Ratlet

Could be worse, this is the third clear night on the trot we've had, and I've got to be up at 0400 for work. No chance I'm getting out with the scope tonight.

He's usually very liminal with his praise for that eyepiece too!

I feel like I've asked before, but in terms of light grasp, how would a 4" f7 stack up against a 130pds? Would the extra aperture be offset by the enlarged secondary?

I also keep coming back in the hope for an update on the Teak Table Tung Oil Tribulations.

I like SGL because I everyone tends to chip in a bit when someone wants an opinion, but will normally let their bias be known. It feels more like a discussion than an argument. I think there a few people on here who have observing skills I aspire to or approaches that I think align with my own so I generally know the answer will be correct when I read their advice. It's not so much a "this is the best way to observe" and more "I observe this way and find it enjoyable". Watch your wallet though. More than once I've read some posts on here and woken up in the morning a couple hundred pounds lighter.

I recognise these words but have no idea what they mean in this order.

The only small issue with sky watcher mounts I have is the way they hold the telescope. It mangles the dovetail. You end up with little dimples all along the dovetail. You can get replacement saddles, but not for the az4. Really wish I hadn't come in the thread though. Getting a 102 and sky T2 seems such a reasonable idea all of a sudden.

Cup of tea and some Lidl/Aldi chocolate hobnobs to keep the energy levels up (they are far superior to true hobnobs). That being said, observing chair near full reclined, pair of 10x50 binos and a cheeky session beer in the summer is fantastic.

Glad nobody has mentioned the combo of az5 and 102 star field. Had the dob out last night for the first time in ages and was thinking how i prefer it for a session with the chair, but having the newt on the az5 was better for the quick looks (just more comfortable). Come on here and see this thread. Maybe I should get that 102...

I'm in a similar boat, although the Morpheus I got is getting the better of me. I got the 17,5degree because I tried the 16mm Nirvana and found it a bit rough at the edges. It was the eyepiece that made me realise I do have limits. I'm a big fan of the 60 degree FOV. I find it just peachy for sketching.

I've used mine for imaging the moon with a pixel 6 which isn't a light phone. The MSM is great.

I'd also go for the starguiders. They're great, or if you are feeling a bit rich the Nirvana's (but not the 16mm as it is pretty awful). Personal preference will come into it a bit here, but I rather like a 60° fov. Just peachy for me. If she doesn't wear eyeglasses and doesn't mind a tight eyerelief and you are looking for high power, get the svbony 3-8mm zoom. It's brilliant, covers a wide range of focal length and is almost parfocal and different powers. I also think it works better at 8mm than the best 8mm optically. Watch for the HD60's on AliExpress as there have been a couple complaints on cloudy nights about quality not being up to par with the originals.

Clear here but the heating is broke on the car and I had to drive it to the dealership and back with the window cracked open and I'm still not warm! Might have to give it a miss tonight... I'll stick the phone on charge... just in case tho.

From a purely visual experience, it is absolutely worth it imho. Pretty sure for every photon that comes down the tube a milicule of stress is launched in the opposite direction. For me personally it's like a bubble bath for the soul. Just washes off all the letch and vileness from the day/week/month. I've been quite lucky and adopted a scavenger like approach to viewing though and if it's clear and dark I'll grab the dob and set it up.

Only bortle 4 in town, but go 2 mile inland and you're down to bortle 2

Up about 60 miles north of Inverness seeing the folks. Should have packed the scope, but at least had the svbony 10x42 in the boot. Got a good look at the pleiades and a scan from vega to capella.

Weird that the pixel 6 pro works. I've had 2 pixel 6 normal edition and neither has been able to figure out where it is pointing. I'm bortle 4 and the garden has no over looking lights. My old honor 20 works okay, but can struggle after a while and isn't as reliable as the iPhone.

Got out on Sunday and burned through another starsense code to try it on my daughter's eye phone after the pixel 6 was a dud and my old honor 20 a no go. Clearly the software was designed for iPhone. Worked brilliantly. Tried my dual band out on the rosette and could see some faint nebulosity. Then wheeled on up to Auriga for the clusters there (my favourite region of the sky). Never spotted some of the faint galaxies and small open clusters up there before but was really cool to catch it in the corner of my eye, zero in on it and then just look at exactly what it was. Panned down to the crab which looked very rectangular. I was completely taken up with greed and jamming in as many sights as I could. Next phone will have to be an iPhone unfortunately. The wife says I shouldn't get a phone for one app, but I don't think see understands. The pixel 6 got left propped against a bag doing astrophotography and I think it performed well.

First clear night in weeks and I've been laid up with some mystery stomach bug. Hopefully it will clear up quick and tomorrow is clear.

This is the astronomer equivalent of the "The Dress" from a few years ago I feel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_dress For me I think this just provides further evidence for the desperate need for us to send more probes to the ice giants (I'm dodging the obvious puns here, I know lot's of you lack my moral fortitude lol) I know Mars is like, just 'over there' but Voyager 2 is literally the only space probe to have gone near either of them and I given how frequently mini neptune type planets crop up in exoplanet studies, we really need to get a better understanding of these planets.

A nice wee stack of insulation as I continue the project to turn my summerhouse into a warm room / nerve centre for my imaging rig. Got a decent price even after I gave the lad £20 for delivering it to my work.

Love my Altair 533 hypercam. I think the square shape works well for framing loads of DSO depending on the focal length. My imaging requirement is basically slightly above EAA so i basically just picked up cheap 135mm, 200mm and 300mm prime lenses (about £100 all in) and with the 130pds I can get pretty much everything framed nicely. With the benefit of hindsight I should probably have just got an uncooled one and saved a bit. On the subject of clouds, this year does feel worse, but the winter has been much worse. In the summer a cloudy night costs me nothing as I have no astronomical darkness from April to the middle of August. In winter a cloudy night costs me 12 hours. Another related observation is that what clear nights I do get seen to be +/- 3 days around the full moon. Not missing it too much. I image to share with others. My true love is visual (fortunately).

Clear skies, but blowing a ruddy gale. Have some nacreous clouds I observed at 1630 as well as one from my mate up in Aberdeen.

I think if you want best bang for buck with eyepieces you can't do better than bst starguiders. £55 a pop, 60° fov and a nice eyecup setup. The 8mm and 12mm work really well on my 10" Stellalyra. Not tried the 18mm, but might work well. Does it all for less than the baader and if she one she only looses that FL rather than them all. Those 3 eyepieces will frame a lot of DSO well and the 8mm will handle planetary most nights. Personally I'd avoid the svbony zoom on a dob. The fov gets down to 40° which for me is a nip too tight. What dob did you get? The lower power eyepieces that come with most are usually okay and recommendations is usually to replace it last.

I've also got the Nadira although I've been keeping mine out the shed and I think the humidity has gotten to it and the seat bit no longer fits in the holes! Not a criticism of the chair (easily fixed, just need to not keep it in a damp shed). It works really well and has vastly improved my observing experience. You can focus more on observing rather than keeping your balance