RobertI

Nice report Stu. What kind of magnification do you go to with your BV's on the sun? I know you mention granulation at 100x but do you go higher? Funny, I never even considered using my BVs for solar - next thing on the list (when I have sorted the fault I have discovered with the BVs!).

My plan was to do some Luna with my new binoviewers on the102ED-R, but I discovered a serious problem with them (hopefully FLO will swap them) so diverted to some doubles in Cyclops mode instead. I added the 10x60 RACI finder to make star hopping easier under the bright skies and I have to say I REALLY like this configuration, it was very easy to track down even faint target doubles, and easy to view through both finder and main scope while seated in comfort. Seeing was good and the stars looked slightly surreal with their classic diffraction rings and well defined airy discs. Dew was ever present and the dew heaters on the main objective and eyepiece did a sterling job. I used a 8-24mm zoom with a 2.25x barlow. Tonight's haul included the following: Alnitak - Mags 1.17 & 3.7 separated by 2.2", often challenging with the glare of the primary but easily split tonight. Eta Orionis - Mags 3.4 & 4.9 with a separation of 1.8" - the secondary was easily visible at 200x lying in the first diffraction ring. Theta Orionis (Trapezium) - Tonight the E component was visible but the F component eluded me - darker skies possibly required. Rigel's tiny companion was nicely visible even at lowest magnificiations. Zeta Orionis - A beautiful multiple comprising four visible components, with another multiple nearby. Interestingly the faintest component (the 9th mag 'C' component, just to the left of the brightest star in the poor quality sketch below) was initially invisible until I backed off the magnification and it suddenly popped into view. I also tried some fainter doubles in Gemini but the bright skies proved too challenging to split them. But it was nice to be out again after several weeks of cloud.

Nice one Vlaiv. It would be interesting to compare the results using this method with the 'allen key' method as described in Astronomy Hacks. Not tried it myself yet but keep meaning to.

Nice session John. I’ll remember your Goldilocks magnification when I’m next our with my 100mm frac. We’ve had so much bad weather it’s been many weeks since I have been out, in fact I have not yet observed M42 or anything in Orion this year. I was hoping to get in plenty of observing during my two week break - there’s still time. 🤞

A nice trip down memory lane - your enthusiasm is obvious!

Good catches by all. Tonight was my first view of both planets in the same FOV. I used my 102ED with a 68 degree E/P at 100x and easily fitted both in. I could have gone higher, but they were sinking fast and the views were a bit wobbly anyway. Definitely worth it though and even my 6 year old son also managed to have a look. I managed to get a very poor shot with the iphone, more for posterity than anything else.

Thanks for the comments. Much as I love my local club, they are almost entirely armchair astronomers, but I think they would be very interested to hear what I’m thinking of doing so it never hurts to talk. The school is a good idea - one thing you can guarantee is that the scope will get used as the kids are so enthusiastic and eager to learn. I’m not too worried about a little damage, but I really do want the scope to get used and inspire people to get into astronomy. I shall think on.....

It’s been informative reading through the library telescope page. It’s clear that this takes some organisation and preparation (such as training of library staff in how to use, clean and store the scope and preparing support material). However there are some very useful videos to support the endeavour. If I do go forward with this I will definitely start by offering the scope to friends, family and neighbours first so I can understand the issues first hand. A tie up with local astro clubs would also be helpful if I ever wanted take it further. Good luck @mikemarotta with your endeavours. 🤞

Perfect thanks Tom, just what I was after!

Thanks for the comments everyone, some useful suggestions. @Lockie I think you're right about a Mak 90 being a better choice of scope. I think the reason Ed Ting chose the 100P (actually it was an Orion Starblast - same scope) was that it's a compact all in one solution that does not need to be taken apart. I can definitely see that if anything were to be be removable (eg: tripod, counterweights, etc) they would definitly get lost by the user at some point. I was thinking that I might even replace any eyepiece thumscrews with grub screws so they cannot be removed! @Tiny Clanger Yes I think the library idea might prove to be too ambitious! I was going to test the idea with my neighbours first anyway - we have a facebook page for the 150 or so residents and I regularly point out interesting astro events. I was hoping to do some 'sidewalk astronomy' events but COVID stopped that, however I could offer the scope to people for a couple of weeks at a time to see how it goes. My experience of lending scopes in the past is that people are initially enthusiastic but never end up using them because of cloud, cold, too busy or lose interest. If all else fails I could end up donating it to a local club or school. Of course the biggest problem is probably going to be sourcing a scope!

I had a tour of the Eddington Lodge when I was holidaying nearby. They have two large dobs in their own roll off roof obsy and a dome with dedicated imaging rig. Three very comfortable and spacious two bedroom lodges. And having observed nearby, I can confirm the skies are extremely good (Bortle 2 - 3). Highly recommend.

While watching one of Ed Ting’s excellent YouTube videos I was inspired by his story that his astronomy club have donated over two hundred scopes to local libraries for library members to borrow. I was thinking that it would be something I would like to do for our local library - it would be great for the library (there is an ongoing campaign to save it), it would encourage the community to explore the heavens and discover astronomy and it would give me a nice warm glow. 😇 Based on Ed’s description I would put together an all-in-one package comprising the following: # Skywatcher Heritage 100P # 8-24mm or 7-21mm zoom eyepiece plus 2x barlow (included with scope) # Battery pack for red dot finder (Ed says it reduces the need to replace batteries when people inevitably leave them on) # Possibly a plastic crate for storing the scope and using as a table when observing. What do people think of the idea? Any advice or experience? Does anyone know if the 100P has a fixed (non-collimatable) primary as this would be an advantage I think. Thanks in advance. 🙂

I think anything that raises awareness of the effect of street light pollution has to be a good thing. Will sign the petition and any petition like it. On the subject of crime, my very well lit estate is not immune from burglaries, especially around Christmas. My neighbours have shared their CCTV footage of groups who work their way through the estate breaking into cars - they know the CCTV is there, they know they are in full view, they just don’t care. And at 3am they know they are safe, lights off or on, as pretty much everyone is in bed! EDIT: Just signed petition. Only 269 signatures - a long way to go!

I think the FPL51 looks cracking value and would be a great buy. The only reason I didn't go for it was that I'd never owned an FPL53 and just had to scratch that itch!! I hope you go for it!

Good to hear you’re thinking about a 102ED by the way. Would you go for the FPL51 or FPL53?

Great video Chris, entertaining as always and your advice is spot on. 👍👍

A good question as the Hyperion are not renowned for their performance in fast scopes are they? It was a while since I last used that setup but I can’t recall it being that bad. You have piqued my curiosity though and I will have a squint when I get a clear night and let you know. 👍

Fantastic image and informative write up - thank you! You must have some nice dark skies where you are.

That's very interesting John, something to look forward to, I'm sure it'll be a winner.

My thinking was that Rowan have the know how to produce a lightweight mount to rival the Scopetech, in addition to their heavy-duty AZ100. 👍

I spotted that and was sorely tempted. Trouble is it deserves better than my Horizon photo-tripod and my 2" tripod is overkill - I have nothing in between and would need to buy another tripod!

Bit late to the party on this one! This looks like a fine mount and really seems to fill a gap, a step up in quality from the Porta 2, and I really want one. But the price - almost £400! I'm sure its simplicity belies the engineering quality, but I do wonder whether Rowan Engineering could produce something of similar quality for a lot less money (hint, hint).

Just to add to the comments above, now I can see your images on my large monitor, yes the first one is more natural. I prefer to keep the sky background a dark grey than completely black - it looks more like the view through the eyepiece where the view is rarely black and also helps retain the 'smoothness' in the image a reduce the noise.

It's a fair question! My understanding is that EEVA (previously called Video Astronomy) began when people started using low light CCTV cameras for astronomy to get real time views of DSOs on a monitor. There was no ability to process images as such. This technique allowed people to observe in light polluted skies and was also great for outreach. Then people started using 'normal' astro cameras to take a series of short exposures , 'live stack' them and process immediately. That's when the arguments started to rage. What is 'live'? Is a 30 second image 'live'? What if you processed the image the next day - is that 'observing'? On Cloudy Nights there have been very heated debates over the years and as a result they have very strict rules. We seem to be much more relaxed here on SGL and long may it continue! EEVA often comprises a super-simple setup comprising a modest camera, a USB cable and a monitor or laptop with suitable real-time software - no guiding, no high end cameras/scopes, sometimes just altaz mounts, often just mono, often plenty of noise/coma/trailing. Sometimes the images are not pretty or perfect (the complete opposite of 'astro-photgraphy') but at least you have seen them and you have the benefit of being able to share what you saw with others. The fantastic new cameras and live software (eg: @Martin Meredith 's Jocular) offer so much more and are great for undertaking observing projects, analysis, research, etc. I'm sure EEVA will continue to evolve apace! 💪

Welcome to SGL! 🙂 Nice images. I think in theory there shouldn’t be any post processing involved in EEVA and to be honest I have found that the live software available now is so good that postprocessing doesn’t actually improve the image very much! I don’t think people will mind if you post a post-processed image along with your live captured image. I’m sure the mods will correct me if I’m wrong. For your information there is another forum for images taken with EQ mounts at 30 seconds or less - if your set up qualifies you might want to post some of your post processed images in there. Or even in the normal imaging section, but we still want to see your live captures here in EEVA. 😁