RobertI

23 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Since you expressed interest in 82 degrees FOV, how about ES82 11mm

I can't speak highly enough about my sample - probably the sharpest eyepiece I ever used. Looking at your EP collection - I think you are missing ultra wide field one? Not in terms of apparent field thru the eyepiece, but rather maximum possible field of view for ED100 telescope - something that you can use now in summer to sweep milky way and observe large objects like M31 for example?

Given your budget and what I said above, I guess this would be my recommendation:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/explore-scientific-eyepieces/explore-scientific-82-degree-series-eyepieces.html

11mm version for £129

+

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/panaview-2-eyepieces.html

38mm version at £86

bringing total to slightly over budget £215 + delivery.

Very well considered suggestions Vlaiv. A 2” eyepiece would be great, never had one and would be good to experience wide field views of a 32mm with a quality ED. 
 

As for the ES, they sound great. Do you think the 14mm would be the same quality as the 11mm? The 11mm is close to my 10mm Hyperion 

Thanks Rob. Yes, that was my first thought to be honest! Perhaps a 13 or 15mm Delite. I was also thinking about a Vixen SSW, to experience some wider 82 degree views, possibly the 14mm. 

My reward money? It’s the £200 I have promised myself for getting through an unpleasant Medical procedure today. 😖

So I have a Skywatcher ED100 on the way (apparently) and I was thinking something to improve or complement it would be nice. I’m unlikely to use the scope for imaging, mostly visual observing of DSOs, lunar and planetary. 

So current thoughts are for an improved focuser, possibly one of these, or a premium eyepiece (I’ve never never owned anything better than a Baader Hyperion). 

Any thoughts appreciated! 

Thanks for the further thoughts.

On 28/07/2020 at 23:21, John said:

Back in the 1980's forums did not exist so rumours of a drop in quality took a long time to percolate though the astro community. Also many who bought scopes had little or no experience of them so simply did not realise that their optics were not as good as they might be.

With forums such as SGL and Cloudynights I think the astro consumer is much better informed and information circulates really fast. I don't think a manufacturer would risk dropping their standards today. They would never recover their reputation.

 

That's an excellent point John, and reassuring too.

Great vid Chris and entertaining as always! I need to re-instate my light shroud, the last one (not as well constructed as yours) came apart! You've inspired me to buid another.

I also think it's work having a small dew shield at the front of these scopes to stop extraneous light coming in from the front of the scope - I think this is caused by the eyepiece drawtube being so close to the front of the scope. For example, if I am observing something which results in the eyepiece pointing towards a window or street light, I get light coming into the drawtube. A homemade dewshiled seemed to sort this. Not a problem if you have a dark site though.

Thanks for your thoughts, good to hear. I’ll stop worrying!

I hesitate to pose this question, but I’ve been wondering whether the huge increase in demand for astronomy gear over the last few months will lead to certain manufacturers cutting corners on quality control. Remember the slew of poor quality Celestron C8’s (and probably others) arising from Halley Hysteria of 1986? I placed an order for a new Skywatcher ED100 a month or so ago but now wondering whether it’s such a good idea at the moment......

Cracking captures, M27 is very sharp.

Very nicely capured.  You've done well to get so few edge abberations at F2.8!

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.

59 minutes ago, Lockie said:

What do you think Rob? 

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.

33 minutes ago, theropod said:

Last night in an attempt to grab Neowise, and this is the best of dozens of shots. Tracked, less than 3 minutes.

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

2 minutes ago, RayD said:

That's funny.  I should try lifting the veil and seeing if there is anything of any use under it. 😄

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  👍

29 minutes ago, Lockie said:

hahaha it's definitely veiled Rob  I think focus might have slipped then. Yeah some people make it look easy but it really isn't. 

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. 

9 minutes ago, John said:

Pi Aquilae is a good challenge for a 100mm - equal mag 6 stars 1.5 arc seconds apart.

Delta Cygni is an uneven brightness pair (mag 3 and mag 6) about 2.7 arc seconds apart.

Mag 13 star next to the Ring Nebula is a good test of 100mm scopes. Central star of M27 (Dumbbell Nebula) is another one.

Scatter around point sources might be an interesting comparison to make.

Keep the magnification when comparing as close as possible - at least these scopes are of similar focal length.

I moved from a TAL 100 to an ED100 as it happens, many years back now. Both very good scopes of their type of course

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. 

14 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Moon is probably implied but not on list - maybe add it just so you don't forget about it

Boötes has multiple doubles.

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. 

17 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

 

I think Jupiter would pretty much be the test for a low contrast detail, especially comparing two scopes side by side.

 

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:

1. Coloured double - Alberio
2. Carbon star - Garnet Star 
3. Challenging double of equal brightness - ?
4. Challenging double of unequal brightness - ?
5. Faint nebula with and without filters - Veil
6. Brighter nebulae with and without filters - M57, M27, M97
7. Galaxies - M81,M82, M32
8. Jupiter and Saturn
9. Open clusters - Caroline’s Rose, Owl cluster
10. Glob clusters - M13, M92

What do you think? Have I missed anything? Any ideas for items 3 and 4? Any other thoughts? Thanks! 

Rob
 

9 hours ago, John said:

This is not a detailed report, but just a celebration of what is observable in the sky currently.

Last night I had my ED120 refractor out complimented with 11x70 binoculars. Over a period of around 3 hours I was treated to superb views of a wide range of nebulae, clusters, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and Venus, galaxies, coloured binary star systems, the star clouds of the milky way and of course that fabulous, still naked eye visible, comet. On the man-made front, a bright pass of the ISS right overhead put a crick in my neck and a smile on my face. Whichever way I looked, there was something to marvel at 

It really is a beautiful Universe and a privilege to be outside gazing up at it

 

 

 

 

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!).