RobertI

I love Sky Safari and eventually upgraded to the 'Pro' version. Why? Because it's just so feature rich, tactile and fun to use - I sometimes just browse the sky in SS on a cloudy day and explore what the app can do. I'm still discovering features years later.

Nice one Chris, a very useful resource.

I agree with your logic Chris. So say the secondary ends up getting only 80% of the width of the full light cone, then I guess you have suddenly got an 80mm refractor with the same focal length (so F5 becomes F6.4), which is photographically slower, and visually has less resolving power? My best guess!

Pretty good Chris! Some surprising detail on Jupiter. Is the yellow cast due to the achromat or is that a fairly accurate colour rendition? On the subject of dropping the trusses, presumably this would cut off some of the light cone? I'm assming it would not have much effect if dropping by one inch, but say you dropped by six inches, would this theoretically reduce the resolution or just the image brightness (or both)?

It's probably of little interest or consequence but I realised the 'image' I posted was of a different target I subsequently attempted that night. The main target of the Veil is shown below (equally apalling!). However I managed to identify the field stars and where the nebula should have been by comparing to Stellarium. I guess at least it demonstrates that I can fit the entire Veil complex into the FOV, and I wasn't far off with the framing. Stellarium with field stars circled: My 'image' with the same field stars marked in green and, from left to right, the presumed location of Eastern Veil, Pickerings Triangle, Western Veil outlined in blue.

Well, I can definitely see the comet, so at least you captured your target!

I did try to identify the star field to see if I was actualy in the right ball park, but not joy sadly.....

Also purchased a Nikon 2x tele-extender to go with the one I bought three years ago! By some fortuitous coincidence they match my inter pupillary distance when side by side, and so with a couple of cable ties, I have a super wide field 2x binocular. Looking forward to trying under the stars.

Just received my Baader 2.25x Barlow. It’s a lovely tiny little thing, I suddenly understand how one of these with a Q-turret and some compact BCOs makes a lot of sense. Looking forward to using it with my zoom ep (pictured). Thanks for the suggestion @John 👍

Yes I think I might have grabbed the draw tube by accident when moving the scope. 🙄 I didn’t want to lock it as I know the focuser moves very slightly when doing this. Really need a handle!

Having not done any imaging for several years, I recently decided to sell my Megrez 72mm. Having cleaned it up, admired it and sold it, I immediately wanted to try some imaging again! My remaining widefield scope is a WO Zenithstar 66 and I recall getting some nice results without too much effort (in my mind it was easy - of course I had forgotten all the pain that got me to that point). So I tracked down the reducer and camera, set up the old CG5 (with motors, but non-goto), polar aligned, attached the scope with weights slightly east heavy, focussed with a bahtinov mask using the LCD screen on the camera, moved the scope manually to the Veil, locked the clutches and began tracking. No darks or flats for now. Set the camera to 10x30secs and started the run. The clouds duly rolled in, but I think I proved that astro-imaging can be really easy. So, here is a single shot from the night's session - I bring you, the Veil nebula:

Nice one Chris, the Ion tail (?) is super clear.

Thanks John, they sound very accessible targets from my garden observing site. I’ll also add scatter to the list of things to look for. I meant to mention that i found a way of getting equal magnifications in both scopes of 50x, 100x and 200x, partly thanks to the incoming Baader 2.25x barlow (thanks for the recommendation!). I know the different eyepieces in each scope will add some uncertainty to the comparison, but hopefully close enough to not be significant compared to the objective lenses.

Thanks Vlaiv, you’re right I did miss the moon! Good call about Bootes, my western view is blocked by the house but I may be able to get it. Might even be worth finding a different site as there seem to be a lot to chose from. Thanks for the suggestion. Thanks, yes I am planning to spend a good time on Jupiter, might even try some colour filters for fun. That is assuming the scope arrives before Jupiter disappears again!

Hi all, When my new Skywatcher ED100 finally arrives, I am planning to do a head to head against my Tal 100RS for fun. My expectation from what I have read is that (everything else being equal) the ED100 is likely to discern better low contrast detail in objects such as nebulae and planets, and give a better colour rendition. However performance is likely to be similar on high contrast targets such as doubles of equal brightness and the moon. So, during the long wait for delivery, I am putting together an observing list for the comparison. Current list is: Coloured double - Alberio Carbon star - Garnet Star Challenging double of equal brightness - ? Challenging double of unequal brightness - ? Faint nebula with and without filters - Veil Brighter nebulae with and without filters - M57, M27, M97 Galaxies - M81,M82, M32 Jupiter and Saturn Open clusters - Caroline’s Rose, Owl cluster Glob clusters - M13, M92 What do you think? Have I missed anything? Any ideas for items 3 and 4? Any other thoughts? Thanks! Rob

Couldn’t agree more John. I was out too for a couple of hours, trying some AP, and using my 10x50s whilst the camera did its thing. There was a real ‘buzz’ in the air, with the comet, Jupiter and Saturn shining proudly and the Milky Way glittering overhead, like performers in a celestial play. I ended up lying in the grass scanning the Milky Way with the bins, a really wonderful immersive experience. Oh, and the ISS actually went through my shot of the Veil Nebula (I’ll do a post about that!).

Nice view of the core! Good to have some record of this fantastic solar system interloper, I must try and do the same.

Otley can be pretty scary at the best of times! It’s not far out of Ipswich but feels very rural. Must venture out that way sometime.

Great vid Chris, thanks for sharing your night out, your enthusiasm is boundless! I really like your last shot, the wispy clouds at the end of the comet’s tail make it look like the comet is smouldering! Where did you venture to for the dark skies?

Finally got to see the comet tonight. A beautiful and mysterious object - I can see how the ancients were disturbed by these interlopers. The tail seemed to be about 3 degrees in length (half the FOV of my binocular). Through the 66mm frac it had a very condensed core and the tail had a sharper edge on one side. So pleased to have seen it. @Littleguy80 your shot of the comet behind the clouds is just wonderful - my favourite shot of the comet so far.

Great stuff Chris, yo'uve really captured the brilliance of the comet and your excitement is making me itch to get out there and see it.

Lovely report and pic, the comet sounds amazing, yet to see it myself. 😕 For the tiny planetary nebulae, you could try ‘blinking’ an OIII filter across the front of the eyepiece, the stars are dimmed but the PN stays the same. I’ve only just got my OIII filter so not tried it myself yet, but understand it works well. 👍

Thanks Stu, yes the skies are ok and I can drive to a nice secluded spot away from the neighbours fairly easily. I don't often do it but I think it's worth it in this case to see the entire Veil complex in the FOV! If my 130P was capable of taking 2" eyepieces it would be perfect (650mm FL), although I guess fracs are better for these faint low contrast objects?

Thanks John & Stu. That’s really good to know. I will give the ZS66 a go next time as it looks like it should get the whole Veil and NAN in with my existing 21mm 68’ eyepiece. An easy scope to take out for a quick trip to a dark site too. As for the inbound 100ED, the best FOV I can get is 1.6’ with my current gear, so I think a 2” eyepiece and filters may be something for the future and/or a shorter FL scope.

Thanks John, yes very pleased with filters so far. I was pleasantly surprised at the result in the 130P, I had got the impression that these filters only really worked in scopes at least 6-8" aperture, which is why I was trying to get the C8 into action. Do you think they would also work with smaller scopes such as the ED100 or even the ZS66?