paulastro

I would confirm what Mike says about my ex Astro -Tech above. I would also say similar about my present SW 72ED which isn't fpl53 either. I also have a SW 80ED and 120ED with fpl53 of course. All of these scopes are excellent and there is little, if anything, to judge between them. In my view, though fpl53 is the best glass, it's by no means the whole story as others have pointed out. I would certainly buy another non-fpl53 refractor if its performance was up to my expectations, and theres the rub. Unless you have some experience and can check any potential purchase before hand, you cannot be sure what you are getting - even different samples of the same make and model can vary - but this is less likely in more respected models by a reputable maker that have been in production a while. If you know personally someone experienced whose judgement is proven to you that's fine. Alas newcomers are unlikely to have such a useful person to hand.

Now come on Peter. Do you seriously think that anyone believes you've bought the 150ED as an upgraded finder for that SC on steroids? Everyone knows that you've lusted for a long time over a good size quality apo refractor that will give better planetary images for the Mars opposition than the 'jack of all trades' SC you've used up to now. Admit it, you've always wanted one 😄.

Comet Neowise now visible in the morning sky in Arizona. I'd urge everyone to look for it as soon as it comes into view for their location. As with any comet, you never know what's going to happen next - good or bad. Below courtesy of spaceweather.cm COMET NEOWISE SIGHTINGS: Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) is brightening rapidly as it passes by the sun. On July 1st, Ray Brooks of the Arizona Sky Village near Tucson saw the comet through binoculars just before sunrise. "Wow-- it was very bright, near magnitude +1," he reports. "If the comet were in dark skies at a decent elevation, it would be a spectacular naked-eye object." It's even brighter today. "I estimate magnitude 0," says Petr Horálek of the Czech Republic, who spotted the comet this morning, July 2nd, beneath a rippling bank of noctilucent clouds (NLCs): "While watching these (spectacular!) NLCs over Proseč u Chrudimi, I began to wonder if Comet NEOWISE could be in the view--and my hopes were fulfilled!" says Horálek. "I was able to photograph the comet using a Canon 6D digital camera (Sigma 50mm, f1.4, ISO 400, 1/2sec) despite haze and clouds near the horizon." Oscar Martín Mesonero of Salamanca, Spain, also saw the comet in morning twilight: Mesonero's picture, taken through an ED80 Skywatcher telescope, shows a hint of a fan-shaped or split tail. The same shape was visible in SOHO images taken last week. "Fingers crossed that Comet NEOWISE will not die like Comets ATLAS and SWAN," says Horálek. "It could be something truly spectacular in the days ahead!"

More good news, if that's not tempting fate, from spaceweather,com THE RAPID BRIGHTENING OF COMET NEOWISE: Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) is passing by the sun this week–and it’s looking good. The comet just experienced a sharp increase in brightness recorded by coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Click to play a 4-day movie of the surge: "During the transit, Comet NEOWISE increased in brightness from magnitude +4 to +1.8–an almost 8-fold jump," says planetary scientist Qicheng Zhang of Caltech, who analyzed the images. "If the comet maintains this brightness, it will be visible to the naked eye when it emerges from the sun’s glare in July." Zhang is a bit concerned, however, that the rapid brightening might be too much of a good thing. "When a comet brightens this quickly (2.2 magnitudes in only ~4 days) it could be a sign that the nucleus is unstable. Comet NEOWISE might yet disintegrate," he cautions. It wouldn't be the first time. Earlier this year two comets, ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) and SWAN (C/2020 F8), approached the sun with much fanfare, then disintegrated before they could become naked-eye objects. Above: The disintegration of Comet ATLAS. Credit: Hubble Space Telescope. [more] Will Comet NEOWISE end the same way? "I don’t think so," says Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC. "Comet NEOWISE looks healthy to me. Throughout its passage across the coronagraph, the comet showed a smooth-and-steady brightness increase, perhaps a little steeper than we might like, but nothing that makes me enormously concerned for its health, as long as it has a reasonably large nucleus." We'll soon find out. "Later this week, around perihelion (closest approach to the sun) the comet may be observable by skilled astronomers low in the morning twilight," says Zhang. "If it maintains anything close to its brightness as it left SOHO’s field of view, it will most likely be recovered from the ground by then." Any sightings this week could be very good news, indeed. As July unfolds, the comet will swing around the sun and pop up in the evening sky–perfectly placed for casual sky watchers if anything remains to be seen. Stay tuned for updates. Share Tweet

A very impressive report Victor. The 72ED has really good optics and you have done a great job in showing how well it can perform, even on less easy subjects like Mars. Last November I used mine to observe the transit of Mercury across the sun and it was ideal as the wind was ferocious and it would have been difficult to hold down a larger scope. Though comparatively a small scope, it does many things very well. After all, it's not far off from a three inch refractor which at one time was a desired instrument for many amateurs.

I'll join you Peter. We could have a star party up there at The Astronomy Centre 🙂 💥

Ooops, meant to enlarge the crop and I can't edit it. Posted below.

I was out observing with the SW 80ED from about 9.30 to 10.30 pm. Best views were with the binoviewer, x3 barlow and x2 24mm Orthos. Excellent details particularly of the interior of Janssen. Janssen is a fine approximately 120 miles walled plain which has slopes interrupted by numerous more recent craterlets with it's N wall impacted by Fabricus and Metius. Its interior is full of fine detail including hills, craterlets and rilles, the longest being approximately 84 miles long running N to S. The seeing was much better than I expected in the very humid and warm evening. Attached is a single frame of the disk and a crop from it to show Janssen and its surroundings. The images do not do justice to the wealth of detail available with visual observations.

Here's a link for anyone who wants to, hopefully, watch the safe passage of Comet Neowise around the sun 😄 - I hope! https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/lasco-coronagraph

According to spaceweather.com Comet Neowise looks good to be around 2nd mag in July. COMET NEOWISE UPDATE: Good news for sky watchers. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is monitoring Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) as it passes by the sun this week. Not only is the comet still intact, but also it has brightened to magnitude +2.4. This means it is likely to be an easy naked-eye object when it emerges from the sun's glare in mid-July. LATEST IMAGE. OK, we've been here before, but it will be true some time! I for one will be watching its passage round the sun on the SOHO web page, with just about everything crossed that it gets round the sun unscathed!

Hello and welcome Ed. Any questions or if you need any help, just ask away. There are many knowledgeable folks on SGL wiliing and able to support you and point you in the right direction. BST wishes Paul.

Here we go again. See spaceweather.com for more details

No worries in that regard John. Mike and I both have weird senses of humour, and know each other well enough not to take each other too seriously 😄.

No apology necessary Mike. Personally, I always try and observe things in focus, and what's more l love observing coloured stars. I'm also rather relieved my scope has CA and that it isn't perfect, or I wouldn't have been able to afford it in the first place. 🙂

Yes that's true Mike, telescopes, brain size - all sorts of things 😄

I must confess Stu, I'm still looking forward to trying out mikeDnight's DZ when lockdown allows - that is if Mike will still let me if he reads my last post! 😄

I'd go for the 120ED every time, and I'm totally unbiased. Anyway, a four inch top of the range scope may give the 120ED a little competition, but never a miserly 3.9 inch refractor 😀.

vineyard. They may be all you ever need. I'm sticking with the two tele-optic ones in the pics, they are the final solution for me 😄. Despite only each being held by one bolt, they dont seem to rotate and they cant move anyway when you put a dovetail across them of course. The ones you have bought will probably work just as well. Regards, Paul

vineyard, here are some pics re the saddles I'm currently using. As I said, they do work well, but not the final solution yet. And here is the solution if you have over £100 to spend. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adm-replacement-saddles/adm-vixen-style-saddle.html

Many thanks John, that's very kind of you. I have to admit I do find it rather cool looking. In fact, to my wife's angst it's still set up in the lounge as I write this - though at least I have folded the legs down 😄

Many thanks Ade. Yes, the Vixen SDs and GPs are a class apart in this this type of mount, they are superbly engineered compared with the Chines clones. I've told many people over the years how good they are, and it's often the case that people aren't very convinced - unless they get to try one out for themselves. Amazing considering the SPs have been around for over forty years. The same thing happens when I tell some people how good biinoviewers are compared with the best single eyepieces for observing the Moon and planets!

Thank you vineyard. It's good to hear of other people out there still using an SP. It's still a work in progress for me re saddles, I only had the mount delivered yesterday. At first I did what you did and just mounted the rings on the SP top plate, I only did it the once and that was enough for me. Also I want to use my other scope with it. As you can see in some of the pics if you enlarge them, I now have two Tele-Optic-tecnica small saddles in place which came with my Ercole altaz mount. The trouble is that there are only two holes on the top of the SP so each of my saddles is only attached by the one hole. I thought they might keep rotating because of this but they don't and it works well. They are very good singles and one would hold my 120ED. The problem is there is no way I can attach one in the centre of the SP top plate as there is a round depression and nothing to fix it on with. I am looking for a dovetail with a channel going the length of it in which case it would be easy. If you have the dosh you can buy an ADM plate from FLO or elsewhere which would work just fine and is all you need. The roblem for me is it costs £104 and this is too much for me. I will let you know if I solve the problem - without spending £104 hopefully!

Still a youngster compared with some of us though Kev. Unfortunately, I certainly won't be able to own my SP for 41 years! 😄

That's fantastic Kev, 41 years and still going strong. Well done!! Not you of course Kev, the mount I mean! 🤣

Same telescope, different mount. I bought my SW 120ED a new present, well, an old present. I couldn't resist it when a fellow SGLer advertised a Vixen Super Polaris GEM. The mount could well be around 30 years old or more but it's slow motions are probably as smooth as the day it was made, and much smoother than the many cheaper clones made over the years outside of Japan. At any rate, it will certainly last a lot longer than I'm likely to 😄. In the mean time, I'm very pleased to have it.