paulastro

Many thanks Stu, I hadn't noticed the second one 😊

A big thanks to all of you who posted here, it helped me to finally decide which device to purchase. Below is a pic of the one Amazon delivered to me today. Its robust and works very well, though I'm sure there are many others that would work just as well. It cost £16.95, rather a lot but it should last me my life time - as long as I don't lose it 😊. Thank you again.

The weather forecast was correct! Here's a single frame taken this morning with the Tecnosky 102ED and Olympus at 9.40 this morning. It also showsthe new spot coming round the limb.

I was pleased to have the opportunity to observe AR2936, one of the biggest sunspot groups of the new solar cycle, this morning. I observed with the Tecnosky 102ED F7, which showed a lot of detail in quite good conditions before it started to deteriorate after 10am. Below is a single frame taken with the Olympus E-M5 Mk11 at 9.40am, 1/200 sec at 320 asa. Low res, but it it gives an indication of what it was like.

Thanks Stu. No, I didn't know about it until today just before I posted the 'heads up'. It was cloudy most of the day anyway. I'll be ready to rock and roll when the sun peaks out 😊.

Looks fabulous Stu, I'm jealous 😄. I actually have a couple of hours of clear sun forecast for tomorrow morning, and we all know what that means 😁.

Sorry Stu, didn't see your posts before I responded.

Yes you certainly will see it. To be clear, the Baader filter must cover the lens of the telescope if you have a refractor, or if a reflector it must cover the open end of the telescope opposite the end where the mirror is. IT MUST BE ABSOLUTELY SECURE SO IT WILL NOT BECOME DETACHED, EG BY THE WIND. If you do this you can then look through the eyepiece as usual. DO NOT look through the finder to locate the sun. The best way is to use the shadow of the telescope on the ground to centre it on the sun. Ask more questions if you are unsure EXACTLY what you need to do. If in doubt do not proceed. IF YOU LOOK AT THE SUN WITHOUT THE FILTER COVERING THE APERTURE OF THE TELESCOPE IT COULD RESULT IN BLINDNESS !!!!!!

If you have a chance tomorrow, this is well worth a look, one of the largest of the new solar cycle.

Thanks John.

Many thanks John, it certainly looks robust enough. Probably a silly question, but can you use it with your phone in landscape mode? I was going to use it on a tripod without a head, so if I want to use it in landscape mode, it would have to hold the phone on its side, which is obviously less than 5.4 inches. Mind you, I do have a Ball - Head I could use which would probably do the trick?

Thank you. I wouldn't buy the cheapest, my phone is worth more than £2 😊. Actually, on Amazon I came across some that don't have a spring clamp, but have a 'screw down' device to hold the phone in place.

Thanks for that. I've looked at it myself in Poundland, but couldn't decide if the tripod was removable, couldn't open it as the box was sealed. The only thing is it costs £4 ( in Pound land!? ) Not a lot, but on Amazon there are loads for £8-9 which look a lot better. Thanks anyway.

Just to be clear, I'm NOT talking about mounting a smartphone onto a telescope, but directly onto a standard photographic tripod. I searched on Amazon and there were numerous adapters available, but of course the reviews were not that helpful. For every good review for an adapter there is another which contradicts it! If you have a specific one you have used, particularly for astro imaging, and found it to be particularly good, I'd love to hear about it. You could save me a lot of time, and possibly my sanity 😊. Many thanks Paul

Thank you Chris.

For me, it's always the highest magnification that gives the most detail in the prevailing conditions. And of course, this often changes during the same observing session.

I was observing from around 11 pm to 1.30 am with the Tecnosky 102ED F7. The atmosphere was scintilating most of the time with a temp or -2 degrees, but in better moments there was reasonable detail on the terminator. Janssen being particularly noteworthy. Below is a single frame taken with the Tecnosky and my Olympus E-M5 Mk11 at 00.50, 1/640 sec 200 asa. Also a crop of it centred on the terminator near Janssen.

Mmm, I could see a lot more in my 102ED, it must have been an aperture thing. Only joking Mike! 🤣 Excellent drawings, I'm glad you're back with your pencil and rubber 😊.

Well, if observers don't like the Moon, I think there is something wrong with them, but its their loss 😊.

Thank you Alkaid. Well, I have an Altair 80 ED-R, theTecnosky 102 ED F7 and 6 inch F6 TS Newtonian ota. For the planets, moon and solar the 102 is my goto scope. I use the 80 ED for the same objects if I have an unexpected clear patch or I need to play away for some reason and I can't take the.100 ED. I use these two scopes on my Scopetech Zero mount, so the 100ED gets the lions share of sky time. The TS is used for rare occassions when I'm having a deep sky only session, and when I go to Kelling, though I'm likely to take the 102 ED as well to Kelling as there are usually some planets on view. The 102 is indeed my goto option for the Moon.

I observed with the Tecnosky 102ED F7 from about 9.30pm to just after 11pm. The seeing was very tremulous at first, but improved as the session went on The highlight was the four most prominent craters in a line, on the E limb. From the N - LANGRENUS - Nice broad terraces on the E side of the central peaks, the W side was in shadow. VENDELINUS - A complex crater, with Lame intruding into the NE wall. Interesting detail on the floor of V when seeing allowed. PETAVIUS - As usual it rather stole the show. A jumble of central peaks, with the its fine rille running SW from the peaks to the crater wall. Particularly fine terraces, particularly on the E walls. Some fine surface detail in better moments, including hints of the rest of the rille system. Looking at Petavius, I can't help thinking how even more spectacular it would appear if it were positioned at the centre of the disc. FURNERIUS - With its greatly eroded N walls and the large Furnerius B on the NE part of the floor. Complicated floor detail in better moments. Observed with the binoviwer and 16.8 Orthos, giving around x175. The detail was very fine at times. Below is a single frame showing the phase and a crop highlighting the four craters mentioned. Of course these are low res compared with what could be seen visually.

Mike, you only asked me not to tell Chrissy, you didn't mention anyone else, so I've been true to my word 😊. Actually you are right, Chrissy doesn't trust me. Usually, the first thing she says to me when I come round is 'what are you selling him now' . But I agree with you, she's a lovely lady, you're a lucky chap. 🙂

I wish you'd all stop talking about those lovely tripods! 🤔

Mike, I've got to ask, since Christine doesn't interfere with telescopes being in in the house - and you're clearly in charge at home. When you 'upgraded' your Tak 100DC to a Tak 100DZ, why did you swear me to secrecy, arrange for it to be delivered without her knowledge, and tell me that 'she'll never be able to tell the difference' ? And, to this day Christine doesn't know your DC miraculously morfed into a DZ. 🙂

Lovely sketch Achim, it's a work of art. I love the way you have represented the texture of the surface.