractable dew shield which is a bit of a pain for fitting into a backpack I imagine. The Stellalyra 66mm or 80mm look nicely specced and there are some offers available.

Excellent session and some lovely captures there. I really love your take on Orion’s Belt with the Flame and Horsehead, you don’t often see it like this and I think it nicely demonstrates the faintness of the nebulae compared to the stars. I have to confess, I had to google the Lump Star - I’ve learned something there.

42 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

The new 10m long active USB cable is making a huge difference, allowing me to observe from the office desk, well away from the slightly ajar patio door, but the major innovation last night was using streaming to focus. I don’t have an electronics focuser so previously I had been balancing the laptop on a garden chair, trying not to trip over the 10m USB cable, hoping I could see the screen while trying to focus. Last night, thanks to @Richard N, I tried streaming the laptop screen to the tablet via Google Meet, then outside I could focus with the tablet in one hand and the focus knob in the other. Genius!

I’ve been through exactly the same problem and came up with exactly the same solution. 🙂

It’s been a while since my last EAA session and I hope to have a few sessions during galaxy season. I’ve been motivated a bit by ever increasingly bright skies which is spoiling visual a bit. I upgraded from a Lodestar to an ASI290M (I like mono!) and now have an old ASI V1 - had a promising test run with the 66mm but not used them in anger yet. Would eventually like to get back to the RC6 to get some image scale on those smaller galaxies.

Lovely detailed report - sounds like a nice session with with your super kit. I was all set to brave the -2C conditions, but when I stepped outside it had clouded over - I have to admit I was quite relieved.  😆

Nice purchase. Probably a stupid question, but it’s not orange! Has it been repainted or is it just an “orange tube” vintage? Are there any specific problems you have identified with the scope that require taking it apart? I’ll let others with more experience weigh in before I say anything more! 🙂

Lovely rendition of M42 👍

Beautiful, such attention to detail. 

New ring and related arc of galaxies found ……. 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67950749

Fantastic achievement, wonderful to hear. 

What a superb night. It makes such a difference observing with others. Some great targets too, well done for getting the Horsehead with your 10”. 👍

8 hours ago, PaulM said:

Was a good night, clear cold skies out from 18:00 till 02:00, more imaging with my new seestar s50 and visual observations with my 200P EQ5. images included andromeda, rosetta nebula, M82, pacman nebula, jellyfish nebula, visual was jupiter, neptune, M42, multiple star clusters around Cassiopeia amongst other things

Lovely session by the sound of it. If you ever have the time, it would be great to see a ‘hybrid’ observing report with both your visual descriptions with the 200P and some Seestar images. Perhaps an SGL first! 🙂

I agree with @Nakedgun, 10x50 should be great, but I have no knowledge of that particular model. I’m assuming the “up close” refers to them being able to focus close up, which I imagine is all about the mechanical design rather than any different about the optics. How did the image look, was it in focus for most of the field of view?

Just come in for ten minutes to warm my feet before I go out again. Had a nice session for ninety minutes  - thought I’d keep things simple with the 102ED but then I ruined it by being over ambitious trying (and failing) to find some tough targets,  so I went back to low power cruising some open clusters in Orion and surroundings - much more enjoyable! Right, back out for a final look before bed. 🙂

A lovely book to have in your collection Alan. I have a kindle copy and was equally charmed, rather jealous of the amazing dark skies he must have had. Also a nice insight into life back then - I love it when he mentioned that he used to go out into the countryside on his own as a boy, and taught himself to swim in the local creek. Not something that would happen nowadays I think! 

Sounds like a tough decision, but really glad you’re rediscovering visual, and this isn’t a ‘giving up the hobby’ thread! Sounds like the simplicity of visual will really work for you. I think it’s a really good idea to keep your gear though, you never know what ideas may take your fancy in the future (eg: EAA) or how your circumstances may change. Over the years I have gone from visual to imaging to EAA and back to visual again (with a bit of EAA on the side). Keep us informed on how it goes. 

Price aside, I think this looks like a very exciting piece of kit. It might not be very wide field, but I think it will appeal to those who want to view more than just the brightest DSOs, in particular the multitude of smaller DSOs, especially galaxies. I’m sure there will be a big market for this in the US where people really seem to go to town on their EAA kit. Personally I don’t think it’s aimed at complete beginners, I think it will appeal to more experienced EAA enthusiasts. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Celestron marketing department decide that you can only get a RASA 6” as part of this package. Compatibility with Sky Safari is a nice feature, assuming it’s implemented well.

FYI there’s a separate discussion underway on this - 

From what I read on Facebook (from memory), it has a smaller aperture, but has additional capability for solar system imaging. Now has auto-focussing and no collimation required. The tester seemed to indicate its deep sky abilities were similar to the previous scopes. Good to see they’re trying to innovate and stay one step ahead of the competition. 10,000 scopes sold is quite an achievement. 

1 hour ago, Icesheet said:

Here’s a short timelapse of my rig in action 🔭 

 

 

 

 

Fantastic time lapse! 👍

I’d only planned a five minute session with the binoculars but it was so clear I thought I ought to get one of the scopes out. Thinking I might have a go at the pup, I decided to get the 150PL out. It was actually lovely to reacquaint with this very capable scope - first look at Sirius was really nice with four sharp diffraction spikes, which were actually very pleasing to the eye, and also helped focus. Sadly, Sirius itself was far too wobbly to attempt to see the pup, so I had to look elsewhere. With a Morpheus 17.5mm in, giving 68x, I enjoyed some nice views of M42, M35-38, M97, M109, M51, M44 plus lots more. It was great fun swinging the canon around the sky and dodging the puffy scudding clouds - the whole thing really reminded me of the times I spent with my first scope as a teenager, a similar 6” Newt. I’m always surprised what a good deep sky scope a 6” F8 scope makes, with sharp stars and contrasty views.

1pm came and I got a bonus - all the street lights went off (a recent development) so I had even darker skies. Sadly by this point cramp was starting to set into my feet - a potential downside to standing to observe - so happy to pack away for the night.